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Oitomi's decision to send superstar Shohei Ohtani one of the company's traditional ironware tea kettles has paid off with a surge of interest from general consumers.
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 23, 2024

After Shohei Ohtani bump, Iwate ironware maker sees brighter future

Thanks to the Dodgers superstar, the waitlist for Oitomi’s Miyabi Tetsubin kettle now stretches to more than a year.
Best known as the home of Kuon Temple, Minobu, Yamanashi Prefecture, is a charming day trip from Tokyo with the potential for cultural verisimilitude.
LIFE / Travel
Nov 23, 2024

In rugged Yamanashi, a wild-goose chase for ‘real Japan’

Japan’s countryside certainly offers a different experience than its cities, but whether that makes it categorically superior is up for debate.
U.S. pitcher Spencer Patton throws during the sixth inning of Team USA's loss to Samurai Japan on Thursday at Tokyo Dome.
BASEBALL
Nov 22, 2024

U.S. pitcher Spencer Patton gets warm reception as he returns to Japan for Premier12

Patton pitched pitched for the Yokohama BayStars from 2017 to 2020, making 219 appearances for the club overall. Now he's back in Japan and competing for Team USA.
The private equity landscape is rapidly changing in Japan, where more than $12 billion in such transactions have been announced this year, after reaching a record in 2023.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 22, 2024

KKR-Bain brawl worth $4 billion highlights Japan private equity boom

The saga shows how fast the private equity landscape is changing in Japan, where more than $12 billion in such transactions have been announced this year.
Beijing Daxing International Airport
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2024

China reinstates visa-free travel for Japanese nationals

The exemption will cover travel for up to 30 days and will continue through the end of 2025. 
The policy chiefs of the Democratic Party for the People, Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito — Makoto Hamaguchi (left), Itsunori Onodera (center) and Mitsunari Okamoto — shake hands after reaching an agreement on an economic stimulus package on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 22, 2024

Japan approves ¥21.9 trillion stimulus plan

Combined with expected spending from the private sector, this year’s package is estimated to add a total of ¥39 trillion to the economy.
An oil pump jack and drilling rigs in an oilfield on the shore of the Caspian Sea, near the Aquatic Palace stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 23, 2024

At a climate conference in oil country, progress remains elusive

More than a third of Azerbaijan’s gross domestic product comes from fossil fuels, and about 90% of its exports are linked to oil and gas.
A waterway along a portion of the Mekong River where a groundbreaking ceremony took place to begin construction on the Funan Techo Canal, in Prek Takeo, Cambodia, in October.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 23, 2024

Cambodia's flagship canal in hot water as China funding dries up

Months after a groundbreaking ceremony for a major canal project in Cambodia, touted investments from China are in doubt.
Health minister Takamaro Fukuoka in an interview last week
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2024

Government aims to ease care worker shortages through wage hikes

Staff shortages at care facilities are "very serious," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takamaro Fukuoka said.
People offer a moment of silence during a ceremony held for the first time on Sunday to remember those who worked at the now-defunct gold mines on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, including those from the Korean Peninsula.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2024

Japan calls it 'regrettable' South Korea skipped Sado mine memorial

The event came after the Sado Island Gold Mines were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site earlier this year.
The Clintons and Barack Obama engineered the disastrous situation in the 2024 election and have long dominated the Democratic Party, with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris serving as their appointees. 
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2024

How the Democrats sunk their own ship this year

The Democratic leadership would far rather lose an election or two — or even become a permanent minority party – than open the party to people it cannot control.
Yisrael Medad, an activist and writer on Israel's political right, looks at a book in his home in the Israeli settlement Shilo, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Nov. 13.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2024

Israeli settlers set sights on Trump support for full control of West Bank

Settlers have celebrated Trump's nomination of a clutch of officials known for pro-Israel views.
The National Consumer Affairs Center reports a growing number of consultations regarding "digital legacies" — data and online services left behind when people die.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 25, 2024

Are you leaving your loved ones digital legacies or headaches?

The National Consumer Affairs Center is getting an increasing number of consultations regarding data and online services left behind by deceased persons.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters in Washington. Since former President Donald Trump’s election victory, investors have dumped stocks associated with high-profile environmental, social and governance (ESG) themes such as wind and solar.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 25, 2024

Trump victory forces ESG investors to regroup

Investment managers targeting climate change say it’s time to start speaking in terms that don’t alienate the millions of Americans who voted for the president-elect.
A farmer cleans solar panels in a field in the Baluchistan region of Pakistan.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Nov 25, 2024

Surprise solar boom in Pakistan helps millions, but harms grid

The rise of solar in Pakistan has many benefits, but a rapid and unregulated boom also threatens to weaken the country’s utilities and destabilize the fragile economy.
An employee of Trex stands with bales of used plastic, which the company recycles into decking material.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Nov 25, 2024

Can the world unite to end the plastic pollution crisis?

The rising toll of plastic in the environment is impossible to ignore.
A pig that is pregnant with piglets suited for cross-species transplants
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 25, 2024

Startup transplants pig kidney into monkey for first time in Japan

It is hoped that the operation will provide insights into the future use of animal kidneys in humans.
Reiwa Shinsengumi leader Taro Yamamoto speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Oct. 27. The party tripled their Lower House seats to nine in last month's general election.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 25, 2024

How Reiwa Shinsengumi managed to overtake JCP in the Lower House

The younger party's focus on pocketbook issues attracted younger, independent left-leaning swing voters who might have voted for the older party in the past.
Hiromi Yamamoto
ESG CONSORTIUM
Nov 25, 2024

Oji seeks optimal approaches to nurturing and utilizing forests

Oji Holdings, Japan’s leading paper maker, owns and manages 635,000 hectares of forests across the globe. Forest resources — for wood, paper and wood-derived materials or for biomass power generation — are attracting increased attention as sustainable resources. However, their sustainability hinges...
Mount Fuji, as seen from Saiko Lake in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Nov. 7
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2024

Yamanashi Prefecture plans to raise entry fee for Mount Fuji climbers

The prefectural government of Yamanashi plans to raise the entry fee for Mount Fuji climbers from the current ¥2,000 to between ¥3,000 and ¥5,000, sources said Monday.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos (center) stands beside Vice President Sara Duterte (left) in a traditional dress after he delivered his first State of the Nation address at the House of Representatives in Quezon City,  Manila, on July 25, 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 26, 2024

Philippines' Marcos vows to fight back after estranged VP's death threat

The threat by Sara Duterte, daughter of firebrand former President Rodrigo Duterte, is the latest twist in a dramatic spat between the powerful families.
Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli strike in the Chiyah district of Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday.
WORLD
Nov 26, 2024

Israel and Hezbollah seen on the cusp of a deal as attacks continue

Israel’s security cabinet is expected to vote on an agreement on Tuesday, and passage is considered likely.
If the economic situation remains the same as in the past 30 years, the financially fragile basic pensions are projected to continue decreasing until fiscal 2057, with the basic pensions for people aged 65 expected to be 30% lower than the current amount.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 26, 2024

Japan's government proposes raising future basic pensions by 30%

The biggest obstacle will be whether Japan can secure stable financial resources for the measure.
The tech giants behind Google and Facebook are asking the Australian government to postpone a ban on most forms of social media for children under the age of 16.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024

Google and Meta urge Australia to delay bill on social media ban for children

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's center-left government wants to pass the bill into law by the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday.
Firetrucks outside a building in Sapporo where an explosion left four people injured on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2024

Suspected arson in Sapporo leaves four injured

The incident occurred at around 3:20 p.m. in a densely packed area of Susukino lined with multitenant buildings.
A Facebook "military interest" page that misrepresented old photos and videos of army operations to falsely claim that Washington was helping its ally Manila prepare for war.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 26, 2024

Philippines-China tensions trigger money-making disinformation

Clashes between the two countries in the South China Sea are being manipulated online by disinformation networks for profit, an analysis has found.
A supporter of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party gestures after tear gas was fired by the police to disperse the crowd during a protest to demand Khan's release in Islamabad on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 27, 2024

Pakistani forces launch midnight raid on Khan's supporters

At least six people, including four paramilitary soldiers, were killed before the night raid was launched.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the quake hit at a depth of 7 kilometers at 10:47 p.m. off the Noto Peninsula.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2024

Moderately strong quake hits off central Japan

A woman in her 70s was later reported injured in the town of Tsubata, Kyodo news agency reported, citing the prefectural government.
A woman carries firewood she bought at a marketplace in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Oct. 2. Telehealth — the use of technology to provide and access health care services remotely — has been growing around the world but is relatively new in Zimbabwe.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 27, 2024

In Zimbabwe, Starlink’s fast internet gives telehealth a boost

The satellite unit of Elon Musk's SpaceX received the green light in May to operate its internet services in Zimbabwe.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe speaks during an interview on Friday.
OLYMPICS
Nov 27, 2024

World Athletics chief 'very pleased' with India's Olympic interest but warns of hurdles

Coe, 68, a two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500 meters, is one of seven people bidding to be the next president of the International Olympic Committee.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan