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The words of encouragement that star player Shohei Ohtani gave his teammates before their final game against the United States during the World Baseball Classic in March were among those nominated on Thursday to be the buzzwords of the year.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 2, 2023

Japan's 2023 buzzwords reflect light and dark sides of the year

From the year's scandals to its champions, the annual list of buzzword candidates highlights the nation's hope, fears and diversions.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 2, 2023

Tigers rally for victory to move within win of Japan Series title

The Tigers are seeking their first Japan Series title since 1985.
The front page of The Japan Times from Nov. 13, 1948, heralds the verdicts given to Japan's war criminals.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Nov 3, 2023

Japan Times 1948: Tojo and 6 others are sentenced to hang

As sentences are handed down in 1948, two other eras deal with fallout from an earthquake and an oil shock.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is saluted by Maritime Self-Defense Force members during the International Fleet Review to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the MSDF, at Sagami Bay, off Yokosuka, on Nov. 6, 2022.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 3, 2023

Weak yen forces Japan to cut back on historic military spending

Officials and industry sources said Japan will begin cutting back on aircraft purchases in 2024, the second year of the buildup plan, due to the weak yen.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 3, 2023

SDF plane evacuates 46 from Israel as Japan's top diplomat visits

The evacuation came as Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa visited Israel for talks with her Israeli and Palestinian counterparts.
Blair Masters and Talisker Scott Hunter pose for a photo with their kei truck, nicknamed “KT,” outside Ebisu Circuit in Fukushima Prefecture.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Nov 6, 2023

The little truck that could: A fresh way to tour Japan's north

Travelers have documented almost every corner of Japan. Perhaps a new kind of adventure would be doing those same journeys by different means.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 4, 2023

Ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto helps Buffaloes force Game 7 in Japan Series

The Buffaloes beat the Tigers to send the Japan Series to Game 7.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Nov 5, 2023

Inami wins LPGA Japan Classic after Hataoka collapse

Inami finished with a 22-under score of 266, a stroke ahead of Shiho Kuwaki and South Korea's Bae Seon-woo.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 5, 2023

Tigers beat Buffaloes in Game 7 to end 38-year Japan Series drought

The Tigers beat the defending champion Buffaloes in Game 7 to claim their first Japan Series title since 1985.
The National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo's Ueno district
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 6, 2023

Japan's national science museum holds record crowdfunding campaign

The institution has raised ¥920 million through the 90-day campaign, with 57,000 members of the public chipping in.
Yogendra Puranik, the first person from India to win elected office in Japan, at the Indian cultural center he manages in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward in October 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 6, 2023

Japan needs Indian migrants. How can it attract them?

India can help fill the domestic labor gap, but for migrants to succeed, Japan must embrace a genuinely intercultural approach.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 7, 2023

Japan’s aging population to increase burden on nursing care costs

The average annual nursing care cost per capita is estimated to increase 75% to ¥235,000 in 2050 compared to 2019 levels, according to government data.
The family grave of Toshihide Matsumoto is dismantled in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture. An increasing number of Japanese people are opting to permanently close their family graves as traditional family structures continue to change.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 9, 2023

Graying Japan faces a grave problem

Services designed to help people move or scatter their ancestors' ashes and close up family graves are experiencing increased demand.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 8, 2023

Japanese fraud suspects extradited from Cambodia

Investigators say the suspects made fraudulent phone calls from Cambodia posing as nursing home staff and lawyers, aiming to scam victims in Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 8, 2023

Explaining Japan's nuanced approach to the Israel-Hamas war

Japan has the potential to influence the conflict due to its distinctive position within the international community.
People from Hawaii pray for the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake, on a beach in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, in 2014.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Nov 13, 2023

Fukushima celebrates a century of special ties with Hawaii

Residents emigrated to Hawaii and other places to cultivate undeveloped land, and made a living by working in the sugar industry.
The ¥100,000 financial aid comes hand-in-hand with consultation support that encourages expecting mothers to attend meetings in their municipalities throughout their pregnancy where they can ask for advice and information on childbirth.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 9, 2023

Japan's cash handouts for pregnant women to be made permanent in 2025

The plan entails handing out a total of ¥100,000 to all residents of Japan who are pregnant.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 9, 2023

Drug shortages create challenge for Japan as influenza cases rise

Amid an earlier-than-usual start of the flu season, a type of flu medicine for children is experiencing a supply shortage as cases rise.
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 9, 2023

Japan’s 'four-eyed tax hiker' and the curse of Colonel Sanders

Baseball writer Jason Coskrey and editor Joel Tansey discuss the Hanshin Tigers’ Japan Series victory; Gabriele Ninivaggi explains how the prime minister hopes to get a home run with his tax plan.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 11, 2023

Komeito chief Natsuo Yamaguchi to visit China from Nov. 22

Yamaguchi had initially planned to visit China in August, but the trip was postponed amid a row over the Fukushima water release decision.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2023

Japanese island holds disaster drill in shadow of Taiwan threat

Yonaguni is only 110 km from Taiwan. In August last year, China fired missiles into nearby waters in response to a visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi.
A man, who said he was jailed for two years, speaks on condition of anonymity in temporary housing for former prisoners in Tokyo. Criminal recruits in Japan are being "exploited and disposed of as pawns" by gang leaders, the National Police Agency has said.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 24, 2023

Why Japan's gangs are recruiting online

For Japan's criminal underworld, social media offers an anonymous way to connect with anyone willing to commit crimes to earn money.
The shortage of a class of diabetes drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists is being driven in part by healthy people looking to use them for dieting purposes.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Nov 14, 2023

Japan tackles surge in off-label diabetes drug use for weight loss

Officials are aiming to ensure that the medications are prescribed for people with diabetes, and not for those seeking weight loss.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2023

Civil servants face different treatment at Kansai baseball parades

Kobe and Hyogo government workers working at the parades will be treated as being on duty, but those of the Osaka governments will not be.
Japan’s policy came under scrutiny during the COVID-19 pandemic, when vaccines approved overseas needed additional testing prior to their approval in Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 14, 2023

Japan set to scrap rule requiring testing of new drugs on Japanese

To sell a drug in Japan, pharmaceutical firms are required to conduct additional trials specifically targeting Japanese participants.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 14, 2023

Bill to legalize cannabis-derived drugs clears Japan’s Lower House

The bill was sent to the Upper House the same day. If approved there, changes stipulated in the bill will likely go into effect by the end of next year.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Nov 14, 2023

How an executive's arrest struck a blow to Japan-China business

The arrest of a Japanese company executive in China has had what some Tokyo officials described as a considerable chilling effect on business.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 15, 2023

Japan women prisoners suffer serious abuse: Human Rights Watch

Handcuffs during pregnancy, separation from newborn babies and insufficient care for elderly inmates are among the abuses suffered, the rights group said.
BASEBALL
Nov 16, 2023

Samurai Japan overcomes slow start to beat Taiwan in APBC opener

Shota Morishita got Japan going with a home run in the seventh inning.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida looks on during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Week summit in San Francisco on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2023

Japan ruling bloc shocked as Kishida's approval keeps falling

A Jiji Press survey for November on Thursday showed the Kishida Cabinet's approval at 21.3%, the lowest level since his inauguration in 2021.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami