Search - about-us

 
 
Grown in the town of Moroyama in Saitama Prefecture, Katsuragi yuzu is believed to be Japan's oldest cultivated yuzu variety.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 22, 2025

The juicy tale of Saitama's prized yuzu

Locals are supporting the country’s oldest cultivation of the Japanese citrus via creative ways like ownership schemes and turning the fruit into various sips and savories.
An employee welds lithium batteries in Verrieres-en-Anjou, western France, on June 10.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2025

Europe's lithium quest hampered by China and lack of cash

The bloc's broader energy security and climate goals could depend on securing a steady supply of the key mineral, used in batteries and other clean energy supply chains.
The United Nations Security Council holds a vote during a meeting on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the bodies headquarters in New York on Feb. 24.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jun 26, 2025

Democracy shouldn’t be used as an ideological weapon

The democracy-vs-autocracy framing has widened the divide between democratic countries — “us” — and Russia and its allies — “them.”
Investigators say the group chat members were using pseudonyms to hide their identities, suggesting they were largely unaware of each other’s true backgrounds.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 27, 2025

Teachers sharing indecent photos of girls in a group chat elicits outrage in Japan

The coordinated voyeurism of the teachers came as a strong shock, undermining people's confidence in those in the role.
Hamas militants carry grenade launchers at the funeral of Marwan Issa, a senior Hamas deputy military commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike during the conflict between Israel and Hamas, amid a ceasefire between the two sides, in the central Gaza Strip, in February.
WORLD / FOCUS
Jun 28, 2025

Battling to survive, Hamas faces defiant clans and doubts over Iran

Hamas fighters are operating autonomously under orders to hold out as long as possible but the Islamist group is struggling to maintain its grip.
A front-page article from July 1950 reported that Kyoto's historic Kinkakuji had been "totally razed" in a fire.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jul 5, 2025

Japan Times 1950: Kyoto’s ‘Golden Temple’ burns to the ground

The historic Kinkakuji was destroyed in an act of arson in July 1950, a shocking event that would serve as the inspiration for a novel by Yukio Mishima.
Blue Impulse, the Air Self-Defense Force's aerobatic team, performs ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, in September 2023.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2025

ASDF's Blue Impulse to perform for Osaka Expo on July 12 and 13

The aerobatic team will also fly over top tourism sites in the city and the 1970 Expo site in nearby Suita.
Andriy Ilkiv, head of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Department of the National Police in Lviv Oblast, shows his prosthetic leg against the backdrop of the GCS-200 demining complex near the village of Zaliman, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on May 2.
WORLD
Jul 3, 2025

Demining Ukraine: from drones to risking it with a rake

The drones which have revolutionized the way war is fought in Ukraine may also now become a game-changer in demining the country.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila in February.
WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 5, 2025

Under pressure, Hezbollah weighs scaling back its arsenal

The internal discussions, which aren't yet finalized, reflect the formidable pressures the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group has faced since a truce was reached in late November.
Private companies are rushing into risky, profit-driven geoengineering projects to fight climate change without clear regulations, raising fears of dangerous unintended consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2025

Geoengineering’s risks need to be studied more

With for-profit organizations already releasing chemicals into the oceans, it’s important for scientists with no financial stake in this industry to collect data.
Switzerland's Alayah Pilgrim celebrates after scoring her team's second goal against Iceland in their UEFA Women's Euro 2025 Group A match in Bern, Switzerland, on Sunday.
SOCCER
Jul 7, 2025

Swiss beat Iceland 2-0 to keep alive Women's Euro knockout hopes

Iceland became the first team to be eliminated from the competition.
Fluminense's Thiago Silva before the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinal match against Al Hilal in Orlando, Florida, on Friday.
SOCCER
Jul 7, 2025

Youthful Chelsea ready for Thiago Silva reunion at Club World Cup

Silva initially made his name at Fluminense, and returned to the side upon leaving Chelsea.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (background center) talks with local farmers in Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture, on Friday. The candidates of the Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan are set to go head-to-head for the seat there.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 9, 2025

Districts with single contested seat hold promise of success in Upper House vote

Both the ruling and opposition parties are directing a large part of their election campaign efforts to seats in such constituencies.
China’s economy shows signs of a possible recovery despite structural challenges and imperfect GDP data, but its future growth and global impact hinge on trade relations with the U.S. and how economic progress is measured.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2025

Taking GDP out of the China equation

There are problems with looking at China’s vitality through the GDP lens — the data is widely perceived to be finessed by officials
Brave Blossoms head coach Eddie Jones will be relying on an inexperienced lineup again as Japan looks to beat Wales for a second time on Saturday in Kobe.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jul 10, 2025

Jones urges Brave Blossoms to 'create history' against Wales

The Brave Blossoms came from behind to beat the Welsh last weekend and they are now looking to claim consecutive wins over a Tier One country for the first time.
Members of the Kokugakuin University ōendan cheer group perform during a competition between university cheerleading squads in Tokyo on June 3.
SPORTS
Jul 23, 2023

Japan's macho cheerleaders fight to save a tradition

Dressed in old-fashioned, school-style uniforms, cheering squads are a mass of black at college baseball games as they shout out chants and bang taiko drums.
Aoi Suzuki’s son runs past a home in Taketomi on Iriomote Island (not to be confused with Taketomi Island, which lies to the east of Iriomote). The Suzukis run the Takemori Inn, one of the few hotels on Iriomote.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Aug 14, 2023

My annual pilgrimage to Okinawa

Navigating between different ferries can open up whole new worlds in Japan's southernmost islands.
Tottori Gov. Shinji Hirai (left) with Shinsuke Nakajima, executive chef at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo
ESG CONSORTIUM
Aug 18, 2023

Tottori, home of premium wagyu, offers great diversity of delicacies

Western Japan’s Tottori Prefecture, lying on the Sea of Japan and boasting the famous Mount Daisen and other peaks, has been a major beef-producing area since the Edo Period. Japan’s least populous prefecture is blessed with rich nature and clean air, abundant groundwater and high-quality straw —...
Women work in a warehouse in on the outskirts of Chennai, India.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 5, 2023

India's women gig workers organize with WhatsApp and secret meetings

Once seen as promising greater autonomy and higher earnings for women in India, the system is now riddled with issues.
Attendees view "Lizard and Cigarette" by He Xiangyu during Art Basel in Hong Kong in March.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 11, 2023

Pace Gallery's Marc Glimcher surveys an Asian art scene in flux

The art market in Asia is growing increasingly competitive, with a new space in Tokyo for the New York-headquartered gallery adding to that dynamic.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves as he departs by train from Pyongyang for a visit to Russia in this image released Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 12, 2023

North Korea's Kim arrives in Russia for talks with Putin

Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia aboard his luxury armored train Tuesday, with a possible arms deal likely at the top of the meeting's agenda.
Teacher Tarna Andrews at the local school grounds, ahead of a nationwide referendum on Indigenous issues, in Areyonga, Australia
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Oct 5, 2023

In Australia's outback, Indigenous proposal struggles to inspire

In just over a week, Australians will vote on a referendum on Indigenous issues. However, the very people it is designed to help know little about it.
SOCCER / J. League
Oct 21, 2023

Vissel thrashes Antlers with Daiju Sasaki brace to maintain J1 lead

Kobe stayed four games ahead of defending champion F. Marinos as the J. League moves into its final stretch.
From left: Yusuke Nagai, Taiyo Someya and Kaori Sakakibara formed their band Lamp in 2000, developing a cult following over the years with their own blend of 1960s pop harmonies, ’70s folk craft and ’80s bossa nova brightness.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 3, 2023

The slow and steady rise of Lamp, a cult favorite

With new album 'Dusk to Dawn,' the folk rockers bring light to the new Japanese music canon.
People wearing sun protection gear amid a heat wave walk on a street in Beijing in July.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 3, 2023

Climate's 'Catch-22': Cutting pollution heats up the planet

The removal of air pollution may have had a greater effect on temperatures in some Chinese cities than the warming from greenhouse gases.
A woman and her children at the Minnanouen Kitakagaya community garden in Osaka's Suminoe Ward
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Nov 5, 2023

How simple steps can help alleviate climate anxiety

From gardening to flood-proofing your home, experts say there are simple ways you can ease some of your concern.
Actor Joaquin Phoenix (left), actress Vanessa Kirby and director Ridley Scott arrive for the U.K. premiere of the movie "Napoleon" in London on Nov. 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2023

Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ and our need for historical heroes

The new movie Napoleon' reignites the debate on the role of great individuals in history
In Japan on a scholarship he fought hard for, Oscar Ruto found himself needing to take a break and headed into Tokyo for a weekend of partying.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 27, 2023

'I wasn't always an alcoholic … and then I was'

As the party season draws near, it's important to deal with yearend stress in healthier ways.
Drag queens (from left) Trinity the Tuck, Manila Luzon and Kylie Sonique Love headlined the most recent edition of Opulence, Tokyo's fast-growing drag performance extravaganza.
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 10, 2023

The opulence of Manila Luzon

The Asian American drag queen who rose to stardom after a stint on "RuPaul's Drag Race" pays things forward with her Philippines-based show "Drag Den."
While non-Japanese readers have in recent years been spoiled for choice when it comes to Japanese literature in translation, there is still a wealth of notable works that translators would love to see rendered into English.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 20, 2023

A wish list of hidden gems for Japanese literature lovers

Eight translators reveal their top Japanese books that English readers have yet to enjoy.

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