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Australian Ambassador to Japan Justin Hayhurst (center) walks beside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) during the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima in May.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2023

Tokyo-Canberra ties key to Indo-Pacific’s future: Australian envoy

"We’ve never been more important to each other," says Justin Hayhurst, Australia’s new Ambassador to Japan.
A man makes his way through a flooded road after the rains and floods brought by remnants of Typhoon Doksuri, in Zhuozhou, Hebei province, China, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 4, 2023

China’s ‘sponge cities’ are not built for extreme flood events

China has invested billions of dollars in recent years to protect against extreme rainfall after a 2012 flood in Beijing killed 79 people.
Hitachi CEO Keiji Kojima. The company’s metamorphosis belies the argument that the bastions of Japan Inc. are set forever in their ways.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 4, 2023

Hitachi reinvents itself in sign of hope for Japan

The old-school conglomerate revamped its governance, shrank its empire to focus on growth and evolved into a more global enterprise.
A Shein office in Singapore. The meteoric rise of shopping platforms selling Chinese-made goods has been fueled by a decades-old loophole that allows cheap products to land in U.S. mailboxes tariff-free.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2023

Key trade loophole keeps cheap Chinese products flowing to U.S.

The fact that Chinese goods and China-founded companies are benefiting from the loophole has frustrated some U.S. lawmakers.
As synonymous with summer as fireworks and sweltering temperatures, mosquitoes are ubiquitous in Japan. However, will rising temperatures lead more dangerous species of the bug to call Japan home?
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / Longform
Aug 7, 2023

The mosquito: Summer’s unwelcome little bloodsucker

An outbreak of dengue in Yoyogi Park nine years ago could be a sign of things to come if the wrong mosquito makes it into Japan.
A busy 2024 schedule will see the PGA Tour expand to 36 events for the first time since 2012.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 8, 2023

Pebble Beach joins signature stops as PGA unveils 2024 schedule

The PGA Tour unveiled a lineup of 36 tournaments in a calendar-year schedule for the first time since 2012.
Naomi Koshi, CEO of OnBoard K.K., says pressure from foreign investors is pushing Japanese companies to seek out more female board members.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 8, 2023

Foreign investor pressure spurs Japanese boards to appoint women

The scramble came after institutional investors set rules to vote against firms with few or no female board members.
Boxers Anthony Joshua (left) and Robert Helenius face off during a news conference on Wednesday to promote their upcoming bout.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 10, 2023

Anthony Joshua calls on boxing to find solution to doping problem

Anthony Joshua is certain boxing faces a doping problem but the former world heavyweight champion is uncertain whether longer bans are an ideal solution.
Children from nongovernment controlled territories who attended a Russian-organized summer camp and were then taken to Russia wait for departure to Kyiv, after returning via the Ukraine-Belarus border, in Volyn region, Ukraine on April 7.
WORLD
Aug 10, 2023

Kremlin aide who took Ukraine minors to Russia tied to neo-Nazism

Russia claims its deportation of Ukrainian children, described by international prosecutors as illegal, is to protect them from "Nazism."
Japan midfielder Yui Hasegawa controls the ball during a training session in Auckland on Tuesday.
SOCCER / Women's World cup
Aug 11, 2023

Rejuvenated Nadeshiko Japan 'ready to fight against anyone'

Japan, a sagging power suddenly revived, might be the most impressive contender remaining in the Women's World Cup.
A farmer picks coffee beans at his plantation in West Java, Indonesia, on Aug. 2.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 14, 2023

World's fourth largest coffee crop threatened by El Nino

Lower coffee output in Indonesia could trigger a steeper rise in prices, which have climbed more than 40% in 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 14, 2023

LDP increasingly wants land minister post back from Komeito

Calls are growing within the LDP to get the post of land minister back from Komeito just as Kishida considers a possible Cabinet reshuffle.
If you've come to the realization that divorce is the only way forward, there are a host of details about the Japanese marriage system to confirm before you're finally ready to cut ties.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Aug 21, 2023

Navigating the notorious gauntlet of divorce in Japan

Everyone wishes for “happily ever after” no matter where you’re from, but Japan recorded 1,671 bicultural divorces in 2021.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2023

Elon Musk arrives in Japan for first visit in nine years

The purpose of his trip is not yet clear, but the space-loving billionaire has posted video clips of the teamLab Planets art installation in Tokyo.
The remains of a missile that dropped cluster bombs at a housing complex in Sloviansk, Ukraine
WORLD
Aug 18, 2023

Unexploded missile suggests Moscow is rushing weapons to the front

The discovery adds to other evidence that Moscow is under pressure to fire missiles as soon as they roll off manufacturing lines.
The color of a red torii gate in Bushidaira, Saitama Prefecture, still stands out against a vibrant green backdrop.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Aug 18, 2023

Exploring the eerie beauty of Japan's abandoned villages

Depopulation and an aging society have turned parts of the countryside into tourist attractions for those eager to explore a forgotten era.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 20, 2023

Tokyo aiming to eliminate areas congested with wooden houses

As of 2020, Tokyo had some 8,600 hectares of such areas that are expected to suffer particularly severe damage in the event of a large quake.
With temperatures around the world reaching record highs this summer, you may want to reconsider which sunscreen you are using, experts say, as not all sunscreens are the same.
WORLD / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Aug 21, 2023

Extreme heat may mean using a different sunscreen

The two major types — mineral and chemical — handle the sun's ultraviolet rays differently and during extremely hot weather, those differences can matter.
The initial public offering for Arm Holdings is set to be the biggest in the United States this year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 22, 2023

SoftBank’s planned IPO for Arm set to be biggest of 2023

Arm didn’t disclose proposed terms for the share sale in the document, but it’s expected to seek a valuation of $60 billion to $70 billion.
Sheep rest under a starry night in Pontimia Pasture in the Swiss Alps.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Aug 25, 2023

Crying wolf to save livestock and their predator

Preservation groups have hailed the return of wolves, seeing it as a sign of a healthier ecosystem. But breeders decry soaring attacks on livestock.
Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani has a torn UCL, the team announced on Wednesday night.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 25, 2023

Will Ohtani’s injury pick his pocket in free agency?

Baseball’s history-making two-way player has a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
The remains of the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 12, 2001
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 27, 2023

U.S. plea proposal for 9/11 suspects splits victims' relatives

Some say a deal without trial means the whole truth might be lost — others say that every year the trial is delayed, there are fewer left to see justice.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 27, 2023

More tests show radiation levels of Fukushima seawater remain below limits

Tokyo hopes what it says is a transparent release of data will serve as a strong rebuttal to claims by Beijing that the discharge is dangerous.
The Sasso 2 Geothermical power plant in Italy
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 28, 2023

Dante’s inferno may have the answer for Europe’s energy bind

One geothermal site in Italy generates more than 5% of the nation’s clean power production.
The 3M global headquarters in Maplewood, Minnesota. The multinational conglomerate has tentatively agreed to pay more than $5.5 billion to resolve over 300,000 lawsuits claiming it sold the U.S. military defective combat earplugs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 29, 2023

3M to pay more than $5.5 billion over faulty combat earplugs

Current and former service members allege 3M knew its earplugs were too short to work effectively and that it failed to warn the U.S. government or users.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2023

Yamanashi governor proposes light rail system for Mount Fuji

The rail system, intended to address over-tourism, would replace the Fuji Subaru highway, which leads to one of the Mount Fuji’s fifth stations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 30, 2023

Putin’s China visit marks renewed assurance, expert says

The Russian president's plan to travel to China demonstrates a confidence that his authority is stronger than ever after the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin.
As China slips into deflation, one word is popping up more and more to describe the gloomy atmospherics: "Japanification."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 30, 2023

'Japanification' for China? It should be so lucky.

China is not on the path to global dominance nor set for collapse, and observers should consider the various shades of gray in analyzing these countries.
Kyoko Yafuso and her son Keiju Togei pose in front of their store in the Sunrise Naha shopping street.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Sep 4, 2023

Tired Naha shopping arcade evolves into city’s best dining spot

Until about 10 years ago, the central shopping arcade around the Heiwa-dori street in Naha was deserted, with most stores closed and few visitors.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic during his second round match against Spain's Bernabe Zapata Miralles at the U.S. Open in New York on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Aug 31, 2023

Djokovic ramps up U.S. Open bid as Swiatek and Gauff stroll

Djokovic climbed through the gears against 76th-ranked Bernabe Zapata Miralles, winning 13 of the last 15 games to ease through 6-4, 6-1, 6-1.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami