Search - 2023

 
 
More than half of Japan's population may suffer from pollen allergies, with hay fever dubbed the nation’s "national disease" and blamed for being a drag on the economy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 21, 2025

Did I fall victim to Japan’s stealth productivity killer?

Hay fever has been dubbed Japan’s "national disease” and blamed as a major drag on productivity.
Next year’s FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the U.S., will test whether America — with President Donald Trump pushing tariffs and tough immigration policies — can draw global fans or drive them away.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2025

The White House just kicked a World Cup own-goal

Next year’s FIFA World Cup will test whether the U.S. — with President Donald Trump pushing tariffs and tough immigration policies — can draw global fans or drive them away.
A 35-year-old mother was found guilty of attempted coercion by  repeatedly sending mobile messages to her daughter not to eat while being hospitalized.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2025

Japanese mother partially acquitted over abuse of daughter

Kasumi Nawata, 35, was found guilty of attempted coercion and sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years.
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 21, 2025

Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?

Among the world’s largest democracies, Japan has some of the highest minimum age requirements for politicians.
Multinational victims of scam centers, who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar, stand on a vessel floating towards the Thai side of border via Moei River in Phop Phra District, Tak province, Thailand, on Feb. 12.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Apr 21, 2025

'Cancer' of billion-dollar cyberscam industry spreading globally: U.N.

Even as Southeast Asian governments have intensified a crackdown, syndicates have moved within and beyond the region.
Steve Holland helped Marinos reach the quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League Elite, but poor league results led to the end of his tenure with the club.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 21, 2025

Steve Holland runs out of time at Marinos amid poor results and bad breaks

The 54-year-old was dismissed on April 18 with the club languishing in the lower reaches of the J1 table.
MS&AD forecasts that net profit for its North American operations will reach ¥166 billion in the fiscal year ended in March, a 3.5fold increase from the previous fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2025

Insurer MS&AD plans to invest $5 billion to double U.S. profits

The Tokyo-based casualty insurer has the highest market share in Asia among global firms, but it’s No. 3 among Japanese peers in North America.
A portrait of the late Pope Francis is placed in front of the altar during a mass at the Buenos Aires Cathedral on Monday, following his death in the Vatican.
WORLD / Society
Apr 22, 2025

'One isn't born a saint': School nuns remember Pope Francis as a boy

A boisterous child, then-Jorge Bergoglio played football with his friends in the courtyard, and sprinted up and down the marble stairs.
Orbis Investment Management bought shares of Mitsubishi Estate over the past months on the view that inflation will lift revenue as the domestic real estate sector remains attractive.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2025

Top Japan fund adds Mitsubishi Estate shares on cheap valuations

The return of inflation in Japan has lured overseas investors to the nation’s real estate market and property developer shares.
A student in hazmat suit moves around a taxidermied giraffe at the "crime scene" set up in the warehouse of the Wildlife Forensic Academy in the Buffelsfontein Game and Nature Reserve near Cape Town, South Africa, on April 16.
WORLD / Society
Apr 22, 2025

Inside South Africa's wildlife CSI school helping to catch poachers

South Africa faces an acute poaching crisis, with more than 10,000 rhinos killed since 2007 according to the International Rhino Foundation.
China had accounted for the biggest international student body in the U.S. for 15 years until it was overtaken by India last year.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 22, 2025

Trump visa cuts and tariff hikes turn Chinese students away from American Dream

A growing number of Chinese students are exploring other destinations.
Tokyo police have arrested three individuals, including 37-year-old Takuya Higuchi, a member of a money laundering group, on suspicion of fraud.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 22, 2025

Tokyo police arrest three believed to have been laundering money for 'Luffy'

One of the three arrested is Takuya Higuchi, 37, a resident of Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, whose occupation is unknown.
Of the 721,000 childbirths reported in 2024 in Japan, 13.8% involved the use of an epidural, according to the Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 22, 2025

Cases of epidural use in labor rise in Japan alongside concerns

More demand for epidurals may place a strain on the nation's anesthesiologists, who are already facing staffing shortages.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi walks as he receives U.S. Vice President JD Vance, his wife, Usha Vance, along with their children, before Vance and Modi's meeting in New Delhi on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Apr 22, 2025

As U.S. VP visits India, all eyes on New Delhi’s tariff strategy

Experts warn that India’s response — even if successful — might not offer a blueprint for others since each has a unique relationship with the U.S.
People walk past the venue for the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China, on April 15.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 22, 2025

China ramps up charm offensive toward Taiwan alongside pressure, study shows

The number of Taiwanese attending state-supported business events in China last year is 3% higher than 2023, a Taiwan-based nongovernmental organization says.
A person walks with a dog through the "micro-forest" park created by the Athens City Council near Alepotrypa Park in downtown Athens, Greece, on March 31.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 22, 2025

Tentative tree planting 'decades overdue' in sweltering Athens

Planting vegetation is crucial to help cities beat the heat, scientists say, as climate change stokes hotter and more intense heatwaves.
 Toyota Motor and Daimler Truck are expected to finalize the merger agreement as early as May.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2025

Toyota and Daimler near merger of truck units, report says

The two auto groups aim to establish a holding company for the truck units and list it on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Prime market in April 2026.
Indian paramilitary personnel stand guard near Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Kashmir, on Tuesday following a deadly attack.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 23, 2025

Gunmen kill dozens of civilians in Kashmir tourist hot spot

At least 26 people were killed in the Indian-administered region in the deadliest attack on civilians there since 2000.
A demonstrators protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's moves to force changes at colleges such as Columbia University and others by cutting grants and imposing various sanctions, at Foley Square in New York on April 17.
WORLD / Society
Apr 23, 2025

U.S. college presidents unite against Trump's higher education policies

They have described the moves as "the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education."
A farmhand prunes trees on a 4-year-old cocoa plantation, replanted after swollen shoot disease, in Enchi, Ghana, on March 4.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 23, 2025

Cocoa crunch isn’t over yet as top growers struggle with supply

Africa’s cocoa heartland has long grappled with blight and aging trees, leaving farms vulnerable as severe weather hammered crops in recent years.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito (right) and Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee, in Beijing on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 23, 2025

Komeito leader Saito makes first visit to China

Carrying a letter from Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Saito will meet with senior Chinese officials before returning home on Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, in June 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 23, 2025

IAEA chief calls for presidential-level reengagement with North Korea

Pyongyang’s atomic program has grown “exponentially” since 2009, warns Rafael Grossi, head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.
A quantum computer developed by Fujitsu and Riken shown on Tuesday in Wako, Saitama Prefecture
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2025

Fujitsu and Riken develop world-leading quantum computer

Competition is intensifying in Japan and abroad for making quantum computers smaller and improving error detection methods.
A combination of images released on April 15 illustrate the end jig passing through the isolation valve during the second fuel debris trial retrieval at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2025

Second debris removal trial at Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant is completed

High radiation levels mean removing melted fuel and other debris from the plant is seen as the most daunting challenge in the decommissioning project.
Pope Francis was known for his strong environmentalism, highlighted by his influential 2015 encyclical calling for global climate action.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 23, 2025

The next pope will help decide the planet’s fate

As much of the world retreats from climate activism, the Vatican has a chance to stand out by choosing another vocal environmentalist to lead 1.4 billion Catholics.
The levels of a type of "forever chemical" found in seven current and former employees at Daikin Industries' Yodogawa plant in Osaka Prefecture were about 38 times those for nearby residents, according to a survey conducted by a team including Kyoto University.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2025

High levels of PFAS found in blood of Osaka factory workers

The levels for seven current and former employees were about 38 times those for residents, with three showing signs of interstitial lung disease.
Trafficking experts have raised concerns over how satellite internet technology may hamper efforts to crack down on scam centers in Asia.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2025

Portable internet helps Asia scam centers bypass blackouts

Trafficking experts have raised concerns over how satellite internet technology may hamper efforts to crack down on scam centers.
Nomura is looking to deepen its foothold in its traditional Wall Street businesses by weighing a return to offering cash prime-brokerage services in the United States and Europe.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2025

Nomura weighs return to prime brokerage four years after Archegos

Prime brokerage, which involves banks lending cash and securities to hedge funds, has become an increasing money maker for Wall Street in recent years due to high equities prices.

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.