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With China's growing military threat against Taiwan, experts argue that real deterrence — such as increased training ties with Japan, the U.S. and other nations — may be necessary to prevent an invasion and protect regional stability.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 29, 2025

How to secure Taiwan as drumbeats of a looming invasion grow louder

It is high time to get creative for real deterrence to protect the democratic island.
Frustrated by policy uncertainty and modest stimulus, investors are shifting from long-term bets to short-term trades in China.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 29, 2025

Growth engine or casino? Global investors rethink China playbook

Investor uncertainty and policy shifts have fundamentally changed how analysts and money managers view China’s markets.
Shilling poses for a picture at her home in California, Maryland, on Jan. 19.
WORLD
Jan 29, 2025

How transgender troops prepared to fight Trump's new policy

Transgender advocates say the lawsuit is the first shot in what they predict will be a long fight.
Trump started his term on Jan. 20 by issuing an executive order "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism," which declared the government will only recognize two sexes — male and female.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 30, 2025

LGBTQ+ Americans in crisis as Trump rolls back rights

Nine organizations supporting LGBTQ+ people said they had a surge in use of their crisis services and calls to their helplines on Trump's first day in office.
Relatives of people who died in Spain's disastrous floods, as well as protesters, demonstrate against Valencia's regional leader, demanding his resignation for his handling of the emergency, in Valencia, Spain, on Dec. 29.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 30, 2025

Chinese online operation called for toppling Spain's government: report

The online operation from China, called Spamouflage, has been operating in several countries since 2017, online analysis outfit Graphika said.
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is displayed at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 22.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 30, 2025

NFL enhances Super Bowl security after New Year's Day attack in New Orleans

The NFL is set to host the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, with the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles facing off at New Orleans' Superdome.
A protester holds a flag as he shouts slogans during a demonstration to mark the anniversary of Myanmar's 2021 military coup, outside the United Nations office in Bangkok, on Feb. 1, 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 30, 2025

Risk of violence escalates in Myanmar's civil war as election looms

With many forces opposing the junta and the election, tensions are set to rise ahead of the ballot.
A little-used section of the JR Geibi Line, which runs through the Chugoku Mountains in Okayama and Hiroshima prefectures, faces a threat of closure.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Feb 10, 2025

Underutilized Hiroshima-Okayama rail route struggles to survive

While the number of passengers has continued to decline, the Geibi Line has served as a lifeline for some residents.
"As main shareholder of Nissan, Renault will consider all options based on the best interest of the group and its shareholders,” said a spokesperson for Renault, regarding a merger of Nissan and Honda.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2025

Renault seeks takeover premium from Honda for Nissan stake

Representatives for Renault flew to Japan earlier this week to voice concerns over how a tie-up may be structured, sources said.
Debris at the site of a deadly plane crash in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday.
WORLD
Jan 31, 2025

Investigators seek to salvage aircraft after deadly Washington crash

Authorities have recovered black boxes but have not yet pinpointed a reason for the collision between the regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter.
A monument erected near Ulaanbaatar to remember Japanese nationals who died in Mongolia after being detained by the former Soviet Union during World War II
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2025

Japan's emperor and empress will likely visit Mongolia in July

This would be the couple's third overseas goodwill trip since the emperor's accession to the throne in 2019.
The koji room at Fukuwagura brewery in Mie Prefecture, where metals such as stainless steel, which are easy to manage for hygiene, are widely used
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jan 30, 2025

Japanese food makers step in to preserve sake breweries' legacy

The initiatives by food companies coincide with a growing recognition of traditional sake-making techniques.
An attendee records a virtual address by U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 23.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 30, 2025

Trump threats risk stretching Europe's fragile unity to breaking point

The European Commission urged member states in a private meeting last week to remain united, with some comparing the situation to the Brexit negotiations.
A member of the M23 armed group (center) stands in front of two Guatemalan soldiers from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) as they monitor access to the border crossing into Rwanda on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jan 30, 2025

What is happening in Congo and why are M23 rebels fighting?

The latest advances are part of a major escalation of a decades-old conflict over power, identity and resources.
Gensho Yasuda’s “Make a Girl” follows an inventor whose relationship with the robot girlfriend he builds becomes increasingly complicated as she develops an unexpected sense of independence.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2025

Indie animator Gensho Yasuda paves his own way with a DIY spirit

With “Make a Girl,” the young Japanese creator takes the leap from short videos to full-length films.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington on Thursday about the midair crash between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 31, 2025

Trump blames diversity programs over midair collision

The crash was nation's most deadly commercial airline accident in over a decade.
A memorial for the Skating Club of Boston members killed in a midair collision between a passenger plane and a U.S. military helicopter on Wednesday is seen at Tenley E. Albright Performance Center, in Boston on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Jan 31, 2025

Tight-knit U.S. figure skating community mourns skaters lost in plane crash

The athletes, coaches and family members on board the flight were returning from the National Development Camp in Kansas.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce speaks on stage after the AFC championship game in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 31, 2025

Travis Kelce embraces Chiefs' role as villains ahead of Super Bowl

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is offering no apologies for his team's success.
Palestinian militants hand over hostage Arbel Yehoud to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
WORLD
Jan 31, 2025

Israel releases 110 Palestinian prisoners and Hamas frees 8 hostages

Buses arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah carrying some of the 110 Palestinian prisoners to be freed as part of the phased agreement that halted more than 15 months of war.
IOC presidential candidate Morinari Watanabe speaks during a news conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Jan 31, 2025

IOC presidential contenders make pitches to voters

They are vying to succeed Thomas Bach as arguably the most powerful person in global sports.
A Japanese class at a job placement company in Hanoi in 2022. The number of foreign workers in Japan hit a record high in 2024.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2025

Japan’s foreign workforce hits fresh record as labor crisis deepens

Japan had a record 2.3 million foreign workers as of October 2024, marking a 12.4% increase from the previous year.
Myanmar migrant worker Ma Phyu in her apartment in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 31, 2025

Misery continues for Myanmar exiles four years on from coup

Those who fled to Thailand scrape by doing hard jobs for little pay — often living in fear of being arrested and sent back to Myanmar.
Sebastian Coe speaks during a news conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Jan 31, 2025

Sebastian Coe admits mistakes in handling of prize money issue at Olympics

World Athletics announced its prize money decision unilaterally ahead of last year's Paris Games without consulting the IOC.
Tokyo saw a net population inflow of 79,285 in 2024, up 11,000 from the previous year and returning to prepandemic levels.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2025

Tokyo area's net population inflow accelerates in 2024

The government aims to reverse the trend in fiscal 2027 to address the issue of overconcentration in the Tokyo area.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during an Upper House plenary session in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2025

Ishiba aims to get assurances from Trump over Senkaku Islands

Ishiba also said he intends to seek assistance from Trump in resolving the issue of Japanese nationals kidnapped by North Korea decades ago.
Donald Trump’s rapid use of tariffs, disregard for conventional diplomacy and fixation on strength risk undermining the global economic order, isolating the U.S. and triggering widespread economic harm.
EDITORIALS
Jan 31, 2025

The Trump test begins: Tariffs, power plays and economic risk

The speed with which the U.S. president reached for this tariff tool — against an ally no less — is proof that his threats are not empty words.
Silicon Valley’s shock at DeepSeek exposes U.S. tech elites’ insularity and the unintended consequences of U.S. policies aimed at restricting China’s technological progress.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2025

Why Chinese tech keeps surprising the West

DeepSeek is the latest product from China to shock the U.S. tech broligarchy. It won’t be the last.
Billed as a “cultural bridge that connects Japan and Vietnam,” Tet Viet Saitama drew tens of thousands of attendees from across the Kanto region.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Feb 2, 2025

Home away from home: My first time at a Tet festival in Japan

A longtime resident of Japan attends Saitama’s first public celebration of Vietnam’s most important holiday.
The first official government survey of Hokkaido backcountry skiing could spell changes for trails in the northern prefecture.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 1, 2025

First official survey set to change backcountry Hokkaido skiing

From October 2024, the land ministry has been gathering opinions on Hokkaido’s alpine adventurers with an eye toward increased support and safety for off-piste enthusiasts.
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as his defense chief, Pete Hegseth, speaks about the midair crash between a passenger jet and U.S. Army helicopter on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 1, 2025

Trump’s Pentagon sheds no-politics image in a major reversal

In a break with his predecessors, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has become a major driver in Trump’s agenda.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?