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Palestinians cover a body that was buried in a mass grave in the northern Gaza Strip.
WORLD / EXPLAINER
Apr 27, 2024

Mass graves in Gaza: what do we know?

The discovery of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals have triggered calls by the U.N. rights chief and others for an international investigation.
Palestinian children stand amid the debris of a house destroyed by overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2024

Some U.S. officials say Israel may be violating international law in Gaza

A joint submission from four U.S. bureaus raised "serious concern over non-compliance" with international humanitarian law.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends a conference in Paris last June.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 28, 2024

Tesla CEO Elon Musk kicks off surprise trip to Beijing

Musk is seeking to meet senior Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss the rollout of Full-Self Driving software in China.
The departure lobby for domestic flights is crowded with travelers at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Saturday, the first day of this year's Golden Week holidays.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2024

Golden Week crowds greeted with high temperatures as holiday period kicks off

The mercury soared as millions of travelers were venturing to both international and domestic destinations.
When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Apr 29, 2024

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

Among official records in Japan, the "koseki" is key to discovering where you came from. However, it's not without controversy.
Protesters in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and pro-Israel counterprotesters scuffle during demonstrations at the University of California Los Angeles on Sunday.
WORLD
Apr 29, 2024

White House urges 'peaceful' campus protests after hundreds arrested

The wave of demonstrations began at Columbia University in New York but they have since spread rapidly across the country.
In his book "It’s Okay Not to Look for the Meaning of Life," Buddhist priest Jikisai Minami sprinkles in surprising declarations such as “Stop taking care of yourself,” “It’s okay not to have friends,” “People can live without hopes and dreams.”
CULTURE / Books
Apr 29, 2024

Buddhist priest grounds new book with practical advice and cheeky declarations

"It’s Okay Not to Look for the Meaning of Life" by Jikisai Minami addresses the ills of modern life by revealing the true nature of suffering.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a joint ministerial meeting of the GCC-U.S. Strategic Partnership in Riyadh to discuss the humanitarian crises in the Gaza, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 30, 2024

U.S. warns ICC action on Israel would hurt cease-fire chances

The U.S. and its allies are concerned that the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials just as the country is getting closer to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas, potentially jeopardizing a deal, people familiar with the matter said.
A screen shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron, at the GAC Motor booth at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 30, 2024

Xi seems on a mission to drive a wedge between Europe and the U.S.

During his five-day trip to France, Serbia and Hungary on Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to show the EU how much China can offer them.
A man rides a scooter past apartment high rises under construction in Zhengzhou, China, in January 2019.
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2024

Strained Chinese cities struggle to pay homebuying subsidies

Some local governments are unable to raise funds to pay promised subsidies, frustrating buyers and casting doubts over future support measures.
Peaches grown in Fukushima Prefecture. A so-called zebra firm in the prefecture is selling substandard fruits to greengrocers in urban areas, which leads to higher incomes for local farmers.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2024

Japan eyes socially mindful startups to boost regional economies

Starting in June, the government will launch pilot projects to help such startups cooperate with local governments, banks and companies.
(From left) Nanami Fukuoka, Natsumi Matsunaga and Riana Tashima, students from Denshukan High School in Yanagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Mutsumi Machitori, their teacher, show their research in late March.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Kyushu
May 6, 2024

Students in Fukuoka learn of school's tragic past in World War II

After investigating a cenotaph at their school, pupils researched 17 alumni who died at a nearby munitions factory.
Razor wire lies near an abandoned house, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, near Israel’s border with Lebanon in northern Israel on March 19.
WORLD
Apr 30, 2024

Residents of northern Israel brace for possible all-out war with Hezbollah

Since October, more than 300 people have died in fighting in the border area, mainly Hezbollah fighters.
One problem with globalization is American leaders have the power to disrupt numerous economies by severing supply chains or manipulating financial flows, but citizens of those countries have no influence over U.S. elections.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2024

Democracy and authoritarianism in a modern, globalized world

The bedrock principle of democracy is that people affected by the decisions of political leaders should have a say in selecting those leaders.
Studies have observed that patients eventually diagnosed with multiple sclerosis initially complain of common issues like anxiety, fatigue or bladder problems. Researcher may be on the road to developing a simple test that can definitively tell a patient if they have the disease.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2024

This multiple sclerosis discovery could be a breakthrough

Researchers have found evidence that neurons are being damaged years before the disease makes itself known.
For a little more than a decade, scientists have been studying a subset of people they call "super-agers.” These individuals are age 80 and older, but they have the memory ability of a person 20 to 30 years younger.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 30, 2024

A peek inside the brains of ‘super-agers’

New research explores why some octogenarians have exceptional memories.
A team of scientists in 2009 set out to pick a date when the Holocene ended and the Anthropocene began. They settled on 1952, when humanity added detectable byproducts of atomic bomb testing to our planet’s surface.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2024

A century of bad choices will haunt Earth for 100,000 years

A group of scientists rejected a proposal to give our current epoch a new name: the Anthropocene, derived from the Greek word for human.
The trial hearing of Masumi Hayashi, who denied killing four people and poisoning 63 at a festival by lacing a pot of curry with arsenic, was the focus of The Japan Times’ front page of May 14, 1999.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
May 1, 2024

Japan Times 1999: Hayashi admits fraud, denies curry murders

The disturbing case of the Wakayama curry killer would continue for years, resulting in the eventual execution of the woman convicted of the crime.
A busy street in Kigali, Rwanda. Under the voluntary program, the U.K. will pay asylum seekers to move to Rwanda to help clear the backlog of refugees who have arrived in the country in recent years.
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2024

Britain sends first voluntary asylum seeker to Rwanda, report says

The voluntary program is separate to a forced deportation program that Britain is about to embark on in the next few months.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako speak to evacuees at a shelter in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in March.
JAPAN
May 1, 2024

Emperor Naruhito marks five years since enthronement

The emperor's first five years on the throne were largely overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward has offered a stationmaster experience at Shinjuku Station as a return gift for donations of ¥1 million to the ward.
JAPAN
May 1, 2024

Tokyo offers 'experience packages' as gifts to curb tax outflow

As their tax revenues continue to decline, Tokyo wards have begun diversifying their gift offerings under the hometown tax program.
A worker organizes cannabis flowers before the opening of the first legal recreational marijuana dispensary, located in the East Village in the Manhattan borough of New York, on Dec. 29, 2022.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 1, 2024

Marijuana could be reclassified in U.S. as less dangerous

The rumored move would ease access to cannabis for patients and researchers studying its medical applications without decriminalizing it.
A "cooling shelter" set up inside the city hall in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture
JAPAN
May 1, 2024

Municipalities setting up 'cooling shelters' in bid to prevent heatstroke

Operators of designated facilities will be asked to open them for use by people to escape the heat when a special alert for heatstroke is issued.
U.S. President Joe Biden makes an appearance at an infrastructure construction project in Woodstock, New Hampshire, in November 2021.  Bridges and sewage systems may seem unglamorous, but common assets such as these will form the basis of economic growth for years to come.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2024

The West’s new infrastructure imperative

A dim future awaits any society that allows its infrastructure to degrade and underinvests in new needs.
A vacant lot on the site of the former Tsukiji fish market where a group of companies plans to develop a commercial and residential complex in the coming years
BUSINESS
May 1, 2024

Developer hopes to tap Tsukiji's 'rich history' to create a new Tokyo hot spot

Mitsui Fudosan, tasked with renovating the former site of the famous Tsukiji fish market, hopes to build the vacant lot into a new trendy hub.
People believed to be migrants disembark from a British Border Force vessel as they arrive at the Port of Dover in Britain on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2024

U.K. begins detaining migrants set to be deported to Rwanda

More than 7,500 migrants have arrived in England on small boats from France so far this year.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2024

U.S. and Saudi Arabia near defense pact meant to reshape Middle East

Though many obstacles remain, there is optimism Washington and Riyadh could reach a framework defense deal within weeks.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Wednesday before embarking on a trip to France and South American countries.
JAPAN / Politics
May 2, 2024

Kishida and Attal vow to expand Japan-France ties

Attal also expressed his condolences over the recent death of renowned Japanese manga artist Akira Toriyama.
Counter-protesters strike a barricade at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 2, 2024

Violence flares at UCLA as police end protests at New York's Columbia

Police said UCLA had called them to restore order and maintain public safety "due to multiple acts of violence" within the encampment.
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2024

Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it

Stakeholders are pulling out all the stops to restore the creative energy of the Tokyo district known for setting fashion trends in its heyday.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’