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Hakubun Shimomura speaks as a witness at a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 28, 2025

LDP's Shimomura denies he ordered kickbacks to resume in 2022

In a hearing in February, a former chief accountant of a now-defunct faction said "a faction executive" asked for the kickback system to restart in July 2022.
Workers assemble a Nissan Juke at the production line at Nissan's factory in Sunderland, England, in November 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025

Nissan seeks to raise $7 billion with backing from U.K. government

The struggling automaker plans to issue debt and sell assets to raise funds for keeping its operations on track, according to internal documents.
Elon Musk holds a chainsaw featuring a Spanish slogan that translates as  "Long live freedom, damn it" during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Feb. 20.
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2025

Elon Musk leaving Trump administration, capping turbulent tenure

Musk's departure was quick and unceremonious, and he did not have a formal conversation with Trump before announcing his exit.
An employee of Nissan Motor works on a Leaf electric car on an assembly line at its Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2025

Factory that symbolized Nissan's rise may become victim of its decline

Nissan faces a mountain of debt repayment and is scrambling to upgrade its aging lineup of vehicles, but hasn't said which of its 17 plants will be closed.
More Chinese families are clustering in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward, a district renowned for having the finest educational environment in Japan.
JAPAN / Society
May 29, 2025

Chinese parents are fueling Tokyo’s education race

International schools in Tokyo are already witnessing an influx of children from the newly arrived, highly involved Chinese households.
As humidity rises in the rainy season, it’s a good idea to get some moisture absorbers and place them around the home.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 30, 2025

How to talk about change in Japanese — one forecast at a time

Use the changing seasons as a springboard to learn how Japanese expresses cause-and-effect shifts.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs at the White House in April.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 30, 2025

Trump's tariffs to remain in effect after appeals court grants stay

The move comes a day after a trade court had ruled Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing the duties and ordered an immediate block on them.
Shipping containers from China at the Port of Los Angeles, in San Pedro, California.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 30, 2025

Trump's tariff tally: $34 billion and counting, global companies say

Many companies said the erratic nature of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies has made it impossible to accurately estimate costs.
Located in Nagano Prefecture, Samurai Gakuen tries to help young and old individuals who have withdrawn from society rediscover their places out in the world.
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 31, 2025

How ‘hikikomori’ shut-ins ‘start to have dreams for the future’

As many as 1.5 million “hikikomori” shut-ins withdraw from social life in Japan, but one school in Nagano is finding success is coaxing them back into the world.
Tokyo’s consumer price index that serves as a leading indicator for national inflation trends posted in May the biggest year-on-year rise since January 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 30, 2025

Tokyo prices rising most in two years keeps BOJ on hike path

The food price gains are a worrisome sign for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ahead of a summer election expected to be held by July.
The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 30, 2025

Trump aims at Chinese students and tech in threat to truce with Xi

Just weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump declared a "total reset” with China following a trade truce in Geneva, tensions are rising again between the world’s biggest economies.
Nomura is in expansion mode in U.S. markets despite wider sentiments that are more worried about U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies overshadowing global growth prospects.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2025

Nomura sees great opportunities to grow in U.S. despite turmoil

The firm plans to advance targets for its investment management and wholesale banking businesses by pursuing long-term growth in the Americas.
Japan’s biggest life insurers collectively lowered bullish yen wagers tied to their foreign investment holdings, a move that suggests they see a lower likelihood of the yen showing the kind of strength it did in the past.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 30, 2025

Japanese life insurers cut bullish yen hedges to 14-year low

Nine of Japan’s biggest life insurers collectively lowered bullish yen wagers tied to their foreign investment holdings to 44.4% at the end of March from 45.2% six months earlier.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks during an Upper House agriculture committee meeting on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 30, 2025

Some LDP lawmakers wary of Koizumi's aggressive price policy

There are fears that the approach may cause farmers, a key support bloc, to distance themselves from the party.
Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump during a news conference at the White House on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 31, 2025

Musk vows to stay Trump's 'friend' in bizarre black-eyed farewell

As the world's richest person bowed out of his role, Trump hailed Musk's "incredible service" and handed him a golden key to the White House.
Otakukon, an anime, manga and cosplay meet in Harare, Zimbabwe, last August. Japan should take advantage of decades worth of hugely popular cultural content by taking the big swings in bringing its own stories to global audiences.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 1, 2025

Japan can ride the anime wave to become the new soft superpower

It's time for Japan to better leverage anime's global popularity, reaching international audiences via streaming platforms while opening the door to other cultural exports.
Voters take part in early voting for the upcoming presidential election at a polling station at the Incheon International Airport, South Korea, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 2, 2025

Wave of anger could sweep liberals to victory in South Korea election

The months of chaos that followed former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration in December remain fresh on the minds of voters.
Since last summer, the Bank of Japan has been reducing its buying of government bonds by ¥400 billion every quarter, but that process will come to a halt, according to former board member Makoto Sakurai.
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2025

BOJ likely to stop cutting bond purchases in next fiscal year, ex-official says

The government’s cost for debt servicing has risen to about a quarter of its budget for this fiscal year, thanks partly to higher interest rates.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 4, 2025

Komeito to propose sales tax cut on food, Yomiuri reports

A Komeito official confirmed the report, saying the tax cut idea will be among proposals in the campaign pledge due on Friday.
Palestinians move humanitarian aid collected from a distribution center in the Netzarim Corridor, central Gaza Strip, on May 29.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2025

Israel’s Gaza push spurs Europe leaders to turn on Netanyahu

The condemnation is symbolic of the shift in Europe and of Israel’s increasing isolation.
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."
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers a speech during the Meta Connect event at in Menlo Park, California, in September 2023. The partnership between Zuckerberg's Meta and defense firm Anduril to build battlefield XR gear underscores how working with the military, once taboo in Silicon Valley, is now actively embraced.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2025

Mark Zuckerberg finally found a use for his Metaverse — war

Anduril and Meta are partnering to design, build and field a range of integrated XR products that provide warfighters with enhanced perception on the battlefield.
The trouble between U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk started brewing days ago, when Musk denounced Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 6, 2025

Trump and Musk trade barbs on social media as alliance crumbles

Within hours of Trump criticizing Musk in the Oval Office, the once-close relationship had disintegrated in full public view.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi attend the first ministerial meeting on stable rice supply, held at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2025

Ishiba seeks probe on high prices at first rice meeting

A key issue in future discussions at the ministerial council will be how to optimize rice distribution.
Many curry shops are going bankrupt in Japan as prices of mainstay ingredients have gone up due to a rice shortage, adverse weather and a weak yen.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 6, 2025

Soaring rice prices take a bite out of Japan's beloved curry shops

A total of 13 shops with more than ¥10 million in debt filed for bankruptcy in the year ended March — a record high for a second consecutive year.
Elon Musk watches as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington in March.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 7, 2025

Trump says he has no plans to speak to Musk as feud persists

Trump said a review of Musk's extensive contracts with the federal government was in order. "We'll take look at everything," the president said.
A worker at a rare earth metals mine in Jiangxi province, China, in 2012
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 8, 2025

China says it may speed up rare earths application approvals from EU

Beijing's recent suspension of rare earths-related exports upended the supply chains central to numerous industries around the world.
Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Jan. 28
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 8, 2025

Meta in talks for Scale AI investment that could top $10 billion

The financing could exceed $10 billion in value, some of the people said, making it one of the largest private company funding events of all time.
Swedish climate advocate Greta Thunberg speaks together with part of the crew of the ship Madleen, before departure for the Gaza Strip, in Catania, Italy, on June 1.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 9, 2025

Israel blocks Greta Thunberg’s ship from reaching Gaza, group says

The vessel was intercepted about 200 kilometers from Gaza, according to coordinates provided by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
An honor guard performs a flag-raising ceremony at Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei in 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 10, 2025

Taiwan moves thwart foreign defense firms: American Chamber of Commerce

The American business group said Taiwan's policy change on defense cooperation may undermine its "attractiveness as a defense market.”

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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