Search - 2023

 
 
Hokkaido is reconsidering the possibility of hosting a casino resort, several years after Gov. Naomichi Suzuki halted plans for one.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Sep 29, 2025

Hokkaido cities consider fresh bet on casino resort

Citing concerns over gambling addiction and possible environmental impacts, Hokkaido's governor said it will be challenging to gain public acceptance for a casino bid.
Signage in Nagoya counting down to the start of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games earlier this month.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 18, 2025

Japan considering North Korea's participation at 2026 Asian Games

The neighboring countries have no diplomatic ties and North Korea was a no-show when Japan last hosted the Asian Games in 1994.
Polls suggest a head-to-head contest in the Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential race, but powerbrokers may sideline veteran contenders to engineer a youth-versus-youth showdown that could reshape both the party and Japan’s political landscape.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 18, 2025

Whiteboarding the LDP election

As I whiteboard the election scenarios, Koizumi vs. Takaichi is the most obvious race.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday about his candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party leadership race.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2025

Hayashi pledges to carry on Ishiba and Kishida’s work if elected LDP president

The chief cabinet secretary, who served under both prime ministers, says he will follow their lead as well as add initiatives of his own.
Botswana's Busang Collen Kebinatshipi (left) crosses the finish line ahead of Trinidad and Tobago's Jereem Richards in the men's 400-meter final at the world championships at National Stadium on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 18, 2025

Busang Collen Kebinatshipi wins men's 400 final; Yuki Joseph Nakajima finishes sixth

Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago finished in second place with a national record of 43.72, while Kebinatshipi’s compatriot Bayapo Ndori was third with a season best of 44.20.
A sign is seen outside of the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show outside the El Capitan Entertainment Centre on Hollywood Boulevard, from where the show is broadcast in Hollywood, California, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2025

Trump threatens licenses of TV stations that criticize him

Trump’s remarks represent a startling break with the nation’s long-standing traditions of freedom of speech and of the press enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
In “Ranshima Bound,” Yoshio (Tomoki Kimura, right) returns to his Hokkaido hometown with his supposed wife (Yuko Kii) when his estranged brother tells him their mother is in a coma.
CULTURE
Sep 19, 2025

‘Ranshima Bound’: Family fractures and buried truths collide in Hokkaido chill

Tomoki Kimura’s turn as a one-time punk rocker drifting through life grounds Kamada’s drama in rage, regret and reluctant tenderness.
A new type of Mizuho Bank outlet in Yokohama in March
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2025

Major Japanese banks are opening new types of outlets

There is a hope to increase direct contact with customers again amid rising interest rates and the growing appetite for asset management services.
Staff of United Nations agencies gather to denounce the killing of their colleagues in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, outside the global organization's European headquarters in Geneva on Thursday.
WORLD
Sep 19, 2025

U.S. and Israel criticize U.N. staff over Gaza war stance amid protests

Hundreds of U.N. staff protested outside the global organization's European headquarters on Thursday.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is unlikely to spend more than a fraction of his 27-year sentence behind bars, legal experts say.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / ANALYSIS
Sep 19, 2025

Brazil's Bolsonaro is going to prison, but he might not stay long

The former president was sentenced to 27 years behind bars after the Brazilian Supreme Court found him guilty of plotting a coup to overturn the 2022 election he lost.
U.S. deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus raises her hand to veto a draft resolution during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Gaza Strip, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 19, 2025

U.S. vetoes U.N. demand for ceasefire and aid access in Gaza

The U.N. resolution would also have demanded the immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups.
South Korea's LG Energy Solution was using workarounds to U.S. visa restrictions well before Donald Trump returned as U.S. president.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2025

LG Energy was using U.S. visa workarounds before Trump, documents show

South Korean companies say they face long-running problems in getting short-term visas for specialists they need for their high-tech plants in the U.S.
Prosecutors have sought a 12-year prison sentence for a former MUFG Bank employee charged with stealing cash and gold from customers' safe deposit boxes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2025

Prosecutors seek 12-year sentence for former MUFG bank worker over thefts

Authorities said the defendant caused some ¥1.4 billion in financial damage to 70 customers since 2020.
Phishing emails posing as major securities firms spiked in Japan between March and May, topping 70,000 in May alone.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2025

Police look to crack down harder on phishing scams amid record surge

Online banking fraud surged to about ¥4.22 billion in the first half of this year, a roughly 73% jump from last year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Israeli soldiers carrying out operations in Rafah, in the southern Gaza, in July 2024.
EDITORIALS
Sep 19, 2025

Netanyahu’s impunity threatens Israel

In an especially damning survey, the Pew Research Center earlier this year found that there was no majority positive view of Israel in any of the 24 countries it surveyed.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is considering increasing its stake in Jefferies Financial Group as the Japanese lender deepens ties with the U.S. investment bank.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2025

Sumitomo Mitsui mulls raising stake in Jefferies to 20%

The two firms are also in discussions to merge parts of their equities businesses in Japan, potentially through the establishment of a joint venture.
Haruka Kitaguchi could not make it out of the qualifying round of the women's javelin throw at the world championships on Friday.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 20, 2025

Japan’s hopes too much for Haruka Kitaguchi’s elbow to bear at worlds

"I don’t think life is over just because I did not make it to the finals here," she said. "I might need a long break, but I want to come back stronger.”
A security officer stands guard at an entrance gate to the Ministry of Justice in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 20, 2025

Japan requires prison officers to display ID numbers on uniforms

Officers are required to display their numbers above the rank badges on the right chest of their uniforms so that inmates can identify them.
U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles celebrates with a gesture from the "Dragon Ball" anime series after winning gold in the men's 200-meter final on Friday in Tokyo.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 20, 2025

Noah Lyles wants athletics to stop being an ‘amateur sport’

The American sprinter has consistently voiced his frustration with the sport’s dwindling public interest in non-Olympic years.
Mets pitcher Kodai Senga throws during a game against the Marlins on Aug. 31.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 20, 2025

Mets weigh options as Kodai Senga struggles in Triple-A start

Senga, who agreed to a rare option to Triple-A Syracuse earlier this month to reset his mechanics, surrendered four runs over 3⅔ innings on Thursday.
Japan's 4x100-meter relay team (from left, Yuki Koike, Hiroki Yanagita, Yoshihide Kiryu and Towa Uzawa celebrate after qualifying for the final at the world championships at National Stadium on Saturday night.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 20, 2025

Japan qualifies for men's 4x100 relay final at world championships

Japan finished in a time of 38.07 seconds.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele (right) during a match against Toulouse on Aug. 30.
SOCCER
Sep 21, 2025

PSG star Dembele tipped to beat Yamal to win Ballon d'Or

Nine members of the PSG team that won the Champions League, demolishing Inter Milan 5-0 in the final, feature among the 30 nominees.
The Plaza Hotel in New York, where finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of Five countries met and struck the Plaza Accord on Sept. 22, 1985.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 21, 2025

40 years after Plaza Accord, Japan still at mercy of forex swings

Monday marks the 40th anniversary of the accord, struck between Japan, the U.S., the U.K., France and what was then West Germany.
Images of Palestinian (left) and Israeli (right) flags projected onto the Eiffel Tower on the eve of France's planned recognition of the State of Palestine, in Paris, on Sunday. That same day, Britain, Australia, Canada and Portugal recognized a Palestinian state.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 22, 2025

Western nations line up to recognize Palestinian state, infuriating Israel

Britain's decision to recognize a Palestinian state carried particular symbolism given its major role in Israel's creation as a modern nation in the aftermath of World War II.
Demonstrators protest against a constitutional amendment requiring criminal charges against lawmakers to first get congressional authorization, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 22, 2025

Brazilians protest efforts to shield Bolsonaro and lawmakers from courts

The protest follows the ex-president's conviction this month for a coup plot following his 2022 election defeat.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang in this photo released Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 22, 2025

North Korea’s Kim open to talks with Trump, as South’s Lee backs nuke freeze

Kim said talks could reopen if the U.S. drops its denuclearization demand, remarks that came as South Korea's leader said he'd back a deal to freeze Pyongyang's nuke program.
Aces center A'ja Wilson (left) is fouled by Sparks forward Alissa Pili in Los Angeles on Sept. 11.
BASKETBALL
Sep 22, 2025

Aces center Wilson claims record fourth WNBA MVP award

The two-way player's achievements this season include becoming the fastest player to reach 5,000 career WNBA points in just 238 games.
Tylenol for sale at a pharmacy in New York on Sept. 5
WORLD / Politics
Sep 22, 2025

Trump administration to link Tylenol to autism, report says

Officials plan to warn pregnant women against using the medication, one of the world’s most common, over-the-counter pain relievers, unless they have a fever.
Activists hold a two-day protest vigil in solidarity with the victims in Gaza outside the Auberge de Castille, the office of Malta Prime Minister Robert Abela after he announced that Malta will formally recognize the State of Palestine in the coming days, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Valletta, Malta, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 22, 2025

What would wider recognition of Palestine mean for Palestinians and Israel?

Britain, Canada and Australia all recognized a Palestinian state on Sunday, with other countries expected to follow suit this week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
A family of displaced Sudanese at a displacement camp in Al Dabba, Sudan, on Sept. 6
WORLD / Politics
Sep 22, 2025

In Sudan, 'never again' has proved untrue, UNHCR chief says

After the bloody civil war in Sudan's Darfur region 20 years ago, the world said "never again." And yet it is happening again, U.N. refugees chief Filippo Grandi says.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?