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Travel officials from the Middle East experience test cutting for Japanese swords in Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture, in January.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2025

Government touts exchanges with nations participating in Osaka Expo

Local governments expect their plans to boost youth exchanges, accelerate overseas expansion and promote tourism.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shows a picture of him with U.S. President Donald Trump during a joint news conference at the White House on Friday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 12, 2025

Ishiba navigates the low expectations for Japan’s foreign policy

The summit proceeded well enough, but some will argue that this is only because Ishiba had a low bar for his engagement.
A man throws a snowball during the 35th Koide International Snowball Fight in Uonuma, Niigata Prefecture, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Winter Sports
Feb 13, 2025

Frosty face-off: Over 120 teams throw down in epic Japanese snowball tournament

Teams of five players competed in two-minute matches between two teams on a field the size of a tennis court, with points awarded for direct hits with a snowball.
Federica Brignone celebrates on the podium after winning the women's giant slalom at the World Ski Championships in Saalbach, Austria, on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Alpine skiing
Feb 14, 2025

Federica Brignone scorches to giant slalom gold as Mikaela Shiffrin sits out

Alice Robinson, who became the first New Zealander to win a world ski medal, finished second, and American Paula Moltzan claimed bronze.
Former volleyball player Kana Oyama speaks to female athletes during a lecture in January.
MORE SPORTS / Volleyball
Feb 16, 2025

Former volleyball star Kana Oyama gives lecture on athletes' menstruation

She urged students to consult a gynecologist if they notice any unusual symptoms.
Geraint Thomas puts on the overall leader's yellow jersey on the podium after the 19th stage of the 105th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, between Lourdes and Laruns, France, in July 2018.
MORE SPORTS / Cycling
Feb 18, 2025

British Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas to retire at end of season

Thomas won the Tour de France in 2018, after securing gold for Britain in the team pursuit in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
Japan goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita (front left) and defender Saki Kumagai (center) in action against the United States during the Paris 2024 Olympics on Aug. 3
SOCCER
Feb 18, 2025

Nielsen eyes mentality shift in first outing as Nadeshiko boss

Japan will make its fifth appearance in the SheBelieves Cup, and is pitted against Australia, Colombia and the host, the United States.
Mike Sunda at a concert in Haikou, China
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 20, 2025

Mike Sunda: ‘Creative production comes with a bigger responsibility than ever before’

Creative strategist Mike Sunda talks about his influences and the filming of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Mamushi” music video.
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (right) is expected to miss the rest of the NBA season, the team announced on Thursday.
BASKETBALL
Feb 21, 2025

Victor Wembanyama expected to miss remainder of regular season with blood clot

The announcement brings a premature end to another outstanding campaign by Wembanyama.
Japan's Mina Tanaka (second from right) celebrates with her teammates after scoring her second goal against Australia during the SheBelieves Cup in Houston on Thursday.
SOCCER
Feb 21, 2025

Mina Tanaka scores twice as Japan crushes Australia in SheBelieves Cup opener

In the later match, Catarina Macario scored her first national team goal in nearly three years as the United States beat Colombia 2-0.
Many Japanese companies like Toto have quietly shifted from consumer-facing products like toilets to specialized, high-value industries such as semiconductor materials, proving that Japan's innovation remains strong despite its lower global visibility.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2025

Japan’s toilet jokes are on you. Innovation is flourishing.

One of the most surprising stories in corporate Japan in recent months has been the emergence of semiconductor materials as a significant profit driver at Toto.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach speaks during the opening of an executive board meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, in December 2024.
OLYMPICS
Feb 27, 2025

IOC President Thomas Bach to resign as member after tenure as leader ends

The 71-year-old, who joined the IOC in 1991, could have remained a member until the age of 80.
Diana Taurasi celebrates after winning her sixth Olympic gold medal with Team USA at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 11, 2024,
BASKETBALL
Feb 27, 2025

Six-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA great Diana Taurasi retires

Taurasi's 10,646 career points in the WNBA is nearly 3,000 more than the next highest scorer Tina Charles.
Nadeshiko Japan captain Saki Kumagai celebrates after a goal against the United States during the SheBelieves Cup final in San Diego on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Feb 27, 2025

Nadeshiko Japan defeats United States to capture first SheBelieves Cup title

Japan won the title for the first time after goals by Toko Koga and Yuka Momiki.
The peloton rides from Florence to Rimini, Italy, during the first stage of the 2024 Tour de France.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 28, 2025

For Tour de France, foreign starts make financial sense

The Barcelona start will be the 27th non-French starting location since the Tour first went on the road internationally in Amsterdam in 1954.
WADA's Gunter Younger speaks during a news conference in December 2019.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 3, 2025

WADA looking to extend investigative program to Oceania and Asia

WADA launched the Intelligence and Investigation (I&I) program in Europe in 2022.
The figure skater Maxim Naumov, who lost his parents when an army helicopter collided with a passenger jet above the Potomac River, drops to his knees in tears on the ice at the Legacy on Ice tribute in Washington on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Mar 4, 2025

Figure skating stars pay an emotional tribute to the Washington plane crash victims

Dozens of stars from the sport, going back decades, attended the benefit.
A handout image received from Manchester United on March 11, 2025, shows Foster + Partners' illustration of a proposed new 100,000-seat stadium, unveiled as part of the regeneration of the Old Trafford area.
SOCCER
Mar 12, 2025

Manchester United to leave Old Trafford for new 100,000-seat stadium

The stadium, which will be built on land surrounding Old Trafford, will cost around $2.6 billion and the timescale for the project is five years.
The Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art is just one of many hidden art and architectural gems across the Kagawa coast.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 15, 2025

‘Resorts for the spirit’: Touring Kagawa’s art and architecture

The seaside cities of Takamatsu and Marugame are home to a heritage of beauty, from the monolithic to the modern.
Iga Swiatek returns the ball to Qinwen Zheng during their quarterfinal at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, on Thursday.
TENNIS
Mar 14, 2025

Swiatek to face Andreeva, Sabalenka meets Keys in Indian Wells semis

The world number two from Poland will get a chance to avenge another upset loss in a semifinal clash with Mirra Andreeva.
Takuya “Moby” Okamoto after Game 5 of the 2016 World Series, which the Cubs went on to win in seven games to snap a 108-year drought
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 14, 2025

In a sea of Dodger Blue, Japanese superfan ready to cheer on the Cubs

The Dodgers may garner the lion's share of attention in Japan among MLB clubs, but don't tell that to Takuya “Moby” Okamoto, Japan's biggest Cubs fan.
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt in action during the men's super-G World Cup event in Kvitfjell, Norway, on March 9.
MORE SPORTS / Alpine skiing
Mar 16, 2025

Alpine star Marco Odermatt clinches fourth straight overall World Cup title

Odermatt, 27, had already secured the super-G globe for the third year in a row and is the runaway favorite to also clinch the downhill title.
Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Mar 17, 2025

The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo

Thirty years after Aum Shinrikyo attacked Tokyo’s subways, the nation continues to prepare for the unthinkable.
Okayama goalkeeper Svend Brodersen reaches for the ball against Urawa's Thiago Santana (front) at Saitama Stadium on March 8.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 18, 2025

Manga-loving German goalkeeper finds peace, and himself, in Japan

Svend Brodersen moved to Japan in 2021 and now plays for top-tier J. League side Fagiano Okayama, but he admits that initially he felt like he was "on another planet."
Japan forward Mina Tanaka dribbles during a SheBelieves Cup match against Australia in Houston on Feb. 20.
SOCCER
Mar 20, 2025

How Mina Tanaka evolved into a prolific striker for Nadeshiko Japan

Mina Tanaka is having a moment. The Nadeshiko Japan and Utah Royals striker dominated the SheBelieves Cup, winning both MVP and top scorer as Japan defeated the U.S.
The Tokyo District Court on Friday ordered major ad firm Tokyu Agency to pay a fine of ¥200 million for bid-rigging over the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 21, 2025

Tokyu Agency fined ¥200 million in Tokyo Games bid-rigging case

In the same case, former Tokyu Agency director Mitsuo Yasuda, 62, was given a prison sentence of one year and six months, suspended for three years.
A sign at Tokyo's Haneda Airport shows users the way to the monorail in four different languages.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 22, 2025

Can we make it official? Language in the age of Trump.

The United States made English its main language, but in Japan things seem to be heading in a different way.
Lindsey Vonn celebrates on the podium after finishing second in a women's super-G event in Sun Valley, Idaho.
MORE SPORTS / Alpine skiing
Mar 24, 2025

Lindsey Vonn gets confidence boost from first podium finish since comeback

Vonn had not managed a World Cup podium since 2018.
Three Japanese banks are teaming up to combat the enduring challenge of a dwindling population.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2025

Three Japanese banks form alliance to fight population slump

Shizuoka Bank, Hachijuni Bank and Yamanashi Chuo Bank will work together to draw outside talent and funding into central Japan.
Ilia Malinin celebrates after winning gold at the World Figure Skating Championships in Boston on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Mar 30, 2025

Malinin retains world title as Kagiyama stumbles

With a dazzling performance, Malinin put the world on notice less than a year to go before the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan