Search - member

 
 
Members of the media raise their hands for questions as outgoing Fuji TV President Koichi Minato attends a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Explainer
Jan 28, 2025

What we learned at Fuji TV's marathon Nakai scandal news conference

Longtime executive of Fuji TV Hisashi Hieda, who has been dubbed the “emperor” of the broadcaster, was not present at the news conference and did not resign.
Shinji Aoba is taken to the Kyoto Prefectural Police's Fushimi Police Station in May 2020. His death penalty has been finalized after he dropped an appeal.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 28, 2025

KyoAni arson suspect's death penalty finalized after appeal dropped

An attack by Aoba in July 2019 at a studio run by the animation powerhouse caused the deaths of 36 people and injured 32 others.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends an ordinary session of parliament along with his Cabinet ministers on Friday. Ishiba has toned down his stance on legally allowing married couples to have separate surnames.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 28, 2025

Ishiba tones down stance on dual-surname debate

While previously being all in favor of a dual-surname system, the prime minister has recently suggested considering a "compromise" of legally expanding the use of maiden names.
Daisuke Komatsu (center), who heads the Liberal Democratic Party group in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, bows at a news conference in Tokyo on Jan. 17 after the group's accountant was slapped with summary indictment.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 29, 2025

Tokyo Assembly LDP accountant fined ¥1 million over slush funds

LDP accountant Hidekatsu Yajima had been summarily indicted by Tokyo prosecutors for violating the political funds control law.
Shiori Ito (right) speaks outside the Tokyo District Court in December 2019 after hearing the ruling on a damages lawsuit by her, accusing a former TV reporter of rape.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 29, 2025

Japan #MeToo survivor says media are failing in wake of Fuji TV scandal

Despite several high-profile cases, Japan has never seen an outpouring of #MeToo allegations.
Members of the popular Japanese pop group SMAP, including scandal-plagued Masahiro Nakai (right), perform in Beijing in September 2011.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 29, 2025

A pop-star sex scandal shows the death throes of old Japan

As the leader of a now-defunct boy band SMAP, the 52-year-old Nakai has been a ubiquitous mainstay in Japanese life for decades.
Shilling poses for a picture at her home in California, Maryland, on Jan. 19.
WORLD
Jan 29, 2025

How transgender troops prepared to fight Trump's new policy

Transgender advocates say the lawsuit is the first shot in what they predict will be a long fight.
Trump started his term on Jan. 20 by issuing an executive order "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism," which declared the government will only recognize two sexes — male and female.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 30, 2025

LGBTQ+ Americans in crisis as Trump rolls back rights

Nine organizations supporting LGBTQ+ people said they had a surge in use of their crisis services and calls to their helplines on Trump's first day in office.
A little-used section of the JR Geibi Line, which runs through the Chugoku Mountains in Okayama and Hiroshima prefectures, faces a threat of closure.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Feb 10, 2025

Underutilized Hiroshima-Okayama rail route struggles to survive

While the number of passengers has continued to decline, the Geibi Line has served as a lifeline for some residents.
Debris at the site of a deadly plane crash in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday.
WORLD
Jan 31, 2025

Investigators seek to salvage aircraft after deadly Washington crash

Authorities have recovered black boxes but have not yet pinpointed a reason for the collision between the regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter.
A member of the M23 armed group (center) stands in front of two Guatemalan soldiers from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) as they monitor access to the border crossing into Rwanda on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jan 30, 2025

What is happening in Congo and why are M23 rebels fighting?

The latest advances are part of a major escalation of a decades-old conflict over power, identity and resources.
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino speaks during an interview in June 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2025

BOJ deputy signals more room to hike given negative real rates

The deputy governor cemented the BOJ’s message that the central bank is looking to hike rates further in the future.
A memorial for the Skating Club of Boston members killed in a midair collision between a passenger plane and a U.S. military helicopter on Wednesday is seen at Tenley E. Albright Performance Center, in Boston on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Jan 31, 2025

Tight-knit U.S. figure skating community mourns skaters lost in plane crash

The athletes, coaches and family members on board the flight were returning from the National Development Camp in Kansas.
Ravens kicker Justin Tucker arrives on the field before a game against the Browns in Baltimore on Jan. 4.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 31, 2025

Massage therapists accuse Ravens kicker Justin Tucker of sexual misconduct

Tucker released a statement on social media vehemently denying the allegations.
Sebastian Coe speaks during a news conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Jan 31, 2025

Sebastian Coe admits mistakes in handling of prize money issue at Olympics

World Athletics announced its prize money decision unilaterally ahead of last year's Paris Games without consulting the IOC.
Defending the rights of transgender and nonbinary people isn’t only about waging legal battles. It’s about more persuasive arguments.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 29, 2025

Trump can’t erase trans people with the stroke of his marker

There hasn’t been as much outrage as I had anticipated, but it makes sense. Most Americans, polls show, don’t personally know anyone who identifies as transgender.
The front page of The Japan Times on Feb. 21, 1925, carried news of clashes in the streets over the debate of extending voting rights to Japanese males over the age of 25.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Feb 1, 2025

Japan Times 1925: Tokyo factions ready to fight over manhood suffrage bill in Diet

Objections from the country's 1% came as Japan debated extending voting rights to all men over the age of 25.
German President Horst Koehler makes a speech at an event in Leipzig on Oct. 9, 2009.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 1, 2025

Horst Koehler, former German president and IMF chief, dies at 81

Despite being a largely unknown figure before assuming the presidency, Koehler quickly proved himself in opinion polls to be one of Germany's most popular political figures.
Yoshihiko Noda, the head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, attends a news conference last week.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 2, 2025

CDP to present 'full package' of budget revisions in mid-February

The opposition party's upcoming revisions will include a gasoline tax cut, free school lunches and tuition-free high school education regardless of parents' income levels.
Bollywood faced a challenging year in 2024, with box-office collections dropping significantly, leading to concerns about a return to lawlessness in Mumbai.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2025

Bollywood’s dark past is threatening to return

When everything starts bombing for Bollywood, things take a sinister turn in Mumbai.
Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 3, 2025

Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?

They're no substitute for policy, but by providing food and belonging, these safe spaces are filling in the cracks of the nation's fraying communities.
The Jackson State marching band performs at halftime of their game against South Carolina State at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Dec. 14, 2024.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Feb 3, 2025

Dynamic Black marching bands are Super Bowl stalwarts

At least 13 Super Bowl halftime shows have included HBCU marching bands.
Norwegian soldiers and U.S. Marines work together during a military exercise in Finnmark, Norway, on March 10, 2024.
WORLD
Feb 3, 2025

NATO scrambles for drones that can survive the Arctic

Governments in the world's far north are seeking to overcome the challenge of flying drones in cold, icy weather as the region comes into the geopolitical spotlight.
The USAID building in Washington on Saturday. Senior security staff have been put on leave by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump after they refused to allow representatives from billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access restricted parts of the building, people familiar with the matter have said.
WORLD
Feb 3, 2025

More USAID staff ousted after clash with Musk's team as Trump dismantles agency

The fast-moving developments follow an executive order by Trump last month to halt and reevaluate U.S. foreign aid.
While Fuji Media Holdings is known for its iconic sphere-and-lattice headquarters in the Odaiba district near Tokyo Bay, it also owns office buildings, condominiums, hotels, nursing homes, logistic facilities, resorts and even two aquariums.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2025

Fuji Media’s crisis entices investors betting on changes

It may come as a surprise that Fuji Media’s shares have surged 45% this year, making it the best-performing stock on the benchmark Topix index.
A gas flare on an Iranian oil production platform in 2005
WORLD / Politics
Feb 5, 2025

Trump reimposes 'maximum pressure' on Iran that aims for zero oil exports

Trump said he was open to a deal with Iran and expressed a willingness to talk to the Iranian leader.
Greenland Prime Minister Mute B. Egede answers questions after a parliament session in Nuuk on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 5, 2025

Greenland PM calls election with Trump pressure mounting

Most Greenlandic politicians have rejected the U.S. president’s idea to take over the island, but the demand has caused internal disruptions.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama has been credited with convincing opposition parties to remain at the negotiating table with his diplomatic skills.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 5, 2025

Who is Hiroshi Moriyama, the man behind the prime minister?

The Liberal Democratic Party secretary-general is known for his negotiation skills and diplomacy, making him integral for a party that now rules as a minority government.
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi (left) describes a detail of a mawashi presented as a gift to French President Jacques Chirac at the Elysee Palace in 1999.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Feb 5, 2025

No Paris Syndrome for Japan’s national sport

Despite an up and down history, sumo and France remain amorous.
Elon Musk has in two weeks created a new center of power in Washington as he executes U.S. President Donald Trump's cost-cutting initiative to reduce the size of the U.S. government.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2025

Musk creates new power base in Washington with takeover of U.S. agencies

Elon Musk has in two weeks created a new center of power in Washington as he executes Donald Trump's cost-cutting initiative to reduce the size of the U.S. government.

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