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Chikako Utsumi holds bottles of Rose Mind at Tenpoichi sake brewer in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Aug 7, 2023

Local Hiroshima sake and beef grow in popularity due to G7

Popular sake Rose Mind has seen its popularity surge since it was served during the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday called the downgrade of the United States' top-tier sovereign credit grade by Fitch Ratings "arbitrary” and "outdated.”
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 2, 2023

U.S. credit rating downgraded from AAA by Fitch 

Fitch Ratings criticized the country’s ballooning fiscal deficits and an "erosion of governance” that have led to repeated debt limit clashes.
Simon Humphries, head of design at Toyota, speaks during the world premier of the new Land Cruiser in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2023

Toyota’s iconic Land Cruiser returns to North America

The world’s biggest carmaker has unveiled three variations of one of its most enduring models, starting at around $50,000.
Jacob Anthony Chansley near the entrance to the Senate after breaching security defenses on Jan. 6, 2021
WORLD
Aug 2, 2023

Who else faced legal consequences after the U.S. Capitol attack?

Numerous people have been convicted at trial or pleaded guilty to crimes after seeking to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden's victory in 2020.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. BOJ Deputy Gov. Shinichi Uchida has said there is still a long way to go before conditions fall into place for the bank to raise its short-term interest rate target.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2023

BOJ tweak not prelude to ultralow rates exit: deputy governor

Shinichi Uchida said there is still a long way to go before the BOJ can raise its short-term interest rate target from the current minus 0.1%.
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown takes a shot against the Miami Heat in the third quarter during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Miami on May 23.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2023

Could Saudi money be coming to the NBA, too?

Jaylen Brown just signed the richest contract in the league’s history, but there’ll probably be an ever bigger deal before long.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, attend a document signing ceremony during the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, in October 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2023

China’s weaponization of race and history

BRICS nations seek a more equitable global architecture that represents the interests of the Global South as China uses race to challenge the West.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene at her ceremonial office in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD
Aug 3, 2023

Mongolia and U.S. to sign 'Open Skies' deal ahead of talks

Deal would also provide easier options for cargo flights between the nations.
People embrace each other as demonstrators for and against the U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down race-conscious student admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina confront each other, in Washington on June 29.
WORLD
Aug 3, 2023

U.S. affirmative action ban spurs changes to college essay prompts

U.S. colleges are set to release their essay prompts this month when the common application used by many schools becomes public.
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph during a match in London in November.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Aug 3, 2023

Jamie Joseph demands focus as Japan face Fiji in World Cup warm-up

Joseph made four changes to the team that beat Tonga 21-16 last week as Japan continues its World Cup preparations.
A downgrade by Fitch Ratings is being viewed as a condemnation of partisan U.S. politics, including the recent debt ceiling standoff and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2023

Fitch’s U.S. downgrade stokes the very fight it warned against

Washington’s hostile political factions have quickly taken up the agency's downgrade of U.S. government debt as a new weapon of political combat.
Akira Amari, Japan's chip czar, has said that funding around one-third of the cost of a chip plant is the norm, and the 50% funding for Japan's first TSMC chip plant was unusually high.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2023

Chip minister hints Japan to fund one-third of second TSMC plant

The subsidies will be part of Japan’s efforts to revive its domestic chipmaking industry, a sector viewed as crucial for growth and economic security.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 3, 2023

Japan's vision of nuke-free world in focus ahead of anniversaries

The tension between Tokyo's lofty goals and realpolitik necessities has made any move toward nuclear disarmament largely elusive.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2023

Seiichi Morimura, 90, who exposed Japan's wartime atrocities, dies

In a book, he detailed gruesome biological experiments on people at a secret Imperial Army site in occupied China before and during World War II.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 4, 2023

Foreign minors born, raised in Japan to be eligible for residency

The move comes in response to a controversial revision to the asylum law that was passed earlier this year.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 4, 2023

Kishida confirms plan to merge My Number and health insurance card

Kishida apologized for the anxiety caused by recent errors and announced a series of steps in the hope of restoring public trust.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 4, 2023

U.N. experts criticize Johnny’s sex abuse investigation

The experts called on the government to do more to investigate decades of suspected abuse against male idols by Johnny Kitagawa.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the White House in Washington last month.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2023

Biden order curbing investment to China expected in coming days

The goal of the order is to prevent U.S. capital and expertise from accelerating the development of tech that would support China's military.
Chinese Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui leaves the headquarters of the Russian Foreign Ministry following talks in Moscow in late May.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 5, 2023

China envoy to attend talks on Ukraine in Saudi Arabia

The talks on a peaceful settlement to the Ukraine war — a forum that excludes Moscow — is a diplomatic coup for Kyiv, the West and the Saudi hosts.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on July 29
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 6, 2023

U.S. prosecutors ask for protective order, citing threatening Trump post

Despite a history of online bullying, Trump’s campaign issued a statement insisting that he was practicing his First Amendment rights.
People ride a boat through a flooded road after Typhoon Doksuri in Zhuozhou, Hebei province, China, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 6, 2023

China floodwater diversions unleash wave of online anger

To protect Beijing from flooding, water is sometimes channeled to so-called 'flood storage areas' — including populated areas.
The Advanced Liquid Processing System, used for treating accumulated contaminated water, is seen during a media tour of the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, on July 21.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 7, 2023

Japan to start Fukushima water release as early as late August

The government will make a final decision on the matter following further internal deliberations and diplomatic discussions with its allies.
Members of a military council that staged a coup attend a rally at a stadium in Niamey, Niger, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 8, 2023

West African leaders to meet on Niger after junta defies deadline

The European Union and United States have welcomed the move, saying it allows more time for mediation.
Hiroyuki Nagai, president and chief executive officer of Rakuten Bank (left), attends the company's listing ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 8, 2023

Rakuten Bank sees edge over rivals once BOJ ends negative rates

Uncertainty remains over when the Bank of Japan will scrap the policy, which has squeezed banks’ lending margins since its introduction seven years ago.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visit an exhibition of military equipment on July 27.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 8, 2023

North Korean hackers breached top Russian missile-maker

Experts say the incident shows how the isolated country will even target its allies in a bid to acquire critical technologies.
Nominal cash earnings for workers in June rose 2.3% from the previous year, decelerating from a revised 2.9% clip in the previous month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2023

Wage growth slowed in June, boosting case for BOJ to hold firm

The unexpected slowdown suggests the labor market may be losing some steam, and clouds prospects for the Bank of Japan’s sustainable inflation goal.
Taiwanese singer Chang Hui-mei — also known as "A-Mei" — poses with her mother (second from left) on the red carpet in Taipei in 2016.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 8, 2023

Chinese fans barred from wearing rainbows at gay-friendly show

Being gay, bisexual or transgender is increasingly seen by some in China as a concept imported from the West.
Kyushu Kumamoto Plant, which received a platinum certification. | SUNTORY
ESG CONSORTIUM
Aug 8, 2023

Suntory replenishes a century of water stewardship

Born and raised in Naples, Oliviero Morelli joined MSC Cruises in 2004, and 11 years later became president of MSC Cruises Japan.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2023

Nuke ban treaty still out of reach as Japan marks atomic bombings

Japan, which is positioned under the "nuclear umbrella" of the U.S., has refrained from joining the treaty, citing its own “tough security environment.”
Softbank's Vision Fund unit swung to a profit of ¥61 billion in the quarter ended June, compared with a ¥2.33 trillion loss for the same period a year ago.
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2023

Global tech stock rebound lifts SoftBank Vision Fund into profit

The fund logged a ¥61 billion profit in the quarter ended June — its first in over a year — compared with a ¥2.33 trillion loss a year ago.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?