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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends the India-Japan Economic Forum in Tokyo on Friday, Aug. 29
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 4, 2025

Darkest hour for Ishiba amid pressure to quit and executive resignations

An offer by the secretary-general to resign after the party’s poor performance in a recent election has prompted Ishiba's LDP leadership team to call time on the administration.
Emma Aalto (left) and Millie Colling train in Helsinki on Sept. 1.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Sep 5, 2025

Same-sex duo to compete in ice dance in Finland following rule change

The Finnish federation's rules now refer to ice dancers as "Skater A" and "Skater B" instead of "man" and "woman." 
The Pentagon, near Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order to rename the Department of Defense the "Department of War."
WORLD / Politics
Sep 5, 2025

Trump to rename Department of Defense the 'Department of War,' official says

The name change will be costly and require updating signs and letterheads used around the world.
U.S. military personnel join Japanese officials and residents for a one-off joint nighttime patrol on the streets of the city of Okinawa in April, following sexual assault cases involving U.S. service members.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2025

Pentagon begins probe of crimes involving U.S. troops in Japan

The review will "examine the performance, training and criminal history of service members who committed violent crimes against Japanese nationals," according to a Pentagon memo.
Prime Minister Yoshio Mori declared in September 2000 that Japan must “grab the historic opportunity of the IT revolution."
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Sep 6, 2025

Japan Times 2000: Prime minister pitches ‘e-Japan’ as way of life

Japan must “grab the historic opportunity of the IT revolution,” Prime Minister Yoshio Mori declared as the final Diet session of the century opened in September 2000.
The Metropolitan Police Department headquarters in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. The MPD recently served a new warrant for the arrest of a man over unauthorized access to social media accounts of celebrities including a member of Japanese comedy duo Einstein.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2025

Man served new arrest warrant over access to Japanese comedian's account

The suspect allegedly logged in to the Instagram accounts of Naoki Inada, a comedian, and of a professional sports player without permission between July and October 2024.
Trump National Doral in Doral, Florida, near Miami. The Group of 20 summit, a major diplomatic event that includes rich and developing nations, will be held at the Doral resort in 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump announced.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 6, 2025

Trump announces he’ll host 2026 G20 summit at his Doral resort

The U.S. will also streamline the summit to trim what had become a ballooning attendance list in recent years, officials said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits an interactive exhibition in Vladivostok, Russia, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 6, 2025

Putin says foreign troops in Ukraine would be legitimate targets

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said thousands of foreign troops could be deployed to his country under postwar security guarantees.
Prince Hisahito concludes his elaborate "kakan no gi" coming-of-age ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2025

Japan prince comes of age as succession crisis looms

The nephew of Emperor Naruhito, Prince Hisahito, on Saturday received a black silk and lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio in June.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 7, 2025

U.S. strike on alleged cartel boat shows Rubio’s influence growing

The attack was the culmination of Trump’s yearslong interest in using unprecedented — and legally questionable — force against drug cartels.
China, led by firms like BYD and CATL, dominates green tech, which is forcing the EU to choose between defensive policies or collaboration on clean trade and investment to advance climate goals.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2025

Can Europe and China forge a climate connection?

Europe should forge a shared competitiveness agenda with China, which would allow it to use its strengths.
Princess Aiko (center) attends the 10th national conference on disaster management held in the city of Niigata on Sunday.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2025

In imperial family first, Princess Aiko attends disaster-related conference

Princess Aiko joined two sessions, both of which were related to the January 2024 major earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula.
Former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi on Monday became the first to enter the race to replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 8, 2025

Race to become next LDP president kicks off again

One presidential hopeful has announced his bid following Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s decision to step down just a year after taking over as chief of the ruling party.
Sha'Carri Richardson waits for the start of the women's 100-meter final during a Diamond League meet in Chorzow, Poland, on Aug. 16.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 8, 2025

Controversy continues to follow U.S. sprint star Sha'Carri Richardson

She arrives in Tokyo for the defense of the world crown on the back of another headline-making incident.
Doris Aguirre, an immigrant from Honduras, participates virtually in a Sunday service by the immigrant-focused Lincoln United Methodist Church, held online due to the threat of immigration sweeps, in Chicago on Aug. 31.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 9, 2025

Immigrant faithful turn to online sermons and home communion amid Trump crackdown

On Trump's first day in office, his administration scrapped earlier policy of designating places of worship as sensitive locations off limits to immigration enforcement.
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 9, 2025

Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation

Sometimes it makes sense to act before the investigation is done.
Twenty-nine years have passed since the murder of Junko Kobayashi, then a fourth-year student at Sophia University, and the arson of her home. On Tuesday, her father, Kenji Kobayashi, called for information at the site of her former residence in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 9, 2025

29 years on, family still seeking clues in female student's murder

Junko Kobayashi, then a fourth-year university student, was days away from leaving to study in the United States when her body was found in the burned remains of her family home.
U.S. President Donald Trump salutes the troops during the U.S. Army’s 250th Birthday parade in Washington on June 14, which coincided with his 79th birthday. Trump 2.0 is reshaping global alliances with new defense and diplomatic strategies.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Sep 9, 2025

‘Trump Doctrine’ a fundamental challenge to allied unity

Many in traditional foreign-policy circles struggle to see the method in Trump’s pursuit of “strategic surprises.”
Activists holding signs that reads "No one is illegal!" protest against a huge immigration raid last week in the U.S. state of Georgia, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Sep 9, 2025

Workers say corporate South Korea was warned about questionable U.S. visas before Hyundai raid

For years, South Korean companies have said they struggle to obtain short-term work visas for specialists needed in their high-tech plants in the United States.
Shipping containers are parked at Thar Dry Port in Sanand in the western part of Gujarat, India, on Aug. 27.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 10, 2025

Trump floats massive tariffs on China and India to pressure Russia

Other potential measures include further sanctions on Russia’s oil tankers and finance sector.
Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, speaks during a press conference about the Federal Supreme Court trial that could convict his father of attempted coup at the Federal Senate in Brasilia on Tuesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 10, 2025

Two Brazil Supreme Court justices vote to convict Bolsonaro for coup attempt

The five-judge panel is one vote away from a majority convicting Bolsonaro of orchestrating an attempted coup to remain in power after his 2022 electoral defeat.
Sebastien Lecornu, France's then-Minister of Armed Forces, leaves the Elysee presidential palace in Paris after a weekly Cabinet meeting on March 5. French President Emmanuel Macron has named Lecornu France’s new prime minister.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 10, 2025

Macron appoints ally Lecornu as France’s new prime minister

Lecornu, who previously served as defense minister, will become the country’s fifth prime minister in two years.
Police officers in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, in 2021. A 2022 U.N. report cited possible "crimes against humanity" in the region.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 10, 2025

Rights advocates demand U.N. press China on abuses in Xinjiang

Members of China's Uyghur minority appeared at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva to urge officials to step up pressure on Beijing.
Supporters of Global Sumud Flotilla gather to show support in Sidi Bou Said port, Tunisia, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Sep 10, 2025

Flotilla headed to Gaza reports second drone attack at Tunisian port

Following the strike, hundreds gathered near the port waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans against Israel and the United States.
Polish pianist Hania Rani took the audience on a synth odyssey at the first Japan edition of Unsound Osaka over the weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 11, 2025

Unsound turns Osaka into a laboratory of avant-garde music

Long-running Polish music festival Unsound channels Expo ’70 at its first Japan edition.
A Chinese Navy ship speeds past a Philippine fishing boat while the Philippine, Australia and Canadian navies conduct a joint drill near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sept. 2.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 10, 2025

Manila working on new protocols for dealing with Beijing in South China Sea

As tensions heat up in the waterway, the Philippines is updating its existing rules of engagement as part of a whole-of-government approach.
Ito Mayor Maki Takubo (right) notifies the municipal assembly of its dissolution on Wednesday in the city in Shizuoka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2025

Ito mayor dissolves municipal assembly after it passed no-confidence motion

Ito Mayor Maki Takubo had claimed that she graduated from Toyo University, but said in July that she had, in fact, been expelled from the school.
Hakuyo at Kokugikan in Tokyo the day before his first tournament in professional sumo in May 2014.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Sep 10, 2025

What drives sumo journeymen to endure one of the world's most grueling sports

Professional sumo is one of the harshest environments in sports. Yet many toil away in the sport's lower-tier divisions for years or even decades.
Prince Hisahito (right) smiles during a luncheon celebrating his coming of age in Minato Ward, Tokyo, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2025

Luncheon celebrates Prince Hisahito's coming of age

The luncheon was hosted by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess Kiko and attended by about 30 guests.
U.S. rightwing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk appears at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday, just before he was shot dead.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 11, 2025

Conservative influencer Charlie Kirk shot dead at Utah university event

The shooting was the latest in a series of attacks on U.S. political figures that have underscored a sharp rise in political violence.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.