Search - 2023

 
 
Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga warms up ahead of a game against the Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on June 27.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 16, 2024

'Shotamania' in Chicago: Cubs' Imanaga quickly becomes fan favorite

Imanaga, who has been one of the National League's top pitchers, has seamlessly inserted himself into the Chicago sports scene.
A worker at Sakai Seisakusyo prepares to transport metal rods at its factory in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, on July 8.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2024

Japan finds a 'stealth' cure for zombie businesses: Let them fail

The shift in thinking is a clear departure for a country that has typically sought to avoid bankruptcies and protect existing jobs at the cost of productivity.
An AR-15 on display at the National Rifle Association convention in Houston, Texas, in May 2022
WORLD / Society
Jul 16, 2024

The AR-15: One of America's most popular and deadliest guns

The rifle has been a common denominator in some of the country's worst mass shootings.
North Korean soldiers look toward the South side of the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas on April 16.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 16, 2024

High-ranking North Korean diplomat in Cuba defected to South

The defection came around three months before Seoul and Havana — one of Pyongyang's oldest allies — announced they were establishing diplomatic ties.
The Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel, where six foreign nationals were found dead on Tuesday, is located in an area in central Bangkok that is popular with tourists and home to several upscale shopping malls and a well-known shrine.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 17, 2024

Six found dead in Bangkok hotel room in suspected poisoning

All six of the deceased were Vietnamese, with two of them having U.S. nationality. A seventh Vietnamese person is believed to have been involved in the incident.
China's 15-day visa-free policy is giving tourism a huge boost, with bookings from eligible countries surging 150% and attracting millions of visitors post-pandemic.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 17, 2024

China strives to lure foreign tourists, but it's a hard sell for some

The recent surge in tourism comes after China closed its borders in early 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and kept them shut until the start of 2023.
The North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, China, on April 20, 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 17, 2024

'Shocking': U.N. report details North Korea's widespread forced labor

In a damning report, the U.N. rights office detailed how people in North Korea have been "controlled and exploited."
Mizuho Securities is starting a fund to create opportunities for third-party investment into Japan's animation film sector that has created globally popular works such as "Demon Slayer."
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2024

Mizuho fund to invest in Japan’s popular but cash-needing anime scene

For investors, Mizuho's fund will be an opportunity to park their money in a sector famous for works like "Demon Slayer."
Japan's Hikaru Kitagawa dribbles past a defender during an Olympic qualifying match against North Korea at National Stadium in Tokyo in February.
OLYMPICS / Football
Jul 17, 2024

After Tokyo Olympic disappointment, Nadeshiko Japan look for redemption

For many, a disappointing effort on home soil in 2021 was a marker of just how far Japan's women's soccer team had fallen. Now the squad has its sights set on redemption.
Lower House Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga (center) receives a recommendation document from a parliamentary board to improve the Defense Ministry's system of handling of security secrets at parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2024

Parliamentary board to seek improvements over MSDF information handling

In the scandal, many personnel not given security clearance were assigned to roles with access to confidential information.
Former U.S. President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to his vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance, during the second day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 17, 2024

Trump's VP pick signals stronger focus on China

J.D. Vance represents a hardening of Trump’s “America First” stance, but could also help push a tougher line on China and support for democratic Taiwan.
A man walks past a store of luxury brand Burberry at a shopping mall in Beijing in 2021.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 17, 2024

Luxury brands feel the sting as Chinese growth slows

China accounted for 16% of $393.8 billion of global luxury spending last year, but the economy grew slower than expected in the last quarter.
The International Monetary Fund lowered its 2024 growth estimate for Japan by 0.2 point to 0.7%, citing temporary production suspensions at some automakers over their vehicle test cheating, as well as weak private investment.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 17, 2024

IMF cuts Japan's growth forecast, upbeat on consumption prospects

The IMF says it expects Japan's economy to expand 0.7% this year, down 0.2 percentage point from its forecast in April, after an 1.9% increase in 2023.
PwC is considering slashing up to half its financial services auditing staff in China and about 20% of its staff in other auditing teams and nonauditing business lines.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2024

PwC weighs halving of China financial services audit staff, say sources

The firm has 781 partners and nearly 19,000 employees in mainland China as of last September.
Unionists hold a rally in Tokyo in April. Households' real cash earnings have been falling year on year for more than two years, with the weakening of the yen making the situation only more difficult as prices of imported goods increase rapidly.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 17, 2024

Japan’s minimum wage might not budge much if corporate fears prevail

While households desperately need a big raise, smaller businesses might not be in a position to handle an increase as they struggle with the weak yen.
Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi holds a news conference at the Diet on July 2.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 17, 2024

Speculation rising over possible end to Yamaguchi's Komeito reign

Natsuo Yamaguchi, 72, is currently serving his eighth term as Komeito chief.
This undated handout picture from NASA released on Wednesday shows the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover assembled inside a cleanroom at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2024

NASA cancels lunar rover after spending $450 million building it

NASA's scrapped rover was intended to explore the moon's south pole in search of ice and other resources.
Brokers such as Nomura are busy handling transactions for the offloading of cross-shareholdings among Japanese companies, which bring in hefty fees.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2024

Block trades herald $5 billion fee windfall for Japan’s brokers

Pressure to improve corporate governance is leading firms to whittle down an estimated ¥50 trillion ($320 billion) they hold in companies with which they do business.
Visitors take photos of a tunnel of roses at Yokohama English Garden on Wednesday in Yokohama.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 18, 2024

Japan’s summer travel spending soars despite economic pressures

Households plan to spend the most in six years this summer as more people aim to travel despite rising inflation and a weakening yen.
France's Sarah Leonie Cysique battles Uzbekistan's Shukurjon Aminova at the Paris Grand Slam at Accor Arena on Feb. 2.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Jul 18, 2024

How France embraced judo and became a martial arts powerhouse

The country has embraced the Japanese martial art to the point where it may be more popular in France than in Japan.
A pumped energy storage facility and a wind turbine at Kibbutz Maale Gilboa, Israel, on July 9
WORLD
Jul 18, 2024

How 'energy islands' could help Israel build resilience for wartime

Israel's microgrid pilot, which will be complete sometime in the next year or two, will run in parallel to large stockpiles of diesel, coal and generators.
More Japanese firms have gone bankrupt in the first half of this year due to soaring costs, labor shortages and the end of pandemic-related support.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2024

Triple whammy takes Japan bankruptcies to decade high

Soaring costs, labor shortages and the end of pandemic-related financial support are taking a heavy toll on smaller businesses.
A loggerhead sea turtle hatches eggs on a beach in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 29, 2024

Aichi sea turtle researchers assess risks of warmer nesting sites

The warmer the nest is, the more likely hatchlings will be female — that bodes ill for the survival of the marine species.
Myanmar's military marks the 72nd Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar on March 27, 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 18, 2024

Thai government to meet banks over alleged transactions for Myanmar arms

Thailand's central bank may collaborate with international and local agencies to create a database on companies linked to Myanmar's junta.
A solar farm in Shilin, China. Last year, China installed more solar panels than the United States has in its entire history.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 19, 2024

Why the era of China’s soaring carbon emissions might be ending

The biggest factor in the shift is changes to how China produces its electricity.
A passerby holding a parasol wipes her face as she walks on the street amid a heatstroke alert in Tokyo and other prefectures, in Tokyo on July 9.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Boiling Point
Jul 19, 2024

How to prevent and respond to heatstroke in Japan this summer

Staying hydrated and controlling the rise in one's body temperature are the fundamental ways for preventing and alleviating heat-related illnesses.
The Aichi Prefectural Police headquarters in Nagoya. Aichi Prefectural Police have arrested a 33-year-old woman and her common-law husband on suspicion of assaulting and causing the death of her 7-year-old daughter.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 19, 2024

Mother and partner arrested over 7-year-old girl’s death

The girl, who died in May from septic shock, had been temporarily taken into protective custody twice between 2022 and 2023.
A group of Chinese tourists walks through the Ginza district of Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 19, 2024

Japan sees more tourists than before pandemic, breaking half-year record

The weak yen is attracting large crowds to Japan, with many tourists splashing out.
China's official app for digital yuan is seen on a mobile phone next to 100-yuan banknotes
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2024

Trump’s disdain for digital dollar risks ‘Cold War era’ in money

His vow to never allow the dollar to be digitized may turn money into a new front in Trump's trade war with China.
Self-Defense Forces soldiers walk past a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile unit in Tokyo in October 2017.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2024

U.S.-Japan Patriot missile production plan hits Boeing component snag

The plan to boost production by the U.S. ally is being delayed by a shortage of a critical component manufactured by Boeing.

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