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Emma Raducanu serves to Maya Joint during their match in  Eastbourne, England, on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Jun 26, 2025

Emma Raducanu suffers setback at Eastbourne ahead of Wimbledon

After a difficult year marred by poor form and back problems, Raducanu had hoped for a morale-boosting run at Eastbourne before Wimbledon starts on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump is greeted by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as he arrives at the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, on June 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2025

Trump, the death of multilateralism and the ‘rise of the rest’

In the post-liberal order, the U.S. won't act in allies' interests unless they align with its own.
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 30, 2025

From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan

There is plenty of room for Lego to grow in Japan, but the low birth rate is undeniably a challenge.
Taiwan, under constant threat from AI-powered disinformation by authoritarian regimes, has emerged as a global leader in digital democratic defense.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2025

Taiwan provides a model for digital defense of democracy

As the U.S. and others struggle to confront AI-driven disinformation, Taiwan’s resilience has become its latest key export.
A gate to check climbers at Mount Fuji's fifth station in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, on June 13. Climbers who do not have the necessary climbing equipment may be barred from using the trails.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 30, 2025

Mount Fuji’s ¥4,000 entrance fee kicks in for all routes

Climbers paid ¥2,000 to scale the mountain via the popular Yoshida trail last year, while those who made the journey through other routes did not have to pay anything.
This digital visualization shows the small modular nuclear reactor being developed by Rolls-Royce SMR, which is set to be the first in the U.K. A widely cited IEA report says global data center electricity demand will more than double by 2030 to 945 TWh — more than Japan’s current total usage.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2025

Data centers and small reactors could change Asia’s nuclear dynamic

An estimated 402.74 million terabytes of data are created each day and storing and processing all that information creates virtual volcanoes.
Coco Gauff reacts as she plays against Dayana Yastremska during their match on the second day of Wimbledon on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Jul 2, 2025

Gauff ousted on day of Wimbledon shocks as Djokovic launches history bid

Instead of building on her success at the French Open, 21-year-old Gauff suffered her earliest Grand Slam exit since another first-round loss at Wimbledon in 2023.
Workers take a break near a ship under construction at China State Shipbuilding Corp.'s Longxue Shipyard in Guangzhou, China, in November 2011.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 2, 2025

China’s shipyard dominance leads to geoeconomic risks

According to 2024 data from the Chinese government, the country ranks first worldwide in ship completions, new orders and order backlogs.
Fiji's Albert Tuisue celebrates at the end of the match against Australia at World Cup 2023 in France.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jul 2, 2025

Fiji looks to soften up Wallabies before Lions series

Fiji's Australian coach Mick Byrne has brought a strong squad for Sunday's test in Newcastle, the hosts' last warmup before facing the British and Irish Lions.
Switzerland's Pia Sundhage is by far the most experienced coach at Euro 2025.
SOCCER
Jul 3, 2025

Euro 2025 sets new record for female coaches

The 43.75% of female coaches is a major leap from Euro 2013, where just 18.75% of teams were coached by women.
Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after his victory over Oliver Tarvet at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Jul 3, 2025

Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka sidestep rash of upsets at Wimbledon

Alcaraz has won his past 20 matches, a blistering streak that has brought him titles at the Rome Masters, the French Open and Queen's Club.
A woman takes a picture of the poster for the new Hayao Miyazaki film, “The Boy and the Heron.”
PODCAST / deep dive
Aug 2, 2023

Hayao Miyazaki’s confusing new masterpiece

Our critics Thu-Huong Ha and Matt Schley discuss what they thought of the new Hayao Miyazaki film, “The Boy and the Heron.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, attend a document signing ceremony during the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, in October 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2023

China’s weaponization of race and history

BRICS nations seek a more equitable global architecture that represents the interests of the Global South as China uses race to challenge the West.
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.”
Spanish midfielder Alexia Putellas (left) battles for the ball against English forward Lauren James during in the final of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Sydney on Sunday. Spain won the match 1-0.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2023

FIFA boss should read the pitch on women’s pay

More than 2 billion people are expected to have tuned in. About 2 million attended matches in person. Both records. The FIFA Women’s World Cup generated more than $570 million to break even.
For all the scrutiny at home, many of China’s richest new grads are turning their backs on their lives abroad. Sometimes, they’re responding to the lure of China’s potential. Other times, it’s the alienation they feel overseas.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 22, 2023

China’s wealthy youth flock home as tensions with U.S. rise

For all the scrutiny at home, many of China’s richest new grads are turning their backs on their lives abroad.
U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the nation about the war in Israel and Ukraine from the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2023

New mantra for U.S. diplomacy: First, do no harm

U.S. power has diminished and the overweening advantage it enjoyed after World War II, even at the end of the Cold War, has dissipated.
Gold medalist Noah Lyles of the U.S. celebrates after the men's 200m final at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest on Aug. 25.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Dec 12, 2023

Lyles and Kipyegon named track athletes of the year

Lyles was recognized for the three gold medals he won at the world championships in Budapest.
Eddie Jones is set to become the head coach of the Brave Blossoms six weeks after the Australian quit the Wallabies following their dismal showing at the World Cup.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 13, 2023

Eddie Jones named as Japan head coach, ending weeks of speculation

Jones will officially commence his duties from Jan. 1, the Japan Rugby Football Union said on its website.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Woodside, California, in November. After another year marked by great-power rivalries and rising security risks, the role of hegemonic, middling and rising powers has become more fluid than at any time since the end of the Cold War.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2024

The shape of power in 2024

Thinkers ponder whether the coming year will confirm that the world is quickly moving toward greater multipolarity or “nonalignment.”
Awang Suang trims weeds from palm trees on his small plantation in Membakut, Malaysia on Feb. 12. He has been cultivating oil palms for more than 50 years after switching from rubber trees. Palms require less labor and produce more frequent harvests — roughly every two weeks, year round — providing a steadier income, he explained.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Mar 18, 2024

Can Europe save forests without killing jobs in Malaysia?

A new regulation aims to rid the palm oil supply chain of imports that come from former forestland.
China's Olympic gold-medal winning 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay team celebrates on the podium at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on July 29, 2021.  Zhang Yufei (third from left) is among 23 top Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance in the lead up to the Games.
OLYMPICS
Apr 20, 2024

Top Chinese swimmers tested positive for banned drug, then won Olympic gold

The episode sharply divided the anti-doping world, where China’s record has long been a flashpoint.
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
PODCAST / deep dive
May 23, 2024

What does climate change sound like in Okinawa?

This week, Japan Times climate editor Chris Russell joins us to discuss what researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology are listening to.
The U.S. will no longer view itself through the lens of exceptionalism, regardless of whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden wins the next election.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2024

American exceptionalism is dead no matter who wins the election

The U.S. will no longer view itself through the lens of exceptionalism regardless of the presidential election's outcome, focusing instead on its narrow self-interests.
Rim Nakamura, who is attempting to win Japan's first Olympic gold medal in cycling, will be one of the top Japanese athletes to watch at the Paris Games.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024

The Japanese Olympians looking to shine in Paris

Team Japan is looking to build on the momentum from three years ago in Tokyo, where the nation earned a record medal haul.
Demonstrators hold a rally in Tbilisi, Georgia, in May against a bill labeling organizations that receive foreign funding as spies. The passing of the so-called Russia law has been a setback for Georgia's democracy.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 29, 2024

Democracy is on tenuous ground this ‘election year’

From former Soviet countries to India and even the U.S., democracies are backsliding and authoritarianism is gaining ground, with far-reaching global implications.
The World Trade Center's South Tower (left) and the North Tower burn after al-Qaida terrorists flew hijacked airliners into the buildings in New York City on
Sept. 11, 2001. Nearly 3,000 people died in the incident, including 24 Japanese nationals. 

REUTERS
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 18, 2024

The forgotten impact of 9/11 on Japan

Though an ocean away, 9/11 was a wake up call to the Japanese people that the 21st century would not be an era of everlasting peace.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Jan 5, 2025

'Guernica' is always with us

How do we account for the past year, almost nine decades after "Guernica," when all the boundaries of horror have been pulverized?

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