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Solar panels at an industrial complex in Rajasthan, India, are an example of India-Japan renewable energy cooperation. The two countries can strengthen their ties by co-developing green and advanced technologies, solar energy among them.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 4, 2025

The ground is fertile for Japan-India green economy partnerships

Japan and India can build on their long-standing relationship to spearhead the development of green and advanced technologies such as renewable energy and chips.
Lawson plans to sell 1-kilogram and 2-kg bags of rice it bought from the government's stockpile at ¥360 ($2.50) and ¥700 respectively.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2025

Aging rice? Lawson prefers to call it 'vintage.'

As convenience stores prepare to sell government stockpiled rice from older harvests to consumers, Lawson says it will offer rice balls made of "vintage rice."
Afghan refugees queue outside a distribution and donation center in New Jersey in December 2021. U.S. President Donald Trump's second-term travel ban covers 12 countries, including Afghanistan.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 5, 2025

Trump signs travel ban for 12 countries including Afghanistan

The move is the latest step in what has been a sweeping immigration agenda aimed at cracking down on undocumented migration.
Kosei Tanaka speaks during a news conference to announce his retirement in Nagoya on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jun 5, 2025

Four-division world champion Kosei Tanaka retires at 29 due to eye injuries

Tanaka is the fastest boxer to earn belts at four different weights.
Hideo Nakata, deputy mayor of Nagoya, waves the Olympic Council of Asia flag as Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura watches during the closing ceremony of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, on Oct. 8, 2023.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 5, 2025

Organizers to house athletes on 'floating village' during 2026 Asian Games

Organizers will lease a luxury cruise liner that will be docked at Nagoya's port.
The election of Lee Jae-myung signals South Korea’s leftward shift on energy policy, but despite his ambitious renewable plans, deep-rooted regulatory, financial and geographic challenges threaten to stall progress unless reforms are swift and systemic.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2025

South Korea's new president has a chance to clean up

Years of inertia and obstruction of the transition have left the country with a system plagued by high costs and the lowest renewable penetration among developed economies.
The measures to sanction judges follow a January vote at the U.S. House of Representatives to punish the International Criminal Court in protest over its arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 6, 2025

Trump administration imposes sanctions on four ICC judges in unprecedented move

The ICC slammed the move, saying it was an attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution.
Takuya Haraguchi, head of ReFruits, speaks while looking at the kiwifruit vine at his farm in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, on April 24. A newcomer to farming, he hopes to revive the area by growing kiwifruits in this former no-go zone.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2025

'Moving forward': the Gen Z farmer growing Fukushima kiwifruits

Fukushima is renowned for its delicious fruit, from pears to peaches, but the nuclear disaster led many people in Japan to shun produce grown there.
Former Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers throws a pass during the first quarter against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey on Jan. 5.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jun 6, 2025

Four-time NFL MVP Rodgers agrees to deal with Steelers

The Steelers lacked a veteran signal caller after Russell Wilson was signed by the New York Giants, but in Rodgers have landed a future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to the media as he inspects a warehouse storing stockpiled rice in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 30.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 6, 2025

From ridicule to redemption: Rice crisis returns Koizumi to the spotlight

The lawmaker, sometimes said to be long on image and short on substance, has won praise for bringing down the price of rice.
Novak Djokovic waves to the crowd after his semifinal defeat at the French Open in Paris on Friday.
TENNIS
Jun 7, 2025

'Honoured' Djokovic hints at possible Roland Garros farewell after semifinal loss

Following his loss to Sinner, Djokovic stopped briefly on his way off Court Philippe Chatrier and took a moment to "show his gratitude" to the Paris crowd.
Women aspiring to enter politics attend a class at a school for future female politicians in Gifu Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2025

Over half of local assemblywomen suffer harassment, survey shows

Specifically, "verbal abuse" was cited by both male and female members as the leading form of harassment.
An industrial park in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, China. Nomura Holdings plans to shut its branch in the province by the end of the year, according to sources.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2025

Nomura to shut branch in China as it scales back wealth business

The company’s brokerage subsidiary plans to shut its branch in Zhejiang province by the end of the year.
Former yokozuna Hakuho gives a news conference to announce his retirement from the Japan Sumo Association and reveal his future plans in Tokyo on Monday.
SUMO
Jun 9, 2025

Hakuho vows to grow sumo globally after exiting domestic sports body

The impetus for the decision, Hakuho said, was the failure of the Japan Sumo Association to provide a clear timeline about the restoration of Miyagino stable.
The Japan Securities Dealers Association sent questionnaires to major Japanese and foreign brokerages asking about bond selling irregularities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2025

JSDA said to probe brokerages on unsuitable Japanese bond sales

The probe marks a step toward ridding Japan’s primary bond market of opaque sales practices as rising interest rates boost investor appetite for debt with higher yields.
Members of law enforcement operate amid a standoff between police and protesters following multiple detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in the Los Angeles County city of Compton, California, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2025

Los Angeles ICE raids fuel controversy over masked agents

The moves have ignited a politically charged debate over whether the agents are protecting their identities or engaging in intimidation tactics.
Emma Raducanu in action during her women's doubles round of 16 match with Katie Boulter against Jiang Xinyu and Wu Fang-hsien at Queen's Club in London on Monday
TENNIS
Jun 10, 2025

Raducanu stars as women's tennis makes historic return to Queen's

Queen's has been solely an ATP event since 1973, but a groundbreaking deal was struck last year to play a WTA 500 tournament in Barons Court.
A plastic bottle lies on the sand at Maccarese beach in Italy in 2018.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jun 10, 2025

Development banks to invest €3 billion in ocean plastics fight

Plastic waste entering the water could triple to up to 37 million metric tons per year by 2040, from around 11 million tons in 2021, the U.N. estimates.
Of the 1,830 children who got into a traffic accident between 2020 and 2024, 613, or 33.5%, ran out into the street, according to a government report.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2025

Dart-out cases common among schoolchildren's traffic accidents in Japan

Of the 1,830 children who got into such accidents while walking between 2020 and 2024, 613, or 33.5%, ran out into the street.
Japan faces soaring rice prices, a powerful farming cooperative resistant to change, declining farmer numbers, falling rice consumption and conflicting government policies that hinder effective reform of the sector.
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2025

How ‘vintage’ rice is shaking up Japanese politics

Rice is where consumers have drawn the line. The staple rose by 98% in the past year, adding almost half a percentage point to headline inflation.
Members of law enforcement detain people as protests against federal immigration sweeps continue, in downtown Los Angeles, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2025

Unrestrained Trump turns to military in second-term power play

Trump’s moves to deploy troops to Los Angeles and hold a parade on the Army’s 250th birthday fulfills his goal of using the military for a show of power.
Nomura Holdings shuffles its leadership in its currencies and emerging markets trading business following the departure of the unit’s co-head Nagaraj Pangal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 11, 2025

Nomura shuffles leadership in trading units after second exit in nine months

The business has been suffering from a series of high-profile exits, and on one team as of January at least eight traders had left or gone on leave in the prior 12 months.
A replica of a suicide note left behind by a surgeon involved in the 1945 vivisection of U.S. prisoners of war is seen on display at Kyushu University in the city of Fukuoka on May 17.
JAPAN / History
Jun 11, 2025

Documents of 1945 vivisection of U.S. POWs on exhibit at Fukuoka museum

The documents relate to the experimental surgeries performed on eight captured U.S. soldiers at Kyushu Imperial University in the late stages of World War II.
Thai fisherman Chaweng Yothaud (right) collects water samples to test for alleged arsenic poisoning along the Kok River in the Golden Triangle region in northern Thailand's Chiang Rai province.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 11, 2025

Toxic Thailand rivers pinned on Myanmar mines

Around a dozen extraction operations have sprung up in Myanmar's Shan state since around 2022, in territory controlled by the United Wa State Army.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a double during the first inning against the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego on Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 11, 2025

Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani moves closer to pitching return

Asked whether Ohtani could pitch for the team before the All-Star break, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the chances are "north of zero."
June is Pride Month, which means it’s the perfect time to get acquainted with how sexual minorities have been represented in Japanese fiction if you’re not familiar with these narratives already.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 11, 2025

Pride and prose: Novels that illuminate queer lives in Japan

From Yukio Mishima and Haruki Murakami to Li Kotomi and Akira Otani, dive into Japanese fiction’s LGBTQ+ narratives in honor of Pride Month.
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor undergoes testing at an undisclosed location. The Trump administration’s ambitious “Golden Dome” missile defense plan revives Reagan-era dreams of a high-tech shield but faces immense technical, financial and geopolitical hurdles. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2025

Golden Dome is a glittering gamble — and a likely mistake

Trump’s EO outlined an MD system that would use a network of hundreds of satellites to detect, track and intercept incoming missiles “to protect our homeland.”
Ohkawara Kakohki President Masaaki Okawara (center, left) and the eldest son (center, right) of Shizuo Aishima, a late former adviser to Ohkawara Kakohki, head to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on Monday in the capital's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2025

Central and Tokyo governments won't appeal ruling in Ohkawara case

The ruling, which also ordered the governments to pay a total of ¥166 million in damages, is set to become final Thursday.
Former Lower House lawmaker Shiori Yamao at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 11, 2025

DPP withdraws election candidacy of scandal-hit Shiori Yamao

The move came in the wake of backlash aimed at the party for fielding Yamao, who has been mired in a series of scandals.
A Chinese J-15 fighter jet flies just to the side of a Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C surveillance plane over the high seas in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2025

Chinese fighter jets in close encounters with MSDF patrol planes over Pacific

Chinese fighters made “abnormal approaches” to MSDF patrol aircraft over the Pacific Ocean in recent days that risked collisions, the Defense Ministry said.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past