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Remains taken by researchers from Kyoto Imperial University, which is now Kyoto University, from a tomb in Okinawa Prefecture in the early 20th century have been returned, it was learned Thursday.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025

Okinawan remains looted in early Showa Era returned by Kyoto University

The remains had been taken from a tomb built in the middle ages in the Okinawan village of Nakijin.
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.
A vehicle exits Shek Pik Prison after former leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, Jimmy Sham, served a four-year, three-month sentence for conspiracy to commit subversion in a landmark national security case, in Hong Kong, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 30, 2025

Second group of Hong Kong democrats freed after 4 years in jail

Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ+ activist Jimmy Sham, who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups.
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.
Stockpiled rice arrives Thursday at a rice-milling factory operated by a subsidiary of household appliance company Iris Ohyama in the town of Watari, Miyagi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
May 30, 2025

Some retailers hesitant to buy stockpiled rice on quality concerns

Smaller shops in Japan are worried that older batches might not taste as good, which could cause customers to take their business elsewhere.
A rice shop owner listens to an online briefing by the farm ministry on the no-bid contract method of purchase for small retailers looking to buy stockpiled rice from the government, on Thursday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025

Farm ministry starts accepting applications for older rice from small buyers

Smaller retailers and rice shops can buy rice stockpiled from the 2021 harvest from the government via no-bid contracts.
A government white paper on agriculture attributed the recent rice price hikes partly to some producers boosting direct sales to consumers and sales to nonconventional buyers.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025

Government blames rice price surges on procurement route changes

Rice prices at retailers soared because wholesalers had to buy at relatively high prices to supplement shortfalls, a white paper concluded.
Takanori Nishiyama, Japan manager of Keeper Security. Password managers can help thwart phishing attacks.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
May 30, 2025

Online brokerage account hijacks in Japan highlight need for login vigilance

Portfolios are being commandeered to manipulate the market for the benefit of the hacker.
South Korea's Yonsei University is one of the 12 teams that will compete in the first AUBL tournament in August.
BASKETBALL
May 30, 2025

League backed by Nets owner looks to raise profile of college basketball in Asia

The AUBL will holds its inaugural tournament in August.
South Korea will hold its next presidential election on Tuesday. Whoever wins will have to confront numerous intertwined challenges head-on.
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2025

South Korea faces a triple challenge ahead of its election

South Korea will hold its next presidential election on Tuesday. Whoever wins will have to confront numerous intertwined challenges head-on.
French President Emmanuel Macron gives the keynote address of the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 30, 2025

Macron calls for Europe and Asia to unite and resist ‘spheres of coercion’

The French president used a keynote speech at Asia’s top regional security conference to call on European and Indo-Pacific nations to avoid picking sides between China and the U.S.
The Central Business District of Lagos. Japan is reasserting a commitment to do more business with Africa as it emerges from years during which its private sector was particularly risk-averse.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2025

Japan seeks to grow Africa investments to ease reliance on China

The country aims to do more business with Africa as it emerges from years during which its private sector was particularly risk-averse.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 31, 2025

Hegseth warns of Chinese threat to Taiwan, urging allies to upgrade defenses

In a speech to regional defense officials, U.S. defense chief Pete Hegseth also sought to ease concerns among those skeptical of America’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific.
Paris Saint-Germain is seeking its first Champions League title in Saturday's final, while Inter Milan is bidding to win its fourth.
SOCCER
May 31, 2025

PSG and Inter Milan set for Champions League final showdown

The match pits an experienced Inter against a PSG team appearing in its second final since the transformative Qatari takeover of the club in 2011.
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.
Vehicles of delegations leave the Omani Embassy after a fifth round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, in Rome on May 23.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 1, 2025

Damning IAEA report spells out past secret nuclear activities in Iran

The findings pave the way for a push to declare Tehran in violation of its non-proliferation obligations.
U.S. President Donald Trump smiles before speaking in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 1, 2025

Trump tariffs face threat at top court — over rulings that blocked Biden

The court’s conservative majority ruled that federal agencies can’t decide sweeping political and economic matters without clear congressional authorization.
Jared Isaacman, U.S. President Donald Trump's then-nominee to be NASA administrator, testifies during a Senate panel confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 9.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 1, 2025

Trump pulls Musk ally's NASA nomination and will announce replacement

Isaacman's removal comes just days after Musk's official departure from the White House.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives for a trilateral meeting between Japan, the U.S. and Australia at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 1, 2025

Hegseth to prioritize China and more allied spending in Asia — but questions remain

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a clear statement of the United States' commitment to the region, but getting allies to spend more on their defense will be an uphill battle.
Eiichi Minagawa, the representative of a victim group of Niigata Minamata disease, speaks during a ceremony on Saturday to mark the 60th anniversary of the official recognition the disease.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2025

Ceremony marks 60 years since Niigata Minamata disease recognition

At the ceremony, about 300 people observed a moment of silence for the victims.
A banner showing Lee Jae-myung (left), the South Korean presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, and Kim Moon-soo, the candidate for the conservative People Power Party, outside a polling station in Seoul on Friday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 1, 2025

South Korean presidential election set to reshape diplomatic chessboard

Liberal front-runner Lee Jae-myung is projected to sail to a win that could shake up ties with Japan and the U.S. and kick-start talks with North Korea.
A wildfire that occurred in the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, in February significantly damaged a residential area.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2025

Japan looking to draft fire warning guidelines

Such warnings are designed to prevent fire from occurring or spreading, but there are no nationwide standards.
The chief prosecutor of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal, Mohammad Tajul Islam (center), speaks during a news conference in Dhaka on Sunday, the opening day of fugitive former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's trial for allegedly orchestrating a "systemic attack" to crush an uprising against her government.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 1, 2025

Bangladesh opens fugitive ex-PM's trial over protest killings

The prosecution of senior figures from Hasina's government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power.
A woman walks past a store in Seoul's Daerim neighborhood, home to thousands of ethnic Chinese. China has displaced longtime foe and former colonial power Japan in many South Koreans' minds as the country's most distrusted neighbor in recent years.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 2, 2025

China displaces old foe Japan in South Koreans' minds ahead of vote

Analysts say that a series of clashes between Beijing and Seoul in recent years over history, territory and defense are the root cause of the schism.
A woman walks past posters of South Korea's presidential candidates on Saturday, ahead of the upcoming June 3 election in Seoul.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 2, 2025

Misinformation hits South Korea's upcoming election

Many of the claims focus on foreign interference, tapping into local fears of meddling by China, or fabricating support.
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.
Visitors at the 2025 Osaka Expo in May
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2025

Osaka Expo sees highest daily visitor number

The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition expects a total of 28.2 million people to visit the event, which is set to run until Oct. 13.
Japan has enforced tougher rules on companies to protect workers from heat after 30 workplace deaths and roughly 1,200 injuries were reported last year that were associated with high temperatures.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2025

Protect workers from heat waves or face fines, Japan tells firms

The revised legislation is a rare global example of a national-level policy on heat safety for employees.
Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate for South Korea's Democratic Party, gestures outside a polling station after casting an early vote for the upcoming presidential election, in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 2, 2025

South Korea's presidential front-runner backs nuclear power — for now

Lee Jae-myung supports extending the life of existing nuclear plants, but opposes new reactors.
Maja Stark holds up her championship trophy after winning the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament in Erin, Wisconsin, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jun 2, 2025

Maja Stark beats out Rio Takeda to capture U.S. Women's Open

Takeda made an early double bogey in an otherwise solid round to stay close to the top of the leaderboard all day.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji