Search - people

 
 
Seibu's Ginjiro Sumitani (back left) meets with participants in a program to inspire seriously ill children, at the Belluna Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, on May 26.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 25, 2024

Lions catcher Sumitani remains committed to inspiring ill children

The sight of happy children "reminds me that I should do my best," says Ginjiro Sumitani.
Travelers in front of a Suntory duty-free shop at Kansai International Airport in December
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2024

Duty-free sales at Japan's department stores tripled in May

Record sales were achieved with the help of a significant influx of Chinese tourists and the yen’s weakness.
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov attends a ceremony marking the anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II by the Kremlin wall in Moscow on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 26, 2024

U.S. and Russia defense chiefs speak as tensions rise over Crimea attack

Russia's Defense Ministry said that Andrei Belousov warned Lloyd Austin of the dangers of continued U.S. arms supplies to Ukraine.
A U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey stationed at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo in May
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2024

10 SDF and U.S. Ospreys to take part in drills in Japan after accident

Around eight Marine Corps and two GSDF Ospreys are scheduled to take part in the Resolute Dragon 24 exercise.
A bus stop in Suzhou in China's Jiangsu Province where a Japanese woman and her child was believed to have been attacked
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2024

Suzhou knife attack shocks Japanese firms in China

The site of the attack is in an area where many Japanese live, and is close to a Japanese school.
There were a total of 219 victims of bear attacks in Japan in fiscal 2023, which resulted in six deaths, according to Environment Ministry statistics.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 26, 2024

Aomori woman, 80, killed by bear amid surge of attacks nationwide

She was foraging for bamboo shoots in the mountains when she was attacked by what local officials have determined to be an adult Asian black bear.
China Coast Guard personnel aboard rigid hull inflatable boats (in black) during a confrontation with Philippine Navy personnel near the Second Thomas Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea on June 17
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Jun 26, 2024

China’s ax-wielding coast guard tests limits in South China Sea

The Philippines Armed Forces called the June 17 moves by China a "brutal assault" and said the Chinese sailors acted like pirates.
An anti-government protest in Tel Aviv in January. In a TV interview on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the terms of a U.S.-led cease-fire deal and said he was prepared to open a second front against Hezbollah, in Lebanon.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2024

Netanyahu's strategy is war, war and more war

The Israeli prime minister gave a rare and revealing interview to a domestic TV channel on the weekend that confirmed that he has a plan for Gaza. And that is war.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki speaks to reporters on Tuesday at the prefectural government office.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 26, 2024

Foreign Ministry delayed telling Okinawa about U.S. airman's alleged sex crime

The delay in informing the prefectural government could further strain the relationship between Okinawa and Tokyo.
Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ken Saito (left), U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo (center) and South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun in Washington on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 27, 2024

U.S., Japan and South Korea vow strategic cooperation

"We're doubling down our efforts to work together," U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.
An injured man is brought into the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, following the Israeli bombardment of a residential apartment on June 8.
WORLD
Jun 27, 2024

U.S. health workers describe dire conditions at Gaza's hospitals

A lack of supplies meant many had to make agonizing decisions on who would live and who would die.
The share of stocks and investment trusts in Japanese household assets rose to a record high of 19.7% at the end of March.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 27, 2024

Japan inflation spurs record shift to household assets in stocks

Households have been coping with a surge in inflation over the past two years.
Uncompleted residential buildings in Shenyang, China. The Chinese government is trying to support the real estate sector as a property crisis and other economic ailments drag on.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jun 27, 2024

What will it take for China to regain market confidence?

Xi came to power promising high-quality development instead of growth at all costs. But first, his government must tackle structural problems embedded in China's economy.
Health minister Keizo Takemi speaks to reporters in Tokyo in March.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 27, 2024

Panel sets out investment vision for Japan's health care startups

Since 2019, the number of health care startups established each year in Japan has declined to around 50.
Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte emerged as the sole candidate for NATO secretary-general after his final challenger, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, dropped out of the race last week.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 27, 2024

NATO’s next chief, Mark Rutte, will have his work cut out for him

The war in Ukraine, uncertainty about Washington's position in the alliance and growing tensions with China are among the challenges he will face.
Lawyer and activist Rozkar Ibrahim walks past a headstone marked with the word 'grave of life' in an area reserved for the victims of femicide and honor killings, at the Siwan cemetery in Sulaimaniyah, the autonomous Kurdistan region's second city, on May 17.
WORLD
Jun 27, 2024

Murdered and forgotten: Iraqi victims of gender-based violence

Domestic violence and femicide have long plagued Iraq's conservative society.
People look at the election poster board at Kasai Rinkai Park in Tokyo. The board includes posters for each of the candidates running in that specific riding.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 28, 2024

Tokyo's election day is coming. Are you comfortable talking about politics in Japanese?

Even if you don't want to talk about politics, expressing your opinion on a particular topic is always a good skill to have in your daily life.
U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump participate in the first presidential debate of 2024 at CNN's studios in Atlanta on Thursday.
WORLD
Jun 28, 2024

At first debate, Biden stumbles amid Trump's barrage of falsehoods

The two men traded barbs on a host of issues as they each sought to shake up what opinion polls show has been a virtually tied race for months.
Muslim pilgrims use umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun as they arrive at the base of Mount Arafat, also known as Jabal al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, on June 15.
WORLD
Jun 28, 2024

Climate change boosted deadly Saudi Hajj heat by 2.5 degrees, scientists say

The heat would have been approximately 2.5 degrees Celsius cooler without the influence of human-caused climate change, according to a team of European scientists.
Cameras and lenses are displayed at Fujifilm Holdings headquarters in Tokyo on June 7.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 28, 2024

Fujifilm once struggled to sell cameras. Now, it can't keep up with demand.

Fujifilm is struggling to meet demand for the X100 camera, prized by young 20-something social media users for its looks and high-end functions.
Narita Airport is facing a jet fuel shortage and has requested that domestic distributors ensure a stable supply.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2024

Japan’s jet fuel crunch hits Narita

Narita Airport said the fuel crunch was affecting operations of six Asian carriers and the plans of some 57 flights a week currently.
China's then-defense chief Li Shangfu delivers a speech during the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on June 4, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 28, 2024

China ousts two ex-defense ministers from party over graft

The 24-man Politburo made the decision to oust Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe, who are said to have taken bribes.
If only there was that special someone who could show Cauliflower the same love he gives to everyone he meets.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 1, 2024

Won't you find Cauliflower someone to love?

Cauliflower is good with most dogs, adores people and would probably suit just about anyone — young, old or even a family with children.
Green tea has the largest share of Japan's soft drink market.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 7, 2024

Major Japanese beverage-makers renewing green tea products

Green tea has the largest share of Japan's soft drink market.
Fawn Weaver's book “Love and Whiskey,” out this month, is an engrossing narrative tracking the author's discovery of the truth behind one of the most popular whiskey brands in the world.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 30, 2024

‘Love and Whiskey’: A tale of how an obsession delivered a woman from grief

Through Fawn Weaver’s efforts, bracketed within a personal tragedy, the true story of how Jack Daniel learned how to make whiskey from a Black slave comes to life.
Japan’s Coco Yoshizawa participates in a Paris 2024 Olympic qualifier. This summer’s Olympics will be the first in which half of athletes are female.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2024

Paris Olympics’ gender equality boast has an asterisk

Paris 2024 will be the first Olympics where half of all athletes are female. But the gender gap remains wide among the ranks of coaches and needs to be tackled.
Horror artist Junji Ito adds just a dash of comedy to his work, though he aims for it to be understated. “If it’s truly a horror story, the humor must be restrained and more veiled,” he says.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 29, 2024

Fear still matters to Junji Ito

Currently on view at Tokyo's Setagaya Literary Museum is an extensive collection of the horror master's work, the first large-scale exhibition of it's kind in Japan.
Health ministry officials enter Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's plant in the city of Osaka on March 30.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 28, 2024

Dozens more deaths may be linked to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's supplements

The ministry has instructed Kobayashi Pharmaceutical to create a plan to carry out a probe into the causal relationships between the deaths and their products.
U.S. President Joe Biden looks down as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with his predecessor and current Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, at CNN's studios in Atlanta on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 29, 2024

Here’s what it would take to replace Biden as nominee

Democrats have ways to replace Joe Biden on the presidential ticket — but doing so without their standard-bearer’s acquiescence would be a daunting task.
An image of U.S. President Joe Biden is displayed as his Republican challenger, former U.S. President Donald Trump, holds a campaign event, in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 29, 2024

Fearful and doubting Biden, Democrats face an uncertain path forward

Some began to reconsider their support after his rough debate showing, but there was no agreement on how, or whether, to urge him to step off the ticket.

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