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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the Cook Islands' Prime Minister Mark Brown shake hands during 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting on Thursday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 18, 2024

With eye on China, Japan deepens ties with Pacific islands at Tokyo summit

Collaborations have been agreed in seven fields, including technology and connectivity, climate change, people-centered development and security.
Namibia is emerging as an oil exploration hub with major finds by different oil giants, which could significantly boost the country's economy.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 18, 2024

African outpost Namibia gets ready to become new oil hotspot

Massive oil finds 180 miles off Namibia’s coast have seen an 80% success rate since 2022 — an almost unprecedented achievement.
Musician Yuka Noda’s 1989 album “Karibu no Yume: Light Fusion Fantasy” has developed a cult following among jazz fusion fans, and the album is set to be reissued as a CD and record next week.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 19, 2024

Yuka Noda's sonic escape to a balmy yesteryear

The reissue of Noda's 1989 album “Karibu no Yume: Light Fusion Fantasy" underlines a growing interest in bubble-era nostalgia and Japan's jazz and fusion works.
During a demonstration to demand a ceasefire and an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in Tokyo on June 24, Sophia University student Jumana Kasemu participates in “Tears for Palestine,” a global event that started in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 19, 2024

If the Gaza protests seem one-sided, it’s because the current violence is

Empathy for Israeli suffering doesn't prevent college students in Japan and beyond from manifesting their anger at indiscriminate violence leveled against Palestinians.
The West in developing its response to the new Russia-North Korea alliance should leverage the strategic incongruence between China and its junior allies.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2024

What to make of Russia and North Korea's new relationship

Russia and North Korea's military alliance has unnerved China as much as it has the U.S. and its Asian allies owing to its potential to destabilize the region.
American golfer Billy Horschel walks onto the 18th green during the third round of the British Open on Saturday in Troon, Scotland.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jul 21, 2024

Horschel shines to lead British Open after brutal third round

While the course released its grip earlier in the day to allow several players to zoom into contention, the leaders faced heavy rain and a chill wind.
The No. 1 reactor building stands at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co.'s Shin-Kori nuclear power plant in Ulsan, South Korea.
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2024

South Korea edges ahead of rivals to build Europe’s nuclear reactors

A pair of projects in the Czech Republic could set up South Korea to build reactors for Western countries that are reconsidering nuclear energy.
Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jul 21, 2024

As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals

Can a 700-year-old dance have an effect on extreme heat or torrential rain? Probably not. When you're feeling powerless, though, any little thing helps.
Passengers wait at the international airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 
Friday after airlines grounded flights due to a worldwide tech outage caused by an update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon sensor software, which crashed Microsoft Windows systems. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2024

CrowdStrike’s global outage doesn’t have to be a recurring nightmare

This time the scale is unprecedented. That should spur Microsoft and other IT firms to do more than simply administer a band-aid.
Xander Schauffele of the U.S celebrates with the Claret Jug trophy after winning The 152nd British Open in Troon, Scotland, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jul 22, 2024

Schauffele finds inner calm to win British Open and collect second major

The 30-year-old Californian delivered a faultless, zen-like six-under-par final round.
Paris is preparing to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which start on Friday. These Summer Games will likely be very different from the previous ones, held in Tokyo in 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 22, 2024

In defense of Tokyo 2020, the loneliest Olympics

As Paris gets ready to host the Olympics, a reflection on the previous Games, held in Tokyo three years ago, prompts doubts about predictions of a COVID-induced disaster.
Homes are surrounded by flood waters after Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Sargent, Texas, on July 8.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2024

The great climate change wealth transfer is here

Fossil fuel profits are sky-high, as are the costs of climate change. By subsidizing oil and gas while putting tariffs on green tech, governments are making things worst.
Artificial intelligence is transforming various business sectors and the economy. But concerns about humanoid robots replacing all jobs are unfounded, as human dexterity will remain essential for the foreseeable future.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2024

AI is making robots smarter. They’ll need boundaries.

Where AI meets the physical world — and creates the potential for conflicts — is in manufacturing and logistics.
U.S. women's soccer head coach Emma Hayes speaks during a news conference earlier this month in New York.
OLYMPICS
Jul 24, 2024

U.S. women ready to 'create a new history' in Paris, says coach Hayes

The four-time Olympic champion suffered its earliest World Cup exit in the round of 16 last year.
People visit the Volkswagen booth at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, on April 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 24, 2024

Volkswagen is reeling in China. Can EVs help it grow in the U.S.?

Volkswagen CFO Arno Antlitz said the company expects to continue losing China market share and hopes to merely maintain its position in Europe.
Hedwig Schreck is a third-generation Tokyoite whose grandfather first arrived in Japan from Germany in 1920 as a submarine engineer.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 24, 2024

Hedwig Schreck: ‘Art has always been part of my life’

A third-generation Tokyoite, the former TV producer has pivoted to teaching others about Japanese culture in her retirement.
Honoka Hayashi in action during a match against Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics, in Sapporo on July 24, 2021. Hayashi’s clinical passing, acute understanding of the game and high work-rate make her an embodiment of Nadeshiko soccer principles.
OLYMPICS
Jul 24, 2024

Nadeshiko Japan’s Honoka Hayashi ready to settle the score at Paris Games

Lauded for her intricate passing and soccer intelligence, Hayashi has adjusted her game to fit the demanding nature of elite leagues over the course of her career.
Gas and steam rise out of an oil refinery in the Siberian city of Omsk, Russia, on Feb.  8, 2023.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 24, 2024

Russia 'killing' climate, say activists awaiting top rights court ruling

Despite signing the Paris Climate accord, Moscow's fossil fuel extraction and war in Ukraine have spiked its greenhouse gas emissions.
Turkey has facilitated the flow of Russian oil to the European Union, enabling the Kremlin to circumvent the bloc’s sanctions and prolonging the Ukraine war.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2024

Europe must clamp down on Russian oil flows through Turkey

Turkey has facilitated the flow of Russian oil to the European Union, enabling the Kremlin to circumvent the bloc’s sanctions and prolonging the Ukraine war.
Smoke from a fires in the Pantanal, the world's largest wetland, in Corumba, Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil, on June 12.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 24, 2024

From floods to fire: On Brazil's climate front line

Brazil faces months of record wildfires, with devastation already under way and set to worsen in coming months as high heat and winds tear through the midwest.
U.S. gymnastics superstar Simone Biles takes part in a training session in Le Bourget, France, on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jul 25, 2024

Biles targets 'redemption' as she reenters the spotlight at Paris Olympics

The U.S. gymnastics star is once again eyeing the top of the podium after she prioritized her mental health at the Tokyo Games.
Japan is one of the great mushroom countries of the world, so it pays to know how to make the most of these morsels in your kitchen.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 28, 2024

‘Mushroom Gastronomy’ makes sense of Japan’s fungal diversity

“Mushroom Gastronomy” by mycological gourmand Krista Towns demystifies the world of fungi in Japan and abroad.
Holly Graham's bartending journey has literally taken her around the world, and her latest stop is Azabu-Juban's Tokyo Confidential.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Jul 28, 2024

The star-studded bar ‘so incoherent that it’s coherent’

Tokyo Confidential is a buzzy new watering hole launched by ascendent bartender Holly Graham in the capital’s upscale Azabu-Juban neighborhood.
More tourists than ever are guided around Japan based on the content they consume online, but can those same creators help direct them to less-populated areas of the country?
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Jul 29, 2024

Influencers helped cause overtourism. Can they help fix it?

“I don't want to use filters or put out content just for the sake of views and followers,” one content creator says. “I want to show people what the real Japan is.”
The World Anti-Doping Agency has been under fire from U.S. officials over the handling of a case involving Chinese swimmers in the months before the Tokyo Games.
OLYMPICS
Jul 25, 2024

WADA to put U.S. anti-doping agency under compliance review

WADA is taking the step as a result of a dispute with the USADA over its handling of a case involving 23 Chinese swimmers.
A 500 series bullet train on the Sanyo Shinkansen line with the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series decoration. The aging 500 series will retire in 2027.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2024

JR West to retire 500 series Shinkansen in 2027

JR West plans to introduce new N700S Shinkansen trains after the 500 series' retirement.
Charlotte Dujardin and her horse, Gio, compete in the dressage event at the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021.
OLYMPICS / Equestrian
Jul 25, 2024

Caught repeatedly whipping a horse, top British rider is out of the Olympics

In the video, Charlotte Dujardin, who has won six Olympic equestrian medals, repeatedly strikes a horse being ridden by another person as an onlooker laughs.
American musician and visual artist Kim Gordon released her second solo album, “The Collective,” earlier this year, and it’s a bona fide banger.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 25, 2024

Ahead of her Fuji Rock set, Kim Gordon weighs in on punk and U.S. politics

The former Sonic Youth bassist, guitarist and vocalist is in Japan for the first time in over 10 years to promote her latest album, "The Collective."
International Monetary Fund guidance on industrial policy must balance protection with market discipline and emphasize fiscal prudence.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 2024

What fiscally sound industrial policy can do

Industrial policy can help countries cope with growing economic and political uncertainty. But the details matter.
Spain's Aitana Bonmati scores past Japan goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita during Spain's 2-1 win to open the women's soccer tournament at the Paris Olympics, in Nantes, France, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024

Aitana Bonmati leads Spain to comeback win over Japan

Olympic debutants Spain recovered from going behind to an early goal to beat Group C rivals Japan and avenge a 4-0 group stage loss in last year's World Cup.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji