Search - 2023

 
 
Keiko Honda (center) poses with her teammates before an NFL game in London in October 2023.
SPORTS
Mar 4, 2025

In battling cancer, Keiko Honda channeled her cheerleading strength

The former NFL cheerleader is now making a return to professional cheerleading after overcoming breast cancer.
The Supreme Court has rejected FC2's appeals against two separate rulings made against it by the Intellectual Property High Court in July 2022 and May 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 4, 2025

FC2 infringed on Dwango's patent, Japan's top court rules

The Supreme Court rejected FC2's appeals against two lower court rulings ordering the Las Vegas-based firm to stop violating Dwango's patent on a video comment-posting system.
Female crew members chat in the women-only rest area aboard the Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Shiranui in November 2022.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Women in SDF see their roles expand — but challenges remain

Issues such as harassment prevention and a lack of promotion to senior positions remain significant hurdles for women wanting to join.
Lithuania will become the first country in the EU to leave a multilateral arms regulation agreement when it withdraws on March 6.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 4, 2025

Lithuania to walk out on global disarmament treaty

Lithuania's controversial move comes at a time of heightened tensions in international relations over its neighbor Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Ground Self-Defense Force helicopters return after dropping water as they fight a wildfire around Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Sunday. Firefighters were still battling Japan's biggest forest fire in half a century on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Japan's worst wildfire in half a century spreads

White smoke billowed from a forested area around the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, six days after the blaze began amid record low rainfall.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with Russia's President Vladimir Putin after the Group of 20 Summit in Osaka in June 2019. Putin managed to pocket every concession made by Abe over the years and demanded more.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2025

Abe’s Russia outreach flopped — Trump should take note

Supporters of Trump’s policy argue that China is the bigger threat and the U.S. should steer Moscow away from Beijing.
A S-300 missile system is seen during the National Army Day parade in Tehran on April 17, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 4, 2025

Russian missile experts flew to Iran amid clashes with Israel

It could not be determined what the seven specialists were doing in Iran.
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of Ispace, speaks during a news conference in September 2024.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Japan startup targets June 6 moon landing

Ispace hopes to have its own moment of glory, after the unsalvageable "hard landing" of its initial attempt in 2023.
U.S. military aid to Ukraine halted at 3:30 a.m., a source with knowledge of the matter said, after U.S. President Donald Trump paused assistance late on Monday following a clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 4, 2025

U.S. military aid pause is a blow to Ukraine, but not fatal for now

The U.S. pause could have a real impact on the war within months, undermining Ukraine's air defenses and precision strike capabilities in particular.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during an emergency Arab summit in Cairo on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

Arab states adopt Egyptian alternative to Trump's 'Gaza Riviera'

While hurdles remain, Egypt's $53 billion reconstruction plan would avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave.
MAGA hats adorn a row of monitors on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 5, 2025

Day one of Trump’s trade war delivers wild ride for Wall Street

The S&P 500 index tumbled 2% shortly after the open Tuesday, wiping out its $3.4 trillion advance since Election Day on Nov. 5.
Many Japanese companies are exporting more to the United States to get ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2025

Japanese firms boost exports to U.S. to get ahead of tariffs

Overall, Japanese exports to the U.S. jumped 8.1% in January to ¥1.5 trillion ($10 billion), the highest for the month in at least 19 years.
Billboard advertisements for host clubs in the Kabukicho area of Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2025

Tokyo police step up crackdown on sex worker scout group

The group is believed to have earned about ¥7 billion over five years by dispatching women to the sexual service businesses that offered the best pay.
A video board highlights LeBron James' 50,000 career point milestone after the Lakers forward scored a three point basket against the Pelicans in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Mar 5, 2025

LeBron James becomes first NBA player to score 50,000 total points

James has shown no sign of slowing down in his 22nd season in the league.
A stick-sized container containing an egg and a tank used to freeze eggs
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Mar 5, 2025

More women in Japan turn to egg freezing amid increase in financial support

Although the practice is emerging as a new option for women, experts are urging individuals to carefully weigh its benefits and drawbacks.
With a pact to pay Arm Holdings $250 million over a period of ten years, Malaysia joined a growing number of countries that are trying to build domestic production of a component critical to future technologies and national security.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2025

SoftBank’s Arm to drive Malaysia’s $270 billion chip goals

Malaysia, which packages roughly a tenth of the world’s semiconductors, has inked a pact to pay Arm $250 million over a period of 10 years for licenses and knowhow.
The international system led by the United Nations faces challenges such as failing to maintain peace, end corruption and implement reforms, raising concerns of a League of Nations-like collapse.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2025

Transitioning to a new global structure without a League of Nations-style collapse

Like many idealistic efforts throughout history, the League of Nations teetered for years before its final collapse as the end of World War II.
Oil pipelines in Alaska. Although the Alaska LNG project has been planned for decades, it faces headwinds from its large price tag and mammoth scale.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2025

Trump touts plans to spur mammoth Alaska gas export project

Japan, South Korea and other countries want to partner with the U.S. and invest in "a gigantic natural gas pipeline in Alaska," the U.S. president said.
An Israeli hostage who was released from captivity in Gaza arrives at a medical center in Tel Aviv on Feb. 22.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2025

Trump warns Hamas as U.S. holds unprecedented talks for Gaza hostages

The move broke with a decades-old policy against negotiating with groups that the U.S. brands as terrorist organizations.
Campaign supporters light a total of 1,638 candles, representing the number of dead victims claimed by HIV/AIDS in the Philippines since 1984, as part of their commemoration of International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day in metro Manila in 2016.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 6, 2025

Philippines' LGBTQ+ groups seek options to replace U.S. aid

Advocacy groups are looking at new financing strategies and calling for greater involvement by local health institutions to protect against foreign aid withdrawals.
Ryota Ishibashi, president of a subsidiary of Trial (far left), in a joint news conference with Seiyu
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2025

Discount store operator Trial to acquire Seiyu

Trial currently plans to retain Seiyu's company name and staff.
An explosion at a factory in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, left one person killed on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2025

Explosion at Aichi auto parts factory kills one and injures two

A dust collector inside Chuo Spring's Fujioka plant, which produces springs for automobiles, exploded shortly after 8 a.m.
A dry rice field in Subang, West Java, Indonesia, on July 29, 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 6, 2025

Europe’s defense budget rips through its climate-crisis buffer

Spending cuts here and now mean future climate costs may rise, said the head of a climate nonprofit.
Minister for Reconstruction Tadahiko Ito responding to a question at a group interview on Monday at the Reconstruction Agency
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2025

Reconstruction minister vows to address Fukushima soil reuse

"It's natural that Futaba residents are concerned," Tadahiko Ito said of the envisaged plan to first consider reusing the decontaminated soil in the town.
Foster City, California’s Gilead is laser-focused on HIV and is seeking an actual cure.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2025

Gilead's Japan head says nation can be among first to end HIV epidemic

The pharmaceutical powerhouse has drugs that disrupt the transmission of the virus, one of which has been approved for prevention in Japan.
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.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building