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An employee at the Imperial Household Agency who allegedly stole ¥3.6 million set aside for personal expenses for Emperor Naruhito and his family admitted that the money was used to make a living.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 2, 2025

Employee steals ¥3.6 million from imperial family funds

The chamberlain committed the theft on several occasions between November 2023 and March this year.
The economic fallout from the U.S.-China confrontation may be giving new momentum to efforts to bring both sides to the negotiating table.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 2, 2025

China says it’s assessing U.S. talks, hinting at possible thaw

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said Chinese President Xi Jinping needs to contact him in order to begin tariff talks.
A carbon removal plant. Direct air capture and other technologies delivered less than 320,000 tons of carbon removal credits last year.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 2, 2025

Why investors are souring on this once red-hot climate tech

Venture capital funding of U.S.-based startups developing direct air capture (DAC) was down more than 60% in the first three months of 2025.
Naoya Inoue works out in Los Angeles in April. Inoue will put his undisputed super bantamweight crown on the line against Ramon Cardenas in Las Vegas on May 4.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
May 2, 2025

'The Monster' Naoya Inoue returns to U.S. to defend undisputed title

The pound-for-pound superstar remains undefeated with 29 wins — a staggering 26 coming by way of knockout.
In a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, Tokie Tanaka, 64, details her allegations of sexual abuse against a Catholic priest.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 2, 2025

Woman says archbishop of Tokyo ignored her pleas after priest allegedly raped her

The woman's lawyer blamed the archbishop for failing to take appropriate actions after the woman told the congregation about the alleged abuse.
A seamstress at Kineya Tabi sews together split-toe "tabi" socks, once a major industry for the town of Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 3, 2025

Japan’s ‘tabi’ sock mecca runs on thread and memories

At their peak in the early-20th century, Gyoda’s artisans churned out more than 84 million pairs of socks each year.
Israeli tanks operate in the Gaza Strip, by the Israel-Gaza border, on Saturday.
WORLD
May 4, 2025

Israel calls up tens of thousands of reservists for Gaza offensive

All aid deliveries to Gaza have been blocked since March 2, prompting warnings from U.N. agencies of impending humanitarian disaster.
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez celebrates and poses with his championship belts after beating William Scull in Riyadh on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
May 4, 2025

Alvarez outpoints Scull to reclaim undisputed super middleweight championship

Scull, who had an advantage in height and reach over Alvarez, was unable to find an answer to the Mexican's methodical stalking and effective body blows.
Frontale players grimace during the final of the Asian Champions League on Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Kawasaki lost 2-0 against heavily favored Al-Ahli.
SOCCER
May 4, 2025

Kawasaki can hold its head high after spirited Asian Champions League effort

For Frontale, a 2-0 defeat against a squad worth an estimated $200 million — playing in front of almost 60,000 of its own fans at its home stadium — is nothing to be ashamed of.
Amid shortages, the price of a 5-kilogram bag of rice during the week of April 14 was ¥4,220.
JAPAN
May 4, 2025

Why are rice prices still high in Japan?

The average price of 5 kilograms of rice in mid-April was ¥4,220 — more than double what it cost around the same time last year.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with his partner Jodie Haydon (right) and his son Nathan Albanese (left) at the Labor Party election night event in Sydney on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 5, 2025

Albanese landslide offers rare chance to fix Australia’s economy

Albanese’s center-left government has the best chance in years to take the hard steps economists have called for to ignite growth.
Naomi Osaka pumps her fist during a match at the Australian Open in January. On Sunday, the former world No. 1 earned her first title since becoming a mother.
TENNIS
May 5, 2025

Osaka wins first WTA title since becoming a mother

The win at a smaller WTA 125 event was also the Japanese star's first-ever title on clay.
Phillip Vincent (right), Japan CEO of Plug and Play, and Ma Jingqian, head of ventures, at Plug and Play's Tokyo office, last month
BUSINESS / Companies
May 5, 2025

Plug and Play wants to help Japanese startups go global

The Japanese government is aggressively supporting startups, and large companies are seeking more opportunities to bet on entrepreneurs.
The Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles in 2024. U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. movie industry is dying a "very fast death" due to the incentives that other countries are offering to draw American filmmakers.
BUSINESS
May 5, 2025

Saying Hollywood is dying, Trump orders 100% tariff on non-U.S. movies to save it

No details were provided on how the tariffs would be implemented.
The imperial family attends a spring garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on April 22.
JAPAN
May 5, 2025

Imperial Household Agency’s YouTube channel surpasses 100,000 subscribers

Launched on April 1, the channel surpassed 100,000 subscribers in just a week.
With the June 1 reform of imprisonment penalties, Japan will shift the main objective of imprisonment from punishment to preventing repeat offenses.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 5, 2025

Japanese prisons prepare for imprisonment penalty reform

Japan will shift the main objective of imprisonment from punishment to preventing repeat offenses.
Members of Israeli security services inspect a crater near a road outside Israel's Ben Gurion airport after a missile launched from Yemen struck the area on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Israel launches strikes on Yemen's Hodeidah Port after Houthi attack

The airstrikes came a day after the Iran-aligned militants fired a missile that struck near Israel's main airport.
While for Aston Martin, it’s all about delivering luxury, their regional president for Asia Gregory Adams' start in the auto industry in Japan was far more humble.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 6, 2025

The drive for luxury: Aston Martin Asia's president explains the desire for more

“No one needs an Aston Martin,” said the company's regional president for Asia — it is more about emotion and less about practicality.
Japan's Rui Hachimura walks off the court after being disqualified for a second unsportsmanlike foul against France at the Paris Olympics in July last year.
BASKETBALL / B. League
May 6, 2025

Basketball bust-ups threaten ambitious Japan's hoop dreams

A row involving star player Rui Hachimura and disagreements over the domestic league's direction mean the path ahead is full of hurdles.
The Hollywood sign is framed by palm trees as Donald Trump unveils a 100% tariff on films made outside of the U.S., in Los Angeles, California, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 6, 2025

Trump tariff order on movies leaves film industry flummoxed

Tariffs on movies might prove more difficult to implement than even the highly integrated North American automobile industry.
Demonstrators with signs stand around the John Harvard Statue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, following a rally against U.S. President Donald Trump's attacks on Harvard University on April 17.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Trump administration freezes future grants to Harvard

The U.S. president has targeted the university over allegations of antisemitism on campus during pro-Palestinian protests.
The Osaka city board of education organized classes in which elementary school students disassembled devices slated for disposal and learned about the recycling of the rare metals contained in them last November.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 6, 2025

Disposal questions arise as student learning devices need replacing in Japan

The Osaka city board of education organized classes in which elementary school students disassembled devices slated for disposal.
OpenAI had backpedaled on plans to convert its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 6, 2025

OpenAI dials back conversion plan, with nonprofit to retain control

The announcement follows a storm of criticism and legal challenges, including a high-profile lawsuit filed by rival and co-founder Elon Musk.
Israeli soldiers work on a mobile cannon at a position near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Hamas says Gaza truce talks pointless as Israel wages 'hunger war'

The comments from a senior Hamas official followed Israel's approval of a military plan involving the "conquest" of Gaza, where nearly all 2.3 million people have been displaced.
Opinion polls show popular support for Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has risen further above President Tayyip Erdogan since he was detained and jailed in March.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Popular support for jailed Istanbul mayor grows, polls show

Two surveys released in recent days suggest that Imamoglu's detention on March 19 has also reinforced views that he is Erdogan's main rival in any future presidential vote.
Smoke billows up at Sanaa Airport in Yemen after Israeli military warplanes struck the Houthi rebel-held capital on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2025

U.S. and Yemen's Houthis agree to ceasefire

The deal comes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States would end attacks against the Houthis after the rebels agreed to stop harassing ships.
The global shipping industry is also contending with U.S. measures beyond the barrage of levies.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 7, 2025

World’s trade superhighway feels strain from U.S.-China decoupling

Among signs of disruption are plunging fees, fewer services and a pall of uncertainty over what for decades has been one the main maritime highways of the global economy.
Kazuo Sumi, former president and chairman of railway operator Hankyu Hanshin Holdings
JAPAN
May 7, 2025

Ex-Hankyu Hanshin Holdings chief Kazuo Sumi dies at 76

The Kansai native died at his house in the city of Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, on April 26.
Tatsumi Onose (right), who plays the part of Commodore Matthew Perry in Shimoda's Black Ship Festival, says the historical episode the event is based on should be remembered for its positives more than its negatives.
LIFE / Travel
May 8, 2025

Celebrating Japan’s defeat at Shimoda’s Black Ship Festival

Held this year from May 16 to 18, an event to the south of Tokyo turns a historical episode of national humiliation into a plain old good time.
An Israeli military vehicle patrols on the Israeli side of the Gaza border on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 8, 2025

U.S. and Israel discuss possible U.S.-led administration for Gaza, sources say

There would be no fixed timeline for how long such a U.S.-led administration would last, which would depend on the situation on the ground.

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