Search - people

 
 
Among those arrested, 1,011 were ringleaders or individuals who gave instructions. About 90% were perpetrators, including people who received defrauded money, and around 40% became involved in the crimes through recruitment via social media.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 3, 2025

New ‘tokuryū’ crime groups outpace yakuza in arrests

The term was coined by the National Police Agency to describe a new form of criminal group that has emerged as an alternative to traditional yakuza organizations.
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway’s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital’s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2025

Tokyo’s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway

The line will become a pedestrian-focused green space called Tokyo Sky Corridor, with sections opening in phases before its full relaunch in 2035.
Anti-Yoon protesters react after the Constitutional Court's verdict on the impeachment of South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 4, 2025

South Korea upholds Yoon impeachment, prompting snap election within 60 days

The move, while deepening a divide in South Korea between conservative and progressive voters, could also have broad implications for relations with neighboring Japan.
A child welfare center in Naha in May 1966
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Apr 14, 2025

In Okinawa, war trauma carried by orphans still lingers

“War orphans were pushed to the margins of society after the war," says one academic.
A man places a sign outside a Tesla dealership during a protest against its CEO Elon Musk, in Los Angeles, California, last month.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Apr 4, 2025

Tesla investors brace for further sales decline as Musk backlash grows

Protests in many countries against Musk's involvement in the Trump administration and far-right politics in Europe have tarnished the image of the once-leading EV brand.
Pix (left), the mascot of the U.K. Pavilion at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, is seen alongside the event's official mascot, Myaku-Myaku, on Jan. 16 in the city of Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture
JAPAN / Society
Apr 4, 2025

Countries' mascots beat drum for Osaka Expo

Participating nations are taking on Japan's love of mascots by coming up with characters of their own, some of which incorporate the culture of the host country.
Unexploded U.S. military ordnance found in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture, on March 24
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2025

Unexploded ordnance still haunts Okinawa 80 years after WWII battle

Despite decades of clearance efforts, roughly 1,900 metric tons of deadly remnants are estimated to remain buried beneath the land.
Momoka Matsui and her co-worker Saki Matsumoto take photos of acrylic stand figure models of their favorite idols with cakes and teas, which they ordered at a Tokyo cafe where Matsui’s favorite boy band stopped by.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 5, 2025

Can Japan's take on fandom help drive spending?

The explosion of "oshikatsu" (supporting favored celebrities or characters), which entered the mainstream during the pandemic, has economists and the Bank of Japan taking note.
After getting her career started in Japan, Courney Kaplan has become one of Los Angeles' leading sake evangelists from her base at Ototo.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Apr 6, 2025

In Los Angeles, Courtney Kaplan says sake is having a moment

Los Angeles has no shortage of Japanese restaurants, but Ototo makes the country's national drink an easy sip.
People are seen inside a shelter in a makeshift tent camp following a strong earthquake in Amarapura township, Myanmar, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 4, 2025

'Quad' nations seek extension of ceasefire in quake-hit Myanmar

The grouping is concerned that the catastrophe would "worsen an already-dire humanitarian situation" caused by civil war in the Southeast Asian nation.
Tokyo Humanities Cafe was launched in 2017 by Laurence Williams (left) and Alex Watson, professors at Sophia and Meiji Universities, respectively.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Apr 7, 2025

Tokyo Humanities Cafe feeds hungry minds

A free quarterly event invites everyone to explore what it means to be human.
Since April marks the start of a new fiscal period in Japan, there is a good chance you’ll be meeting new colleagues this month.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 5, 2025

Meeting new colleagues and introducing yourself in Japanese

Get off on the right foot at work or school with a few set phrases that are easy to memorize.
An activist holds a picture of Myanmar's junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, during a protest against his visit to Thailand and attending the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 5, 2025

Myanmar junta chief meets foreign leaders; U.N. says military choking aid

The U.N. said his military was limiting humanitarian aid following the earthquake that killed over 3,100 people amid civil war.
National Security Agency Director Gen. Timothy Haugh testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 25.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 5, 2025

Democrats slam Trump's dismissal of NSA chief

Far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer is reported to have pushed for the dismissal of NSA chief Timothy Haugh.
A doctor administers COVID-19 vaccinations to members of the Latino community in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, in August 2021.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 5, 2025

As U.S. ditches diversity in clinical trials, all eyes on Europe

The United States once led the world in running clinical trials that aimed to look like the nation at large.
Protesters hold up signs during a demonstration against U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday. Scores of protests were held across the country the same day.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 6, 2025

Tens of thousands in U.S. turn out to protest against Trump policies

Some 1,200 demonstrations nationwide formed one of the largest single days of protest against President Donald Trump since he was sworn in.
People embrace at the site of a deadly Russian missile strike on a residential area, where multiple children and adults were killed, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, on Saturday.
WORLD
Apr 6, 2025

Zelenskyy slams 'weak' U.S. response to Russian strike on his hometown

The missile strike on his hometown killed 18 people, including nine children.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet (center) walks past honor guards during the inauguration ceremony for the the modernized Ream Naval Base in Cambodia's Preah Sihanouk province on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 6, 2025

Cambodia hails opening of naval base renovated by China

The U.S. has said the base could give Beijing a key strategic position in the Gulf of Thailand near the disputed South China Sea.
Leaders of ruling and opposition political parties meet Friday at the Diet building in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 6, 2025

Calls for consumption tax cut increasing in Japan

With food and other prices still rising, even ruling party officials have started to demand consumption tax cuts as a key policy for this summer's elections.
American autoworkers assemble Honda Accords at the Japanese company's Marysville Auto Plant in the state of Ohio in December 2017.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 1, 2025

Ford is as American as apple pie. Or is that Honda?

Trump's 25% auto tariffs will raise car prices, complicate manufacturing and prioritize outdated protectionism over industry trends like electrification and software.
A rescue worker walks past construction equipment being used to clear rubble at the site of a collapsed building in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 6, 2025

Rains add to challenge for Myanmar quake relief as toll tops 3,470

The death toll from the powerful quake that hit on March 28 rose to 3,471, state media reported, with 4,671 people injured and another 214 still missing.
Vehicles used for ride-hailing services in the city of Kiryu, in Gunma Prefecture
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2025

Ride-hailing services spreading in Japan

About 3,300 people have registered as ride-hailing drivers in central Tokyo and other areas.
South Korean National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik looks on during a news conference at the National Assembly in Seoul last December.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 6, 2025

South Korea assembly speaker proposes revising constitution to curb presidency

He proposed a national referendum on constitutional reform to coincide with the presidential election that must be held in less than two months.
As the 80th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War approaches, the U.S.-Japan alliance faces a new turning point, with both Japan Society and the International House of Japan ready to play crucial roles in strengthening cultural and diplomatic ties amid global geopolitical shifts.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 6, 2025

How the U.S. and Japan can keep partnering for the future

Today, we are at another turning point. The world confronts another major season of geopolitical changes — not seen since the 1950s or the 1920s.
Gladstone, Australia, long reliant on fossil fuel exports, is now struggling to reinvent itself as the world shifts toward clean energy, with political uncertainty and economic challenges clouding its prospects.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2025

Cleaning up a giant coal and gas port isn’t easy

Gladstone is now one of the world’s biggest fossil fuel ports thanks to decades of voracious global demand for steelmaking coal and gas.
A medical helicopter pilot and other survivors are rescued after the aircraft crashed off the coast of Tsushima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2025

Three dead after medical helicopter crashes in waters off Nagasaki

An 86-year-old female patient, her 68-year-old son and a 34-year-old doctor died in the crash.
An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Longform
Apr 7, 2025

Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it

Outdated government policy, changing diets and even an earthquake scare have had an impact on the national food staple.
Ozgur Ozel, leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), has been thrust into the limelight in the few weeks since the jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ozgur Ozel, a member of his party seen as the only politician capable of challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the ballot box.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 7, 2025

Ozgur Ozel: From low-key opposition to face of Turkey protests

Until now the relatively low-profile head of the country's main opposition party, Ozel has been thrust into the limelight, both at home and abroad.
Afghan refugees walk through a refugee camp in Islamabad on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 7, 2025

'No one to return to': Afghans fear Pakistan deportation

Islamabad announced at the start of March that 800,000 Afghan Citizen Cards would be canceled.
People walk past the communist-era Palace of Culture and Science in the center of Warsaw on April 2.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 7, 2025

Sex toys and exploding cosmetics: anatomy of a 'hybrid war' on the West

European security chiefs described the parcel fires as part of a "hybrid war" being waged by Russia to destabilize countries that support Ukraine.

Longform

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