Search - 2021

 
 
Nippon Life Insurance Chairperson Yoshinobu Tsutsui is set to become the next head of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, in May next year.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2024

Nippon Life chair to become head of Japan's main business lobby

Yoshinobu Tsutsui is set to be the first chairperson of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, from the financial industry.
Former England assistant coach Steve Holland has been named the new manager of Yokohama F. Marinos, taking over from interim coach John Hutchinson.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 17, 2024

Former England assistant Holland named Yokohama F. Marinos manager

Holland takes over from John Hutchinson, who stepped in as interim coach when Harry Kewell left the club due to a run of poor results in July.
Nobuko Nishizawa, the younger sister of Kotaro Nishizawa, director of a mental health clinic in Osaka who died in an arson attack three years ago, prays outside the site on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 17, 2024

Three years on, mourners remember those lost in Osaka arson attack

“My life completely changed," said one woman who lost her son in the attack on a mental health clinic in Osaka’s Kita Ward that left 26 dead.
The flight deck of the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier during a stop at Changi Naval Base in Singapore in May 2019
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2024

With rare Asia carrier deployment, France seeks greater interoperability

“The Indo-Pacific is the world’s new center of gravity," Rear Adm. Guillaume Pinget told The Japan Times during a visit to Tokyo.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is launched for the Europa Clipper mission to study one of Jupiter's 95 moons, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Oct. 14.
WORLD
Dec 18, 2024

Power failed at SpaceX mission control before September spacewalk

The outage, which hasn't previously been reported, meant that SpaceX mission control was briefly unable to command its Dragon spacecraft in orbit.
Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger hits a home run during a game at Dodger Stadium in September. Bellinger was traded to the Yankees on Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 18, 2024

Yankees acquire outfielder Cody Bellinger from Cubs

The Yankees will take on the bulk of Bellinger's $27.5 million salary, but Chicago kicked in $5 million to New York in the deal, according to reports.
Space One's Kairos No. 2 rocket is launched in Wakayama Prefecture on Wednesday. The launch subsequently failed.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 18, 2024

Tokyo startup's second satellite launch attempt ends in failure

Space One was again bidding to become the first private Japanese company to place a satellite into orbit.
Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo celebrates with the trophy after he and his teammates won the NBA Cup final over the Thunder on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Dec 18, 2024

Giannis Antetokounmpo stars as Bucks beat Thunder to win NBA Cup

Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA MVP, delivered a triple-double of 26 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists along with two steals and three blocked shots for the Bucks.
Protesters hold placards reading "Arrest Insurrectionist Yoon Suk Yeol!" during a demonstration near the presidential residence in Seoul on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2024

Yoon’s martial law order divides South Korea and may alter foreign policy direction

South Korea’s vibrant civil society also fuels a divided citizenry, evident in protests for and against Yoon’s declaration.
Boxes lie on a conveyor belt during Cyber Monday at Amazon's fulfillment center in Robbinsville, New Jersey, on Dec. 2.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2024

Amazon faces possible U.S. strikes as Christmas looms

The online retail giant has successfully resisted several unionization drives over the years.
The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Cerespo executive Yoshiji Kamata to 22 months in prison, suspended for four years.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 19, 2024

Tokyo court fines event company for Olympics bid-rigging

A judge found that Cerespo conspired to decide in advance which companies would win contracts related to test events for the Tokyo Games.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers an address to the nation at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Dec. 12.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 19, 2024

Allies cheered Yoon's foreign policy despite domestic discord

Yoon's political implosion likely heralds the return of the political left, which is less inclined to be as unabashedly supportive of the U.S. and Japan.
A customer leaves a luxury eyewear shop in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 19, 2024

As bitcoin soars, luxury brands consider accepting crypto payments

Luxury labels have long sought to cater to affluent shoppers from the tech industry.
Inter Milan "ultras" merchandise is displayed outside San Siro Stadium in Milan before a Champions League match on Nov. 26.
SOCCER
Dec 19, 2024

Italy combats spread of mafia among soccer fan groups across country

Ultra groups at Inter and AC Milan, two of the biggest names in Italian soccer, have allegedly been infiltrated by the mafia.
A man eats his lunch inside his shop near Moscow on Nov. 21. Under the impact of the explosion of military orders, Russian inflation is expected to approach 9% at the end of the year.
WORLD
Dec 19, 2024

Economic woes mount for Russia's war machine

Russian media, usually reluctant to report on any sign of social discontent, are turning increasing attention to hard-pressed families.
Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany, speaks during a vote of confidence at the Bundestag in Berlin on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 19, 2024

Scholz’s far-right rival puts Germany’s EU exit on the ballot

Alternative for Germany co-leader Alice Weidel says the bloc’s "socialist policy making” has "destroyed the market mechanism in Europe.”
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
CULTURE / Film / 2024 in Review
Dec 20, 2024

A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity

International collaborations and indie risk-takers steered the film industry in a fresh direction in 2024.
Liam Lawson during a media event ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Dec 19, 2024

Lawson officially replacing Perez at Red Bull F1 team

The move means that the more-experienced Yuki Tsunoda will stay with the RB team for the 2025 season.
Supporters of then-President Donald Trump clash with police while storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Dec 29, 2024

Will the guardrails of U.S. democracy hold?

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump continues to express admiration for authoritarian leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Residential buildings under construction at China Evergrande Group's Riverside Palace development in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China, in November 2023
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 20, 2024

China’s economic rebound hangs on the fate of its richest cities

Preserving earning power in China was given fresh urgency as U.S. Presidential-elect Donald Trump says he will choke off critical Chinese exports.
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2024

Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year

Crime numbers had been steadily declining since 2003, continuing to hit postwar lows from 2015 to 2021, before bouncing back in 2022.
Carmelo Anthony (right) is among the first-time nominees for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
BASKETBALL
Dec 20, 2024

Carmelo Anthony and Sue Bird among first-time Hall of Fame nominees

Finalists will be selected during NBA All-Star Weekend on Feb. 14, and the Class of 2025 will be revealed at the men's Final Four on April 5 in San Antonio.
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 20, 2024

Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns

The inspection follows a reported leak in August of water containing "forever chemicals" outside the U.S. base in western Tokyo.
U.S. President Joe Biden departs from St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church, on the day of the anniversary of the death of the president's first wife and daughter in a car accident in 1972, in Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 21, 2024

Fade out: Biden disappears into background

Despite still occupying the world's most powerful pulpit, Biden has remained virtually absent from the public debate about his noisy successor.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a Cabinet swearing-in ceremony on Friday in Ottawa
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2024

Trudeau does major Cabinet reshuffle amid party pressure and Trump taunts

The reshuffle came at the end of a chaotic week in Ottawa spurred by the surprise resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives at the federal Liberal caucus holiday party, the day after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unexpectedly resigned, in Ottawa on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 22, 2024

From liberal icon to MAGA joke: The waning fortunes of Justin Trudeau

Canada’s prime minister gained global renown 10 years ago for his unabashedly progressive politics. But at home, voters turned sour on him long ago.
Steam rises from a geothermal plan in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture. Despite its long history and potential, geothermal provided just 0.3% of Japan's overall energy mix in the fiscal year from April 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Dec 22, 2024

Is Japan finally ready to tap its abundant geothermal energy potential?

Japan boasts the world’s third-largest potential supply of geothermal energy, but this renewable energy resource has mostly been untapped.
The container ship MSC Marie can be seen transiting through the Panama Canal in this handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on Aug. 30.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 23, 2024

Trump threatens that U.S. could retake control of Panama Canal

Donald Trump's comments were an exceedingly rare example of a U.S. leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory.
People mourn over the graves of relatives who were killed after gunmen opened fire on passenger vehicles in the Kurram tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in Shalozan, Pakistan, on Nov. 22.
WORLD / Society
Dec 23, 2024

Terrorism roars back in Pakistan, 10 years after a campaign to end it

Violence has surged in northwestern Pakistan in the past few years, which experts attribute to the Taliban’s 2021 seizure of power in neighboring Afghanistan.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts to a standing ovation from fans after hitting his 50th home run of the season, against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 19.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 23, 2024

For baseball fans, 2024 brought The Summer of Shohei Ohtani

The superstar was the center of attention for almost a full calendar year during a season straight out of a Hollywood movie.

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