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Riken Yamamoto is the ninth Japanese architect to receive the Pritzker Prize in the award’s 45-year history.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 5, 2024

Riken Yamamoto awarded Pritzker Prize for architecture

Riken Yamamoto is the ninth Japanese architect to receive the honor, making the nation again the country with the most Pritzker laureates.
Floating solar panels at the Canoe Brook water treatment plant in Short Hills, New Jersey
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Mar 6, 2024

Pressed for space, solar farms are getting creative

There are solar arrays on top of big-box stores, solar arrays on yachts and solar farms that float.
The Rubymar cargo ship sinking off the coast of Yemen on Feb. 27. The vessel had 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer on board.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 6, 2024

Yemen faces 'environmental disaster' as sunken ship threatens Red Sea

Leaking fuel and fertilizer from vessel struck by Houthis could harm marine life and impact coastal communities that rely on fishing.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Mar 6, 2024

As Xi summons 'new productive forces,' old questions linger for economy

By focusing on the prospect for future growth, the slogan shifts the focus from China's present economic difficulties.
An unmanned robot navigates across a street during a demonstration of Uber Eats' robot delivery service in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 6, 2024

Uber Eats Japan begins deliveries with self-driving robots

The company has rolled out the service in Tokyo's Nihonbashi area and plans to introduce it in other places as well.
Since September 2022, Patagonia has allocated profits amounting to $71 million to environmental initiatives that include stopping a proposed mine in Alaska and conserving land in South America, as well as helping to elect pro-environment U.S. Democrats.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2024

The competitive edge of doing good in business

Are companies that give all profits to charity also doing good for their business? Some examples show they are, and that this model is worth pursuing.
Japan’s stock market is breaking records right when the government has launched an expanded tax-free investing account. But due to government regulations, stocks still remain out of reach for many starting investors. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 6, 2024

Everyone’s buying Japan shares. I only want to buy one.

An expanded tax-free investment account program that launched to much fanfare at the start of the year has come at a perfect time.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands in Hiroshima on May 21. The two leaders have met seven times in a year.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 6, 2024

Challenges remain after Japan-South Korea wartime labor resolution

There is discontent in South Korea that Japanese firms have not made apologies or compensation payments.
A man (Pierre Taki) who gives sea burials to cremated remains finds himself in hot water after a customer asks him to scatter the ashes of a murderer in “Horizon.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2024

‘Horizon’: Ethical dilemma makes for muted drama

Katsuya Kobayashi gives his cast space to wade through murky moral decisions in his directorial debut, “Horizon.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a major operational training base at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 7, 2024

Kim Jong Un observes training to storm border posts in war drills

The training comes as the U.S. and South Korea kicked off their Freedom Shield joint military exercise.
A woman peels sugar cane on a railway track to sell it to sugar cane juice vendors in a slum area in Kolkata.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 7, 2024

Climate migrants in India have hysterectomies to keep working: report

The move helps women ensure that periods or pregnancy don't stop them from working.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 7, 2024

Possible Trump return causing concern for Japanese firms

Trump has already said that he would impose a 10% tariff on all imported products.
The rat with shortened primary cilia (left) had gained weight compared to a normal rat. According to recent research from Nagoya University, rats with artificially shortened primary cilia displayed lower metabolism and increased food intake, resulting in weight gain.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 7, 2024

Nagoya University finds mechanism behind middle-age weight gain

Researchers found that a region of the brain that controls metabolism and food intake becomes shorter with age in rats.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks before a meeting at the White House on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 7, 2024

Biden and Trump woo Haley voters — the 2024 election's new prize

Political strategists believe a significant number of Haley voters were Democrats who crossed over to vote to try to deliver a blow to Trump.
Korean Canadian director, playwright and screenwriter Celine Song walks on the stage to pose for photos after a screening of her film, "Past Lives" in Seoul last week.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2024

Oscar-nominated Korean diaspora film follows 'lives we leave behind'

"Past Lives," which marks Celine Song's debut as a director, is one of several recent films that address the Korean diaspora.
AI Medical Service's artificial intelligence-based endoscopic diagnostic support system is designed to help detect stomach cancer at an early stage.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 7, 2024

Tokyo startup looks to AI to boost gastrointestinal cancer detection

AI Medical Service thinks it can use Japan’s strengths in endoscopy to boost diagnosis of a condition responsible for 1 in 3 cancer deaths globally.
Beyond factors such as the "motherhood penalty," Japanese women struggle to advance in their careers due to the structure of the workforce, including the two-tiered clerical versus managerial track.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 6, 2024

Why is it taking so long to break the glass ceiling?

Japan isn't unique in having a thick glass ceiling, but some factors don't apply to other countries, like the U.S., where many more managers are women.
Tsultrim, a former CIA-backed Tibetan guerilla, at Jampaling Elders' Home run by the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala, India, in February
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 7, 2024

Tibetans recall failed uprising, 65 years on, amid fear over future

Many exiled Tibetans fear Beijing will name a rival successor to the Dalai Lama, bolstering control over a land it poured troops into in 1950.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference in Sao Paulo in February.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2024

BOJ bets swing toward March rate hike

Bets on the March 18-19 meeting are gaining traction.
Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk says the Japanese public needs to know more about obesity rates before the weight-loss drug can take off in the country.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 9, 2024

Is Japan as thin as it thinks? Weight-loss drug maker says no.

In Japan, some 33% of men and 22% of women have a BMI of 25 — the crucial threshold — or more.
Chef Harutomo Hagi's self-named restaurant in Iwaki was selected as the 2023 Japan Times Destination Restaurant of the Year.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Mar 10, 2024

Hagi: French restaurant leads Fukushima revival

The Japan Times’ 2023 Restaurant of the Year is a sterling example of Fukushima’s slow and steady post-disaster revival.
Flint will call out when someone walks past and, in his cute but lonely voice, ask if you’ll spend some time with him.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Mar 11, 2024

Spare a few seconds for Flint

Nobody knows the history of this mysterious man, but we do know that Flint loves lazing around in the sun with his furry friend Emery.
Boeing has faced a series of quality control issues, most recently in a hair-raising incident in January when a door-sized panel blew off the fuselage of a Boeing 737 Max 9.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2024

Wheel falls off Boeing passenger jet heading to Japan from U.S.

United Airlines said there were 249 people on board the Osaka-bound jet.
New series "Shogun" focuses on power struggles during Japan's samurai era, with warlord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) finding himself in danger of being bested — and perhaps beheaded — by rival Lord Ishido and his allies.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Mar 9, 2024

New ‘Shogun’ series is a cut above the original

From the 1980 original to ‘Last Samurai’ to now, Hollywood is getting better at depicting Japan.
Hideo Takayama (front) and Nama Yoshimura head down a narrow alley where a small stream used to run.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Mar 9, 2024

Tracing Tokyo’s hidden rivers

Underneath the pavement are remnants of the way the city used to look. Discovering them is a challenge that increasing numbers of locals enjoy.
A war survivor details vivid recollections of World War II in footage never before made public. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has released parts of a collection of interviews with over 300 war survivors for public viewing this month.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 8, 2024

Witness accounts recall 1945 firebombing of Tokyo

The Tokyo government is screening a collection of interviews of survivors for the first time to serve as a reminder of the destruction of war.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 8, 2024

Group files lawsuit over Japan law that mandates couples share a surname

Similar lawsuits have been filed before, but public opinion appears to be shifting in favor of allowing couples to have separate surnames.
Sony's move to cut costs and Microsoft's decision to release titles on rival platforms reflect uncertainty in the gaming industry.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 8, 2024

Looks like we're nearing peak PlayStation

The gaming industry as a whole is struggling with ballooning development costs and longer production cycles, leading to fewer and risk-averse titles.
Research from the International Monetary Fund suggests that gains from fully closing the gender gap in labor markets could increase gross domestic product in developing economies by 23% on average.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 8, 2024

The economic power of gender equality

There is ample empirical research demonstrating that gender equality delivers better results for people, for the planet and for profits.
Former U.S. President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks during an election night watch party at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 9, 2024

Japanese government making preparations for 'Trump wins' scenario

The Foreign Ministry is fully mobilizing the Japanese Embassy in Washington and consulates across the United States to analyze his remarks.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear