Search - 2023

 
 
Prices continue to outpace wage increases in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 9, 2025

Real wages fall for a fourth month, squeezing Japanese households further

Inflation-adjusted real wages dropped 0.3% from a year earlier in November as some food prices and utility rates increased.
A busy street in Tokyo on Dec. 30. The number of influenza patients per clinic, on average, in the final week of December was the highest since health ministry records began in 1999.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 10, 2025

Japan's health ministry reports record-high flu cases

In the week through Dec. 29, the total number of reported flu cases was nearly three times the number from the same period in 2023.
In November, BlackRock and rivals were sued by Texas and 10 other Republican-led states that claimed their activism cut coal production and boosted energy prices.
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2025

BlackRock quits climate group as Wall Street lowers environmental profile

The world's biggest asset manager is the latest Wall Street firm to depart an environmentally focused investor group under pressure from Republican politicians.
A government minister has said the acquisition of 7-Eleven by foreign capital is majorly related to economic security.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 10, 2025

Japan to consider 'economic security' in 7-Eleven takeover

Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa highlighted the role Japan's convenience stores can play in times of crisis, such as after major earthquakes.
Otono Kuboki, a Japanese Canadian hair stylist for salon chain Sozo, is a key figure in the company's mission to elevate the viability of Japan's hairdressing industry to foreign residents.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 11, 2025

Can an international makeover help Tokyo salons meet foreign demand?

Sozo Education aims to train Tokyo’s next crop of stylists not just in English vocabulary related to hairdressing but in the diverse needs of foreign hair types.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya speaks at the Foreign Ministry in December.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 10, 2025

Japan's top envoy to visit the Philippines next week

The Philippines and Japan are longtime allies of the United States, which has been strengthening its alliances with regional partners in recent years.
An official participates in the investigation at the site where a Jeju Air aircraft crashed and burst into flames, at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on Jan 2.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jan 10, 2025

South Korea jet crash puts fast-growing Jeju Air's safety under scrutiny

Jeju Air flies its planes more than any other major airline in South Korea, and also outpaces most global peers such as Ireland's Ryanair and Malaysia's AirAsia.
Japan aims for nuclear power to make up 20% of its energy mix by 2040. However, the restart of the country's reactors is complicated by issues such as local opposition, as is the case for the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 10, 2025

Robust new nuclear target for Japan is shrouded in uncertainty

A new plan envisions nuclear power making up 20% of Japan's energy mix by 2040. But hurdles to reactor restarts and rising electricity demand cast a shadow on such ambitions.
“The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic” centers on three teenage protagonists who are transported into a fantasy world where they must grapple with a foreign culture.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 11, 2025

Isekai anime offers a key to understanding globalization

The fantastical genre wherein characters are dropped into unlikely worlds — and sometimes bodies — can be read as an allegory for the structure of the contemporary anime industry.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya visits the Saint Michael's Cathedral, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 11, 2025

Top Japanese diplomat to visit Seoul to shore up ties amid political chaos

Iwaya, who will be the first Japanese foreign minister to visit Seoul in seven years, will meet with his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul and Acting President Choi Sang-mok.
The record high reflected strong corporate demand for working capital amid rising raw materials prices and the yen's weakening, as well as brisk capital investment mainly by large companies.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 11, 2025

Japan bank lending hits record high at end of 2024

Outstanding bank lending in Japan stood at a record high of ¥605.8 trillion at the end of 2024, up 4.4% from a year before, according to industry data.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson drops back to pass during a game against the Giants on Dec. 15.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 11, 2025

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson leads NFL All-Pro team selections

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen trailed Jackson with 18 first-place votes, with Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow nabbing two.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba extends for a handshake with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto after giving a press statement following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Indonesia, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 11, 2025

Indonesian and Japanese leaders agree to boost defense and energy ties

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba became the first foreign leader to visit Indonesia this year, meeting President Prabowo Subianto a day after visiting neighboring Malaysia.
Yuzuru Hanyu smiles during an interview in his hometown of Sendai in between performances of his latest tour, Ice Story.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Jan 11, 2025

30 minutes with Yuzuru Hanyu

The two-time Olympic champion exited the competitive arena in 2022. His overall career goal — to make spectators say "wow" — has not changed.
Ekkalak Paenoi, a suspect in the assassination of former Cambodian politician Lim Kimya, is escorted by police officers in Bangkok on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 12, 2025

Thai suspect confesses to killing Cambodian ex-lawmaker

A Thai man suspected of killing a former Cambodian opposition lawmaker in Bangkok confessed to the crime in a livestream video.
Climate scientists say that global warming is making extreme weather events more frequent and intense.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 13, 2025

2024 hottest recorded year, crossed global warming limit

Excess heat is supercharging extreme weather, and 2024 saw countries all over the world suffer disasters that cost more than $300 billion.
Lantoko, a company operated by Taiwan native Ping-Fang Lan, offers drift ice walking tours and other exhilarating experiences in and around Shiretoko National Park.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 13, 2025

Due north: Foreign-born guides introduce Hokkaido’s unique charms

With adventure tourism on the rise in Hokkaido, a new generation of foreign-born guides is eager to greet travelers.
Attendees walk through the main entrance during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 13, 2025

Tech sector's energy transition draws attention at Vegas show

Data centers accounted for 4.4% of U.S. electricity needs in 2023, a figure that is likely to rise to 12% by 2028, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Shunsuke Nakamori pitches at Zozo Marine Stadium last season.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Jan 13, 2025

Marines will need other pitchers to step up after Roki Sasaki departs for MLB

The Marines — if they have not already — will be forced to accept a new reality where their starting rotation is not headed by one of the best young pitchers in the world.
Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor may launch a joint bid for United States Steel after Nippon Steel's bid was blocked by U.S. President Joe Biden earlier this month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 14, 2025

Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor consider joint bid for U.S. Steel

An offer would involve Cleveland-Cliffs acquiring most of U.S. Steel and Nucor taking its so-called mini-mill assets, a source says.
Tyson Fury during a heavyweight world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh on Dec. 22
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jan 14, 2025

Is retirement really the end of the road for Tyson Fury?

Fury has previously announced his exit on a number of occasions, most recently in April 2022.
Smoke plumes rise from explosions above destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 14, 2025

Final draft of Gaza truce deal shown to sides after 'breakthrough'

Both sides are "closer than we've ever been" to a deal, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
People hold an anti-Japan rally in Seoul in July 2019 following Tokyo's decision to tighten controls on exports to South Korea.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2025

North Korea incited anti-Japan sentiment in the South

North Korea aimed to fan the flames of anti-Japanese sentiment over issues like wartime labor and the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
A man stops at a site near a sports center in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China, where a deadly car attack in November killed 35 people.  
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 14, 2025

China's rising violence that could lead to foreign aggression

While China does have social welfare programs, the current economic system provides insufficient resources for the working class and unemployed individuals.
Cleveland-Cliffs is reportedly in talks with North Carolina-based steelmaker Nucor to acquire U.S. Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 14, 2025

Japan avoids commenting on Cleveland-Cliffs CEO's provocative comment

Lourenco Goncalves’ remarks over Nippon Steel’s takeover bid for U.S. Steel and description of Japan as being "evil" stunned many in Tokyo.
Special Counsel Jack Smith holds a press conference announcing the indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump, in Washington on Aug. 1, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 14, 2025

Special counsel report says Trump would have been convicted in election case

The report amounts to an extraordinary rebuke of the incoming president.
The number of corporate bankruptcies with liabilities of ¥10 million or more in Japan last year marked the third consecutive year of increases as rising prices due to the yen's weakening and labor shortages caused business failures in a wide range of industries.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 14, 2025

Japan business failures top 10,000 in 2024, worst in 11 years

The annual figure marked the third consecutive year of increases as rising prices due to the yen's weakening and labor shortages caused business failures.
Mori Building has been offering yoga and body stretch programs in the shared common space of its Azabudai Hills complex in Tokyo's Minato Ward for workers of tenant firms.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 15, 2025

Realtors offer healthy options for office workers of tenant firms

Many companies have learned that preparing a workplace environment in which their employees can stay healthy is key to securing talent.
The flag of Greenland flutters at the Inussivik hall in Nuuk in 2021.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 15, 2025

Why does Trump want Greenland and could he get it?

Greenland's strategic location and resources could benefit the U.S.
Naomi Osaka hits a return during her second round win over Karolina Muchova on Wednesday at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
TENNIS
Jan 15, 2025

Osaka gets 'revenge' on Muchova in Australian Open fightback

The Japanese star, who won in Melbourne in 2019 and 2021, dropped the first set against 20th seed Karolina Muchova before winning 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami