Search - 2021

 
 
Christa Deguchi of Canada (right) battles South Korea’s Huh Mi-mi in the finals of the women's under-57 kg judo competition at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Jul 30, 2024

Japan-born Christa Deguchi claims Olympic gold for Canada in women's judo

Born and raised in Nagano Prefecture to a Canadian father and Japanese mother, Deguchi excelled for Japan before switching her representation to Canada.
World Anti-Doping Agency President Witold Banka holds a news conference in Paris on July 25. WADA and the entire global anti-doping system have been under intensifying scrutiny in recent months.
OLYMPICS
Jul 31, 2024

Anti-doping agency acknowledges concern over use of tainted food as excuse

The global anti-doping regulator disclosed Tuesday that it is investigating why athletes in China and other countries who are testing positive for banned drugs are escaping discipline through claims that they have unwittingly ingested the performance-enhancing substances through food.
The Taung Kalat Buddhist complex on Mount Popa in central Myanmar's Mandalay Region on July 7. A shrine perched on an extinct volcano in Myanmar once thronged with the bustle of pilgrims praying to flower-eating spirit Popa Maedaw, but civil war has cut the complex off from the faithful.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 31, 2024

War in Myanmar heartlands silences volcano shrine

The plains around the temple are now a battle zone, with the faithful blocked from access by fighting and checkpoints.
Hungary, which has increased its birth rate since 2010, has adopted policies that support those who want or have children, including financial incentives, housing subsidies and better work-life balance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2024

Why do young people in Hungary want kids more than in Japan?

Marriage and birth rates are plummeting in Japan, while many young people in Hungary want families thanks to measures that support their choices in life and at work.
Yuto Horigome defended his Olympic title in men's street skateboarding on Monday to continue Japan's dominant run in the event.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Aug 1, 2024

Why Japan is so dominant in street skateboarding

Skateboarding has only been a part of the Olympics for two editions, but the sight of Japanese skaters on the podium in the street competition is already a familiar one.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reviews an honor guard during her visit to Thailand, in Bangkok on April 26.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 5, 2024

Sheikh Hasina's record under fresh scrutiny as Bangladesh unrest deepens

Mass protests that began as student-led rallies against civil service job quotas have morphed into some of the worst unrest under the prime minister's 15-year tenure.
Kei Nishikori hits a forehand during his first-round win at the Montreal Masters on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Aug 7, 2024

Nishikori advances in Montreal for first Masters match win in three years

The 2014 U.S. Open runner-up, who has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons, turned the tide at the Montreal Masters after a slow start.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan decides the schedule of its presidential race, in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 8, 2024

CDP presidential election in September puts party future in focus

Key questions surrounding the election start with the issue of what the CDP's relationship should be with the Japanese Communist Party.
Ichiro Ozawa of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 10, 2024

Former CDP heavyweight Ozawa looks to replace Izumi in next leadership race

"We should pick the best suited person to wrest power," Ozawa said, reiterating his hopes to field a candidate other than Izumi for the leadership race.
Sanae Takaichi (left) and Seiko Noda attend a debate session in Tokyo for the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election in September 2021. While both Takaichi and Noda are seeking to run again this year, they must first secure the necessary recommendations from at least 20 party lawmakers.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 12, 2024

Calls grow within LDP for female presidential candidates

Amid headwinds from a political funding scandal, the party hopes to refresh its image by presenting the possibility of Japan having its first female prime minister.
The city of Yangon in July
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2024

Japan supermarket director detained in Myanmar released: junta

Hiroshi Kasamatsu, 53, director of Aeon Orange, which runs several supermarkets in Myanmar, was detained following an investigation into rice mills and supermarkets.
Afghan girls weave a carpet at their house in Kabul on July 20.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 13, 2024

Three years after Taliban's return, economic woes loom large

While security has improved, many Afghans are just trying to make ends meet.
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 13, 2024

Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says

The nascent concept goes beyond more regulations and restrictions, says Japan's first economic security minister, Takayuki Kobayashi.
Students at the University of British Columbia during the first week of classes in Vancouver, Canada
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Global immigration crackdown ensnares students studying abroad

Aggregate visa data for the first quarter of 2024 showed volumes to the U.K., Canada and Australia down between 20% and 30% from a year earlier.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida leaves at the end of a news conference, in which he announced he is stepping down, at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 14, 2024

Kishida's shock announcement shakes already unsettled Japanese markets

The prime minister's decision to step down follows the Bank of Japan's surprise rate hike just two weeks earlier.
Digital minister Taro Kono (left), Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (center) and former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba are among the potential candidates for the ruling party's presidential election next month.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Kishida's out. Who will likely be Japan's next leader?

The prime minister's decision not to run in the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race has ignited discussion on who might succeed him.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida poses for a group photo with other regional leaders prior to the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) leaders meeting in Tokyo in December.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 16, 2024

Japan's energy diplomacy reflects global divide over how to reach net zero

Japan’s focus should be on advancing truly innovative and effective renewable technologies, rather than prolonging fossil fuel use.
A man tests his lung function free of charge using a device provided by the Tokushima Prefectural Government at an event organized by companies.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 19, 2024

Japan takes new steps against lifestyle-linked lung disease COPD

A health ministry survey highlighted 16,384 deaths from COPD in 2021, making it the ninth leading cause of death among men.
Wind turbines in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture
BUSINESS
Aug 19, 2024

Japan offers lifeline to ESG investing amid backlash overseas

In light of the anti-ESG sentiment in the U.S. and Europe, analysts said that Japan can play a key role in driving sustainable finance globally.
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi announces his candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

Rising star Takayuki Kobayashi launches bid for LDP president

The former economic security czar has touted his candidacy as a symbol of radical change in a party embattled by scandals.
A wall mural depicting Nintendo's Super Mario characters in an underground walkway in Kyoto. The company will open the Nintendo Museum in October.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 20, 2024

Nintendo to open museum showcasing video game history this fall

The museum in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, will feature vintage video games and an interactive shoot-em-up with Super Mario characters.
Berlin's growing military engagement with Indo-Pacific allies and partners is meant to signal that Germany "stands firmly at the side of those countries that are committed to complying with international law and do not accept it being called into  question," German Navy chief Vice Adm. Kaack told The Japan Times.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2024

Sea lane fears drive German military's Asian engagement, navy chief says

Developments in the Indo-Pacific, both economic and geopolitical, have direct implications for the security and prosperity of Germany, Vice Adm. Jan Christian Kaack says.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to the Livingston County Sheriff's Office in Howell, Michigan, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2024

Trump pushes agenda in town with historic links to white extremism

Donald Trump did not speak out against hate during his 45-minute remarks in a Michigan town with historic ties to white supremacy.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, is the son of Junichiro Koizumi, who was prime minister between 2001 and 2006.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 21, 2024

Shinjiro Koizumi's criticism of LDP factions could return to haunt him

The former environment minister is expected to formally declare his candidacy for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency in the coming days.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who is expected to run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election, is likely to get support from former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 22, 2024

Ex-PM Suga likely to back Shinjiro Koizumi in LDP leadership race

Suga appears to be reluctant to support digital transformation minister Taro Kono, meanwhile.
Yukio Edano announces his bid to run in the leadership race of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 23, 2024

Yukio Edano pushes centrist image in CDP leadership bid

The ex-leader is attempting to shed a leftist identity by avoiding the expression "zero nuclear power" and pledging to review ties with the Japanese Communist Party.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to reporters in Yokohama on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 23, 2024

Shinjiro Koizumi is public's favorite for next LDP leader, poll shows

Former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba also received a strong degree of support.
A television station broadcasts U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Chair Jerome Powell speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Aug 24, 2024

Powell's Fed not shy about election-year cuts and ready to defend job market

The Fed chief sent a strong signal that the central bank will start cutting interest rates in mid-September, roughly seven weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
Founder and CEO of Telegram Pavel Durov delivers a keynote speech during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, in 2016.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 29, 2024

Telegram founder Durov charged and banned from leaving France

Pavel Durov was charged on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on Telegram, a popular messaging app.
Although Truvada has been used globally as an HIV prevention drug for years, the movement toward expanding its use as preexposure prophylaxis in Japan has been slow.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 29, 2024

Health ministry approves Truvada as HIV prevention drug

Truvada is the first drug approved in Japan for both the treatment and prevention of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji