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ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 23, 2022

Monarch stays mindful of pain amid pandemic

Emperor Naruhito, who turns 62 today, is known for his compassionate and sociable personality, as well as his proficiency in English, as the first emperor to have studied outside Japan.
Special Supplements / Ainu language special
Feb 21, 2022

Respected comic book spurs hope for indigenous tongue

In 2009, UNESCO in its “Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger” designated the Ainu language as being critically endangered. As the most dire of the five categories — only extinct is worse — used in the report, it highlighted the precarious state that had befallen the language.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 15, 2022

Who’s really calling the shots in Japan’s Prime Minister’s Office?

Some have suggested that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may stand to gain from looking to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's strong approach to the workings of inner government.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2022

Workplace booster vaccinations kick off in Japan

ANA and Japan Airlines began administering third doses to staffers in earnest Monday, with more major firms set to join them later this week.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Feb 9, 2022

Omicron threatens to extend sumo's two-year absence from Osaka

Losing the spring tournament would be a huge blow to the sport's birthplace, but the spread of COVID-19 within sumo is making it a possibility.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 8, 2022

U.S. think tank identifies North Korea base likely intended for ICBMs

The Center for Strategic and International Studies based its report on Jan. 21 satellite images of the base at Hoejung-ni, in North Korea's Chagang province.
JAPAN / Explainer
Feb 6, 2022

Volatile international oil situation takes toll on Japan’s gas prices and policy

The price at the pump reached u00a5170 per liter on Jan. 24 — the highest it's been in over 13 years.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 4, 2022

As COVID cases surge in Japan, is a state of emergency the way to go?

Record nationwide cases have moved the question to the top of the agenda, but some prefectures and experts are skeptical about what such a move really achieves.
OLYMPICS
Feb 4, 2022

What to watch at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Catch up on five key storylines to keep an eye on at the Games over the next couple of weeks.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 3, 2022

Global inflation wave pushes up prices in Japan on everything from pasta to gasoline

Japanese companies are generally reluctant to pass higher costs on to price-sensitive consumers, but many feel they have no choice and prices on a slew of products are on the rise.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jan 28, 2022

Omicron has fueled a rapid COVID surge in Japan. Still, the endgame may be in sight.

Some experts are optimistic that more treatment options, a high vaccination rate and a so-far lower mortality rate could herald a transition from pandemic to endemic.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2022

Japan moves to focus resources on severe COVID-19 patients

Young, low-risk patients will no longer need a doctor's diagnosis to confirm an infection as fears grow over the strain the omicron variant is putting on Japan's health care system.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2022

As omicron spreads in Japan, business continuity plans come into focus

Companies and local governments are drawing up measures to keep business going even if many staffers can't work due to infection or being deemed a close contact.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jan 24, 2022

Nago election result a boost for ruling coalition and a blow to anti-base movement

The loss of the Nago mayoral candidate opposed to the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the city spells trouble for Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki.
JAPAN / Explainer
Jan 21, 2022

Decades on, text governing U.S. forces in Japan is yet to be revised

Scrutiny of the Status of Forces Agreement has been renewed after U.S. military personnel were exempted from Japanese COVID-19 measures and areas around U.S. bases saw rises in cases.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2022

Japan plans to issue quasi-emergency status for 13 omicron-hit prefectures

With quasi-emergency measures already in place in Yamaguchi, Okinawa and Hiroshima prefectures, the expansion would bring the total to 16 out of 47 prefectures.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 17, 2022

Kishida vows to lay out road map for 'new capitalism' in the spring

Covering topics ranging from COVID-19 to climate change and diplomacy, the prime minister offered a comprehensive wrap-up of his policy agenda at the start of the parliamentary session.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 16, 2022

Kishida gears up for test of his mettle in parliament ahead of key election

Success for the prime minister depends on how well he oversees the passage of a record-breaking fiscal 2022 budget — all while tackling COVID-19 and fending off opposition challenges.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2022

Japan shortens interval for COVID booster by a month amid omicron's spread

The gap for people under 65 has now been shifted to seven months, and the government has also cut the isolation time for close contacts to 10 days.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 13, 2022

Okinawa's busy political year set to have major impact on national security

Voters in Nago go to the polls Jan. 23 to choose a mayor in the first of a series of elections that could shape the prefecture's relationship with Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jan 11, 2022

Firms see U.S.-China tensions as economic security threat, survey shows

Tokyo needs to look at constructing a stable relationship with Washington and Beijing, despite their confrontations, to ease Japanese companies' fears.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2022

Despite COVID-19 impact, Coming of Age Day ceremonies go ahead in Japan

While many coming-of-age ceremonies were canceled or hosted online, tens of thousands of young men and women gathered in Yokohama to celebrate the once-in-a-lifetime occasion.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami