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Vladimir Putin arrives at Buyant-Ukhaa International Airport in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 3, 2024

Putin set to meet Mongolian president despite international arrest warrant

The visit is the first by Putin to a member state of the International Criminal Court since the warrant was issued over the abduction of children from Ukraine.
In the first quarter of fiscal 2024, the combined profits at both the manufacturing and nonmanufacturing sectors marked record highs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2024

Japanese companies mark record combined profits in April-June

Nonfinancial companies' internal reserves at the end of fiscal 2023 grew 8.3% from a year earlier, topping ¥600 trillion for the first time.
The logo of German carmaker Volkswagen at the main plant of the group in Wolfsburg, northern Germany, in March 2022. German automotive giant Volkswagen said Monday that it could close production sites in Germany as the auto industry struggles to manage rising costs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2024

Volkswagen weighs first-ever German plant closures amid EV transition woes

Profit margins at the carmaker's underperforming passenger car brand are getting squeezed amid the shift to EVs and a consumer spending slowdown.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 3, 2024

Anti-nuclear energy stance fades among LDP presidential hopefuls

Candidates' apparent shift in policy stance on nuclear power may be part of a strategy to win the leadership race.
When it comes to trade disputes between the U.S. and China, not even the game of golf is spared.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2024

U.S. golf cart industry reveals how China tariffs are a blunt instrument

In factories and shops around the country, finding complaints about cheaper Chinese competitors is easy — but reaching a consensus on how to combat them is harder.
A mongoose captured in Amami-Oshima, Kagoshima Prefecture
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2024

Japan declares eradication of mongoose on World Heritage island

This is one of the world's largest-scale cases in which long-settled nonnative mongooses have been eradicated, according to the Environment Ministry.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa attends a new conference for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo on Aug. 25.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 3, 2024

Africa's rising importance for Japan’s Indo-Pacific goals

Africa is becoming an increasingly important element of Japanese FOIP strategy. It is a work in progress, but it is proceeding.
Maestro Seiji Ozawa (center) lays flowers at the cenotaph for atomic bomb victims at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in October 2005.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Sep 9, 2024

Maestro Seiji Ozawa’s prayer for peace lives on in Hiroshima

His musical roots — and passion — can be traced back to the city where the first atomic bomb was detonated.
Kyoto International High Shool's baseball team receives a champion flag after winning the Japanese High School Baseball Championship final at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture on Aug. 23.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 31, 2024

A high school baseball championship and Japan-South Korea relations

The reactions to Kyoto International High School winning the National High School Baseball Championship, both in Japan and South Korea, were intriguing.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi announces his candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 3, 2024

Yoshimasa Hayashi announces candidacy in LDP leadership race

The chief cabinet secretary has proposed a new independent agency to regulate the financing of electoral campaigns.
Hiromi Kawakami’s “Under the Eye of the Big Bird” takes place in a future where humans have developed genetic mutations that allow them to read minds and have powers of prescience.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 3, 2024

'Under the Eye of the Big Bird': Hiromi Kawakami's speculative future sets civilization adrift

The author reimagines sexual reproduction, family ties and societal roles in a passionless world that is neither a dystopia nor an improvement on reality.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh attend an official welcoming ceremony in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2024

Putin gets lavish welcome in Mongolia despite ICC warrant

An ICC arrest warrant against Putin obliges the court's 124 member states to arrest Putin and transfer him to the Hague if he sets foot on their territory.
Nvidia shares got zapped by 9.5% on Tuesday, wiping out $278.9 billion in the biggest loss of value ever for a U.S. stock.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 4, 2024

Nvidia suffers record $279 billion rout as stocks sink

Chipmakers touched off another bout of selling after industry analysts rekindled worries that the mania surrounding artificial intelligence had gone too far.
The government-affiliated National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology will establish a domestic research and development base and plans to receive technical cooperation from Intel.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 4, 2024

Japan research body AIST to create chipmaking R&D base

It will be the first Japanese research institute to introduce extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment, crucial for making chips' circuit line widths narrower.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's US-2 amphibious plane
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2024

Japan to continue production of MSDF US-2 amphibious plane

The Defense Ministry has sought ¥21.9 billion ($150 million) for the acquisition of one US-2 aircraft in its fiscal 2025 budget request.
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba attends a news conference in Kyiv in April.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2024

Ukraine foreign minister resigns amid war's biggest reshuffle

The resignation comes amid a major shake-up at a critical juncture for Ukraine and leaves over a third of the cabinet vacant after sackings earlier this year.
An electronic quotation board shows the Nikkei stock average dropping more than 1,500 points on Wednesday, weighed down by falls on Wall Street following lackluster manufacturing data.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 4, 2024

Japanese stocks tumble amid U.S. tech selloff

Some analysts see Wednesday’s drop as a temporary reaction than a start of another meltdown.
Government Pension Investment Fund in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 4, 2024

GPIF watchers say $1.75 trillion fund may buy more Japan stocks

GPIF is likely to have reclaimed its position as the world’s largest pension fund, thanks to the yen’s rebound after a brief slip earlier this year.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrives at the ministerial conference during the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2024

China pledges to encourage investment in Nigeria

The two sides plan to strengthen ties in China's Belt and Road Initiative, human resources development and nuclear energy.
Shunya Takahashi (center) and Nihon Fukushi University professor Toshihito Mitsui (right) during an event in 2019.
PARALYMPICS
Sep 4, 2024

From Koshien to the Paralympics: Javelin thrower realizes dream long in the making

Born in the city of Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, Takahashi developed a right arm impairment at the age of 3 due to myelitis and finished sixth in his event in Paris.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, speaks on stage in front of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Desert Diamond Arena, in Glendale, Arizona, on Aug. 23.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2024

How Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s pact took shape

A near assassination, a couple of phone calls, and six weeks of secret talks, embarrassing missteps and private misgivings, led to the unlikely alliance.
Johnny's & Associates President Noriyuki Higashiyama (second from right), unveils Smile-Up as the new name for the talent agency during a news conference in Tokyo in October 2023. The agency decided on the name change after it acknowledged the abuse committed by its late founder and apologized to victims in September 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 4, 2024

Johnny’s victims group to disband one year after agency admitted abuse

The group says it will continue to help victims with unresolved cases — through consultation and other forms of support — despite the disbandment.
Passersby outside Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on July 29. A new analysis has found that Japan's extreme heat in July would have been "almost impossible" without climate change.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / Boiling Point
Sep 4, 2024

Japan's record heat in July 'almost impossible' without climate change

Heavy rainfall that caused severe floods the same month was also exacerbated by global warming, according to a new analysis.
Alimentation Couche-Tard’s bid to acquire Japan’s Seven & I Holdings has sparked discussions about Japan’s approach to foreign investment and whether rejecting or accepting the bid reflects an openness to international business.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2024

7-Eleven deserves more than shareholder supremacy

While Japan should consider investor interests, it should not forsake the broader social and community benefits that its businesses provide.
The shutdown of Elon Musk's X has drawn parallels with authoritarian regimes, damaging Brazil’s international reputation and raising concerns about judicial overreach.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2024

Shutting off Elon Musk won't help Brazil's democracy

While regulating hate speech is complex, the approach by Brazil's Supreme Court might be excessive and counterproductive.
The future of 133-year-old remains, which lay buried beneath Kitakyushu for a century, is unclear amid the city's redevelopment plans.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2024

Global conservation body calls on Kitakyushu to halt redevelopment plans

The city said the project will proceed as planned as there are no alternative sites and further delays could threaten the provision of public services.
A young woman visiting a rural backwater from Tokyo (An Ogawa) finds an unlikely playmate in Tatsunari Ota’s “There Is a Stone.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 5, 2024

‘There Is a Stone’ finds beauty in the inconsequential

While very little happens, Tatsunari Ota’s slow-moving debut feature offers stirring moments of simplicity.
A cold and self-centered 21-year-old (Yuumi Kawai) drifts through life in Yoko Yamanaka's “Desert of Namibia.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 5, 2024

'Desert of Namibia' makes its difficult protagonist hard to hate

Yoko Yamanaka's enigmatically titled drama is true to the messy complexity of human beings and their relationships in its own quirky and sharply observant way.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign event at the Throwback Brewery, in North Hampton, New Hampshire, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 5, 2024

Harris' debate plan: Call out Trump and create social media moments

Vice President Kamala Harris' team believes many will watch the debate as video clips on social media platforms like TikTok and X.
Fulton County voters cast their ballots during the Georgia primary at Morningside Presbyterian Church in Atlanta on May 21.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 5, 2024

U.S. voters targeted by Chinese influence online, researchers say

The messaging does not appear to favor one side of the political spectrum — either Democrats or Republicans.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years