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Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
May 16, 2022

Keeping history alive, Okinawa group tells of wartime student nurses

In the pitch darkness of Nunumachi Gama, 16- and 17-year-old girls were forced to work as student nurses during the Battle of Okinawa, 77 years ago.
LDP lawmaker Keisuke Suzuki, who heads a task force on the possible revision of the political funds control law, speaks during a meeting at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 13, 2024

LDP eyeing political funds law revision talks without own idea

Behind the envisaged law revision is a high-profile slush funds scandal involving members of the LDP.
LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi and election strategy committee chair Yuko Obuchi speak to reporters in Tokyo on April 2.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 15, 2024

By-elections to determine Kishida’s fate within LDP

Losing in the Shimane No. 1 district, long an LDP stronghold, would mark a major blow to the prime minister.
People listen to a campaign speech in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 16, 2024

Unpacking the chaotic by-election in a scandal-hit Tokyo district

The residents of Tokyo's No. 15 district — which corresponds to the city’s southeastern Koto Ward — will head to the polls for the third time in a year.
Students continue to maintain a protest encampment in support of Palestinians at Columbia University in New York on Friday.
WORLD / Society
Apr 27, 2024

Columbia University leadership rebuked for police crackdown on protesters

The president has faced an outcry for summoning police to dismantle a tent encampment set up by students protesting Israel's offensive in Gaza.
When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Apr 29, 2024

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

Among official records in Japan, the "koseki" is key to discovering where you came from. However, it's not without controversy.
A pack of dietary supplements designated by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical as a functional food.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 30, 2024

Japan panel reviewing 'functional foods' label system

The system has been criticized for leaving it entirely up to functional food makers to guarantee the safety of their products.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda holds a news conference after a policy meeting at the BOJ's headquarters in Tokyo on March 19.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 2, 2024

BOJ saw need to let markets drive yields upon March exit: minutes

The bank ended eight years of negative interest rates and its bond yield control at its March policy meeting.
Having succeeded her father, Akira Mori, Miwako Date has been CEO of real estate development firm Mori Trust since 2016.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
May 19, 2024

Leading a major property developer with an eye on art and culture

Third-generation CEO Miwako Date is making her mark with Mori Trust's regional luxury hotels.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Chinese President Xi Jinping hold a joint news conference at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 10, 2024

Xi uses Europe visit to slow continent’s ‘de-risking’ from China

Closer ties with Hungary and Serbia serve to benefit Beijing politically and economically as they help sustain its waning footprint in the region.
Rui Machida in action for Japan against France at the Tokyo Games in Saitama in August 2021
BASKETBALL
May 21, 2024

Japanese basketball star Rui Machida fights for Olympic spot

With many rivals jockeying for a spot on the 12-member roster, her selection is far from certain.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a meeting of his Likud party faction at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 21, 2024

ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas leaders

The ICC prosecutor said he had reasonable grounds to believe the men "bear criminal responsibility" for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan attends a meeting with Venezuela's National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez (not pictured) at the Federal Legislative Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela April 22, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
May 23, 2024

Why a prosecutor went public with arrest warrant requests for Hamas and Israeli leaders

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan accused Netanyahu and his defense minister of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Firefighters work at the site of an agriculture equipment factory in Kharkiv, Ukraine, hit by a Russian air strike on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2024

EU nations fume over Hungary’s vetoes of Ukraine weapons aid

As long as Hungary continues to block the disbursement of funding for military weapons donated to Ukraine, the bloc can’t use the money to help Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West that NATO members in Europe were playing with fire by proposing to let Kyiv use Western weapons to strike deep inside Russia, something he said could trigger a global conflict.
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2024

Think tank close to Kremlin says Russia should consider a 'demonstrative' nuclear explosion

The idea was suggested as a way to cow the West into refusing to allow Ukraine to use its arms against targets inside Russia.
The World Health Organization's headquarters in Geneva
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 2, 2024

WHO countries prolong talks on pandemic accord

Despite increasing momentum in recent months, only 17 of the draft agreement's articles had been fully approved by countries by the deadline.
The BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 7, 2024

Philippines accuses China of 'barbaric' blocking of medical evacuation

The incident, which the Philippines said took place last month, involved a member of a small contingent of marines posted at the flashpoint Second Thomas Shoal.
A monitor shows the GPS tracking of balloons built by a Seoul-based activist group that are designed to distribute anti-Pyongyang messages over North Korean territory, in Seoul on June 3.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 11, 2024

Seoul activists develop 'smart balloons' to send into North Korea

The aim is to drop cargoes deeper into North Korea, including over Pyongyang.
Leaders of six major countries hold a joint news conference following an inaugural summit held in the Parisian suburb of Rambouillet in November 1975.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 12, 2024

G7 becomes political playmaker; major nations to hold 50th summit

The world's major democracies are set to hold their 50th summit, a milestone for the framework.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the media outside of the West Wing of the White House in Washington on Monday following a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 18, 2024

NATO chief says more members to hit 2% of GDP defense spending target

With Russia making gains in Ukraine and tensions between China and the West escalating, a record 23 NATO member states will hit the target this year.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 19, 2024

BOJ’s minutes show debate on rate hikes with close eyes on yen

The minutes signal the potential for a BOJ rate hike as early as July even as market speculation for such a move has cooled somewhat.
In his 14 years as prime minister, Viktor Orban has become expert in playing hardball with Brussels and has repeatedly wielded his veto to get more EU funds.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

Will Hungary hijack the EU during its presidency?

Officials and diplomats fret that one major victim of Hungary's six months in charge will be EU support for Ukraine as it battles Russia's invading forces.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has not yet formally announced whether he will seek another three-year term as party president.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

Pressure mounting on Kishida within LDP to give up on reelection

Veterans fear the LDP — under Kishida — will lose control of the government in a general election, while younger members don't want an unpopular president leading them.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida listens during a news conference in Tokyo on June 2.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 29, 2024

Kishida marks 1,000 days in office — but how much longer can he hold on?

With the milestone, Kishida became the country's eighth PM to reach the mark since the end of World War II.
Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a panel meeting on economic security information at the Prime Minister's Office last week.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 2, 2024

Takaichi gearing up for LDP presidential election this autumn

The economic security minister is set to deliver a speech in Tokyo on July 16, followed by ones in Miyagi on July 21, Okinawa on July 28 and in Hyogo on Aug. 3.
An interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, on June 6
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2024

Interim storage facility for nuclear fuel nears completion in Aomori

The site is expected to play a key role in Japan's efforts to establish a nuclear fuel cycle, but residents are concerned the temporary facility will become permanent.
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview at The Hague, in the Netherlands, in February.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 6, 2024

ICC prosecutor opted for warrants over visit to Gaza

The sudden cancellation of a planned visit to the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and Ramallah has angered Washington and London.
Brazilian Economy Minister Fernando Haddad arrives for a news conference during a break at the Group of 20 finance chiefs' meeting session in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 27, 2024

G20 pledges to work together to tax ultrarich

The topic of tackling tax-dodging billionaires dominated the two-day meeting in the Brazilian city, which will host the next G20 summit in November.
The United Nations headquarters building is pictured though a window with the U.N. logo in the foreground in New York in 2014.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 29, 2024

U.N. cybercrime treaty faces new scrutiny

After seven negotiating sessions to date, criticism of the text has increased.
Takayuki Kobayashi has been elected to the Lower House four times and served in Cabinet posts, including as the country's first economic security minister.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 4, 2024

Some in LDP pushing Takayuki Kobayashi, 49, to enter leadership race

Could the youthful former economic security minister help convince voters that the party is making efforts to reform itself following a high-profile scandal?

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji