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"Les Gouttes de Dieu" ("Drops of God") took home the award for best drama at the 52nd International Emmy Awards in New York on Monday. Starring Fleur Geffrier (left) and Tomohisa Yamashita, it's available on Hulu Japan, France Televisions and Apple+.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 26, 2024

French-Japanese series takes best drama at International Emmys

The joint French-Japanese-American production “Les Gouttes de Dieu” (“Drops of God”) is set in the world of wine and fine dining.
The 12-year wait between Designtide Tokyo events was long, but the range and quality of exhibitions on offer made it worth the wait.
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 11, 2024

After 12 years, Designtide Tokyo returns with a lineup of sensory dialogue

Swedish music hardware company Teenage Engineering both scored and encapsulated the philosophy of the innovative design fair's 12-year comeback.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visit a defense exhibition in July last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 11, 2024

Russia tie-up sparks fears of modernized North Korean defense industry

Experts say the real issue is how deepened North Korean-Russian ties could help revitalize and modernize Pyongyang’s defense industrial base.
Efforts to reduce methane emissions from dairy cows in the U.K. using the feed additive Bovaer, proven safe and effective, have sparked public backlash fueled by misinformation and conspiracy theories.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2024

No, sanitizing cow burps won’t sour your milk or contaminate your cheese

The problem the project addresses is real enough. Beef and dairy products are extremely carbon-intensive food items.
Minutes from the Bank of Japan's October policy meeting highlight how overseas economic risks, particularly those surrounding the new U.S. administration's policies, will be key to how soon the BOJ will hike rates.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 24, 2024

BOJ debated need for caution in raising rates, meeting minutes show

Contrary to its concern over external risks, the BOJ board was mostly optimistic on domestic economic conditions.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida and Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 25, 2024

Will Honda-Nissan tie-up deliver synergies in time to counter China?

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe has said the companies need to build up capabilities by 2030 or face being "beaten," but analysts question whether they have that much time.
Dodgers announcers Stephen Nelson and Jessica Mendoza pose with Ichiro Suzuki before a game against the Mariners in Seattle in 2023.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 27, 2024

Dodgers voice Stephen Nelson paves way for Japanese Americans in media

Nelson strongly believes representation matters in media and is aware that he might be helping inspire the next generation of Asian Americans in sports media.
Fast Retailing’s November-ending quarter may have seen operating profit growth soften as warmer autumn-winter temperatures dented sales, even with the backdrop for consumer spending in Japan looking promising.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 3, 2025

Uniqlo and 7-Eleven face sales headwinds despite brighter consumer spending

Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing and Seven & i Holdings are among the first to kick off this earnings season in Asia.
A member of the Taiwan Coast Guard monitors a Chinese vessel in waters east of Taiwan on Dec. 9.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 6, 2025

Taiwan says Chinese ship broke subsea cable in alleged sabotage

The incident follows another Chinese vessel’s suspected involvement in the severing of data cables in the Baltic Sea in November.
“The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic” centers on three teenage protagonists who are transported into a fantasy world where they must grapple with a foreign culture.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 11, 2025

Isekai anime offers a key to understanding globalization

The fantastical genre wherein characters are dropped into unlikely worlds — and sometimes bodies — can be read as an allegory for the structure of the contemporary anime industry.
In season two of "Squid Game," protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) returns to put an end to the deadly competition.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Jan 12, 2025

The unnervingly timed return of ‘Squid Game’

The show’s themes of wealth disparity and exploitation of power resonate far beyond South Korea, tapping into a universal vein of unease about the unstable systems we live under.
The new Switch is a tablet-style device with detachable controllers that can be played in handheld mode or hooked up to a TV, like its predecessor.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 17, 2025

Nintendo announces Switch 2, its first new console in eight years

Japan residents can apply via lottery for a hands-on demo of the Switch 2 on April 26 and 27 at Chiba’s Makuhari Messe convention center.
With abundant rains and formidable humidity in summer, Japan does not seem to be an ideal land for wine, but winegrowers in Yamanashi Prefecture have gradually been able to adapt.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 26, 2025

Of sake and spirits: Indulging in Yamanashi’s best

Visits to Grace Wine’s vineyard and the Suntory Hakushu Distillery turn a tour of the mountainous prefecture into a gourmet treat.
Sara Saito competes at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in October last year.
TENNIS
Jan 24, 2025

Sara Saito’s journey from tennis courts in Gunma to promising WTA pro

The 18-year-old Saito, who has steadily risen up the WTA rankings, is the only teenager among the eight Japanese players in the top 200.
The Bird of Peace monument, made of collected guns, in Podgorica, Montenegro, on Jan. 10
WORLD / Society
Feb 3, 2025

Mass shootings horrify the Balkans, but illegal guns still thrive

The region is littered with millions of firearms left over from regional conflicts, and the culture of weapon ownership runs centuries deep.
Dig Shibuya 2025 spotlights tech in art and high-tech experiences such as “Around the Corner,” an interactive piece by the Hong Kong-based technology-driven artist group XRT (extended reality art).
CULTURE / Art
Feb 7, 2025

Shibuya becomes the canvas for tech-infused art during Dig 2025

Now in its sophomore year, the Dig Shibuya digital art festival runs from Feb. 8 to 11, with activities and exhibitions popping up across Tokyo’s trendiest neighborhood.
A set of miniature "hina" dolls from the late Edo Period (1603-1868), collected by hina furnishings researcher Yumiko Kawauchi
CULTURE
Feb 10, 2025

Miniatures bring hidden worlds to life at Tokyo cultural site

A set of dolls from the late Edo Period is among the items on display on the premises of Hotel Gajoen Tokyo.
Analysts warn that the emergence of DeepSeek’s low-cost, open-source large language models might cool the artificial intelligence frenzy and thus cap SoftBank's investment performance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2025

Bears circle SoftBank as DeepSeek clouds outlook for Stargate

DeepSeek’s low-cost AI model is begging the question of whether such massive spending on Stargate is even necessary.
A Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy helicopter is seen from aboard a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) aircraft in the skies above Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Feb. 18.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2025

Standoff in the skies: Witnessing an unsafe intercept over the South China Sea

A Chinese military helicopter edged dangerously close to a Philippine plane on patrol over the flash point Scarborough Shoal, an incident witnessed by The Japan Times.
The Tokyo Port Brewery team in front of the brewery building. President Shunichi Saito (left) and Master Brewer Yoshimi Terasawa are the ones holding sake bottles.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2025

Sake brewery in central Tokyo revives Edo tradition

Although Japan had roughly 11,000 sake breweries around 1900, now only about 1,200 remain.
Tokyo Creative Salon combines elements of design, fashion and less easily categorizable artistic disciplines.
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 18, 2025

Tokyo Creative Salon sees the city as both runway and canvas

Through March 23, Tokyo’s streets, shopping centers and civic spaces will host an interdisciplinary celebration of creativity.
The Tigers Teruaki Sato (center) celebrates with his teammates after their win over the Dodgers.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 17, 2025

NPB clubs show there's more to Japanese baseball than MLB stars

The four exhibition games between the MLB and NPB clubs showed that the well of talent in Japan runs deeper than the nation’s big leaguers.
Increased reliance on AI and digital technology is weakening cognitive skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solving, as people depend more on machines for tasks that once required mental effort.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2025

‘Use it or lose it’ — a grim mantra for the AI age

In sum, “excessive dependence on AI without concurrent cultivation of fundamental cognitive skills may lead to underutilization and subsequent loss of cognitive abilities.”
North Korean IT workers have historically focused on infiltrating companies in the U.S. but are now targeting European firms.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 3, 2025

North Korean IT warriors push to infiltrate European firms

North Korean IT workers have historically focused on infiltrating companies in the U.S.
Yuki Tsunoda wears his special kabuki-themed helmet on Thursday ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 3, 2025

Five drivers to watch at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix

From Lewis Hamilton to Yuki Tsunoda, here are five of the drivers to keep an extra close eye at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s JASM plant in Kumamoto Prefecture. Ensuring stability in the semiconductor supply chain is a matter of national security and must be based on cooperation between the government and private sector.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 4, 2025

Identifying choke points in the semiconductor supply chain

Addressing bottlenecks in chipmaking is essential for Japan's economic security and requires public-private collaboration, including aimed at information sharing.
After focusing on cabernet sauvignon in Napa Valley, winemaker Eiji Daniel Akaboshi moved to make pinot noir at the renowned Freeman Vineyard & Winery in Sonoma County.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 13, 2025

In California, a Nikkei vintner finds his heritage and purpose

The discovery of a distant relative's wine legacy in California led winemaker Eiji Daniel Akaboshi to look at his vocation in a new light.
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Apr 20, 2025

Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game

Taking an unconventional approach to sourcing, chef Keiji Ojima is out to showcase the little-known wild flavors of Okinawa in his French-inspired Okinawan fare.
Tariffs, and the risk they pose to both the economy and inflation, have been the focus of global attention.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 20, 2025

First shock waves of Trump’s tariffs are about to hit the world economy

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to lower its outlook for economic growth in new projections released on Tuesday.
 Toyota Motor and Daimler Truck are expected to finalize the merger agreement as early as May.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2025

Toyota and Daimler near merger of truck units, report says

The two auto groups aim to establish a holding company for the truck units and list it on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Prime market in April 2026.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes