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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 20, 2022

In dealing with Beijing, Tokyo must adopt a strong security front

China's military expansion and its challenges to the existing international order have had a significant effect on the defense policies of Japan and the U.S., not to mention Taiwan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 15, 2022

New national security strategy needs to respond to realities on three fronts

With China, North Korea and Russia each posing a different problem, Japan's security strategy must shift to realistic strategies that cope with and deter existing threats.
Al Hilal's new signing Neymar (left) holds the club's shirt as he poses with President Fahd bin Saad Al-Nafel during a signing event in Paris on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Aug 16, 2023

Neymar joins Saudi club Al Hilal from PSG in two-year deal

French newspaper L'Equipe said the deal could net the Brazil star almost $175 million.
A farmer harvests jasmine flowers on the outskirts of Madurai, India. Jasmine has been used for millennia in India to honor the gods, and the valuable scent is now being snapped up as an essential ingredient for global perfumes.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 16, 2023

Scent of luxury: India's jasmine infuses global perfume

Jasmine's fragrant flowers have been used for millennia in India to honor the gods, and the scent is a key part of world-famous perfumes.
Chinese leaders seem to believe the country has a narrow window of opportunity to achieve global preeminence before unfavorable demographic and geopolitical trends catch up with it.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2023

China’s dangerous secrets

China's secretive approach to projects and activities, including its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, should be a significant concern.
Destroyed buildings and cars along Front Street in Lahaina, Hawaii, two days after the historic town on Maui was devastated by wildfire on Aug. 11.
WORLD
Aug 16, 2023

How fire turned Lahaina into a death trap

A week has passed since an inferno swept through West Maui. More than 100 people are confirmed dead, with the toll expected to rise substantially.
At the inaugural World Lambrusco Day held this June, the sparkling wine took center stage beneath the Eiffel Tower.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 20, 2023

Passe or sparkling, Lambrusco can get you through a Tokyo summer

Fizzy, fruity and tantalizingly affordable, the sparkling red wine from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region is a convivial antidote to the summertime blues.
The color of a red torii gate in Bushidaira, Saitama Prefecture, still stands out against a vibrant green backdrop.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Aug 18, 2023

Exploring the eerie beauty of Japan's abandoned villages

Depopulation and an aging society have turned parts of the countryside into tourist attractions for those eager to explore a forgotten era.
“Days at the Morisaki Bookshop” centers on a woman who overcomes past difficulties by finding comfort and human connection at her uncle's charming bookstore.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 19, 2023

Satoshi Yagisawa’s novel has all the charm of a Jimbocho bookshop

“Days at the Morisaki Bookshop" is a heartwarming coming-of-age tale that will delight fans of Japanese literature.
Surging populations of plant-eating insects are disrupting farms and the food supply chain, causing problems far more serious than sticky windshields from bug excrement.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2023

The insect apocalypse is coming to your neighborhood

Polar bears and sea turtles get most of the attention as victims of climate change, but when the bugs invade we're all going to feel it personally.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 20, 2023

Tokyo aiming to eliminate areas congested with wooden houses

As of 2020, Tokyo had some 8,600 hectares of such areas that are expected to suffer particularly severe damage in the event of a large quake.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 20, 2023

Japanese aquarium begins study on sea turtle migration

Little is known about the exact route and mechanism of the loggerhead's migration from the coast of Japan to the west coast of North America.
U.S. and Japanese authorities are concerned that purchases of farmland near military bases and other critical facilities will allow China and other governments to spy on or interfere with their operations.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2023

For the best espionage, it’s location, location, location

Efforts by Chinese companies to purchase land — often, but not exclusively, agricultural — has authorities in Japan and the United States up in arms.
Kenya Koshimizu, senior executive at Mizuho Financial Group, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2023

Mizuho deferring JGB purchases as BOJ mulls policy exit: official

Banks face a looming inflection point as Japan's economy approaches policy normalization after years of little growth, weak spending and massive easing.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 23, 2023

61% in Japan back separate surnames for married couples

A think tank sent forms to 16,470 households in July last year and analyzed responses from 5,518 women with spouses.
Nomura Securities International has agreed to pay $35 million over securities trading fraud which took place from 2009 to 2013 and primarily from the company’s trading floor in New York.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2023

Nomura fined $35 million in U.S. over mortgage-backed securities

Nomura Securities International will also pay almost $808,000 in restitution to victims of the scheme.
People visit Semicon China, a trade fair for semiconductor technology, in Shanghai in 2021
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2023

China quietly hires overseas chip talent as U.S. tightens curbs

The revamped recruitment drive is said to offer perks including home-purchase subsidies and typical signing bonuses of $420,000 to $700,000.
Materials derived from cabbage (left), iyokan (center) and onion by Tokyo-based startup Fabula, which is working to develop new materials that can replace concrete.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Aug 27, 2023

Japan’s scrap-and-rebuild culture faces an environmental reckoning

The nation's tendency toward new construction — rather than renovation — is coming under renewed scrutiny amid concerns over sustainability.
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Programme's fighter jet is displayed at the DSEI Japan defense show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba in March.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 31, 2023

What the trilateral fighter jet program means for Japan

The program, also involving the U.K. and Italy, is the first such project with countries other than the U.S.
In its quake damage estimates updated last year, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government expects that 4.53 million people will be unable to return home in the aftermath of a massive quake hitting the capital.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2023

Over-concentration in Tokyo raising risks from possible quake

The government estimate that up to 23,000 people would be killed if a massive quake hits the capital.
As China slips into deflation, one word is popping up more and more to describe the gloomy atmospherics: "Japanification."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 30, 2023

'Japanification' for China? It should be so lucky.

China is not on the path to global dominance nor set for collapse, and observers should consider the various shades of gray in analyzing these countries.
A married couple (Arata Iura, left, and Rena Tanaka) returning to their home village from a posting in occupied Korea become witnesses to a bloodbath in Tatsuya Mori’s historical drama, “September 1923.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 31, 2023

‘September 1923’ stylizes an oft-overlooked brutality

Tatsuya Mori’s drama is an important act of historical reclamation, but it’s practically indigestible.
Singaporean presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian gives speech on Aug. 22 in the lead-up to Friday's election.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2023

Singaporeans should vote in their imperfect elections

While the selection process for presidential candidates and the behavior of some of them may not be perfect, Singaporeans should vote on Friday.
Gigi Chao, vice chair of Cheuk Nang Holdings, in Hong Kong on July 19
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 31, 2023

More LGBTQ rights could help Asian financial hubs draw global talent

In Japan, the only Group of Seven nation without legal protection for same-sex unions, corporations are seen as a key driver for change.
Mizuki Yoneyama is the Kodo taiko troupe's first female odaiko (large-scale drum) player, an indication that things are changing in the traditional community.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 2, 2023

For these women, taiko drumming is no longer a man's art

Ensemble taiko shows were developed in the 1950s, primarily by male leaders. Women taking part in Kodo’s early recitals only performed dance routines.
From June to August, Japan's weather agency recorded "considerably higher" average summer temperatures in "northern, eastern, and western Japan."
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2023

Record shattered as Japan sees hottest summer ever

From June to August, the weather agency recorded "considerably higher" average summer temperatures in "northern, eastern, and western Japan."
Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” follows a young boy who enters a strange realm on a quest to find his missing stepmother.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 4, 2023

‘The Boy and the Heron’ hype ramps up ahead of English release

Pairs of tickets to the Hayao Miyazaki film’s international debut at the Toronto International Film Festival are reselling for as much as ¥45,000.
A rainbow at the site of this year’s Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada
WORLD / Society
Sep 4, 2023

What is Burning Man, and why have Paris Hilton and Elon Musk shown up?

The festival has been described as a site of countercultural revelry that draws both hippies and Silicon Valley types.
Nestled behind a seawall on the Pacific coast are the Minamisoma Mano-Migita-Ebi solar power plant and the Manyo no Sato wind farm. The 2011 tsunami struck this portion of the coast with a wave that is reported to have been around 18 meters high.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Sep 5, 2023

How a nuclear disaster turned Fukushima into a renewables leader

Following 3/11 — and the cratering of support for nuclear energy — Fukushima positioned itself at the forefront of Japan’s low-carbon transition.

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