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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.
Former labor minister Kim Moon-soo arrives at the People Power Party's national convention in Goyang, South Korea, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 3, 2025

South Korea's conservatives pick hard-liner Kim Moon-soo as presidential candidate

Kim, 73, was a labor activist in his university days but later became a hard-line conservative.
Israeli tanks operate in the Gaza Strip, by the Israel-Gaza border, on Saturday.
WORLD
May 4, 2025

Israel calls up tens of thousands of reservists for Gaza offensive

All aid deliveries to Gaza have been blocked since March 2, prompting warnings from U.N. agencies of impending humanitarian disaster.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (right) speaks during an Oval Office meeting on April 24 with President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store (not pictured) to discuss tariffs.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 4, 2025

A turning point in trade: The U.S. effort to reverse global imbalances

This large trade imbalance is also the primary driver of the U.S. current account deficit, largely due to the gap in goods trade.
Palestinians receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on April 29.
WORLD
May 5, 2025

Hamas executes looters in Gaza as food crisis worsens under Israeli blockade

Hamas officials have accused some of the looters of working in collaboration with Israel, which has sealed off aid from entering Gaza.
Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 5, 2025

A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan

How one artist is using history, culture and community spirit to revive a fading samurai legacy — and possibly reshape rural Japan’s future.
People wait for dinner at a shelter run by Sant'Egidio, a Catholic association dedicated to social outreach, across the street from St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on April 24.
WORLD / Society
May 5, 2025

Homeless sheltered by Pope Francis wonder who will follow

Pope Francis shunned much of the pomp and privilege of the papacy and sought to make the Roman Catholic Church more inclusive and less judgmental.
China's Bayan Obo rare earth mine in Inner Mongolia. As U.S.-China tensions strain critical mineral supply chains, Tokyo’s multipronged approach based on sovereignty, resilience and sustainability is gaining quiet relevance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 5, 2025

Japan's resource security path may hold answers to trade turmoil

Critical mineral supply chains are made vulnerable by China's dominance and U.S. protectionism. Japan's strategy may provide clues as to how to secure these vital resources.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato (center) delivers a speech at the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank on Monday in Milan.
JAPAN
May 6, 2025

Asian Development Bank will hold its annual meeting in Nagoya in 2027

It will be the first time in 10 years for the ADB's annual meeting to be held in Japan.
Power lines connecting pylons of high-tension electricity are seen during sunset at an electricity substation on the outskirts of Ronda, Spain, during a blackout in the city on April 28.
WORLD
May 6, 2025

EU power grid needs trillion-dollar upgrade to avert Spain-style blackouts

Authorities in Spain and Portugal are investigating the cause of last week's blackout, but whatever the findings, analysts say infrastructure investment is essential.
Data center servers and components containing the newest artificial intelligence chips from Nvidia are seen on display at the company's GTC software developer conference in San Jose, California, on March 19.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

U.S. lawmaker targets smuggling of Nvidia chips to China with new bill

Rep. Bill Foster said the technology to track chips after they are sold is readily available, with much of it already built into Nvidia's chips.
A new U.S. FDA policy requiring full placebo-controlled trials for updated vaccines, pushed by Commissioner Marty Makary (right) and U.S. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (center), is seen as a backdoor effort to sideline COVID-19 boosters and undermine broader vaccine development.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 2, 2025

RFK Jr.’s new vaccine scrutiny is alarming

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the FDA, intends to set new regulatory standards vaccine manufacturers couldn’t possibly meet.
U.S. President Donald Trump, accompanied by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, delivers remarks on the advanced F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet in the Oval Office on March 21. 

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as an image of an F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet is displayed, in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2025

The F-47 fighter jet and Trump’s air dominance gamble

The U.S.' announcement signals a shift toward the pursuit of nuclear superiority — which history shows will weaken deterrence and increase the likelihood of nuclear crises.
Designated German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union following a session of the German lower house of parliament to elect the new German chancellor, in Berlin on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Germany's Friedrich Merz faces new vote for chancellor after surprise loss

The initial shock defeat dealt a heavy blow to Merz, who has vowed to restore stability in Berlin after half a year of political turmoil.
Israeli soldiers work on a mobile cannon at a position near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Hamas says Gaza truce talks pointless as Israel wages 'hunger war'

The comments from a senior Hamas official followed Israel's approval of a military plan involving the "conquest" of Gaza, where nearly all 2.3 million people have been displaced.
With the U.S. Capitol in the background, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to reporters after his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2025

Carney stresses Canada will never be for sale in first meeting with Trump

Overall, Carney termed the meeting as constructive, and said the two sides would start serious talks on a new relationship.
The government is looking into measures to address a situation in which online advertisements with sexual content are posted on websites that may be accessible by children.
JAPAN / Media
May 7, 2025

Regulation of online ads with sexual content draws mixed views in Japan

While advocates seek measures to better protect children, critics worry they might infringe on freedom of expression.
Kazuo Sumi, former president and chairman of railway operator Hankyu Hanshin Holdings
JAPAN
May 7, 2025

Ex-Hankyu Hanshin Holdings chief Kazuo Sumi dies at 76

The Kansai native died at his house in the city of Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, on April 26.
Former sekiwake Toyonoshima and Airi Hisano train at Tachihi Sumo Club on May 1.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
May 7, 2025

Former sekiwake Toyonoshima is new head coach at innovative women’s club

Detailing how she struggled with injury over the past few years, Airi Hisano said she had considered retirement before being approached to join the club.
In a world where capital and rich individuals can cross borders freely, only international cooperation can ensure that multinational corporations and the superrich are fairly taxed.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2025

America is becoming the world’s largest tax haven

Trump is turning the U.S. into a tax haven by weakening enforcement, deregulating crypto and abandoning international tax cooperation, favoring secrecy and the ultrarich.
Japan's Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa speaks to the press upon his arrival at Haneda Airport on April 18. He has said that all tariffs need to be reconsidered by the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 7, 2025

U.S. and Japan remain far apart on tariffs

While both sides have said they will aim for a deal as soon as possible, they have also indicated that they aren't in a rush for a swift settlement.
SMBC Nikko Securities hired former Nomura Holdings senior executive Susumu Usui as co-head of equity and ex-Citigroup’s Keita Matsumoto as head of financial markets.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2025

SMBC Nikko hires former Nomura and Citi top executives in rebuild

The firm is seeking to strengthen its business following the rigging scandal more than two years ago, which led to the loss of several equity executives.

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