Search - 2022

 
 
Postage rates for sealed letters and other documents are expected to be raised by 30% as early as October, the first rise in 30 years aside from when prices increased along with consumption tax hikes.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2024

Postage rate hikes seen denting New Year's card tradition in Japan

The tradition of sending New Year's greetings on postcards began in 1873 with the introduction of postcards.
The Asia Peace March is held in observance of Human Rights Day in Tokyo in December 2021. This year, as Japan sits on key U.N. bodies, the government can show leadership in tackling human rights issues in Asia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 7, 2024

Japan can aid in preventing human rights slide in Asia

As a stable democracy and big development donor, Japan should lead in tackling human rights abuses in countries like China, North Korea and Myanmar, and across Asia.
Bill May (rear, second from left) poses with the rest of the U.S. team after earning silver at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka on July 17, 2023.
OLYMPICS
Jun 10, 2024

No men chosen to compete in artistic swimming at Olympics in Paris

World Aquatics said it was very disappointed that there would be no men in the Olympic competition.
Local governments are stepping up support for single elderly people, to tackle the issue of unclaimed bodies.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 10, 2024

Japan's municipalities take action to tackle issue of unclaimed bodies

A spate of incidents involving unclaimed bodies has led to the formulation of measures to provide end-of-life support to single elderly people.
Retired boxing champion Manny Pacquiao (left) and mixed martial artist Chihiro Suzuki pose during a news conference on Monday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jun 10, 2024

Retired boxing great Manny Pacquiao hints at comeback against Mario Barrios

Pacquiao has signed up to fight a three-round exhibition bout against Japanese mixed martial artist Chihiro Suzuki next month in Saitama.
Traffic at the Dubai International Financial Centre. Last year, it opened the DIFC Family Wealth Center, a registry for family offices that also offers advisory services, workshops, mentoring, dispute resolution and certification based on how "structured” their governance is.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2024

Dubai takes on Abu Dhabi in race for supremacy in family offices

Last year, the number of registered foundations in Dubai rose by 53%. In rival Abu Dhabi, the number jumped by 35%.
Mostafa Pourmohammadi, former Interior Minister of Iran, registers as a candidate for the presidential election at the Interior Ministry in Tehran on June 3.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2024

Iran names six candidates for president, including parliament speaker

The country’s next president will be confronted with problems both at home and abroad.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, this year's Group of Seven chair, speaks following the announcement of the partial results of European Parliament elections, in Rome on Monday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 11, 2024

Using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine to top G7 agenda

Under the chairmanship of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, G7 leaders will have their hands full at the three-day gathering.
People protest near the Russian Embassy in Colombo on June 4. Colombo's parliament set up an inquiry last month to track at least 2,000 battle-hardened Sri Lankans who reportedly enlisted on both sides of the Ukraine war, including in the regular armed forces and mercenary groups.
WORLD
Jun 11, 2024

Sri Lanka seeks to bring home 'duped' ex-soldiers fighting in Russia war

With no communication for months, and reports of at least 16 Sri Lankans killed and 37 wounded, distraught families are pleading with politicians for help.
Soldiers stand at attention on the day German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier attends a Bundeswehr training exercise in Munster, Germany, on April 18.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 11, 2024

Infighting over budget imperils Germany’s defense upgrade

Uncertainty is growing about how to achieve a key spending goal when topped-off funds are exhausted in 2028.
The number of people stranded on Mount Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture in 2023 surged 90.2% from the average in the five years through 2022.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2024

Over 3,500 people were stranded on mountains in Japan in 2023

Among those stranded, the number of foreign nationals accounted for a record 145.
Fire rages after a Russian missile strike in Kyiv on Jan. 2.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 13, 2024

Study details emissions resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine

The 175-million-metric-tons estimate the report gave was the equivalent to the annual emissions produced by 90 million cars.
A firefighting plane disperses fire retardant over a wildfire in Puertollano, near Tarifa, Spain, on June 4.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / ANALYSIS
Jun 14, 2024

Airplanes won't solve Europe's wildfire problem, but prevention might.

Climate change is costing Europe tens of billions of euros per year, and that will rise if nothing is done to reduce emissions and invest in prevention.
People offer prayers in September 2022 at a parking lot in Makinohara, Shizuoka Prefecture, where a 3-year-old girl died of heatstroke after being left in a school bus.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 14, 2024

30 months sought for ex-nursery head over girl's heatstroke death

Meanwhile, a prison term of one year was sought for a former teacher at the facility in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Father's Day is said to have come to Japan around 1950, shortly after the establishment of Mother's Day.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jun 15, 2024

The evolving nature of fatherhood in Japan

Meiji Era fathers were stern, those from Showa had to be productive for the nation. Heisei dads were told to get involved at home. What will the "Reiwa Dad" look like?
Russia's President Vladimir Putin during an event in the Moscow region's city of Solnechnogorsk, Russia, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2024

Putin demands Ukraine abandon four regions for peace talks

Putin said Ukrainian forces should pull out from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in return for a cease-fire by Russian troops.
A bump stock can be attached to a semiautomatic rifle to increase the firing rate.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 15, 2024

U.S. Supreme Court rejects federal ban on gun 'bump stocks'

Bump stocks use a semiautomatic's recoil to allow it to slide back and forth while "bumping" the shooter's trigger finger, resulting in rapid fire.
Kawasaki's Yasuto Wakizaka (center) scores a goal during a game against Urawa last month. In the J. League's current season format, player performances tend to decline as Japan's scorching summer sets in.
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 16, 2024

Why the J. League chose to shift its calendar starting in 2026

Over the past 30 years, the environment for Japanese soccer has evolved significantly and the J. League hopes the schedule shift will grow the game.
A growing number of local governments in Japan are selling reusable oversize waste collected from households on marketplace app Mercari.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2024

Japan local governments using Mercari app to recycle oversize waste

From clothing boxes to furniture, the initiative aims to raise awareness of reusing goods while reducing carbon emissions from incineration.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks at papers as he attends a plenary session during a peace summit at the luxury Burgenstock resort in Switzerland on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 17, 2024

Ukraine summit sees hard road to peace as way forward uncertain

The peace conference failed to persuade major nonaligned states to join their final statement, and no country came forward to host a sequel.
Passengers look at the tarmac as they wait for flights at Beijing Capital International Airport on April 20.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2024

Chinese outbound travel recovery lags due to costs and visa snags

Chinese people took 87 million trips abroad last year, down 40% from pre-COVID 2019.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine in Switzerland on Sunday. The gathering brought together over 50 heads of state and government, excluding Russia, to work out a way toward a peace process for Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2024

Why Ukraine isn’t ready for peace talks

It's no exaggeration to say that what happens in Ukraine matters to the world order. A rushed peace would stop the fighting, but by compromising the country's future.
Tunisia's Ons Jabeur in action against the Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova in Nottingham, England, on Saturday
TENNIS
Jun 18, 2024

Jabeur 'avoids risk' by missing Paris Olympics

Last year Jabeur underwent surgery on her right knee.
Nvidia made a big bet on graphics chips and the vision of its co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang that the industry would shift to what he calls "accelerated computing.” That bet paid off.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2024

Nvidia’s 591,078% rally to most valuable stock came in waves

First, it was video game consoles, and then came data centers, autonomous vehicles and cryptocurrency. Today, its chips are powering artificial intelligence.
Anti-abortion protesters outside the Supreme Court in Washington on June 14.
WORLD / Society
Jun 19, 2024

'Unthinkable' normalized two years after U.S. abortion ruling

From medics to single mothers to abused minors, Americans from all walks of life have been affected.
Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte in Manila on Jan. 28, 2024. Duterte resigned from the Cabinet of President Ferdinand Marcos on Wednesday, the presidential palace said.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 20, 2024

Philippine vice president exits Marcos Cabinet as alliance collapses

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte resigning from two key posts might give her more power to go against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The total fertility rate dropped to 1.5 children per woman in 2022 from 3.3 in 1960 on average across OECD countries, a report from the organization has said.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 21, 2024

Birth rates halve in richer nations as costs weigh, OECD report says

Many in OECD member countries are now choosing to have children later in life or not at all, the report said.
Members of Onomichi High School's baseball team (back) have longer hair than members of teams that stick to traditional buzz cuts.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jul 1, 2024

High school baseball gets a makeover as buzz cut rules are no more

What was once seen as a symbol of fighting spirit is getting a rethink as coaches try to be mindful of students' mental states and preferences.
The Oku knife "hooks or wraps elegantly along the edge of a plate or board," designer Kathleen Reilly says.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 22, 2024

A playfully subversive knife from a rising Scottish design star

The Scottish artist fuses East and West in a new knife design crafted in and inspired by Niigata Prefecture’s Tsubame-Sanjo.
Digital crime in Sweden has doubled since 2021 and become a growing risk for the Nordic economy.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 22, 2024

Ditching paper money makes Sweden a haven for digital criminals

Digital crime in Sweden has doubled since 2021 and become a growing risk for the Nordic economy.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan