Search - 2020

 
 
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Nov 25, 2020

Takakeisho's rise, Terunofuji's rebound? Thrills await fans in 2021

Professional sumo closed out the thrill ride that was 2020 with one final flourish.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 25, 2020

Evidence builds that an early mutation made the pandemic harder to stop

There is no evidence that a coronavirus with the mutation causes more severe symptoms, kills more people or complicates the development of vaccines.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 25, 2020

Pope calls Uighurs ‘persecuted,’ prompting pushback from China

The reference to abuses against Uighurs, which Beijing has long denied despite mounting evidence, could tarnish the recent warming of relations between the Vatican and China.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 25, 2020

Space oddity? Monolith in Utah desert mystifies helicopter crew

They were on a mission to count sheep when they found something they had not counted on.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2020

A tale of two Chinese cities: Shenzhen and Shanghai

Shanghai and Shenzhen are both vital to China's economic future. But neither is more important than the other and each has a unique role to play.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2020

Why Democrats lost and will keep losing elections

When you expected to pick up tons of seats in the House and take back the Senate, and none of that happens and you just barely win the presidency, you basically got your a-- kicked.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 24, 2020

After Trump, Biden faces pressure to stand up to China by embracing Taiwan

As concerns grow about China's increasingly aggressive behavior on the global stage, Biden will face pressure from Democrats and Republicans to strengthen ties with Taiwan.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 24, 2020

Which of these faces is real?

Computers are getting ever better at generating realistic, entirely imaginary people. But the flaws are all ours.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 24, 2020

It was just him and his smiley face. He’s charged with illegal assembly.

A civil rights activist in Singapore faces the charges for holding up a cardboard sign with a smiley face on it near a police station in March.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Nov 23, 2020

Fujitsu Frontiers secure eighth straight trip to Japan X Bowl

The Frontiers sealed a 34-3 victory Sunday over the Elecom Kobe Finies in their regular-season finale.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2020

Biden picks Blinken, defender of global alliances, as top envoy

Antony J. Blinken, a defender of global alliances and one of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s closest foreign policy advisers, is expected to be nominated for secretary of state, a job in which he will try to coalesce skeptical international partners into a new competition with China, according to...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 23, 2020

The secret origins of China’s 40-year plan to end carbon emissions

With a September speech to the United Nations, Chinese President Xi Jinping put a 2060 end date on his country's contribution to global warming, taking almost the whole world by surprise.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2020

Trump’s Afghan troop withdrawal puts Biden in a jam

Avoiding calamity is not the same as wise statecraft. Trump's final military act is reckless, particularly in Afghanistan.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 22, 2020

Kimchi-making at home was going out of style. Rural towns to the rescue.

Families that have grown weary of eating commercial kimchi in big cities have started making pilgrimages to the countryside where they can learn how to prepare it on their own.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Nov 22, 2020

'Better off thanks to China': German firms double down on resurgent giant

Moves by some firms are complicating efforts by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government to diversify trade relations and become less dependent on Asia's rising superpower.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Nov 22, 2020

Seagulls reach Japan X Bowl after dramatic goal-line stand

The Obic Seagulls extended their 2020 season and punched their ticket to the Japan X Bowl after an extraordinary ending in their season-finale victory over the Panasonic Impulse on Saturday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Nov 22, 2020

COVID-19 toll turns spotlight on Europe's taboo of data by race

Many European countries avoid breaking down data along racial lines out of concern over discrimination, but COVID-19's outsized impact on Black and Asian people has exposed flaws.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 22, 2020

A partnership in coronavirus misinformation

Two separate but increasingly allied groups are peddling misinformation: a small but active corner of the Chinese diaspora and the highly influential far right in the United States.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 22, 2020

Tomoyuki Sugano's future bright despite loss in Japan Series opener

The Giants ace is expected to be one of the hottest targets of the MLB offseason if rumors of a posting come to fruition.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 22, 2020

Trump campaign loses Pennsylvania suit to halt certification

A federal judge in Pennsylvania threw out a lawsuit by President Donald Trump’s campaign that aimed to block certification of the state’s election results unless it tossed out tens of thousands of mail-in ballots, rejecting the "startling” request due to a lack of evidence.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 21, 2020

Japanese media weigh in on the U.S. election

'Biden may have been elected, but it won't be easy to repair the rifts that have widened over the past four years.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 21, 2020

Take hot chocolate to the next level

Warm up your winter with these boozy hot chocolate recipes, perfect for both outdoor dining or a cozy night in.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 21, 2020

Two companies say their vaccines are 95% effective. What does that mean?

You might assume that 95 out of every 100 people vaccinated will be protected from COVID-19. But that's not how the math works.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 21, 2020

Climate change is making winter ice more dangerous

New research on the connection between climate change and winter drownings has found that reported drowning deaths are increasing exponentially in areas with warmer winters.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 21, 2020

She helped South Korea in its time of need. In the pandemic, it repaid her.

Sandra Nathan spent 1966 to 1968 in a South Korean town as a young Peace Corps volunteer, teaching English to high school girls. Fifty-two years later, Nathan, now back in the United States, received a care package from South Korea that nearly brought her to tears.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 21, 2020

The coronavirus is airborne indoors, but we’re still scrubbing surfaces

Scientists who initially warned about contaminated surfaces now say here is little to no evidence that deep cleaning mitigates the threat indoors.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 20, 2020

U.S. firms turn upbeat on China after Biden win, survey shows

The survey, conducted Nov. 11-15, showed 54.8% of the respondents have become more upbeat about their business prospects in China.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2020

Chinese tech companies need to disappear for a while

For China's technology companies, two months of a lame-duck Trump administration could turn out to be as damaging as the first 46.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building