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Dancers perform ahead of Lee Jae-myung's campaign event in Incheon on May 21.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 31, 2025

K-pop and breakdance power South Korea’s high-stakes presidential race

Both major parties are leaning on Korean pop hits to energize voters, blending choreography and catchy lyrics with political messaging.
The sun sets over the Gaza Strip, as seen from Israel, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 1, 2025

Hamas seeks changes in Gaza proposal as U.S. calls response 'unacceptable'

Hamas reiterated demands for an end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, conditions Israel has rejected.
Workers add clean topsoil to a rice field, part of a government pilot project to add fresh earth to recycled and removed soil taken from areas affected by the 2011 nuclear disaster, in the village of Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, in April.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2025

Recycling contaminated soil from Fukushima: Japan's dilemma

Massive amounts of the soil — around 14 million cubic meters of it — remain in storage near the damaged plant.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and head of the country's Security Service, Vasyl Maliuk, attend a meeting in Kyiv in this image released Sunday.
WORLD
Jun 2, 2025

Ukraine drone strikes hit nuclear bombers deep inside Russia

More than 40 Russian aircraft, including long-range bombers capable of deploying conventional and nuclear weapons, were reported to have been damaged in the operation.
Displaced Palestinians return from a food distribution center in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday.
WORLD
Jun 2, 2025

Israel denies Gaza ministry claim soldiers killed more than 30 aid seekers

Israel's military said that an initial inquiry found soldiers had not fired on civilians while they were near or within the distribution site.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki speaks during an event held on Ie Island in Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday to read aloud the names of people killed in fierce battles in the prefecture during World War II.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2025

Event to read aloud names of victims of Okinawa battles begins

"I sincerely hope that Okinawa's wish for peace will spread" through the event, Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said in an opening speech.
Samsung and Perplexity are in talks regarding preloading Perplexity’s app and assistant on upcoming Samsung devices.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 2, 2025

Samsung nears wide-ranging deal with Perplexity for AI features

Samsung is planning to announce the Perplexity integrations as early as this year, sources said.
Displaced Palestinians carrying relief supplies return from an aid distribution center in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 2, 2025

Trump vowed to remake aid. Is Gaza the future?

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is distributing food through several hubs in the war-ravaged territory, with contracted U.S. security and Israeli troops.
Investigators inspect a construction site in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward on May 28 after an explosion occurred there a day earlier.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 2, 2025

Tokyo construction site blast caused by gas cylinder buried in the ground

The gas cylinder "may have been illegally dumped a long time ago" at the site, which was a paved parking lot for about 40 years.
Muslim worshipers gather to pray around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque complex in the holy city of Mecca on Sunday ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
WORLD
Jun 2, 2025

Saudi Arabia cracks down on unauthorized Hajj pilgrims, aiming to save lives

Last year, 1,301 pilgrims, most unregistered and lacking access to air-conditioned facilities, died as temperatures soared to 51.8 degrees Celsius.
Shigeo Nagashima (left), then the manager of the Tokyo Giants, waves to fans with players and coaches during a victory parade in central Tokyo in 2000. Nagashima died at the age of 89 on Tuesday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 3, 2025

Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima dies at 89

Long before the rise of Shohei Ohtani and Ichiro Suzuki, Nagashima was arguably the most famous player in Japanese baseball history.
Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene speaks at the parliament in Ulaanbaatar on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 3, 2025

Mongolia prime minister resigns after losing confidence vote among lawmakers

Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene will remain as caretaker prime minister until his successor is appointed within 30 days.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba offers a flower during a ceremony to pay respects to unidentified war dead from World War II at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo on May 26.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 3, 2025

Ishiba faces political and diplomatic quandary ahead of WWII anniversary

There is fierce opposition among conservatives to any form of official reflection on the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
While governments have succeeded in reducing the number of smokers, they have yet to hit their 30% reduction target.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 3, 2025

Global crises disrupt effort to get millions to quit smoking

Governments had planned to reduce smoking rates among people over 15 by 30% between 2010 and 2025, but the timeline was extended an extra five years.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung waves with his his wife, Kim Hye-gyeong, following his inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 4, 2025

South Korea’s Lee pledges to heal deep wounds as ‘president for everyone’

Lee Jae-myung, in his inauguration speech, said his government would continue his predecessor’s policy of strengthening cooperation with Japan.
Tokyo police declared that Japanese young men and women were simply "not accustomed to one another’s society" due to their cultural upbringing — and thus freewheeling dance venues and foreign customs needed to be reined in.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jun 4, 2025

Japan Times 1925: Tokyo police impose curfew on ‘social dances’

In June 1925, concern over “the moral effects of the Western dancing” on Japanese youth led to restrictions on social venues.
Since moving to Tokyo from New York City in 2014, Hiraku Morilla has been promoting Keith Haring’s legacy in his professional life and advocating for the LGBTQ+ community.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 6, 2025

Hiraku Morilla: ‘Pride means respect for those who walked so we could run’

The New York-raised director of the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection reflects on his queer, multiracial identity and LGBTQ+ rights in Japan.
Arrows lead to the tax-free counter at a branch of discount retailer Don Quijote in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 4, 2025

Is Japan ready to say goodbye to tax-free shopping?

Amid widespread abuse of Japan’s tax-free shopping system, a group of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers are mulling over its possible abolition.
Yasuhiko Morine (left), Esperanza Morine (center left), Lydia Morine (center right) and Naoaki Morine on the island of Linapacan in the western Philippines on May 25
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2025

Some descendants of Japanese in Philippines still without Japan nationality

As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the government is strengthening support for those seeking Japanese nationality based on their ancestry.
The scene where a crumbling glacier partially collapsed and tumbled, at the village of Blatten, Switzerland, on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 4, 2025

Swiss glacier collapse is a lesson on climate disaster management

The collapse of the glacier in the Swiss Alps was an expected disaster. When the first signs of instability started to appear, the town was evacuated.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, depart from Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Wednesday for Okinawa to mourn those killed in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II 80 years ago.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2025

Emperor's family arrives in Okinawa

On Thursday, the family will offer flowers at a monument in Naha for the victims of the Tsushima Maru evacuation ship.
Japan’s three megabanks are discussing jointly operating ATMs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2025

Japan’s top banks consider teaming up on ATMs to cut costs

The banks are seeing whether costs can be reduced for tasks needed to run ATMs such as monitoring, security and cash transportation.
Palestinians move humanitarian aid collected from a distribution center in the Netzarim Corridor, central Gaza Strip, on May 29.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2025

Israel’s Gaza push spurs Europe leaders to turn on Netanyahu

The condemnation is symbolic of the shift in Europe and of Israel’s increasing isolation.
Members of a group working for the reconstruction of the Machinomachi district of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, attend training for the opening of a temporary disaster broadcasting station, in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, on May 16.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 4, 2025

Quake-hit residents eyeing reconstruction through power of radio

A group of people, mainly residents of Wajima's Machinomachi district, are preparing to open a full scale emergency broadcasting FM radio station in mid-June.
America's reluctance to provide air defenses sought by its European partners highlights how the western allies are at odds over how to deal with Russian aggression in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 5, 2025

U.S. said to deny air cover to Europe force in postwar Ukraine

The U.S. reluctance to provide the backup sought by its European partners highlights how the allies are at odds over the way to deal with Russia.
Afghan refugees queue outside a distribution and donation center in New Jersey in December 2021. U.S. President Donald Trump's second-term travel ban covers 12 countries, including Afghanistan.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 5, 2025

Trump signs travel ban for 12 countries including Afghanistan

The move is the latest step in what has been a sweeping immigration agenda aimed at cracking down on undocumented migration.
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday. Suzuki said preparations for the changes that will focus more on rehabilitation are being actively made at each correctional facility.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jun 5, 2025

Japan’s prison reform focuses on rehabilitation

Prison labor is no longer mandatory, which allows more time for educational and rehabilitative programs aimed at reducing recidivism.
Malware used by Chinese state-backed hacking groups was on the systems of a U.S. telecommunications firm for seven months starting in the summer of 2023, investigators claim.
WORLD
Jun 5, 2025

Chinese hacked U.S. telecom a year before known wireless breaches

The hack raises questions about when Chinese intruders established a foothold in the American communications industry.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, meet with survivors of the war as they visit the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum in Itoman on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2025

Imperial family mourns WWII victims in two-day visit to Okinawa

The visit was Princess Aiko's first to Okinawa, which reflected the imperial couple's wish that memories of the war be passed onto the next generation.
Hideo Nakata, deputy mayor of Nagoya, waves the Olympic Council of Asia flag as Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura watches during the closing ceremony of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, on Oct. 8, 2023.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 5, 2025

Organizers to house athletes on 'floating village' during 2026 Asian Games

Organizers will lease a luxury cruise liner that will be docked at Nagoya's port.

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’