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Vegetables for sale at a local supermarket in Kyoto.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2025

Japan supermarket sales up for fifth year in 2024

Price increases of rice and vegetables such as cabbage pushed up overall sales while the number of purchased items continued to decrease as customers became thriftier.
This year's Oscar nominations were unveiled on Thursday, with transgender cartel musical "Emilia Perez" earning 13 Oscar nods and breaking the record for most Academy Award nominations for a non-English-language movie.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 23, 2025

'Emilia Perez' tops Oscar nominations in fire-hit Hollywood

Jacques Audiard's Mexico-set musical shattered the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a non-English-language movie.
The Food and Drug Administration headquarters in White Oak, Maryland
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 24, 2025

Trump alarms scientists by muzzling U.S. health agencies

The move could delay essential information and slow funding for potentially life-saving initiatives.
A Palestinian man searches for the graves and bodies of his father, brother and brother-in-law at Shejaia cemetery, which was flattened by Israeli tanks and bulldozers, in Gaza City, the Gaza Strip, on Monday.
WORLD
Jan 24, 2025

Bereaved Gazans dig out bodies from city ruins and give them graves

Burials are usually carried out within a few hours of death in Muslim and Arab communities, and failure to ensure dignified burials is agonizing for families.
Steps against diversity form part of U.S. President Donald Trump's broader campaign targeting the federal bureaucracy, which he has sometimes disparaged as the "deep state" secretly working against his agenda.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 24, 2025

Trump accelerates campaign to remake federal bureaucracy

The U.S. president says his orders ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs would make America a "merit-based country" once again.
Service inflation accelerated a tad to 1.6%, while an index excluding energy costs and fresh food prices advanced 2.4%, unchanged from the pace in November.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 24, 2025

Inflation in Japan jumps to 3%, supporting the BOJ's rate-hike case

The solid inflation data support the case for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates on Friday, a move widely anticipated by markets and economists.
Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor Janina Iwanska, 94, a retired pharmacist, holds an undated picture from her way back to Poland, ahead of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz, in Warsaw on Jan. 7
WORLD
Jan 24, 2025

Auschwitz survivors recall their suffering 80 years after camp's liberation

An estimated 1.3 million people were sent to the Nazi death camp set up in occupied Poland as part of Adolf Hitler's "Final Solution" to annihilate European Jews.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 24, 2025

U.S. judge temporarily blocks Trump's order limiting birthright citizenship

The judge's order prevents Trump's policy from being enforced nationwide for 14 days while he considers whether to issue a long-lasting preliminary injunction.
Daisuke Komatsu (left), who heads the Liberal Democratic Party's group in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, and others bow in apology during a news conference at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 24, 2025

LDP Tokyo assembly members to correct funds reports

Some LDP members of the assembly kept some revenues from fundraising parties held in 2019 and 2022 for themselves and did not declare the income.
Katsumi Shinagawa prepares to shred cabbage to serve with pork cutlet dishes at the restaurant Katsukichi in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 24, 2025

Climate change cooks up Japanese 'cabbage shock'

It is the latest pain point for shoppers and eateries in Japan already squeezed by inflation.
TikTok boasts 170 million monthly U.S. users and has become a major driver of culture and politics among young Americans.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 24, 2025

TikTok’s possible buyers, from Elon Musk to MrBeast

There will be no shortage of interested acquirers for the popular video service, which boasts 170 million monthly U.S. users.
While Japan deals with so-called overtourism, the rest of the world is just getting back to pre-pandemic levels of visits from international travelers.
LIFE / Travel
Jan 24, 2025

Global tourism is back to pre-COVID highs

Global tourism generated nearly $1.6 trillion (about ¥250 trillion) in 2024, about 3% more than the previous year and 4% more than in 2019.
At several high-end restaurants in Tokyo, tatami is becoming a part of the dining experience — not underfoot but as a tabletop place mat for phones.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jan 25, 2025

Why tatami is going from the floor to the dining table

As smartphones have become integral to daily life, they are being incorporated into traditional Japanese hospitality.
Hokkaido Railway temporarily suspended train services after a 61-year-old Chinese tourist was fatally struck by a train in the city of Otaru, Hokkaido, on Thursday morning.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2025

Chinese tourist fatally struck by train in Hokkaido

The woman entered the Hakodate Line tracks near Asari Station in Otaru to photograph the ocean with her phone.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 24, 2025

Ishiba stresses regional revitalization in policy speech

The relocation of industrial, state and academic institutions to regions outside of Tokyo will begin with government agencies.
Fuji Television's poor handling of sexual misconduct allegations against celebrity Masahiro Nakai has led to an exodus of sponsors from the broadcaster.
JAPAN / Media / FOCUS
Jan 24, 2025

What are the real issues behind the Fuji TV scandal?

Fuji TV's handling of sexual misconduct allegations against TV personality Masahiro Nakai led to a firestorm of public disapproval. Where did it go wrong?
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato holds a news conference at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo in October last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 24, 2025

Finance chief vows to balance economic revival and fiscal consolidation

Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato highlighted the need to improve Japan's fiscal health, which is the worst among major countries.
Undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue celebrates after defeating Kim Ye-joon in their title fight at Ariake Arena on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jan 24, 2025

Naoya 'Monster' Inoue retains undisputed title with 4th-round knockout

Promoter Bob Arum announced after the fight that Inoue will fight in Las Vegas this spring.
A woman lays a bouquet of flowers outside Shenzhen Japanese School following the murder of a 10-year-old Japanese child who was on his way to the school, in Shenzhen in September.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2025

Chinese court gives death penalty to man who killed Japanese boy

Friday’s sentence was pronounced on the same day the trial opened in an unusually quick decision.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the G20 summit in Osaka in June 2019.
WORLD
Jan 24, 2025

Putin ready to talk to Trump and waiting for 'signals,' Kremlin says

The Ukraine conflict has plunged relations between the U.S. and Russia their lowest levels since the Cold War.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he meets with his "Quad" counterparts at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 25, 2025

Rubio clashes with Chinese top diplomat on Taiwan

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, over Taiwan, with the top U.S. diplomat denouncing Beijing's "coercive" moves.
Ben Wikler, the chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, in Milwaukee, last March
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2025

Contenders to lead the Democratic Party scramble to show momentum

As two Midwesterners battle for control of the Democratic National Committee, they are making loud yet unverifiable claims about their levels of support.
Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for defense secretary, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14 Washington. U.S. Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, as U.S. defense chief late Friday — despite allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and other concerns about his qualifications to lead the Pentagon.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2025

Pete Hegseth confirmed in knife-edge vote to be new U.S. defense chief

In a mostly party-line result that saw no Democrats vote for Hegseth, three Republicans — including former GOP leader Mitch McConnell — also voted no.
Anti-abortion demonstrators take part in the annual March for Life rally in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2025

Trump targets abortion access at home and abroad

Trump revoked two executive orders signed by Joe Biden protecting abortion access.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves to employees upon arrival at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2025

U.S. issues broad freeze on foreign aid after Trump orders review

The move risks cutting off billions of dollars of life-saving assistance. The United States is the largest single donor of aid globally.
Elon Musk makes a stiff arm salute during an inaugural event for U.S. President Donald Trump at Capitol One Arena in Washington on Monday. A time when the far right is once again on the rise, the interpretation of Musk's gesture was straightforward for many — especially in Germany.
WORLD
Jan 25, 2025

‘Awkward gesture’? ‘Roman salute’? In Germany, its meaning is clear.

A gesture associated with the Nazis has a surprising history. But in Germany, there was little doubt about its meaning.
Posters of Israeli hostages (left to right) Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Karina Ariev and Daniela Gilboa, who have been held in the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants
WORLD
Jan 25, 2025

Hamas names four Israeli female soldier hostages to be freed in second swap

The exchange follows the release on Sunday of three Israeli women and 90 Palestinian prisoners, the first such exchange in more than a year.
Palestinian fighters from the armed wing of Hamas take part in a military parade in the central Gaza Strip in July 2023.
WORLD
Jan 25, 2025

Hamas has added up to 15,000 fighters since start of war, U.S. figures show

The intelligence suggests the Iran-backed fighters could remain a persistent threat to Israel.
Ukrainian refugees, who recently crossed the border from Mexico, head to waiting transportation in Chula Vista, California, on April 4, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2025

Trump officials pause programs to let in immigrants, including Ukrainians

Department of Homeland Security officials have ordered what amounts to a pause for a range of programs that allowed immigrants to settle in the U.S. temporarily.
Naoya Inoue throws a punch against Kim Ye-joon during their world super bantamweight title bout in Tokyo on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jan 25, 2025

After racking up another KO, 'Monster' Inoue set for bright lights of Las Vegas

There may also be a big payday in Saudi Arabia on the horizon as Inoue takes his thrilling style overseas after a long run of bouts on home soil.

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