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Palestinians queue for a portion of hot food distributed by a charity kitchen at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD
May 9, 2025

U.S. says solution for Gaza aid is 'steps away' as aid groups raise alarm

Anticipation has built up about a new aid plan for Gaza, laid waste by 19 months of an Israeli military campaign against Hamas.
China's Black Pearl Restaurant Guide held its award ceremony overseas for the first time, picking the dining capital of Singapore to promote its brand to an international audience.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 11, 2025

In China’s ‘Michelin Guide,’ Tokyo leads overseas listings with 30 entries

Tailored to the Chinese palate, the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide looks to expand its regional influence by rating restaurants in Japan and Southeast Asia.
A security guard stands outside a branch of Yes Bank in New Delhi last August.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2025

Japan's SMBC to buy stake in India's Yes Bank

The Sumitomo Mitsui deal marks the biggest foreign investment in India’s banking sector, and is the latest move by Japanese lenders to expand in the country.
A man bikes past a wall of campaign posters on the first day of the campaign period for the May 12 midterm elections, in Manila on Feb. 11.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 11, 2025

China takes center stage in Philippines' feisty midterm election

The outcome could shape the country's strategic positioning over the remaining half of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr's six-year term.
Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
May 12, 2025

What comes after 100?

The number of Japanese centenarians is on the rise, providing new models for how to live in a super-aging society.
Dodgers first base Freddie Freeman hits a double against the Diamondbacks in the third inning at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 13, 2025

Dodgers return home to face road-strong Athletics

After an 8-0 start to the season, the Dodgers have gone 19-14 since.
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton brings the ball up the court during the second half of Indiana's series-clinching win over the Cavaliers on Tuesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
May 14, 2025

Haliburton shines as Pacers advance past top-seeded Cavs

A flurry of six 3-pointers from Haliburton helped Indiana wrap up a 4-1 series victory as the Cavaliers' promising season fizzled out.
Agriculture minister Taku Eto has come under fire for saying at the weekend that he receives so much rice from his supporters that he has enough to sell it.
JAPAN / Politics
May 19, 2025

Amid rice shortage, farm minister comes under fire for saying he gets plenty

Agriculture minister Taku Eto reportedly said at a fundraiser that he gets so much rice from supporters, he has enough to sell it.
Agriculture minister Taku Eto answers reporters questions at the at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 21, 2025

Why Ishiba pulled a 180 on the gaffe-stricken farm minister

Taku Eto is the first minister to fall since the Japanese leader formed his Cabinet last October
Silversea Cruises' culinary program takes guests on a rich gourmet experience at wellness retreat Zenbo Seinei, where the local produce is presented in an eight-course meal.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 1, 2025

Waves of umami: Awaji Island's culinary trove

Silver Nova, one of Silversea Cruises’ newest vessels, takes guests on a food excursion on the largest island of the Seto Inland Sea with an immersive gourmet program.
The year so far is only proving that Mrs. Green Apple is the biggest band in Japan. Their success also seems to be hinting at a change in the musical landscape more broadly.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2025

Six months into 2025, J-pop is having a full-on identity crisis (and a great time)

Halfway through 2025, J-pop is in flux — swinging between AI absurdity, idol nostalgia and viral sugar highs.
More and more older Japanese people are joining health clubs, with Pilates becoming a popular form of exercise.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 11, 2025

So long, gateball. Japan’s seniors are ready to work those core muscles.

Japan’s seniors are trading gateball for Pilates, chasing strength, stability and a new kind of aging — with core control.
Held from June 7-8, the Japan Rapid Chess Championships is the latest major event put on by the country's chess supporters who hope to capitalize on the game's global momentum.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 14, 2025

Under shogi’s shadow, Tokyo’s chess lovers make their move

Japan has long resisted the lure of chess, but the stage is being set for the country’s first-ever grandmaster, one expert says.
Canes & Tales' Art Deco-inspired interior is designed by renowned architect Andre Fu.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Jun 15, 2025

Osaka’s Canes & Tales raises a glass to bygone charms

With its creative cocktails and classy air of a gentlemen’s club, Canes & Tales is a sophisticated addition to the city’s thriving drinks scene.
The Trump administration's decision to ban The Associated Press from the White House press pool over a style guide dispute is part of a long and troubling history of presidents retaliating against journalists who displease them.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2025

Presidents have been treating journalists badly since Lincoln

Indeed, long before there existed a White House press corps, presidential peevishness led to the punishment of newspapers.
Rio Takeda banked roughly ¥265.7 million during the 2024 season in prize money on the back of a tour-high eight wins.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jun 15, 2025

What gender pay gap? In Japanese golf, women are on par with men

Fan and sponsorship growth has players in the JLPGA making just as much as their male counterparts, a rarity in the male-dominated world of sports.
An elephant walks through the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 20, 2025

Humans adapted to diverse habitats before trekking out of Africa

Homo sapiens acquired an adaptability useful for tackling the wide range of conditions awaiting beyond the continent.
Chelsea's Liam Delap celebrates after scoring his first goal with the club as part of a 3-0 victory over Esperance on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
SOCCER
Jun 25, 2025

Delap notches first for Chelsea as club eases into Club World Cup last 16

A game played in sweaty conditions at the end of a blisteringly hot day in Philadelphia was decided by two goals in first-half stoppage time.
PRESS
Jul 1, 2025

The Japan Times receives Honorable Mention at SOPA 2025 Awards for Editorial Excellence

A longform feature on a Noto Peninsula community’s recovery efforts following a magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck the northern coast area on Jan. 1. 2024, written by staff writer Alex K.T. Martin and published by The Japan Times, Ltd. (President and CEO: Minako Suematsu) received an Excellence in...
Leafs forward Mitch Marner reacts after scoring against the Ottawa Senators during Game 1 of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on April 20.
MORE SPORTS / Ice hockey
Jul 2, 2025

Mitch Marner on Maple Leafs exit: 'Leaving isn't easy'

The Maple Leafs acquired forward Nicolas Roy from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Marner.
Microsoft’s gaming division began cutting hundreds of employees on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 3, 2025

Microsoft makes deep Xbox job cuts and cancels games

Microsoft announced Wednesday that it’s eliminating 9,000 workers companywide in its second wave of layoffs this year.
The Maruti Suzuki India e-Vitara during the Bharat Mobility Global Expo in New Delhi in January
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 4, 2025

Suzuki is becoming a top Japan importer with made-in-India cars

Suzuki beat out Mercedes-Benz to become Japan’s top car importer in June, thanks to the Jimny Nomad and another popular small SUV assembled in India.
White Sox relief pitcher Bobby Jenks throws against the Astros during Game 1 of the World Series on Oct. 22, 2005.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 6, 2025

Former White Sox closer Bobby Jenks dies at 44

Jenks was a flame-throwing reliever who appeared in the 2006 and 2007 All-Star Games and closed out the 2005 World Series for Chicago.
A person wears a mask depicting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the back of the head during the Budapest Pride March on June 28.
WORLD / Society
Jul 7, 2025

Inside Budapest Pride: How organizers defied Orban's ban

The team behind the parade in Budapest went offline, meeting in private behind closed doors with everyone leaving their laptops and phones outside.
Palestinians remove belongings from their homes threatened with demolition, during the ongoing Israeli military operation in Tulkarm camp, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on July 2.
WORLD
Jul 9, 2025

'Ghost camp': Israeli operations in West Bank push wave of Palestinians from their homes

"They kicked us out six months ago and we are still out. When you go back you try to bring anything you can, but in two hours with only our hands, you cannot bring many things."
A Palestinian man and one of his sons mourn beside the body of his other son who was killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid near a distribution point in Rafah, according to medics, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.
WORLD
Jul 13, 2025

Gaza truce talks faltering over withdrawal; 17 reported killed in latest shooting near aid

The latest mass shooting around a U.S.-backed aid distribution system has resulted in 800 people killed in six weeks, according to the U.N.
The recent massive pride parade in Hungary shows that even under authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, popular resistance for liberal democracy persists — but the region’s deeper political stalemate endures.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2025

Is democracy stalemated?

Yet neither triumphalism nor fatalism captures the real dynamic. A more measured analysis shows that history’s arc is not bending at all — it is stuck.
Kioxia is rated BB+, one step below investment grade, by both S&P and Fitch.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 15, 2025

Chipmaker Kioxia plans debut bond abroad, joining Japan peers

Kioxia plans to raise as much as $3 billion via a dollar bond sale that would be its first corporate debt issuance, in the latest sign of investor appetite abroad.
Kiyoshi Shibata stands in front of one of the rice paddies in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, where he produces the prefecture's signature rice brand Tsuyahime.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 17, 2025

Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi’s policies

Farming communities, a key base for the Liberal Democratic Party, are increasingly voicing their distress at how the rice situation is being handled.
Rapidus last week printed circuitry on wafers using 2-nanometer gate-all-around process technology, President Atsuyoshi Koike told reporters Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025

Rapidus reports 2-nanometer progress, moving Japan closer to semiconductor goals

Uncertainty about U.S. President Donald Trump’s willingness to defend Taiwan in the event of an attack is among motivations for Japan’s efforts to build its own foundry.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years