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Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 7, 2023

Kishida and Yoon hail improved ties as 'shuttle diplomacy' resumes

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday, becoming the first Japanese leader to conduct an official bilateral visit to Seoul in over 12 years.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 25, 2023

How China, the U.S. and others watered down a key U.N. climate document

China, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are among countries that significantly altered a U.N. document that will shape global climate policy for years to come, a report has said.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 6, 2023

Is biodegradable better? Making sense of 'compostable' plastics.

Some fear these 'magical' solutions could lead to further environmental havoc and even encourage more wasteful consumption.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 1, 2023

How Japan and its businesses should respond to U.S. economic security policies

Washington's moves against Beijing in semiconductors and other fields have put Tokyo and other global players in a delicate situation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 21, 2023

Why pharmaceuticals are a key issue in the ongoing U.S.-China conflict

Beijing has control over the chokepoints — active pharmaceutical ingredients and raw materials — of pharmaceutical supply chains.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 17, 2023

Off the record should mean off the record

An off-the-record remark may have take down a high-level Japanese bureaucrat. Such actions by journalists will only hurt journalism.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 1, 2023

The sword, the shield and the new face of Japan's military

As 2022 wrapped up, the Japanese government let forth a flurry of defense policy announcements. Those were followed by a five-nation tour by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and talk of a tax hike to pay for it all. Gabriel Dominguez joins the podcast this week to try to help us make sense of it all.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2023

Japan to lag again on diversity if women shut out of BOJ race

Not a single woman’s name is doing the rounds as a potential replacement for Haruhiko Kuroda as central bank governor in the world’s third-largest economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jan 25, 2023

Japan tries to fix a child custody system under fire from all sides

In Japan, child welfare in divorce often turns on single-parent custody, where one parent can be largely excluded from a child’s life.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 12, 2023

NATO to offer Ukraine fast path to join when conditions met

NATO leaders agreed that Ukraine won’t need a so-called Membership Action Plan to prepare for joining, Secretay-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a news conference.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 11, 2023

NATO head eyes 'strong message' on Ukraine's membership bid at summit

Divisions among the Western military alliance's 31 members on allowing Ukraine in mean there will not be a straightforward invitation for Kyiv to join.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2023

Academic fudging raises questions about ‘nudging’

'Nudges,' virtually invisible prompts that seek to change human behavior, aren’t going to solve big problems in society but they can help fix unknowingly bad behaviors.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2023

A little panic might be in order amid global heat records

Soaring temperatures this spring should spur governments to finally live up to their pledges to curb the use of fossil fuels
Nissan will adopt Tesla's electric-vehicle charging technology in the U.S. and Canada, becoming the first Japanese carmaker to take up the technology.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 20, 2023

Nissan to adopt Tesla EV-charging design from 2025 in U.S. and Canada

Starting in 2025, the firm will equip its electric vehicles with the Tesla-developed North American Charging Standard (NACS) port.
Rengo members cheer during their annual May Day rally to demand higher pay and better working conditions, in Tokyo on April 29.
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2023

Japanese unions urge employers to continue wage hikes next year and beyond

Rengo made the demand as it reviewed the results of its annual spring wage talks that concluded earlier this month, which saw major companies agree to the largest raises in 30 years.
Some economists hope the labor ministry panel will make an annual average minimum wage proposal of above ¥1,000 this week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 23, 2023

The average minimum wage may top ¥1,000 this year. But is that enough?

Aside from the symbolic hurdle, a more substantial issue remains: Will momentum for wage hikes from this spring continue or will it be short-lived?
A friendly between England and the United States drew a crowd of 78,000 at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 7, 2022.
SPORTS
Jul 20, 2023

Women's sports experiencing steady growth in popularity and value

Women's sports are growing in popularity and value. Better yet, that growth is no longer dependent upon quadrennial events like the Olympics or World Cups.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda has repeatedly pushed back against the idea that a major pivot on policy is looming by emphasizing his doubts about the sustainability of price rises.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 25, 2023

BOJ set to stick with easing as markets see clock ticking on yield control

Since taking the helm in April, Gov. Kazuo Ueda has repeatedly pushed back against the idea that a major pivot on policy is looming.
Police officers mounted on horses next to protestors during a demonstration against the judicial reform bill outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem on Monday
WORLD
Jul 25, 2023

Protests rock Israel as it passes curbs on some Supreme Court powers

The amendment limits the Supreme Court's powers to void some government decisions the court deems "unreasonable."
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol presides over a repatriation ceremony — receiving the remains of South Korean soldiers killed in the Korean War — on Wednesday, the day before the 70th anniversary of the Korean armistice, at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 26, 2023

Korean War veterans dream of real peace on divided peninsula

70 years on, Korean War veterans say their memories of comrades who died on the battlefields have come back to haunt them as they grow older.
Then-Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang holds a copy of China's constitution during a news conference at the National People's Congress in Beijing in March.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 26, 2023

China ousts foreign minister as world grasps for clues as to why

There are still several questions over Qin Gang's fate and whether he will continue to serve in the government as a state councilor.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2023

Osaka Expo asks for overtime cap exemption as time pressure mounts

The move comes as the expo faces mounting concerns that construction, especially of pavilions for foreign nations, will not be completed on time for the scheduled opening in April 2025.
The Hamaoka nuclear power station in the city of Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, is one of the areas that could be at risk if there is a major earthquake in the Nankai Trough.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2023

Time for a Nankai Trough earthquake warning system

Edited A total of 707 municipal governments in 29 prefectures are considered at risk of major quakes in this region. The at-risk population is nearly 60 million.
Former catcher Jonathan Lucroy (left) said getting used to a new pitching staff after a trade was like "speed dating."
BASEBALL
Jul 31, 2023

Building new relationships makes trade deadline complex for catchers

The weeks leading up to Major League Baseball’s trading deadline are always tense. Every team has to evaluate where they are in the standings, what the organization’s long-term outlook is and how much could be changed by acquiring a few veterans.
Chihiro Okada (right), a representative of Animal Rights Center, during a news conference at the Okinawa Prefectural Government building on July 10
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Aug 7, 2023

Confrontations deepen over duck-catching event in Okinawa

Animal rights groups say the event constitutes animal abuse.
Chinese Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui leaves the headquarters of the Russian Foreign Ministry following talks in Moscow in late May.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 5, 2023

China envoy to attend talks on Ukraine in Saudi Arabia

The talks on a peaceful settlement to the Ukraine war — a forum that excludes Moscow — is a diplomatic coup for Kyiv, the West and the Saudi hosts.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other leaders of the Group of Seven, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meet during their summit in Hiroshima on May 21. 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 2023

The G7 leaders’ vision on nuclear disarmament

Geopolitical rivalries and the failure to address the complicity of G7 members in perpetuating a nuclearized world are stymieing nonproliferation efforts.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump at an event in Columbia, South Carolina, on Saturday
WORLD / Politics
Aug 7, 2023

Trump targets judge in 2020 election case

The former president has said he plans to seek U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan's recusal as well as a change of venue outside of Washington.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2023

Nuke ban treaty still out of reach as Japan marks atomic bombings

Japan, which is positioned under the "nuclear umbrella" of the U.S., has refrained from joining the treaty, citing its own “tough security environment.”
U.S. President Joe Biden is flanked by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (left) and Celeste Drake while delivering remarks at the White House in Washington in 2022.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 9, 2023

Biden's top labor adviser exits as U.S. navigates strikes: source

The departure comes at a critical time for an administration dealing with a summer of labor unrest.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan