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The atomic bomb dome in Hiroshima. Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui addressed Ireland's Parliament on Wednesday, seeking cooperation over the fight against nuclear weapons.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2024

Hiroshima mayor calls for cooperation in fight against nuclear weapons

Kazumi Matsui was invited by the Irish parliament to address the Seanad Eireann in Dublin
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits a training base at an undisclosed location in North Korea in a photo released on Oct. 4.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 24, 2024

U.S. says North Korean troops in Russia, possibly to fight in Ukraine war

But the U.S. defense chief and other officials said that it remained to be seen what exactly the North Korean troops would be doing in Russia.
Kamala Harris speaks during a CNN Town Hall in Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 24, 2024

Harris calls Trump a fascist in bid to sharpen 2024 contrast

The town hall comes amid a frenzied media and campaign blitz less than two weeks before Election Day.
Leaders of the three major business groups — Keidanren, Keizai Doyukai and the Japan Chamber of Commerce — meet Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Oct. 4 in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024

¥1,500 minimum wage or bust, Japanese companies told

Managers unable to keep up with the minimum-wage increase schedule “are unfit for their positions,” Keizai Doyukai Chair Takeshi Niinami has said.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to voters in Aichi Prefecture on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 25, 2024

LDP rapped over funds for local chapters of scandal-tainted candidates

The LDP secretary-general said the funding was provided to the local chapters to expand the party’s influence, not to support individual candidates.
Trudeau has brushed aside calls to step down as Liberal Party members fear a wipeout in Canada’s next general election.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 24, 2024

Trudeau is urged by fellow party members to step down as prime minister

Trudeau has been in power for nine years, and no Canadian prime minister has led a party to four consecutive election wins in a century.
Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI employee, in San Francisco on Oct. 3. Balaji helped gather and organize the enormous amounts of internet data used to train the startup’s ChatGPT chatbot.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 24, 2024

Former OpenAI researcher says the company broke copyright law

Suchi Balaji is among the first employees to leave a major AI company and speak out against the way these companies use copyrighted data to create their technologies.
The probe into a Tokyo Stock Exchange worker is the first time an employee has become subject to a compulsory investigation for alleged insider trading.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 24, 2024

TSE worker under insider trading probe handled timely disclosures

According to sources, the employee allegedly leaked undisclosed information about multiple companies.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2024

China and India bury the hatchet — for now, at least

Despite the agreement to disengage, the lack of trust is palpable. We are still just one misstep from an army patrol from another dangerous flare-up.
Japanese people love to dress up for Halloween, but in recent years there has been an effort to cut down on the alcohol and crowds that tend to come with the holiday here.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 24, 2024

Celebrating spooky season with Halloween-themed vocabulary

Get to know the vocabulary behind different levels of scares from spooky to absolutely terrifying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a press conference at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 25, 2024

Spurred by shared grievances, BRICS group gathers pace

BRICS' first summit, with its new batch of members, showed clear signs of the group's growing weight.
A McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburger. The fast-food chain has pulled the Quarter Pounder from about one-fifth of its U.S. restaurants.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2024

Fast-food chains hold the onions after McDonald's E. coli outbreak

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said late on Wednesday that fresh onions were the likely source of the E. coli outbreak.
The Los Angeles Times newspaper headquarters in El Segundo, California.
WORLD
Oct 25, 2024

LA Times editorial chief quits after Harris column quashed

A spokesperson for the Times said the newspaper wouldn’t comment on internal discussions
A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force battle tank fires ammunition during a live fire exercise at East Fuji Maneuver Area in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 25, 2024

Defense tax hikes hinge on election results

Ruling and opposition parties share a recognition that Japan faces a tough security environment.
Rescuers take part in a drill held at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2024

Large-scale drill held at Haneda Airport

More than 1,000 participants practiced procedures for putting out fires and rescuing people involved in an accident.
A rancher stands near a door of the wall built under Donald Trump's presidency. A poll completed this week showed that 65% of registered voters believe the U.S. is on the wrong track on immigration policy, with voters favoring Trump's approach.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 25, 2024

U.S. Democratic candidates step up immigration messaging in last weeks

Almost 15% of pro-Democratic messages have addressed immigration or border security, up sharply from the 3% share in the final weeks of the 2022 midterm campaign.
Located in the Otemachi neighborhood, the 'skull mound' of Taira no Masakado is said to be the source of ills and misfortunes of any who would disturb the site.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 26, 2024

Take a Halloween stroll through Tokyo’s dark history

Tokyo has no shortage of creepy places to check out this Halloween, and the good news is that many are conveniently accessible.
A city as rich in history as Kyoto has accumulated plenty of hair-raising tales perfect for your Halloween perusal.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 26, 2024

Japan’s ancient capital houses a millennium of ghosts

August is the traditional period in Japan when the worlds of the living and the dead overlap, but who’s to say spirits don’t make an exception for Halloween?
Amit Chhetri opened Yeti Roastery Coffee in Tokyo's Todoroki neighborhood in 2020 as a way to promote Nepalese coffee in Japan.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 27, 2024

Yeti Roastery Coffee is elevating Nepalese java in Japan

“Nepal has rich soil and a huge potential for growing coffee in its mountains, which are also unbelievably gorgeous,” says Yeti Coffee Roastery's Amit Chhetri.
Yukio Hattori was an integral part of "Iron Chef" broadcasts, though his impact on food culture in Japan went far beyond the TV screen.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 27, 2024

Remembering Yukio Hattori, the voice of ‘Iron Chef’

Yukio Hattori was best known to international audiences as the expert commentator on the original Japanese version of the popular TV program “Iron Chef,”
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida accepts a gift of 'dekopon' citruses, a specialty product and symbol of Kumamoto Prefecture, from Kumamon, itself a mascot and instantly recognizeable symbol of the region.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 28, 2024

Japan’s ‘meibutsu’-industrial complex is a wonder to behold

If you name a Japanese prefecture, many locals will instantly be able to tell you something that the region is famous for or a product synonymous with that area.
Healthy, affectionate and incredibly cute, Jessie also loves other cats and will even tolerate dogs.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Oct 28, 2024

Jessie wants to be your sunny new friend

Young orange tabby Jessie is a sweetheart who’s simply out of luck.
The number of female CEOs in Japan in 2024 rose 37,038 from the year before, or by 6%.
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2024

Proportion of female CEOs in Japan breaks 15% for first time

Survey finds progress but notes that prejudice based on gender roles remains an issue.
NEC CEO Takayuki Morita
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2024

Japan’s military pivot is firing up NEC’s defense tech business

NEC is targeting more than 60% revenue growth in its aviation, space and defense unit by March 2026.
Along with official videos from parties and candidates, individually produced videos are on the rise on YouTube and other platforms.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 25, 2024

Short social media videos gain traction in Japan's election campaign

Both official campaign and user-generated videos are on the rise, with experts warning that the latter may present misleading or out-of-context information.
Tetsuya Chiba
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2024

Tetsuya Chiba becomes first manga artist to receive Order of Culture

The other six include cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and environmental risk management expert Junko Nakanishi.
Investors already rattled by economic and monetary policy uncertainty are carefully watching Sunday's election.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 25, 2024

Tokyo stocks could 'plunge' if ruling coalition loses majority in Sunday vote

Investors are already rattled by monetary-policy tightening and geopolitical concerns.
Japanese fans are signing up for expensive travel packages to watch the World Series, which will see the Los Angeles Dodgers — including Japanese players Yoshinobu Yamamoto (center) and Shohei Ohtani (right) — take on the New York Yankees.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 25, 2024

World Series sparks travel frenzy among fans in Japan

Travel agencies are having a hard time keeping up with demand from baseball fans fired up by “Ohtanimania.”
Nanako Fujita competes during a race in 2019. The recent news of Fujita quitting after her suspension for breaking horse racing's strict phone rules shows that bad habits related to smartphone use don't discriminate.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
Oct 25, 2024

Horse racing in Japan has a smartphone problem

Nanako Fujita's recent retirement over breaches of smartphone rules put a spotlight on a big issue for horse racing in Japan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, pose with other leaders for a group photo during the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on Thursday. The summit illustrated a collective dissatisfaction with the current global power structure dominated by the U.S.
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2024

BRICS once again meet to complain and vent frustrations

While the summit gave the appearance of unity, there are significant differences in how member states perceive issues.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan