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A wildfire in the city of Okayama on Wednesday evening
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2025

Over 900 hectares destroyed in Ehime and Okayama wildfires

In the Ehime city of Imabari, 417 hectares had been burned as of Wednesday, while the fire in the city of Okayama had swept through some 559 hectares.
Junko Koeda, a new member on the Bank of Japan's policy board, holds her inaugural news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 27, 2025

BOJ’s newest board member avoids sending signal on timing of next rate hike

Junko Koeda's remarks are likely to keep market speculation alive over the odds of a rate change at the next meeting.
An electronic billboard for TikTok in Times Square in New York, Jan. 24. ByteDance has an April 5 deadline to find a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok or face a U.S. ban.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 27, 2025

Trump says he may give China reduction in tariffs to get TikTok deal done

ByteDance has until April 5 to find a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok or face a U.S. ban, though the U.S. president has expressed a willingness to extend the deadline.
A survey of 12,817 companies by Shinkin Central Bank Research Institute found that only 51% committed to base wage hikes, the think tank announced on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2025

Japan’s wage growth isn’t as rosy as Rengo’s data indicate

The broader picture for pay trends may not be as rosy as the union group expects, according to one think tank.
Racing Bull's Yuki Tsunoda drives during the qualifying session of the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 27, 2025

Tsunoda confirmed to replace Lawson at Red Bull from Japanese GP

Tsunoda started the season strongly and has shrugged off an early career reputation for being excitable and erratic.
Travelers wait to check in at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Mar 28, 2025

Economic turbulence shakes U.S. airlines as travel demand falters

With demand slowing, airlines have started culling flights to avoid lowering fares and to protect margins.
According to the internal affairs ministry on Friday, consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.4% in March from a year earlier as inflation in processed food accelerated.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 28, 2025

Tokyo inflation exceeds forecasts, keeping BOJ on rate hike path

The leading indicator for nationwide inflation is likely to keep BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda mulling over the right timing for further rate hikes.
Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson prior to a practice session at least year's Qatar Grand Prix.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 28, 2025

Tsunoda and Lawson both have plenty to prove after swap

For Tsunoda the task at Red Bull is clear: Score substantial points toward the constructors' championship and support Verstappen's bid for a fifth successive drivers' title.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba emphasizes the need to consider measures to help Japanese companies with financing while the government tries to grasp the entire scope of the impact on the nation’s key industry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 28, 2025

Ishiba pledges measures to protect jobs from Trump’s car tariffs

Ishiba emphasized the need to consider measures to help Japanese companies with financing while the government tries to grasp the entire scope of the tariffs' impact.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during an Upper House Budget Committee meeting on Friday.
JAPAN / History
Mar 28, 2025

Ishiba to visit Iwo Jima to honor soldiers who died in fierce WWII battle

He will be the first sitting prime minister to visit the island since April 2013, when then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a stopover.
U.S. President Donald Trump's deal-focused approach to diplomacy may prevent a hostile China-Russia-North Korea-Iran alliance, but weakens U.S. global leadership.
COMMENTARY
Mar 27, 2025

The art of the deal meets a four-power axis

Trump's deal-focused approach may prevent a hostile China-Russia-North Korea-Iran alliance but weakens U.S. global leadership.
Graduation ceremonies in Japan will usually include a performance of the Japanese national anthem, “Kimigayo.”
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 28, 2025

Attempting the classics: The world of waka poetry

The origins of this poetry style stretch back to at least the seventh century, when one of the emperor's wives composed it at court ceremonies.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions are rekindling long-simmering discussions about whether overseas governments will accelerate efforts to rely less on the dollar.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Mar 29, 2025

Trump is eroding the dollar’s dominance in world markets

The U.S. president's escalating fusillade of tariffs and bid to roll back decades of globalization is shaking confidence in the U.S. currency.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (left) and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo ahead of their talks Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 30, 2025

In Tokyo, Pentagon chief provides assurances that Japan-U.S. alliance remains robust

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth described Japan as an “indispensable partner” in confronting China and sought to dispel lingering unease in Tokyo.
A pagoda that was damaged after a strong earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 30, 2025

A question in quake-wracked Myanmar: Does this augur the end of the junta?

The earthquake, known to have killed at least 1,000 and probably many more than that, struck a day after Myanmar’s military regime celebrated the country’s 80th Armed Forces Day.
Fishermen unload Pacific bluefin tuna off Miyakejima island in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2025

Tokyo aiming to establish brand power of fish caught off its islands

Tuna hauls around the islands of Hachijojima and Miyakejima are on the rise, as catch quotas have been expanded thanks to the growing tuna population in the Pacific Ocean.
A whirling dervish stands in front of Turkish anti-riot police officers during a rally in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor in the city on March 23.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 31, 2025

In Turkey, new technologies reinforce repression

People have been arrested in predawn raids at their homes after being identified from footage or photos taken by the police during demonstrations.
Imabari Mayor Shigeki Tokunaga announces the containment of a wildfire that started more than a week ago during a news conference on Monday.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 31, 2025

Wildfire in Ehime Prefecture has been contained, mayor declares

The wildfire razed a total area of 442 hectares in the city of Imabari and the neighboring city of Saijo.
Japanese stocks declined on Monday as auto and electronics shares were hit hard.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 31, 2025

Japanese stocks fall about 4% ahead of Trump's 'Liberation Day'

Traders and analysts are expecting a week of volatility as the U.S. tariff situation becomes clearer and waivers, if any, are granted.
Anxieties about inflation, debt and the U.S. dollar’s stability — combined with high gold prices — are fueling renewed skepticism, raising the possibility of a Fort Knox audit to confirm if America's gold is still there.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2025

What’s fueling America's gold bar conspiracy

The U.S. is right where it needs to be for Trump and Musk to tap into a decades-old fear about the country’s precious bullion stored in Fort Knox.
Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD
Apr 1, 2025

Bodies of 15 rescue workers recovered from Gaza grave, U.N. officials say

U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher said on X that the bodies were buried near "wrecked & well-marked vehicles."
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, in June 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 1, 2025

Trump says his administration is in 'communication' with North Korea's Kim

“There is communication,” the U.S. president told reporters at the White House when asked if he would once again engage with the North Korean strongman.
Metropolitan Police Department Superintendent-General Yuji Sakoda delivers a speech at the inauguration of a section specializing in the investigaton of lone offender terrorism on Tuesday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 1, 2025

Tokyo police launch section for lone-offender terrorism

The move followed a series of attacks in recent years, including the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.
A worker cuts Inada granite, which is used in various buildings in Tokyo.
ESG CONSORTIUM
Apr 1, 2025

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

In 2024, the Tsukuba massif granite of the Mt. Tsukuba Area Geopark was certified by the International Union of Geological Sciences as one of the first 55 IUGS Heritage Stones, which have been “used in significant architecture and monuments” and “recognized as integral aspects of human culture.”...
Lindsey Vonn of the United States celebrates on the podium after her second place finish in the Super G alpine skiing race in the 2025 FIS Ski World Cup at Sun Valley on March 23.
OLYMPICS / Alpine skiing
Apr 1, 2025

Vonn and Shiffrin fuel U.S. 2026 Winter Olympics hopes

Shiffrin wrapped up her injury-marred season by winning the slalom on Thursday for a record-extending 101st career World Cup victory.
A tank containing liquid hydrogen in Kobe, where a special shipping terminal has been built in order to import liquid hydrogen from Australia.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2025

Japan-Australia flagship hydrogen project stumbles

The blockbuster project is hanging in the balance over questions about its climate credentials.
The Bank of Japan's tankan survey indicates that large business are still positive on their prospects.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 1, 2025

Japanese businesses maintain optimism ahead of looming tariff storm

In the BOJ's latest tankan survey, the headline index for big manufacturers was 12, which indicates confidence in the business outlook.
Lt. Col. Suguru Ejiri, the head of Air Self-Defense Force's Blue Impulse aerobatics team, at the ASDF base in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, in March. Ejiri has revealed little about the upcoming Osaka Expo performance apart from it being based on the event's theme.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2025

ASDF's Blue Impulse set for Osaka Expo performance

The aerobatics team flew for the 1970 World Expo in Osaka Prefecture as well, during which the team drew "EXPO 70" in the sky.
A drone view shows a coffee plantation in Guaxupe, Brazil, on Feb. 17.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 1, 2025

Brazil's coffee farmers turn to costly irrigation to quench global demand for the brew

Most farms in the western part of Bahia — a new frontier for coffee growing in Brazil — are now irrigated.
Takashi Murata, head of Japan at Warburg Pincus in Tokyo, says the private-equity firm is confident about market growth in Tokyo despite the overall depopulation of Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2025

Warburg purchases Tokyo rental houses and plans Japan office

The New York-based private equity firm said it acquired a portfolio of 1,195 shared rental houses in the greater Tokyo area.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan