Search - 2023

 
 
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Investors are shunning an auction of government debt and yields are soaring as the BOJ reduces its purchases of government bonds.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 21, 2025

Buyers recoil from Japanese bonds in warning to BOJ on balance-sheet cuts

The rout in the nation’s $7.8 trillion government bond market is most acute for longer-maturity debt.
It was reported that Malaysia would deploy 3,000 units of Huawei’s primary AI offering by 2026.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 21, 2025

Malaysia downplays Huawei deal as U.S. checks China’s AI reach

The move underscores the Asian nation’s delicate position in the U.S.-Chinese AI race.
A crowd of tourists walk on the street near Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. There has been growing pushback from residents in the tradition-steeped city as visitor numbers continue to rise.
JAPAN / Society
May 21, 2025

Japan's tourist arrivals soared 28.5% in April to hit record 3.9 million

For the first four months of the year, foreign visitor arrivals totaled 14.4 million, a 24.5% increase.
Over the past three years, banks with the most blended-finance transactions include SMBC, Citigroup, BNP Paribas and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 22, 2025

Sumitomo Mitsui among banks stepping up deals for blended finance

Deals blending public and private funds totaled $18 billion last year, down 21% from 2023, according to Convergence.
Jony Ive, left, is collaborating with OpenAI’s Sam Altman as part of a nearly $6.5 billion deal.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2025

OpenAI to buy AI startup from Apple veteran Jony Ive in $6.5 billion deal

The purchase — the largest in OpenAI’s history — will provide the company with a dedicated unit for developing AI-powered devices.
Thai film "A Useful Ghost" won top prize in the Critics' Week sidebar section of the Cannes film festival.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 22, 2025

LGBTQ Thai ghost story wins prize in Cannes

Film director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke says he hoped his LGBTQ story could touch more on politics.
Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department headquarters. Along with the National Police Agency, the MPD will carry out a major reorganization to beef up investigations into tokuryū groups.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2025

Japan police to launch team targeting tokuryū masterminds

The new police office is set to gather and assess information on tokuryū leaders around the country and identify targets for crackdowns.
Members of the group Misaskim clean blood off the ground where two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 23, 2025

Israeli embassy staff shooting suspect charged with murder

If convicted, Elias Rodriguez, 31, faces the possibility of the death penalty or life in prison.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't your typical Japanese role-playing game, but that hasn't stopped it from being one of the best to come from the genre in years.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
May 24, 2025

Uh-oh, is the rest of the world making JRPGs better than Japan?

Developed by a French studio, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has pushed the genre forward more than any Japanese-developed title in the past 10 years.
With Russia holding the upper hand in Ukraine and its people likely to support a favorable peace, why is the Kremlin unwilling to negotiate?
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 22, 2025

Russia’s two minds on Ukraine

Russian people used to have savings; today, they spend whatever they can get their hands on and even take out loans.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 23, 2025

Netanyahu accuses France, Britain and Canada of 'emboldening' Hamas

The criticism was part of a fightback by the Israeli government against the increasingly heavy international pressure on it over the war in Gaza.
U.S. President Donald Trump points as he boards Air Force One en route to New Jersey, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 24, 2025

Trump announces Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel ‘partnership’ deal

Media reports said the agreement signaled the approval of a takeover of the iconic American company by the Japanese steelmaker.
Rescuers transport a covered body in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on Friday.
WORLD
May 25, 2025

Rescuers say nine children of Gaza doctor couple killed in Israeli strike

Israel has recently stepped up its campaign in Gaza drawing international criticism and calls to allow in more supplies after it eased a total aid blockade imposed on March 2.
Students on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Friday
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2025

Trump's moves seen threatening key sources of U.S. 'soft power'

The U.S. president has attacked the media, cut foreign aid and canceled or seriously scaled back university research programs — raising fears of a brain drain in the country.
Modern pentathlete Ayumu Saito competes in the laser run at nationals in 2022.
MORE SPORTS / Modern Pentathlon
May 25, 2025

2028 Olympic hopeful giving modern pentathlon some time in the sun in Japan

As modern pentathlon takes on a Japanese flavor with a "Sasuke"-inspired event, Ayumu Saito is working to raise the sport’s profile in Japan.
Donald Trump's attempt to bar international students from enrolling at Harvard, along with other actions, undercut America’s image as a land of opportunity, alienating future Asian leaders and diminishing U.S. influence in Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2025

America’s 'wolf warriors' are getting it all wrong in Asia

Trump's actions erode goodwill among future Asian leaders and weaken America's standing in a region once deeply aligned with it.
People watch as smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD
May 26, 2025

Israeli military aims to take over 75% of Gaza within two months

The Israeli military already controls about 40% of Gaza.
Rafal Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw and candidate for president of Poland, speaks from the stage to his supporters as he begins the Great Patriots' March at Bankowy Square in Warsaw on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
May 26, 2025

Polish presidential hopefuls rally supporters ahead of election

The election will decide whether one of the European Union’s fastest-growing economies can resist the surge of populism sweeping the bloc.
The container terminal at Bremerhaven port in Bremerhaven, Germany, on April 22
BUSINESS
May 26, 2025

Europe’s shipping bottlenecks expected to persist into July

"Port delays are stretching transit times, disrupting inventory planning and pushing shippers to carry extra stock," said maritime consultancy Drewry.
Women visit a stand during the 23rd international gold and jewellery exhibition in Kuwait City on May 21.
WORLD
May 26, 2025

Stateless overnight: Kuwait strips tens of thousands of citizenship

The mass revocations have been cast as part of a reformist agenda spearheaded by Kuwaiti emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
Mets starter Kodai Senga itches against the Dodgers at Citi Field in New York on Sunday night.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 26, 2025

Kodai Senga gets win as Mets overcome Shohei Ohtani's homer to top Dodgers

The Mets dropped Friday's series opener before winning the final two games in a rematch of last year's National League Championship Series.
A University of Osaka study of more than 1,400 fourth-graders has found that children who chew poorly and eat quickly are significantly more likely to be obese.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 26, 2025

Study links poor chewing to higher obesity risk in children

The University of Osaka study involving over 1,400 fourth-graders is among the first to demonstrate a clear link between eating behavior and obesity risk in children.
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign event in the city of Uijeongbu, South Korea, on May 20.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 26, 2025

South Korea's Lee pledges to restore hotline with North Korea

The front-runner in South Korea's presidential election laid out a noticeably softer approach to the nuclear-armed North than his predecessor.
A Boeing 747 from Qatar at Palm Beach International Airport, following President Donald Trump’s tour of the plane, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 15. The president and his family have profited from the White House more than any other occupant, normalizing activities that once would have provoked heavy blowback and official investigations.
WORLD / Politics
May 26, 2025

As Trump family monetizes presidency, profits outstrip protests

The scale and the scope of the presidential mercantilism has been breathtaking.
Fighters starter Hiromi Ito pitches against the Hawks in Fukuoka on April 29.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
May 26, 2025

Fighters already showing last season's playoff run was no fluke

Nippon Ham manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo has dialed back his antics lately, and perhaps with good reason — because it looks like the players are ready to take center stage.
A United States Steel plant in River Rouge, Michigan. The guessing game continues as to what a "partnership" between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, as announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, actually entails.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2025

Even Nippon Steel is unsure about what a ‘partnership’ with U.S. Steel means

U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for the steelmakers has left the markets guessing and the participants keen to remain mum.
An activist holds a sign to protest against U.S. tariffs policy at the venue for an APEC trade ministers' meeting in Seogwipo on Jeju island, South Korea, on May 16.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 26, 2025

U.S. demanded South Korea resolve trade imbalance in recent talks: reports

The U.S. repeatedly raised the issue of the trade imbalance in the commodity sector and both countries agreed it was necessary to address it, the reports said.
Naomi Osaka during her women's singles match against Paula Badosa at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris on Monday
TENNIS
May 27, 2025

Osaka despondent after French Open first-round exit

The player won a lower-level title on clay earlier this month and is back in the top 50 but is still fighting to return to the sport's upper echelons.
Children in Gaza City on May 21
WORLD
May 27, 2025

Israel-backed Gaza food plan starts amid dissent and delay

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it has begun distributing food to Palestinians in the war-ravaged territory and appointed a new executive director
Israelis gather with flags by Damascus Gate, which leads to Jerusalem's Old City, as they mark Jerusalem Day on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 27, 2025

Far-right Israelis confront Palestinians and other Israelis in chaotic march

The large rally in Jerusalem marked Israel's capture of the city's east in the 1967 war.

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