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With the next prime minister needing to be selected soon after the recent election, there are questions about whether the Democratic Party For the People and Nippon Ishin no Kai will support Shigeru Ishiba in his bid to remain Japan’s leader.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 31, 2024

Ishiba's future in question as support from allies wavers

The question now is whether the DPP and Ishin will support the LDP nominee to ensure victory, or if they will nominate their own candidates.
Truant students at high schools numbered 68,770 in fiscal 2023, a record high.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2024

Truancy hits record high in Japan in fiscal 2023

The number of truant students at elementary and junior high schools rose by some 47,000 from the previous year to a record 346,482.
Stock data is displayed in the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai in August.
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Nov 1, 2024

Investors take cover in Asia ahead of U.S. election

Money managers are looking to make bets in India or China that stand to gain regardless of who becomes president. 
The All Blacks perform the haka before facing Japan in Yokohama on Oct. 26.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Nov 1, 2024

All Blacks coach calls haka part New Zealand's DNA after recent criticism

How opposing teams should respond to the haka has long been a thorny topic.
Kabocha are harvested in the summer, but they don't reach peak flavor until they mature in the months leading up to fall and winter.
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Nov 3, 2024

A perfect dish for peak kabocha season

This dish is an interesting alternative to potato salad and also makes a great appetizer to go along with some pre-dinner drinks. 
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui attend a ceremony in Moscow on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 1, 2024

North Korea says will stand by Russia until 'victory' in Ukraine

North Korea's Choe Son Hui was in Moscow as the West believes up to 10,000 North Korean troops are training in Russia and on the brink of entering the war in Ukraine.
Familiarizing yourself with different types of honorifics and formal verb structures will be crucial to successfully completing a job interview in Japanese.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 2, 2024

Get to know basic honorifics before you head into that Japanese job interview

Honorific language, or “keigo,” is something you’ll want to get a handle on before you head out to hunt for a job in Japan.
Akira Oishi (left) and Shinichi Okanobori have taken on the responsibility of surveying the flora and fauna of Mount Tenran and Mount Tonosu in Saitama Prefecture.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / Longform
Nov 2, 2024

Inside Japan's 100-year project to monitor its deteriorating biodiversity

With researchers and an army of volunteers on its side, the Monitoring Sites 1,000 project aims to bring attention to our fragile ecosystems.
Atomic bomb survivors and members of Nihon Hidankyo attend a news conference a day after the group won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, in Tokyo on Oct. 12.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2024

Nihon Hidankyo to send 31 people to attend Nobel Peace Prize ceremony

"We hope to deliver the voices of hibakusha in the midst of perilous situations in the world," the assistant secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo said.
Shohei Ohtani speaks during the Dodgers' World Series celebration on Friday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 2, 2024

In pictures: Dodgers fans fete World Series title with party fit for Hollywood

The party has hardly let up since Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers clinched the World Series on Wednesday.
Leaders of Japan’s political parties pose for a group photo at the start of a debate at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Oct. 12. Sunday’s Lower House election saw the ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party take a drubbing.
EDITORIALS
Nov 1, 2024

The balance of power shifts in Japan’s politics

Despite the LDP's losses at polls, the recent election didn't exactly indicate popular support for an opposition-led government either.
An elderly woman lies on the floor of a classroom at an elementary school in Kitaibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture, in March 2011 following the Great East Japan Earthquake earlier that month.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2024

Tokyo government looks to ensure everyone has a bed at evacuation centers

The capital hopes to improve living conditions at evacuation centers and boost its disaster response capability.
The top of the damaged No.1 reactor building at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2024

Nuclear fuel debris extracted from Fukushima No. 1 reactor

Tepco retrieved a device holding a small amount of fallen debris from the containment vessel of the plant's No. 2 reactor as part of experimental removal work.
Nagoya Grampus players celebrate after the club won the Levain Cup at National Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday
SOCCER / J. League
Nov 2, 2024

Keeper Mitch Langerak gets perfect send-off as Nagoya captures Levain Cup

Langerak converted one of Grampus' five successful kicks during penalties in a roller coaster win over Albirex Niigata on Saturday.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, face off in an election Tuesday that will have wide-ranging implications for Japan.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 3, 2024

Status quo or disruption? Breaking down the U.S. election's impact on Japan

Regardless of who wins, Washington is likely to have limited bandwidth to change tack in a significant way with its most important Asian ally.
Nobuaki Koga, former head of the Rengo, speaks during an interview in Tokyo last week.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 3, 2024

Former Rengo head Koga urges CDP and DPP to merge

Koga's tenure as Rengo chief between 2009 and 2015 overlapped with the 2009-2012 DPJ-led administration.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and senior officials and delegates at the National Peoples Congress in Beijing in March
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 4, 2024

China stimulus questions to persist long after meeting this week

It may be months before detailed plans to support consumption come into focus.
Royal Canadian Navy Commander Vice Adm. Angus Topshee inspects an honor guard with Maritime Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Adm. Akira Saito during a meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2024

Canada Navy chief sees more chances for multiservice exercises with Japan

Ottawa has been gradually boosting its military engagement with Asian partners since unveiling its Indo-Pacific Strategy in late 2022.
Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Nov 4, 2024

Max Verstappen conquers wet conditions in Brazil to move to brink of title

Verstappen had not won a Grand Prix in 10 outings since the Spanish Grand Prix in May.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Horse-trading continues ahead of next week's prime minister vote

In the absence of a majority by any single party or coalition, every lawmaker's vote will count in a widely expected runoff election when parliament reconvenes.
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
WORLD / Politics
Nov 5, 2024

Panic buttons and SWAT teams: U.S. braces for election unrest

With Kamala Harris and Donald Trump deadlocked at the climax of the 2024 race, authorities are keen to reassure jittery Americans that their votes are secure.
Alongside foreign students, some Japanese students attend a special lecture held entirely in English at Nagoya University in early October.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 11, 2024

Amid rising costs, universities try to help students study abroad

The cost of studying abroad, including travel and living expenses, is much higher now compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Operators respond to telephone directory inquiries from Tokyo at a call center in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, in October 1997.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Nov 11, 2024

As NTT ends its Dial 104 service, Okinawa's call centers look elsewhere

Naha and Nago were home to Japan's biggest call center operations, receiving around 125,000 calls a day at their peak in 1999.
In the April-September period, Nintendo logged net profit of ¥108.7 billion ($710 million), down 60% from the same period a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 5, 2024

Nintendo lowers sales forecast as first-half profits plunge

The video game giant now expects sales of ¥1.28 trillion, down from the previous estimate of ¥1.35 trillion, and also issued a less optimistic operating profit forecast.
Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki (left) and his counterpart in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda, meet in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 5, 2024

Opposition parties band together to shape Lower House agenda

Four main opposition parties have agreed to jointly request the opening of a session of the budget committee and a special committee on political reform.
The topics nominated for this year’s buzzwords of the year ranged from new banknotes and Olympian quips to political scandals and rice shortages.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 5, 2024

From cat memes to Olympians with too much rizz, these are Japan's 2024 buzzword nominations

The buzzword of the year, along with the top 10 picks, will be decided from the 30 nominated terms on Dec. 2.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump points to supporters as he holds hands with his wife, Melania, before claiming victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election during a rally at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

Trump defeats Harris, returning U.S. to era of uncertainty

Kamala Harris congratulated her rival on a win expected to have a dramatic impact on the United States' relationships with allies like Japan and rivals like China.
The film character Godzilla poses on the red carpet during a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, in November 2004.  
COMMENTARY
Nov 6, 2024

After nearly three-quarters of a century, Godzilla’s monstrous empire is thriving

The famed Japanese monster went from serious metaphor for nuclear destruction to a kitschy pop culture icon.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

Ishiba holds first phone call with Trump as Japanese PM seeks to build ties

Ishiba called his first one-on-one conversation with Trump "friendly," saying that he expects the two will be able to "speak openly and candidly.”
Defense equipment such as tanks and ships often require time to build, leading the government to conclude contracts spanning multiple fiscal years.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2024

Japan's future payment obligations for defense goods balloon

An increase in such obligations may put constraints on spending to procure new equipment and build facilities, resulting in budget rigidity.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan