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The focus of the election in Tokyo next month will be whether the Liberal Democratic Party can remain the biggest force in the 127-seat assembly.
JAPAN
May 21, 2025

More than 270 candidates to run in Tokyo assembly election

The focus of the election will be whether the Liberal Democratic Party can remain the biggest force in the 127-seat assembly.
Jony Ive, left, is collaborating with OpenAI’s Sam Altman as part of a nearly $6.5 billion deal.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2025

OpenAI to buy AI startup from Apple veteran Jony Ive in $6.5 billion deal

The purchase — the largest in OpenAI’s history — will provide the company with a dedicated unit for developing AI-powered devices.
Thai film "A Useful Ghost" won top prize in the Critics' Week sidebar section of the Cannes film festival.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 22, 2025

LGBTQ Thai ghost story wins prize in Cannes

Film director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke says he hoped his LGBTQ story could touch more on politics.
Erich Schreiber, born in Colonia Dignidad, poses for a picture on his bike near Parral, Maule Province, Chile on April 15.
WORLD / Society
May 22, 2025

Chile weighs future of charming German village with dark past

The Chilean state wants to turn the former home of a brutal cult into a memorial for the victims of the country's 1973-1990 dictatorship.
A man draped in the Israeli flag gestures as Metropolitan Police officers secure the area outside the Capital Jewish Museum following a shooting that left two people dead in Washington early Thursday morning.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2025

Two Israeli embassy staffers shot and killed outside Jewish museum in Washington

The gunman shouted "free Palestine," authorities said, with U.S. and Israeli leaders expressing shock and outrage over the killings.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Cabinet saw its approval rate rewriting the lowest level in May since he took office last October last year.
JAPAN / Politics
May 22, 2025

Ishiba Cabinet approval falls to 20.9% in new poll

The Cabinet's disapproval rating rose 1.7 points to 52.9%.
A city government official airs out the register of people who died as a result of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Thursday for its upkeep in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
JAPAN / History
May 22, 2025

Hiroshima opens up stone chamber containing register of A-bomb victims

The register, which contains the names of 344,306 people who died on or before Aug. 5 last year, was given an airing to remove moisture and inspected for damage.
A demonstration is held in Malawi as part of government efforts to pilot test the use of drones for humanitarian purposes, with assistance from UNICEF. As this and other technologies become more accessible, we must ensure their use advances sustainable development.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2025

How efficiency can transform sustainable development

In our haste to improve efficiency, we can't ignore the interests of humanity. Democratizing access to AI and other technologies is a fundamental step in this direction.
U.S. President Donald Trump shows a copy of an article he said is about white South Africans who had been killed, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 23, 2025

Trump's image of dead 'white farmers' did not come from footage of South Africa

The image U.S. President Donald Trump used was pulled from footage shot following deadly battles with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Paraguayan President Santiago Pena speaks during an interview with The Japan Times in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2025

As Taiwan looks to boost ‘unofficial ties,’ Paraguay’s leader offers facilitator role

Paraguayan President Santiago Pena stressed his government is “more than willing to support and be a strong ally” to Taiwan.
After last year’s controversy over using AI to write about 5% of her novel, Rie Qudan was asked by an advertising magazine to write a short story where she uses AI for 95% of it. The resulting short story, “Kage no ame” (“Rain Shadow”), was published March 25.  
CULTURE / Books
May 24, 2025

AI fiction is already here. Are humans ready?

Last year, Rie Qudan faced controversy after admitting that chatGPT wrote 5% of her novel. Now she’s published a story she only wrote 5% herself, leaving 95% to AI.
An employee of Kyowa Industrial walks next to the company's factory in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 24, 2025

Tariff crossfire hits Toyota, Nissan and Ford suppliers in Japan

Thousands of small and midsize makers of auto parts in Japan, including suppliers for Toyota and Nissan, are facing a crisis as U.S. tariffs threaten their bottom lines.
After establishing Lagoon Brewery in 2021, Yosuke Tanaka began making export-only "nihonshu" (Japanese sake) and later, "craft sake," a new genre of sake that isn't bound by the rules of traditional sakemaking.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 25, 2025

Brewed from rice, water and tomatoes: The growth of ‘craft sake’

Hampered yet inspired by the strict regulations for new brewers, a growing breed of sake producers are making the beverage on their own creative terms.
Democratic Party for the People head Yuichiro Tamaki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on April 22.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 23, 2025

Three Upper House candidates are creating headaches for DPP

The DPP hopes to win more seats this summer, but keeping every candidate on-message could be a challenge for leader Yuichiro Tamaki.
South Korean presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung (left), of the Democratic Party,  and Kim Moon-soo, of the People Power Party, shake hands as they prepare for the second televised debate for the upcoming presidential election in Seoul on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 24, 2025

South Korean presidential race tightens sharply after TV debate

The Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung's support rate fell to 45%, while backing for the People Power Party’s Kim Moon-soo rose to 36%, according to a poll released Friday.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks as President Donald Trump meets with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 14. Rubio is also serving as the national security adviser.
WORLD / Politics
May 24, 2025

White House National Security Council slashes staff in dramatic restructuring

The NSC restructuring is expected to transform it into a small organization focused more on implementing the president's agenda than on shaping it.
A supporter of ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol holds a placard during a gathering near the Seoul Central District Court in the capital, where Yoon had appeared earlier in the day for another hearing in his criminal trial, as he defends himself against insurrection charges over his declaration of martial law.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 24, 2025

Meet the 'Yoonies': ex-president's shadow looms over South Korean poll

Experts say the ousted leader's influence continues to loom over the election, as he drew extreme religious figures and right-wing YouTubers into mainstream politics.
Visitors walk along Nakamise-dori as they visit Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district in March.
JAPAN
May 24, 2025

Travelers avoid trips to Japan over viral comic book’s quake prediction

Ryo Tatsuki, whom some claim predicted Japan’s 2011 earthquake, gives July 2025 as the date of the impending event in a 1999 graphic novel.
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa (right) meets with Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and a special envoy to Syria, in Istanbul on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2025

Syria reboots interior ministry as Damascus seeks to reassure West

Keen to reboot and rebuild nearly 14 years after a devastating civil war began, the new authorities have hailed Washington's lifting of U.S. sanctions.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver the commencement address at the graduation ceremony at the U.S. Military Academy West Point in West Point, New York, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2025

Trump 'on brand' with anti-woke rant at army officer graduation

The U.S. president's speech at the West Point Military Academy veered between attacks on transgender people and DEI policies to slamming his predecessors.
This satellite image taken Friday shows a new North Korean warship lying in the harbor after its failed launch in the port city of Chongjin.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 25, 2025

Three detained and blamed for North Korean warship accident

The ultimate fate of the three remains unclear, but leader Kim Jong Un has a history of making examples out of those who embarrass him.
A worker sorts plastic waste for recycling at Minato Resource Recycle Center in Tokyo in 2019. Japan has been criticized by environmental groups for its strategy on plastics, which is heavily reliant on recycling instead of reduction.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 25, 2025

Are microplastics hurting our fertility?

While a lot remains unknown about how microplastics affect our health, scientists in Japan and around the world broadly agree there's an urgent need to reduce plastic production.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to punish Harvard by targeting its international students is an unconstitutional power grab aimed at intimidating free institutions and advancing his authoritarian agenda.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2025

Harvard is fighting for much more than foreign students

Trump is trying to break the world’s leading university because he knows that higher education — everywhere — is one of the bulwarks of a free society.
The U.S. military’s longstanding dominance is eroding as China exploits its vulnerabilities with cheaper, faster and smarter warfare, demanding urgent American reinvention in energy, logistics and artificial intelligence.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2025

America’s hard power must get harder — quickly

Aircraft carriers and fighter jets look a lot less stealthy in a world of limitless drones and autonomous submarines.
People watch as smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD
May 26, 2025

Israeli military aims to take over 75% of Gaza within two months

The Israeli military already controls about 40% of Gaza.
Rafal Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw and candidate for president of Poland, speaks from the stage to his supporters as he begins the Great Patriots' March at Bankowy Square in Warsaw on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
May 26, 2025

Polish presidential hopefuls rally supporters ahead of election

The election will decide whether one of the European Union’s fastest-growing economies can resist the surge of populism sweeping the bloc.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrive for a "Coalition of the Willing" news conference at St. Mary's Palace in Kyiv on May 10.
WORLD / Politics
May 26, 2025

How can Europe maintain a supply of weapons for Ukraine? Buy American

Such a move would force the U.S. president to pick between his desire to avoid antagonizing his Russian counterpart against his wish to bring in more cash.
Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / Longform
May 26, 2025

Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?

Trees have long occupied a sacred place in Japanese culture. In the fast pace of the 21st century, however, they're increasingly losing out to progress.
Shu Yamamoto runs a ramen shop in the city of Hiroshima by renting a barbecue restaurant during its off hours.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
May 26, 2025

Off-hours property rentals take off in Hiroshima

The renter can cut down on startup costs for their business while the owner can earn extra income, though it means sharing responsibilities.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaks with the press as he waits to greet leaders before an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 26, 2025

ASEAN nations decry Trump tariffs at summit and seek to diversify trade

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim opened talks by saying that he had written to President Donald Trump seeking a U.S.-ASEAN meeting on the topic.

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