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Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara (left) greets Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after the budget was passed at the Lower House — with the support of the opposition party — on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025

Is Nippon Ishin the ruling LDP-Komeito coalition's friend or foe?

The party is juggling between supporting the ruling coalition in return for some of its policies being realized, and opposing them to win votes.
Hiroko Nagano, a former member of the assembly of Tokyo's Toshima Ward, speaks during an interview in Tokyo in January.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025

Female assembly members with children seeing better work conditions

As of July 2024, there were 5,187 female municipal assembly members in the country, or only 17.9% of the total, however.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 7, 2025

Bank of America CEO willing to hire in Japan amid revival

The bank, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has about 800 employees in Japan.
Hoshoryu will make his debut at yokozuna during the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament, which begins in Osaka on Sunday.
SUMO
Mar 7, 2025

New yokozuna Hoshoryu and rising star Onosato enter Spring Basho as favorites

Hoshoryu already has a pair of titles to his name, and is coming off perhaps the most impressive eight-bout stretch of his career to date.
A demonstration by the Polish army at the Bemowo Piskie Land Forces Training Center in Poland in September 2023. As U.S. President Donald Trump casts doubt on his country's alliances, Poland needs to double its military manpower and consider more destructive weapons, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025

Alarmed by Trump, Poland must look at nuclear options, premier says

Poland needs to double its military manpower and consider more destructive weapons, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
Base pay rose by 3.1% in January from a year earlier, the largest advance since October 1992, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 10, 2025

Japan records fastest gains in base pay since 1992, supporting BOJ moves

Data has also highlighted the impact of price growth, with real cash earnings falling 1.8%.
When Ukraine gets bulldozed into accepting a ceasefire on the capitulatory terms President Vladimir Putin might accept, Trump’s America will dismiss complaints from Kyiv as warmongering.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2025

Kyiv and Moscow are divided by a valley of lies

When Ukraine gets bulldozed into accepting a ceasefire on the capitulatory terms Putin might accept, Trump’s America will dismiss complaints from Kyiv as warmongering.
Artificial intelligence is set to disrupt white-collar jobs, making it crucial for knowledge workers to embrace AI, develop backup plans and adapt to an evolving job market.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2025

How to hedge against AI stealing your job

"Knowledge workers" need a back-up plan as artificial intelligence keeps getting better.
Members of a Liberal Democratic Party panel discuss proposals about allowing spouses to retain their respective surnames, in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 10, 2025

Eternal debate over surname law comes to fore again

Since last October’s general election, momentum has picked up for a legislative change to allow married couples to retain different surnames.
A heron flies over the bustling Ver-o-Peso market, in Belem, Para state, Brazil, near the site of the COP30 Summit, which will be held in November.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 10, 2025

BRICS' climate leadership aims hang on healing deep divides

Diverging national interests among BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — may also prove sticking points.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a gathering with the Philippine community in Hong Kong on March 9.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 11, 2025

Former Philippine President Duterte arrested over crimes against humanity

Police in Manila acted on an International Criminal Court warrant tied to Duterte's deadly war on drugs.
Nomura Holdings and Japan's other big brokers are having second thoughts about selling so-called structured loans to regional lenders.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 11, 2025

Japan brokers rethink repackaged JGBs after regulator warning

There are concerns that buyers might lack proper risk management for the product and could suffer mounting losses if market interest rates move against them.
People hold a Ukrainian flag and a Taiwan flag during a protest to mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Taipei on Feb. 23.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Mar 11, 2025

‘We are not Ukraine’: Top Taiwan officials temper comparisons after U.S. U-turn

Top Taiwanese officials believe the U.S. will stay invested in the island's security as Washington remains united on the need to counter China.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an online Security Council meeting from the Kremlin in Moscow on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2025

Russian disinformation 'infects' AI chatbots, researchers warn

A well-resourced Moscow-based operation is said to be distorting the output of chatbots by flooding large language models with pro-Kremlin falsehoods.
Coils of rolled steel sit in an industrial yard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 12, 2025

U.S.-Canada trade war heats up as Trump doubles metals tariffs, then backs off

The switch came after a Canadian official also backed off his own plans for a 25% surcharge on electricity.
A sign featuring the logo of Germany's Federal Ministry For Economic Affairs And Climate Action, at the construction site of the Northvolt Drei EV battery gigafactory in Heide, Germany, on Oct. 15, 2024
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 12, 2025

If Europe builds the gigafactories, will an AI industry come?

The hope is that local firms like France's Mistral will use the factories to create AI models that operate in line with EU safety rules.
Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu told The Japan Times in an interview last week in Taipei that he hopes with the island democracy can strengthen ties with Japan and other like-minded nations “at every level.”
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 12, 2025

Taiwan’s No. 2 diplomat seeks higher-level ‘unofficial’ Japan meetings as ties grow

Taipei has been shifting away from its competition with China over formal recognition, focusing instead on pragmatism to circumvent diplomatic obstacles.
A woman reacts next to one of the pictures of victims of a recent wave of sectarian violence targeting Syria's Alawite minority in the west of the country along the Mediterranean sea coast, during a protest condemning the attacks in Syria's northeastern city of Qamishli on Tuesday.
WORLD
Mar 12, 2025

Syria determined to 'prevent unlawful revenge,' says fact-finding committee

The latest violence has marked the gravest threat to Syria's new authorities, calling into question their ability to govern.
A Bloomberg survey said almost three quarters of Bank of Japan watchers who responded said that U.S. tariffs could exert enough of a drag on Japan’s economy to delay the central bank’s rate hike path.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 12, 2025

BOJ watchers see gradual rate hikes with higher terminal rate

Economists now anticipate the terminal rate to be 1.25%, up from 1% in the previous survey.
A Toyota bZ4X battery electric vehicle on display at the company's showroom in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, in June 2024
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 12, 2025

Toyota sees potential risk to deal brokered with Tesla in Europe

Toyota and other carmakers that were planning to pool with Tesla for this year may need much less help than envisioned back in January.
If Russia emerges victorious from the Ukraine war, nuclear proliferation will ensue as states view armaments and not agreements as the only way to protect their sovereignty.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 12, 2025

Lessons from Ukraine: Allies are fickle, nukes are forever

If Russia emerges victorious from the Ukraine war, nuclear proliferation will ensue as states view armaments and not agreements as the only way to protect their sovereignty.
Masao Adachi’s “Escape” is a fictionalized biopic about fugitive Satoshi Kirishima, played by Rairu Sugita (left) and Kanji Furutachi (right).
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2025

‘Escape’: Masao Adachi’s fugitive biopic salutes a kindred spirit

The 85-year-old director keeps his revolutionary fire burning with a respectful portrait of a wanted terrorist who spent nearly half a century on the run.
Just like in times of old, with unresolved territorial disputes, regional disunity and economic self-interest prevailing over solidarity, Southeast Asia faces growing instability as tensions escalate.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2025

Southeast Asia must learn to defend itself

Would any of the region’s governments lift a finger to maintain peace on behalf of a neighbor?
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen attends a press conference at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 13, 2025

Verstappen says Red Bull 'not the quickest at the moment'

Verstappen acknowledged there had been improvements to his car in the offseason but said it was too soon to know how it compared to McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in July 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 14, 2025

Americans worry Trump is too closely aligned with Russia, poll finds

The two-day poll also found little appetite among Americans for Trump's expansionist agenda.
Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez scores a penalty on Wednesday that was later disallowed after a VAR review.
SOCCER
Mar 14, 2025

UEFA to discuss rule that disallowed Alvarez penalty

UEFA said the correct decision was made to disallow Julian Alvarez's penalty in Atletico Madrid's Champions League loss to city rivals Real Madrid on Wednesday.
“Ravens” stars Tadanobu Asano as Masahisa Fukase, a real-life figure who was known for his photos of the psychedelic party scene of 1960s Shinjuku, portraits of his wife and images of the ravens of his home prefecture of Hokkaido.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2025

‘Ravens’ is a portrait of art, love and inner demons

Director Mark Gill brings the turbulent life of celebrated photographer Masahisa Fukase into focus in his new film.
Bong Joon-ho’s latest film “Mickey 17” is centered on a man so desperate for work he’s agreed to be endlessly “reprinted” and endlessly killed doing super-risky jobs.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2025

The sci-fi satire 'Mickey 17' might be a classic — someday

Bong Joon-ho's latest dystopian film offers a brutal metaphor for societal inequality.
After multiple failed attempts, Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339) and his loyalists overthrew the Kamakura shogunate and restored imperial power — for a time.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Mar 15, 2025

Divine authority and mortal desires in the turbulent 14th century

The literary monk Kenko yearned for an “uncontaminated world,” even during the tumultuous rule of Emperor Go-Daigo, who toppled the shogunate and consolidated imperial power.
President Donald Trump’s order making English the official language of the country is unnecessary, as nearly 80% of people in the U.S. already speak it at home.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2025

America doesn’t need an official language

After all, what is our shared culture if not the mix of cultures — including languages — that make and remake America every day?

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan