Search - people

 
 
Cabbage prices have risen to 2.6 times their five-year average in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 20, 2025

Japan’s food inflation is becoming harder for BOJ to overlook

The level of fresh food prices has risen 71.9% since 2010, about five times more than that of inflation excluding it.
Mike Sunda at a concert in Haikou, China
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 20, 2025

Mike Sunda: ‘Creative production comes with a bigger responsibility than ever before’

Creative strategist Mike Sunda talks about his influences and the filming of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Mamushi” music video.
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2025

Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo

Lawyers including an attorney who fought alongside the journalist in a civil suit against her attacker have raised legal and ethical concerns over the film.
Once a boon to tea farmers' bottom lines, the global matcha craze is now pushing producers and distributors to their limits with few options to adequately meet demand.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 23, 2025

Japan struggles to fend off a world without enough matcha

Production methods and economic risks keep the domestic tea industry from ramping up supply.
Palestinians and militants gather around Red Cross vehicles as Hamas prepares to hand over the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
WORLD
Feb 21, 2025

Israeli military says body released by Hamas is not of a hostage

Palestinian militants handed over four black coffins in a carefully orchestrated public display.
A glimpse at the entrance of Golden Gai, where the vibrant streets invite you to explore its lively nightlife and rich culture.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 3, 2025

Stories from behind the bar at Shinjuku's Golden Gai

Once the home of Tokyo's black market, this 6,600 sq. meter district has nearly 300 tiny bars packed into it.
Education minister Toshiko Abe (right) receives a report on higher education from an advisory panel on Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025

Japanese panel seeks to tighten screening of new universities

The number of people going to university in the country is estimated to fall to some 460,000 in 2040 from about 630,000 last year.
Students from Hiroshima Global Academy chat over gyōza dumplings with "island guardian" Koshi Omori at his home in Osakikamijima, Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Mar 3, 2025

Model school for global education rooted on small Hiroshima island

The school hopes its well-equipped students will help inspire and bring new energy to the aging island community.
Miku Sawada of Gakken, who was in charge of editing the book "Bokura wa Senso wo Shiranai", on Feb. 7 in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025

War book for students gaining attention in Japan

The 136-page book explains what wars are and why they occur, using Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an example.
Former death row inmate Iwao Hakamata (left) and his sister, Hideko, attend a gathering of his supporters after his acquittal in a retrial over a 1966 murder case was finalized in October last year.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 22, 2025

Over 80% of Japanese say death penalty system is 'unavoidable'

The Cabinet Office survey, which is conducted every five years, found that 16.5% of respondents believe the death penalty should be abolished.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in parliament on Friday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 21, 2025

LDP and opposition lock horns over Japan budget

Mindful of how much the ruling coalition needs their support, Nippon Ishin no Kai and the Democratic Party for the People are digging their heels in.
In Tomoka Shibasaki's short story collection "A Hundred Years and a Day," time flows architecturally, through the life of structures such as a ramen shop or a cinema.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 22, 2025

'A Hundred Years and a Day': Short stories unfold through the lives of structures and spaces

In Tomoka Shibasaki’s curious collection, time flows architecturally, plots meander by design and humans are unnamed, ephemeral and often disappear.
Steve Bannon gestures during a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, on Thursday.
WORLD
Feb 22, 2025

Echoing Musk, Bannon salute draws sharp criticism, including from French right

It came a month after Elon Musk made a similar salute and at a time when the Trump administration seems to be leaning into far-right alliances worldwide.
NEC's safety confirmation system for local governments to use in the event of a disaster
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2025

Japan eyeing IT to help those in need of assistance during disasters

By digitalizing operations previously done on paper, the country hopes to streamline efforts to help vulnerable people during disasters.
U.S. Marines during training in Okinawa last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2025

U.S. Marines start to leave Japan, decades behind schedule

The U.S. base on Okinawa has relocated 105 Marines. But an agreement to move 9,000 in total is colliding with the perceived threat from a rising China.
A poster depicting a hostage Omer Wenkert, at the site of the Nova festival where party goers were killed and kidnapped during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas gunmen from Gaza, in Reim, southern Israel, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Feb 22, 2025

Israel prepares to receive six more Gaza hostages as Bibas body identified

The fragile truce between Israel and Hamas militants had been threatened with derailment by the misidentification of a body released on Thursday.
Emperor Naruhito speaks to reporters on Thursday. He turned 65 on Sunday.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2025

Emperor turns 65, renewing wish for peace 80 years after end of WWII

At a news conference held at the Imperial Palace ahead of his 65th birthday, the emperor said he is grateful that Japan has been without war for 80 years.
Coffee beans are harvested in Corquin, Honduras, on Feb. 6. Climate change has diminished the supply of coffee around the globe via rising temperatures, droughts and excessive rains.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 23, 2025

Coffee prices are at a 50-year high. Producers aren’t celebrating.

Around the world, coffee traders, farmers and roasters fear how climate change and economic factors will affect their livelihoods.
Demonstrators rally in support of USAID in Boston on Feb 17. Women and children are the main beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance, so they are the biggest victims of what is unfolding with the agency’s closure.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2025

Mr. President, foreign aid does put America first

Women and children are the main beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance, so they are the biggest victims of what is unfolding with USAID's closure .
German conservative candidate for chancellor and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Friedrich Merz reacts after the exit poll results are announced in Berlin on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2025

German election victor Merz plans pivot from U.S. as coalition talks loom

Friedrich Merz and his opposition conservatives have vowed to help give Europe "real independence" from the U.S. as he looks to cobble together a government.
Nuns pray at the statue of John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital, where Pope Francis is hospitalized for pneumonia in Rome, on Sunday
WORLD
Feb 24, 2025

Pope Francis remains critical and has 'slight' kidney issue, Vatican says

The pope is particularly prone to lung infections because he developed pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed.
The uncertain reaction to Xi Jinping’s display of warmth toward business made sense: China’s executives are eager for a reset after years in the cold but ever wary of meddling.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 24, 2025

Is Xi’s sudden embrace of business for real? China is left guessing

China's private sector has good reasons to worry that Beijing could meddle more in businesses in the name of supporting them.
People ride in cable cars over the Chandragiri hilltop on the outskirts of Kathmandu on Feb. 3.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 24, 2025

Nepal community fights to save sacred forests from cable cars

Five cable car projects have opened in the past two years — and 10 more are under development, according to government figures.
Mourners walk during the funeral procession with the vehicle carrying the coffins of Hezbollah's slain leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine toward their burial place on the outskirts of Beirut on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2025

Hezbollah chief vows 'resistance' as masses mourn Nasrallah

Naim Qassem, the successor of the slain Hezbollah chief, promised to keep following his "path," and rejected any control by the "tyrant America" over Lebanon.
Goods are transported through a business district in Dongguan, in China’s southern Guangdong province.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Feb 24, 2025

Trump tariffs shake up China's factory heartland

The U.S. president has targeted friend and foe alike since taking office a month ago, notably slapping additional 10% duties on products imported from China.
Toyota unveils a part of Woven City in Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 24, 2025

Toyota unveils Woven City to test future mobility

The demonstration city includes roads dedicated to automated mobility on the ground and "logistics streets."
Terumi Tanaka, co-chair of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize-winning Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, urged the country to take the lead in preventing nuclear weapons from being used for a third time.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2025

Hidankyo leader regrets Japan's dodging of upcoming nuclear ban meet

The meeting of signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is set to be held in New York in March.
From left: "Conclave" cast members Sergio Castellitto, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini and Ralph Fiennes pose with the awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards, in Los Angeles.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 24, 2025

Vatican thriller 'Conclave' wins top prize in SAG Awards upset

"Conclave" surprises with a SAG Award win for best cast, suggesting it may have a real shot at upsetting the Oscars' Best Picture race.
Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks at a party convention in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2025

CDP to accelerate election preparations after party convention

The CDP adopted a program of activities for fiscal 2025 that positions a change of government as its top goal.
U.S. President Donald Trump's approach to ending Russia’s war in Ukraine appears to prioritize re-establishing U.S.-Russia relations over securing a fair settlement for Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2025

Ukraine is just a pawn in a Russian reset

Donald Trump's approach makes U.S. actions more logical, but no less shameful.

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