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ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Sep 15, 2021

North Korean missiles land in Japan EEZ as nuclear threat grows

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has condemned the launches, the second test-firing in less than a week, as an “outrageous threat to peace and security in the region.'
MORE SPORTS
Aug 11, 2021

Surfer Kanoa Igarashi braces himself for a bright future post-Olympics

Igarashi will have time to admire his Olympic silver medal later. For now, the World Surf League rankings are calling.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 20, 2021

Pandemic shows Japan needs to figure out how to learn and prepare

Last-minute efforts to deal with COVID-19 vaccinations highlight a national lack of strategy and foresight.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 13, 2021

Israel-Gaza crisis drags Biden into vortex he sought to avoid

Biden had been trying to pivot America's foreign policy to China, revive the Iran nuclear deal and wind down America's 'forever wars.”
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2021

Is the G7 foreign ministers’ joint communique worth reading?

Although China was singled out in the foreign ministers' communique this year, the matter of China was just one of many important issues also mentioned.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 5, 2021

A path to end 70 years of India-Pakistan bitterness

The Feb. 25 announcement between India and Pakistan is significant. What adds greater salience is the present context in which the new ceasefire was announced.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 2, 2021

Protecting democracy in a free and open Indo-Pacific

Japan and Australia need to team up with the United States and the United Kingdom to shore up values and ideals in the region.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2021

Japan and U.S. reach agreement on cost of hosting American troops

The one-year deal, in which Japan will shoulder about u00a5200 billion — roughly in line with the previous year — is widely seen as a temporary measure.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Dec 31, 2020

Japan Times 1996: Murayama to step down

A prime minister steps aside after being blamed for a series of blunders related to the previous year's catastrophes.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 11, 2020

The expectations of Joe Biden's administration differ from country to country

The U.S., Japan and their allies must compete with China, not each other.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha pose for a photograph after signing a memorandum of understanding during a NATO foreign ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 4, 2024

Ukraine pushes for NATO membership as allies sidestep call for invite

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said an invitation would remove one of Russia's main arguments for waging its war: preventing its entry into the alliance.
Environmental activist Paul Watson waves after getting released from prison in Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2024

Japan 'regrets' release of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson

The 74-year-old Canadian-American activist was released after Copenhagen turned down Tokyo's request to bring him to Japan.
Rivers and canals meander through many of the townships in Ningbo, with some homes built close to the water.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 19, 2024

Can China shield the biggest uninsured economy from floods?

Only about 10% of Chinese families have a home insurance policy, compared to nearly 90% in the U.S.
Self-Defense Force members march in formation at Camp Asaka, which straddles Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, during a ceremony on Nov. 9.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 21, 2024

Japan ready to improve working conditions for SDF members

Improving working conditions for the members "is a serious challenge" for his administration, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a meeting of relevant Cabinet ministers.
Elon Musk walks through Capitol Hill on the day of a meeting with Senate Republican Leader-elect John Thune in Washington on Dec. 5.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 29, 2024

Trump sides with Musk in rightwing row over worker visas

Trump's calls to slash immigration were central to his election victory but Big Tech says the U.S. produces too few highly skilled graduates.
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 4.
WORLD
Dec 31, 2024

As Gaza suffers, experts call on hunger monitor to redefine famine

Many food-security experts, aid workers and doctors say famine took hold in Gaza many months ago.
Donald Trump, then the Republican nominee for U.S. president, meets with Ukrainian Persident Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York on Sept. 27 last year.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 2, 2025

U.S. wants Ukraine to hold elections following a ceasefire, says Trump envoy

Volodymyr Zelenskyy's five-year term was supposed to end in 2024 but polls cannot be held under martial law, which Ukraine imposed in February 2022.
Elementary and junior high school students study online at Free School Mirai in the city of Nagano.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Mar 17, 2025

Schools face challenges in evaluating students not attending classes

There is concern that assessing students through grades may run counter to supporting those who cannot attend school.
South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun speaks during an interview on Feb. 27 in Seoul.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2025

South Korean lawmakers to visit Osaka Expo

Lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun said he will encourage South Koreans to visit Japan for the expo.
Women's March Tokyo, a demonstration march against sexual violence and discrimination against women, is held on International Women's Day in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on March 8.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2025

Women remain underrepresented in Japan's news industry

Correcting the gender gap is an urgent issue in the industry, with such a change expected to bring women's perspectives to newsrooms.
Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda competes during the qualifying session of the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 5, 2025

Tsunoda struggles in first qualifying with Red Bull as Verstappen takes pole

Tsunoda will start 14th at Suzuka Circuit on Sunday after a scruffy lap in the second qualifying stage, while his teammate grabbed a surprise pole.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani speaks to reporters in Tokyo on April 11.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2025

Japan defense chief says 'no reason' to change current U.S. troop deal

Gen Nakatani said that spending “is appropriately shared between the Japanese and U.S. governments based on mutual agreement, with a set time frame.”
U.S. President Donald Trump faces the enormous challenge of implementing the cavalcade of executive orders he has enacted.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2025

‘Welcome to the Thunderdome’: Inside the dizzying start of Trump 2.0

The administration's breakneck speed is both one of the administration’s most effective tools and most glaring vulnerabilities.
Officials and government leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin (center right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (center left) attend a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Victory Day, marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow on May 9.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 9, 2025

Secret Russian intelligence document shows deep suspicion of China

Some officials believe Beijing is trying to recruit Russian spies and steal sensitive military tech, at times by luring disaffected Russian scientists.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 10, 2025

Ishiba agrees to strengthen ties with South Korea's Lee in call

Reaffirming the significance of bilateral ties, the two leaders agreed to meet in person to further develop relations.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer would have little choice but to provide military support to the U.S. should it decide to strike Iran, security experts say.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2025

Why a remote U.K. base makes the U.S.-Iran standoff so difficult for Starmer

The standoff drew a fresh spotlight on a remote Indian Ocean base controlled by Britain that has long provided a key staging point for American bombers.
A Buddhist monk performs a ceremony for lost souls at a property which is classified as a <i>jiko bukken</i>, or a "misfortunate property" where deaths have occurred, in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on May 8.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 1, 2025

As property prices soar in Japan, the taint of death may not deter some buyers

Investors attracted by potential high yields increasingly do not care about a property's grim history, mostly because they are unlikely to live there themselves.
A Self-Defense Forces tank unit takes part in parade at Camp Asaka, near Tokyo, in October 2018. The percentage of GDP spent on defense is a politically convenient but flawed metric that oversimplifies the complex realities of alliance management.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 2, 2025

In the Trump era, how much should countries really be spending on defense?

In truth, the “percentage of GDP” approach is a political one, not a practical one
Japanese households are struggling to keep up with price increases as salary growth lags.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 7, 2025

Real wages fall for fifth straight month in May

The 2.9% decline was the biggest fall in inflation-adjusted pay in Japan in almost two years.
In an effort to move past its troubled legacy, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical has replaced its president twice and appointed an external chairman.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jul 8, 2025

Despite leadership changes, Kobayashi Pharma still struggling with reform

The Osaka-based company has replaced its president twice and appointed an external chairman, seeking to reduce the influence of the founding family seen as a cause of the scandal.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell