Search - people

 
 
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.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 9, 2024

Space One postpones bid to be Japan's first private firm to put satellite in orbit

The Tokyo-based startup halted the mission after a ship ventured into a "maritime warning area" just 10 minutes before the launch.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2024

Reservations open for subsidized trips to areas hit by Noto quake

Tours to Niigata, Toyama and Fukui prefectures sold out on a host of websites soon after the start Friday, displaying robust demand for the campaign.
A worker checks the carbon fiber at the composite production line at the Swancor factory in Nantou, Taiwan, in February.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Mar 9, 2024

Recycling wind turbine blades can solve the industry’s biggest problem

Swancor is one of several firms globally trying to develop products that mimic the physical properties of current blade material but can be recycled.
Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori speaks during an interview on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 9, 2024

Fukushima governor urges state to clarify soil policy

Fukushima will host interim storage facilities for the soil on the premise that the soil is stored at final disposal sites outside the prefecture.
From left: Hong Kong's Secretary for Justice Paul Lam, Chief Executive John Lee and Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung hold a news conference regarding national security laws, in Hong Kong on Jan. 30.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 9, 2024

Hong Kong fast-tracks new security law at Beijing’s urging

The legislation would impose life sentences for crimes such as treason and give police expanded powers.
Pope Francis presides over a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2024

Pope says Ukraine should have the ‘courage of the white flag’

Pope Francis has reiterated in a new interview that Ukraine should negotiate to end the war with Russia, but this time he used language — adopting his interviewer’s expression, "white flag” — that has drawn attention and raised questions about whether the pope was suggesting that Ukraine surrender....
U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv in October
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2024

Netanyahu approach to Gaza war 'hurting Israel more than helping,' Biden says

The comments highlighted the U.S. leader's growing impatience with his Israeli counterpart over his approach to the war in Gaza.
Americans, who by nearly every measure are hungering for a new direction, are confronted with the choice between a continuation with U.S. President Joe Biden or a restoration with former leader Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2024

The Biden-Trump rerun: A nation craving change gets more of the same

Americans love a candidate who promises something new. But when a sitting president runs against a former one, can either claim the mantle of change?
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 10, 2024

Nuclear power policy to be major focus in parliament after Ishikawa quake

The New Year's Day earthquake occurred near Hokuriku Electric Power's Shika nuclear power station, raising concerns over another nuclear disaster.
Charred vehicles amid escalating gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Saturday
WORLD
Mar 10, 2024

Haiti capital a 'city under siege' amid spasm of gang violence

Criminal groups already control much of Port-au-Prince as well as roads leading to the rest of the Western hemisphere's poorest country.
A Palestinian man transports humanitarian aid at the distribution center of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees UNRWA in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 3.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2024

Sweden and Canada to restart payments to U.N. agency for Palestinians

Over a dozen countries suspended payments to UNRWA after Israel claimed some of the organization's employees were involved in Hamas-led attacks.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2024

Tepco profit goal remains elusive, 13 years after triple meltdown

The total costs related to the nuclear crisis are estimated at ¥23.4 trillion, including ¥8 trillion for decommissioning the Fukushima No. 1 plant.
Two of the country’s four major makers of alcoholic beverages are reportedly going to stop releasing new products with alcohol content of 8% or more, citing health concerns.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 10, 2024

Japan asks when a stiff drink is a bit too stiff

Two of the country’s four major makers have taken the unusual step of retreating from a lucrative and growing market: strong premixed drinks.
Lion Air’s safety record has been in the spotlight over the years. The privately held carrier has suffered several hull losses, the industry term for aircraft damaged beyond repair.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 10, 2024

Two Indonesian pilots suspended after falling asleep in cockpit

Flight 6723 was on its way to Jakarta from Sulawesi on Jan. 25 when neither the pilot or co-pilot responded to communications.
Masaki Takahashi, Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya and Tatsuji Nojima celebrated winning the Oscar for best visual effects on the Dolby Theatre stage in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2024

Oscars 2024: A night to remember for Japanese cinema

Filmmaking peers in Hollywood honor the excellence of two Japanese titans: Studio Ghibli and Godzilla
A Palestinian child stands in the remains of a building following an Israeli airstrike in a residential neighborhood of Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

Israel-Hamas cease-fire agreement elusive as Ramadan arrives

The U.S. had been hoping for a breakthrough in the negotiations before Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, which began after sundown Sunday.
Portugal's Democratic Alliance (AD) leader Luis Montenegro casts his ballot a polling station in Espinho, near Porto, during the legislative elections held on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

Luis Montenegro, the unlikely champion of Portugal's right

Luis Montenegro is a seasoned parliamentarian with no government experience who is perceived as honest and competent despite a lack of flair.
Nebraska guard Keisei Tominaga has become one of the most exciting players in the Big Ten during his three seasons with Nebraska.
BASKETBALL
Mar 11, 2024

'Japanese Steph Curry' Keisei Tominaga shoots for stars and NBA with Nebraska

“I think I still gotta get better about a lot of things,” he said. “I think it’s getting closer to my dream."
Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister (right) celebrates after scoring against Manchester City during their match in Liverpool, England, on Sunday.
SOCCER
Mar 11, 2024

Thrilling match between Liverpool and Manchester City ends in stalemate

Alexis Mac Allister fired home a second-half penalty as Liverpool claimed a point against Manchester City in a breathless 1-1 Premier League blockbuster.
Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, winners of the Oscar for best picture for "Oppenheimer," pose with Takashi Yamazaki, winner of the Oscar for best visual effects for "Godzilla Minus One," at the Governors Ball, following the 96th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on Sunday.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2024

‘Oppenheimer’ caps a big night with best picture Oscar

The big night for ‘Oppenheimer’ offered hope for traditional cinema.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo