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Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (second from right) addresses a meeting of the International Group of Eminent Persons for a World without Nuclear Weapons (IGEP) in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 30, 2025

Experts start talks on proposals for NPT review conference

Participants include experts from nuclear powers such as the United States, China and Russia, as well as from non-nuclear states.
Chip startup Rapidus is set to receive as much as ¥802.5 billion in additional subsidies from the government.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 31, 2025

Japan earmarks another ¥802.5 billion for chip startup Rapidus

Rapidus is on track to get a pilot line online in April, executives said last week.
Customers browse Amorepacific cosmetics at the store inside the company's headquarters in Seoul.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 31, 2025

Seoul overtakes Paris in beauty boom with dealmakers rushing in

South Korea last year became the top exporter of cosmetics to the United States, overtaking France, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 1, 2025

As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products

A dramatic reshuffling of Canada's retail shelves illustrates the impact of patriotic consumerism in the country.
According to Aichi police, the body of a woman found in a closet was fully wrapped in cloth and had multiple stab wounds to the neck and shoulder.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 1, 2025

Aichi man arrested after woman's body found in closet

Masaki Eguchi, a resident of the city of Ichinomiya, has admitted to abandoning a body.
According to a survey by international nongovernmental organization Save the Children Japan, 74.6% of respondents said they changed diapers less often when they couldn't buy diapers.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2025

Half of needy households in Japan unable to buy diapers

An inability to buy baby formula has been experienced by 39.6%.
A 37-year-old son of death-row inmate Masumi Hayashi, who goes by the pseudonym of Koji Hayashi, stands in front of the land of the family's previous house in January.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 2, 2025

Family fights for death-row retrial under Japan's 'snail-paced' system

Japan's current retrial system is often labeled the "unopenable door" because the chances of being granted a legal do-over are so slim.
The bus stop sign for the Ghibli Museum at Mitaka Station. The viral trend of AI-generated Ghibli-style images reflects both a longing for comfort in uncertain times and the ongoing debate over AI’s impact on art.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 2, 2025

For a brief moment, everything was Ghibli

ChatGPT will make almost anything Ghibli-ish, but it won’t draw Totoro.
New students of the University of Tokyo attend an entrance ceremony at the Budokan Hall in Tokyo in April 2023.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2025

Half of college students in Japan worry about living costs

Some students have said they refrain from buying things more often than they have previously.
Meta is at the center of accusations of copyright theft from authors over its "LibGen" online library.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 4, 2025

Authors hold London protest against Meta for 'stealing' work to train AI

Writer Gail Renard explained the situation by saying, "If you stole a diamond ring there'd be consequences and there has to be consequences."
A new study questioning human-induced global warming — which claims to be entirely written by Elon Musk's Grok 3 AI — has gained traction online.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 4, 2025

Experts warn 'AI-written' paper is latest spin on climate change denial

The surge of AI in research, despite potential benefits, risks triggering an illusion of objectivity and insight in scientific research, they warn.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi (center) meets with his counterparts from Komeito and the Democratic Party for the People in Tokyo on March 28.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 4, 2025

LDP reels in DPP to win political donation war against CDP

Partnering with the DPP gave the LDP much-needed momentum against the CDP this week, not to mention the votes to pass legislation.
Tokyo Humanities Cafe was launched in 2017 by Laurence Williams (left) and Alex Watson, professors at Sophia and Meiji Universities, respectively.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Apr 7, 2025

Tokyo Humanities Cafe feeds hungry minds

A free quarterly event invites everyone to explore what it means to be human.
An artificial glacier built by local residents during the winter to conserve water for the summer at Pari village in the Kharmang district of Pakistan's mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region are seen on March 18. At the foot of Pakistan's impossibly high mountains whitened by frost all year round, farmers grappling with a lack of water have created their own ice towers. The ice forms in the shape of cones that resemble Buddhist stupas, and act as a storage system — steadily melting throughout spring, when temperatures rise.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 6, 2025

Artificial glaciers boost water supply in northern Pakistan

Warmer winters as a result of climate change has reduced the snowfall and subsequent seasonal snowmelt that feeds the valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan.
A Fuchu expressway entrance in western Tokyo is closed Sunday due to a glitch in the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2025

Tollbooths now operational after ETC malfunction causes mass confusion

It was the first time such a large-scale problem involving the ETC system has occurred since Japanese expressways were privatized in 2005.
Demonstrators gather in support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outside the agency's main campus in Atlanta on March 28.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 8, 2025

Volunteers on 'right side of history' fight Trump data purge

The Trump administration has gutted several federal agencies, fired tens of thousands of employees and altered or deleted thousands of government webpages since taking office.
One of two Chinese soldiers Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said were captured by Ukrainian forces in the country's Donetsk region is seen in this image released Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 9, 2025

In a first, Ukraine captures two Chinese nationals fighting for Russia

The Chinese men were taken captive during fighting on Ukrainian territory in the Donetsk region.
A research team found that brown fat, which encourages the body to burn fat, tended to be more active among those conceived during the colder months, meaning they are less likely to gain weight.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 9, 2025

Japanese team finds people conceived in winter less likely to be overweight

The team analyzed the brown fat of 356 men between the ages of 18 and 29.
Chiharu Shida of Japan in action during the bronze medal match with Nami Matsuyama against Pearly Tan and Muralitharan Thinaah of Malaysia at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France on Aug. 03, 2024
MORE SPORTS / Badminton
Apr 9, 2025

Japanese badminton ace Shida blasts 'stalker' Chinese fans

Shida, who won women's doubles bronze at the Paris Olympics, has a strong following in China partly because of her engagement with the local culture.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and others at a ceremony to encourage regional revitalization support officers on Wednesday at the prime minister's official residence
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 10, 2025

Ishiba names 180 regional revitalization officers

The officers will work in groups of three to help 60 municipalities.
The Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Minnesota off the coast of Western Australia in March
WORLD / Politics
Apr 10, 2025

AUKUS nuclear submarine sale under scrutiny as U.S. tariffs shake Australia

Disappointment that defense ties didn't win Australia exemptions from the U.S. tariffs has put the program under unprecedented public scrutiny.
Signs advertising the upcoming World Expo in Osaka have proliferated in the city's different neighborhood for the past few years.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 11, 2025

I’ve only just come back from Osaka, but I’m ready to hit the Expo

The term “bakari” can be used in several different ways to emphasize and define the limit of a range.
Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Apr 11, 2025

Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.

On a man-made island in Osaka Bay, Japan stages a grand vision of the future — and a quiet test of relevance.
Trading indexes at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. Bets worth millions of dollars placed on a rebound by unidentified options traders shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff pause are drawing scrutiny.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 11, 2025

Well-timed option trades ahead of Trump's tariff pause draw questions

Some unidentified options traders placed bets worth millions of dollars on a rebound minutes before the U.S. president's social media post sent the stock market rallying.
A rescue worker stands in front of a damaged building following a strong earthquake, in Mandalay, Myanmar, on April 3.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 11, 2025

Making money out of a disaster: Fake news and the Myanmar quake

Online schemes prey on the heightened fears and appetite for news that follow any disaster or outbreak of war.
After focusing on cabernet sauvignon in Napa Valley, winemaker Eiji Daniel Akaboshi moved to make pinot noir at the renowned Freeman Vineyard & Winery in Sonoma County.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 13, 2025

In California, a Nikkei vintner finds his heritage and purpose

The discovery of a distant relative's wine legacy in California led winemaker Eiji Daniel Akaboshi to look at his vocation in a new light.
Protestors demand the conviction and imprisonment of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, in Quezon City, Philippines, last month.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 11, 2025

Fake accounts drove Duterte praise and now target Philippine election

New research says around a third of accounts discussing Duterte's arrest on X, mostly praising the former president, were fake.
The survey showed that more children are starting to use social media at an earlier age.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 14, 2025

Two-thirds of fourth to sixth graders in Japan use social media, survey finds

The survey showed that more children are starting to use social media from an earlier age.
Students raise their hands in class in front of fans at an elementary school in Manila on March 21. Last year, heat waves forced millions of children in the Philippines out of school. It was the first time that soaring temperatures had caused widespread class suspensions, prompting a series of changes.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 14, 2025

Early holiday, more fans: Philippines' schools adapt to climate change

Heat waves forced millions of children in the Philippines out of school in 2024, the first time that soaring temperatures had caused widespread class suspensions.
Mori Calliope fan Taylor Jones holds a penstick as fans await entry to the historic venue Hollywood Palladium for a sold-out concert by Virtual YouTuber Mori Calliope.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 14, 2025

Digital divas: Can Japan's virtual YouTuber craze crack America?

VTuber agency Cover Corp. recently opened a U.S. office to accelerate business in North America.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear