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Pope Francis' body is carried in a coffin to Saint Peter's Basilica, on the day of its translation, at the Vatican, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Apr 24, 2025

Thousands honor Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica

Mourners flood the Vatican to bid farewell to the late Pope Francis, whose funeral will be held Saturday, with world leaders set to attend.
Regional lenders Daishi Hokuetsu Financial Group and Gunma Bank have entered into an agreement to consolidate their businesses in 2027.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025

Regional lenders Daishi Hokuetsu and Gunma Bank agree to consolidate

The banks have entered a memorandum of understanding to integrate their businesses under a holding company structure on or around April 1, 2027.
Police believe Daisuke Nishimura may have been involved in roughly 20 incidents in the 90 minutes leading up to his arrest, including a fatal hit-and-run and multiple assaults.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 24, 2025

Naked man’s rampage in Saitama linked to one fatality and 10 injured

Police believe he may have also been involved in roughly 20 incidents in the 90 minutes leading up to his arrest.
A group of lawyers representing a former journalist — who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a now-deceased secretary of a lawmaker — speak at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday following a ruling that ordered the government to pay damages to her.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2025

Government ordered to pay over sexual assault by lawmaker's former aide

A Tokyo court ordered the ¥4.4 million ($30,850) payment to a former female journalist who was allegedly assaulted by the now-deceased government-paid secretary.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025

Trump’s trade whiplash sinks world into dreaded ‘uncertainty’

"The worry I hear more often is actually not even tariffs, it is uncertainty,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters Thursday. "Let’s have clarity.”
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a discussion on the employment ice age generation in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 25, 2025

‘Employment ice age generation’ returns to spotlight ahead of Upper House election

The generation, which graduated between 1993 and 2004, has long grappled with pay stagnation and irregular employment due to a tight labor market.
The Maersk Launcher, chartered by a seabed-mining company to explore the practices viability, returns from an expedition to the Clarion Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean in June 2021.
WORLD
Apr 26, 2025

Trump moves to ramp up deep-sea mining for critical minerals

The move comes amid increasing concern over new Chinese curbs on the export of rare-earth materials.
World Bank Group President Ajay Banga speaks during an interview at the IMF-World Bank Group spring meetings at IMF headquarters in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 26, 2025

Developing countries should fast-track U.S. trade deals, World Bank chief says

"You need to negotiate trade systems with the U.S. at the earliest possible (opportunity)," Ajay Banga said. "If you delay, it hurts everyone."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (center) leads prayers next to Palestine Liberation Organization Secretary-General Hussein al-Sheikh (third from left) during a meeting of the organization's executive committee in Ramallah, in the West Bank, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 27, 2025

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appoints aide as potential successor

Hussein al-Sheikh was appointed by Abbas, 89, after the vice presidency position was created during a convention held in Ramallah this week.
A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / Longform
Apr 28, 2025

If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami

Last year the government issued its first "megaquake" advisory. Ever since, those living in the areas it's expected to hit have been preparing for the worst.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda proposed a buyout of Toyota Industries, seeking to consolidate his grip on Japan’s biggest business empire.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 28, 2025

Akio Toyoda's $42 billion buyout plan raises governance question

Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda’s bid to buy out Toyota Industries could pit him against Japan’s efforts to reform its corporate landscape.
People gather to protest outside the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) headquarters after the Elon Musk-led "department of government efficiency" (DOGE) was charged with oversight of OPM, in Washington on Feb. 2.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2025

100 days of DOGE: lots of chaos, not so much efficiency

"DOGE is not a serious exercise," said Jessica Riedl, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a fiscally conservative think tank that supports streamlining government.
U.S. President Donald Trump faces the enormous challenge of implementing the cavalcade of executive orders he has enacted.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2025

‘Welcome to the Thunderdome’: Inside the dizzying start of Trump 2.0

The administration's breakneck speed is both one of the administration’s most effective tools and most glaring vulnerabilities.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney waves to supporters at a victory party in Ottawa on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2025

Carney's Liberals win Canada election defined by Trump

Following a campaign dominated by Trump's tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart "a new path forward."
Sunset at Dudley Page Reserve, in Dover Heights, Sydney, on April 21
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 29, 2025

Australia’s economic ‘miracle’ is ending no matter who wins vote

Polls suggest the May 3 election will be tight, with many pundits predicting the winner will lead a minority government.
Hiroshi Moriyama (left), secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, meets with Zhao Leji, the third-ranking official of the Chinese Communist Party, in Beijing on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 29, 2025

LDP’s Moriyama pushes for concrete results on China’s seafood import ban

China offered no specific promises, instead emphasizing the stability of Japan-China relations at a time of great international volatility.
Trade minister Yoji Muto
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2025

Japan keen to team up with ASEAN for free trade system

ASEAN said it will continue constructive dialogue with Washington while maintaining the rules-based multilateral trade system.
Tetsuya Yamaguchi at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on April 8
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 30, 2025

How a Japanese fraud group ran scams from Southeast Asia

Police suspect that Tetsuya Yamaguchi, who was arrested on April 8 after being deported from Thailand, was involved in fraud totaling at least ¥3 billion ($21.1 million).
Chiyoshoma (right) battles Churanoumi during the New Year Basho in Tokyo in January. The Mongolian's drop down the sumo rankings ahead of the May tournament was one of the biggest surprises of the latest banzuke.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Apr 30, 2025

Puzzling decisions and opaque rankings are all part of sumo's charm

There are always a handful of head-scratching promotions and demotions, and the latest banzuke is no exception.
Fuji Media Holdings President Osamu Kanemitsu is set to step down from his post at a general shareholders meeting in June.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 1, 2025

After scandal, Fuji Media Holdings marks major net loss for first time

The company has also announced that President Osamu Kanemitsu, who was set to become chairman, will be stepping down.
Jannik Sinner will return from a three-month doping ban during the upcoming Italian Open.
TENNIS
May 1, 2025

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner considered leaving tennis during doping controversy

Sinner accepted a three-month ban in February after a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Hiroshi Kanamoto, a representative of Nihon Hidankyo, speaks at a preparatory meeting for the 2026 Review Conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in New York on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 1, 2025

Hidankyo member calls for nuclear weapons to be eliminated

The previous two Nonproliferation Treaty review conferences ended in failure.
Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest, makes front-page news on May 18, 1975.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
May 3, 2025

Japan Times 1975: Junko Tabei becomes first woman to summit Mount Everest

A 35-year-old housewife from Saitama achieved the impressive feat in May 1975 with the help of a Sherpa guide and 15-member Japanese women’s team.
A view of Koror, Palau’s main town, on April 10
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 1, 2025

Inside the U.S. battle with China over a Pacific island paradise

Palau is again on the frontline as China and the United States and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control.
Workers stand around a vehicle carrying the body of a person recovered from a sinkhole in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, on Friday.
JAPAN
May 2, 2025

Truck driver's body recovered from huge Japan sinkhole after three months

A road in the city of Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, caved in during morning rush hour in late January while the 74-year-old man was driving his truck on it.
An employee at the Imperial Household Agency who allegedly stole ¥3.6 million set aside for personal expenses for Emperor Naruhito and his family admitted that the money was used to make a living.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 2, 2025

Employee steals ¥3.6 million from imperial family funds

The chamberlain committed the theft on several occasions between November 2023 and March this year.
Elementary school children receive checkups from dental students in Tra Vinh, Vietnam, in March.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional voices: Chubu
May 19, 2025

Dentists pass Japan-style oral health care to children in Vietnam

Surveys show nearly 90% of elementary school students in Vietnam have tooth decay.
In a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, Tokie Tanaka, 64, details her allegations of sexual abuse against a Catholic priest.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 2, 2025

Woman says archbishop of Tokyo ignored her pleas after priest allegedly raped her

The woman's lawyer blamed the archbishop for failing to take appropriate actions after the woman told the congregation about the alleged abuse.
U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House in Washington on April 24.
WORLD / Politics
May 3, 2025

Now a trusted ally, 'Little Marco' gets Trump's big jobs

Marco Rubio's expanding resume underscores President Donald Trump's increasing trust in the former Florida senator, officials said.
Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, addresses delegates during a party congress in Janurary, in Riesa, eastern Germany.
WORLD / Politics
May 3, 2025

Germany's AfD dealt blow with right-wing extremist label

Germany's domestic intelligence service on Friday designated the far-right AfD party as an extremist group, setting off a diplomatic spat with the United States and fueling calls for the party to be banned.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear