Search - member

 
 
A bipartisan group of economic experts urged the Supreme Court not to let U.S. President Donald Trump fire Fed Gov. Lisa Cook.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 26, 2025

Economic luminaries enter legal battle over Fed independence

The Supreme Court this year has largely sided with Trump in his firing decisions, but the justices have previously said the Fed is a "uniquely structured, quasi-private entity.”
Tokyo inflation is holding steady in September as subsidies offset price pressures, supporting Bank of Japan's cautious policy path.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 26, 2025

Tokyo consumer inflation unexpectedly holds steady, backing BOJ’s caution

The sudden steadying of the main gauge shows anew the volatility of data as government measures meant to help consumers cope with soaring costs of living swing the results.
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks during a meeting in the cultural center in Nuuk, Greenland, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Sep 26, 2025

Danish prime minister apologizes to victims of Greenland forced contraception

Denmark has been keen to smooth over tensions with its strategically located, resource-rich Arctic territory, which U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants.
Most Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Section companies have independent directors now.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Sep 26, 2025

Japanese corporate boards have changed dramatically in recent years

Governance reforms have led to the addition of independent outside directors.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2025

A painful display at the United Nations

The U.N. will rarely actually solve problems but it can expose them.
Liberal Democratic Party presidential candidates attend a debate at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 26, 2025

'Speed dating' — with an LDP twist

It feels like one of the speed dating events that used to be on Japanese television years ago, where the candidates court prospective partners one after the other.
Visitors wait in line to enter the Tech World pavilion at the Osaka Expo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2025

Taiwan showcases chipmaking prowess as a private exhibitor at Osaka Expo

The expo’s guidebook makes only brief references to Taiwan's food and lifestyles, but the structure of its pavilion and exhibits are rich in symbolism.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi denies he was involved in requests for favorable online comments to be made about him.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2025

Koizumi apologizes over campaign's soliciting of favorable online comments

A member of the farm minister's campaign team asked supporters to post comments favorable to him on an online video.
A parody Mount Rushmore sculpture depicts the faces of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (second from right) and U.S. President Donald Trump (right), as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a shopping mall in Bangkok on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 27, 2025

Seoul says it can’t rule out Kim-Trump meeting during APEC summit

A report quoting a South Korean official appeared to reverse Seoul’s earlier position that North Korea’s participation in the summit was unlikely.
ICE agents stand guard during a protest against the immigration policies of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, outside an ICE detention facility in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 1.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 28, 2025

Trump authorizes 'full force' troop deployment in Portland, Oregon

The U.S. president has made crime a major focus of his administration even as violent crime rates have fallen in many U.S. cities, including Portland.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov listens a question during a news conference after addressing the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 28, 2025

Russia tells West: Any aggression will be met with 'decisive response'

As war rages in Ukraine, tensions have mounted along NATO's eastern flank.
A U.S. volunteer in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion pays tribute to compatriots at the memorial to fallen soldiers on Maidan Square in Kyiv on Aug. 9.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2025

For whom the Ukrainian bell tolls

Ukraine faces a critical shortage of troops against Russia, and expanding the Ukrainian International Legion is essential to sustain its defense.
Komeito Secretary-General Makoto Nishida (left), LDP political reform chief Kisaburo Tokai (center) and CDP political reform chief Hiroshi Ogushi attend a meeting on political reform at the Diet on Sept. 25.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 30, 2025

Momentum for political reform wanes in Japan

Responses to the key unresolved issue of political donations from corporations and other organizations will test all political parties' commitment to reform.
Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Cardinals in Chicago on Sunday.
BASEBALL
Sep 30, 2025

Padres visit Cubs and red-hot Seiya Suzuki for wild-card opener

Suzuki followed up a seven-week homerless drought by going deep five times over the Chicago Cubs' final four games of the regular season.
Industrial production in Japan dropped 1.2% from the previous month, following the same pace of decline from July, according to the economy ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 30, 2025

Japan’s output falls as U.S. tariffs drag on global outlook

The data reflect ongoing caution among manufacturers as the U.S. continues to threaten additional tariffs to narrow its trade deficit.
German Chancellor and the leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union Friedrich Merz addresses the media in Duesseldorf, Germany, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 30, 2025

Merz's ambitions for Germany's role in EU put him at odds with von der Leyen

The German chancellor is trying to tug power back to Berlin, publicly rebuking the European Union’s top executive on issues like trade, the EU budget, green policy and defense.
Former lawmaker Akira Ishii has been indicted without arrest for alleged fraud involving state-paid salaries of a secretary.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 1, 2025

Akira Ishii, former lawmaker, indicted without arrest over alleged fraud

Ishii is alleged to have defrauded the state of some ¥8 million by registering a male relative as a public secretary.
Public executives in Japan are held to exceptionally high standards of judgment and propriety, as shown by the swift resignation of Suntory CEO Takeshi Niinami after a police inquiry into his alleged involvement in the import of CBD supplements. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2025

'For relaxing times...' don’t be a CEO like Suntory’s Niinami

Niinami says he’s done nothing wrong and he hasn’t been charged.
A U.S. Marine and a member of the National Guard patrol outside a federal building in Los Angeles in June.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2025

Resisting Trump’s show of force

In Trump’s paradigm, this is all a reality show and we are merely inconsequential extras without lines forever in the background.
In his second bid for the presidency, farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi has toned down his rhetoric, avoiding controversial proposals for social and labor reform and pledging instead to carry on the work of previous administrations.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 30, 2025

Why Koizumi is toning down his calls for reform

The political scion's unsuccessful bid for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency last year may be influencing his shift in strategy this time.
A woman visits an exhibition of North Korean art at a museum in Moscow on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 30, 2025

A secret no more: Russia and North Korea's battle against Ukraine is celebrated in Moscow exhibit

For months, Russia and North Korea sought to keep secret the role Pyongyang's soldiers played in helping Moscow push Ukrainians out of Kursk in western Russia.
With just hours to go until a midnight deadline, the deadlock over spending threatens to paralyze many U.S. government operations for the first time in nearly seven years.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2025

White House commences shutdown plans as Democrats block funding

With no more votes planned before the deadline, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget instructed government agencies to "execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.”
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses senior military officers gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2025

Trump tells military brass U.S. faces ‘invasion from within’

The president has sought to involve the military in his political agenda despite fears by top officers that this could erode support for an institution meant to be apolitical.
Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on Sept. 3, 2024. Blair's reputation is forever sullied by his decision to back former U.S. President George W. Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2025

Tony Blair's return to Middle East diplomacy reopens old wounds and new doubts

His decision to back former U.S. President George W. Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq forever sullied his reputation.
Ryosuke Takashima, mayor of Ashiya in Hyogo Prefecture
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2025

Youngest-ever Japan mayor among Time's 100 most influential emerging people

"In Japan, a country shaped by its gerontocratic politics, Ryosuke Takashima is breaking the mold," the magazine said.
Thorns midfielder Hina Sugita (right) controls a pass during the second half against Chicago Stars FC defender Natalia Kuikka at Providence Park in Portland on June 21.
SOCCER
Oct 1, 2025

Thorns trade midfielder Hina Sugita to Angel City

Sugita is an experienced member of the Japanese national team who played in the 2019 and 2023 FIFA Women's World Cups.
Air Self-Defense Force F-15Js arrive at RAF Coningsby in England on Sept. 18.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2025

Japan shows NATO support with first fighter jet deployment to Canada, Europe

The mission, which involved four F-15Js along with two refueling and two transport aircraft, demonstrates the Air Self-Defense Force’s long-distance operational capabilities.
A U.S. flag is illuminated in a doorway of the otherwise empty rotunda at the U.S. Capitol in the hours before a partial government shutdown in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2025

U.S. government shutdown begins after Congress fails to reach deal

The shutdown comes as deep partisan divisions in Washington have raised fears regarding the length and consequences of the halt.
National Police Agency Commissioner-General Yoshinobu Kusunoki (right) hands a letter of appointment to Akira Uno, head of the agency's newly created information analysis office, at the agency in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 1, 2025

Police in Japan launch teams to combat tokuryū crime groups

Members of the groups are connected through social media for illegal activities such as fraud and robbery.
The Bank of Japan is likely to raise rates by the end of this year or early next year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 1, 2025

Japan's tankan survey suggests rate increase sooner rather than later

Corporate sentiment improved as tariff uncertainty lessened following an agreement with the U.S.

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.