Search - 2023

 
 
The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington in 2024. The Justice Department unsealed charges against a dozen Chinese citizens accused of being part of a sophisticated hacking ring that steals data from American businesses and people to sell to the Chinese government and others.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2025

U.S. says China paid hackers to target critics and steal data

The Justice Department has charged 10 Chinese citizens and two government agents for hacks that targeted dissidents, news outlets and American government agencies, among others.
Naomi Osaka hits a shot during her match against Camila Osorio in Indian Wells, California, on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Mar 6, 2025

Naomi Osaka falls in first round at Indian Wells

The four-time Grand Slam champion never looked comfortable against Osorio's dynamic game and piled up unforced errors on a cool evening in the California desert.
Former Executive Vice President Ichiro Takekuro enters the Tokyo High Court for the appellate court ruling in January 2023 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2025

Acquittal of two former Tepco executives to be finalized

The Supreme Court supported the lower courts' decisions that the accident was unpredictable and decided to dismiss an appeal by lawyers acting as prosecutors.
The Eastern District of New York Court Federal Court House in New York on Feb. 5.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2025

Judges face rise in threats as Musk blasts them over rulings

In recent weeks, Musk, congressional Republicans and other top allies of U.S. President Donald Trump have called for the impeachment of some federal judges.
Balboa Port, operated by Panama Ports Company, at the Panama Canal. Conglomerate CK Hutchison, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, has agreed to sell its ports network, including assets along the Panama Canal, to a U.S. consortium led by BlackRock.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 7, 2025

As Trump hails taking back of Panama Canal, Hong Kong Inc. walks tightrope

Firms in the former British colony are increasingly under pressure to shake off any connection with China amid tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Rintaro Sekizuka runs a record store in both London and Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 8, 2025

Tokyo’s vinyl experts say overseas buyers are ‘sustaining the scene’

A weak yen makes rare vinyls a steal for tourists, and locals say it's all part of a circular musical exchange.
A welfare caseworker (Takumi Kitamura) heads down a dangerous path despite trying to do the right thing in “A Bad Summer.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2025

‘A Bad Summer’: A scorching drama of simmering rage and its consequences

Hideo Jojo pushes into forbidden territory and navigates the darker currents of his latest film with assurance.
Globally, women are severely underrepresented among leading roles in cinema, with female directors accounting for just over 10% of the industry in Japan. Achieving gender equality on-set would have far-reaching consequences for the whole of society.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2025

Without women behind the camera, equality stays out of the frame

Cinema isn't only about what stories are told, but who tells them. Overcoming severe underrepresentation, women are reshaping the film industry and cultural narratives.
Following the Nagoya High Court ruling on the same-sex marriage lawsuit, lawyers and others raise banners and boards that read "unconstitutional" and similar statements on Friday in Naka Ward, Nagoya.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025

Nagoya High Court rules not recognizing same-sex marriage unconstitutional

It is the fourth high court ruling in Japan on same-sex marriage, following decisions in Sapporo, Tokyo and Fukuoka.
Trade Minister Yoji Muto speaks during a meeting with steel and aluminum company executives on Feb. 25.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025

Japan to send trade minister Muto to U.S. amid tariff tensions

The visit is set to take place from March 9 to March 11, just before the extra levies on steel and aluminum are expected to kick in on March 12.
Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Akio Isomata (left) and secretary to Sri Lanka's Finance Ministry, Mahinda Siriwardana, attend a joint news conference after the signing of debt restructuring agreements between the two countries in Colombo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025

Sri Lanka signs $2.5 billion debt deal with Japan

Japan said it was granting concessions on a ¥369.45 billion ($2.5 billion) loan under a comprehensive debt treatment plan.
Former Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said Japan must fix "any misunderstanding" held by U.S. President Donald Trump that its central bank was intentionally weakening the yen with monetary policy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025

Japan must fix 'misunderstanding' it is manipulating yen, says ex-BOJ chief Kuroda

Trump said he had told Japan and China they could not continue to reduce the value of their currencies, as doing so would be unfair to the United States.
Iran's Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in the south of the country
WORLD
Mar 9, 2025

Trump administration ends Iraq's waiver to buy Iranian electricity

Trump restored "maximum pressure" on Iran in one of his first acts after returning to office in January.
Toyota will suspend three lines at two plants in Aichi Prefecture on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 9, 2025

Explosion and fire lead Toyota to halt production at two plants in Aichi from Monday

The suspension is believed to be due to the effects of an explosion and fire accident at a plant of Chuo Spring, a Toyota affiliate, on Thursday.
Seven & I Holdings says it has agreed to jointly explore store sell-offs with Alimentation Couche-Tard to address antitrust concerns ahead of a potential merger.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 10, 2025

Shareholder pushes Seven & I to engage with Couche-Tard

The operator of 7-Eleven stores says that it is doing so, and has rebuffed Artisan Partners Asset Management’s assertions of conflicts of interest within the board.
Jewish settlers pray in the Evyatar settler outpost in the northern West Bank last July
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2025

Christians press Trump to clear path for Israel to annex West Bank

Some 80% of white, evangelical Christians voted for President Trump. Now, some want a policy change that could undermine a future Palestinian state.
Excavators to be used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to remove debris from homes destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / FOCUS
Mar 10, 2025

Cascading extreme weather events unleash billions in damages globally

Compound weather, when two or more concurrent events that collectively yield a result worse than if each had occurred on its own, are occurring more frequently.
Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (left) catches a pass for a touchdown over Vikings cornerback Stephon Gilmore during the first half at Lumen Field on Dec. 22, 2024.
SPORTS / Football
Mar 10, 2025

Steelers obtain wide receiver DK Metcalf from Seahawks

Metcalf reportedly will sign a five-year, $150 million deal with the Steelers.
The Ukedo Elementary School Ruins in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, in January. The Fukushima Prefectural Government offers training sessions for new prefectural government recruits to visit the school, the prefecture's sole preserved disaster-hit structure.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2025

14 years on, prefectural governments work to pass on lessons to new hires

Many prefectural officials who were involved in front-line operations in the immediate aftermath of the massive earthquake and tsunami are retiring.
China’s overnight and seven-day repo rates surged in February, while bond investors took losses from a sharp rise in yields.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 10, 2025

‘Impossible trinity’ conundrum has caused a cash crunch in Asia

Countries can’t simultaneously control their currencies, independently set interest rates and allow capital to move freely across borders — something will break or give way.
Every year, there is heightened interest in commemorating the 3/11 disaster around the time of the anniversary. But memorial facilities and operators are increasingly struggling to keep their activities going all year round and as time passes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 10, 2025

Preserving the memory of 3/11 is becoming more difficult

Despite a peak in interest around the 3/11 anniversary, disaster memorial facilities and operators are facing mounting challenges in keeping their activities going as time passes.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at an Upper House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Monday. The opposition's slamming of the Liberal Democratic Party over its position on corporate and group donations, as well as their own divisions over whether to restrict or ban such contributions, cast uncertainty over Ishiba’s hopes of reaching a consensus within the month.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 10, 2025

Opposition parties split on whether to restrict or ban corporate donations

Their division casts uncertainty over Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s hopes of reaching a consensus on the matter within the month ahead of a summer election.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a gathering with the Philippine community in Hong Kong on March 9.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 11, 2025

Former Philippine President Duterte arrested over crimes against humanity

Police in Manila acted on an International Criminal Court warrant tied to Duterte's deadly war on drugs.
Tetsuya Tadano gazes at the school building from the hillside behind Okawa Elementary School on Feb. 7 in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2025

Former students work to turn tsunami-hit elementary school into social hub

One former student felt the school has become increasingly defined solely by the tragedy.
Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole participates in spring training workouts at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida on Feb. 13.
BASEBALL
Mar 11, 2025

Yankees ace Cole to have season-ending elbow surgery

The Yankees confirmed that Cole would have Tommy John surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn right ulnar collateral ligament.
A woman visits a grave in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, on Tuesday on the 14th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Populations in the hardest hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima are sharply falling.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2025

Post-disaster Tohoku struggles with population decline

The number of people aged 20 to 39 in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures fell by about 20% to 30% between 2010 and 2024.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold against the Los Angeles Rams during an NFC wild card game at State Farm Stadium on Jan. 13. Darnold reportedly plans to sign with the Seahawks.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Mar 11, 2025

QB Sam Darnold to sign $100 million contract with Seahawks: reports

Darnold parlayed a career season with the Minnesota Vikings into the largest contract of his career.
A Vietnamese worker harvests tomatoes at a farm in the city of Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, in 2018.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2025

Amid labor shortage, Japan approves guidelines to upskill foreign workers

The new program aims to nurture trainees into skilled workers to motivate them to remain in the country.
A man walks past an electronic board showing the Nikkei 225 index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange along a street in the capital on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 11, 2025

Asian stocks slide as U.S. growth worries grip markets

In Asia, stocks were battered across the board with Japan's Nikkei and Taiwan stocks hitting their lowest levels since September.
Many in Japan are increasingly concerned that under the Trump administration's shifting policies, the U.S. may no longer be a reliable ally, raising fears of a weakened security partnership amid rising threats from China and Russia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 11, 2025

Japan reels from — and steels for — U.S. policy shifts

“What Japan has learned from the Ukraine war is that the era where we could rely entirely on the U.S. is over.”

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.