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Customers stand in line outside a Louis Vuitton store in Tokyo's Ginza district on July 19.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 2, 2024

Luxury brands count cost as shoppers from overseas enjoy weak yen discount

Goods sold in Japan by global luxury brands, ranging from designer sneakers to whisky, now tend to be cheaper in dollar terms than elsewhere.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida (left) and Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe shake hands prior to a joint news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 2, 2024

Honda-Nissan alliance completes Japan car industry consolidation

The carmakers' cozying up to one another follows Toyota acquiring stakes in Subaru, Suzuki and Mazda.
Founded in the early 2000s, Ichiro's Malt has since become a third pole in Japan's whisky world dominated by beverage giants.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 4, 2024

In sleepy Chichibu, Japan's whisky landscape is quietly shifting

Ichiro’s signature flavor profile of rich, woodsy flavors complemented by a clear fruitiness owes in large part to the tempermental 'mizunara' Japanese oak.
Security cameras in front of a portrait of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on March 11
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 2, 2024

China’s proposed digital ID system stokes fears of overreach

China's new centralized digital ID system may give authorities a more direct and complete view of people’s online lives.
Tadakazu Sado speaks during an interview in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 2, 2024

Noto getting 'nowhere near enough support,' says volunteer

Tadakazu Sado says he is increasingly concerned about waning interest in volunteering to help the region recover from the Jan. 1 earthquake.
Members of the Romanian Olympic women's gymnastics team check their smartphones during a training session early last month.
OLYMPICS
Aug 2, 2024

Social media trolls beware: Olympic athletes have had enough

Online abuse has become such an issue that the Japanese Olympic Committee released a statement asking fans to mind their manners on the internet.
A health ministry panel has approved Eli Lilly's donanemab drug for Alzheimer's patients.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 2, 2024

Japan's health ministry set to approve second Alzheimer's drug

Donanemab, developed by U.S. pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, has been backed by a ministry panel.
The Nikkei 225 fell more than 2,000 points on Friday, capping a volatile week in the financial markets.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 2, 2024

Japanese stocks fall almost 6% just days after shock rate rise

In the span of less than a month, the 225-issue Nikkei average went from all-time records to a shocking rout.
China always seems to be one step ahead of America in economic strategies, advancing in electric vehicle and battery production while the U.S. struggles to keep up with evolving trade and supply chain challenges.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2024

West plays 'whack-a-mole' as China dominates EV and battery sectors

A more proactive, multilateral approach by the U.S. to supply chain and trade policy is necessary to counter China’s economic influence.
Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi meets with victims of forced sterilization at the ministry in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 2, 2024

Victims of forced sterilization seek ¥15 million in compensation

Under a now-defunct eugenics law, the government allowed doctors to perform nonconsensual sterilization surgery and abortion on those with disabilities.
Formula E cars race during the Portland E-Prix in Oregon in June.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Aug 1, 2024

From race to road: Is Formula E fueling the future of green transport?

Formula E has helped hasten the development of technology for electric vehicles, making them easier to sell to consumers, but hurdles for EVs remain.
Japan's Koki Kano shakes hands with Hungary's Gergely Siklosi at the end of the men's epee team gold medal bout between Japan and Hungary during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Grand Palais in Paris on Friday.
OLYMPICS / Fencing
Aug 3, 2024

Hungary upsets Japan to snatch gold in men's epee

Gergely Siklosi, scoring first, gave his team a lead that they kept for most of the bout, eventually winning 26-25 against the defending champions.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro visit the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia on July 13.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 3, 2024

Harris secures Democratic presidential nomination as hunt for VP pick heats up

The vice president, 59, was the sole candidate on the ballot for a five-day electronic vote of nearly 4,000 party convention delegates.
Road signs are tilted over a road damaged by the New Year's Day earthquake in Nishiaraya, Ishikawa Prefecture. A new report, part of a long-term assessment, was swiftly drawn up in response to the 7.6-magnitude quake that struck the Noto Peninsula area, so that coastal municipalities can improve their disaster reduction measures.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 3, 2024

Government reveals 25 offshore active faults on country's Sea of Japan side

The active faults are located off the coast stretching from the northern area of Hyogo Prefecture to the Joetsu area of Niigata Prefecture.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
WORLD
Aug 3, 2024

Pentagon deploying ships and fighters to boost Mideast presence

The moves come as Israel faces threats from Iran to avenge assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is shown in this file photograph during his arrest on March 1, 2003.
WORLD
Aug 3, 2024

Pentagon chief revokes plea deals with three 9/11 suspects

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has revoked plea deals agreed to in recent days with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accomplices.
Residents board a train as they are evacuated to a shelter, in Pokrovsk, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on Monday.
WORLD
Aug 3, 2024

Russian troops inch forward in Ukraine's east with waves of bombs and infantry

Waves of guided bombs and infantry are leading to some of Moscow's largest territorial gains since the spring.
Gold medal-winning judoka Teddy Riner of France celebrates his victory at the Paris Olympics in the French capital on Friday.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Aug 3, 2024

France's Teddy Riner reigns supreme with record fourth gold

The judoka now has three individual titles — a record shared with Japan's Tadahiro Nomura, who won three consecutive titles in the -60kg category in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
U.S. President Joe Biden hugs Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, as he and other prisoners freed from Russia arrive at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland late Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 3, 2024

Prisoner deals stoke fears of perverse ‘incentive’ to grab Americans

Hostile governments like Russia and Iran are often involved, and practical alternatives are hard to come by, experts say.
A man takes a picture of an electronic quotation board displaying the closing numbers of share prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 3, 2024

Tokyo stocks likely to remain volatile in coming days

The benchmark Nikkei 225 average has been forecast to move between 34,000 and 38,000.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in April 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 3, 2024

Alongside the Trump-Russia inquiry, a lesser-known look at Egyptian influence

The Justice Department investigated whether a Trump adviser was part of an Egyptian plan, never proven, to funnel $10 million to the 2016 Trump campaign.
A man looks at an electronic stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 3, 2024

Novice investors under pressure after Japan stock rout

Newcomer investors, who are concerned about the possibility of further stock price declines, are facing the challenge of whether to continue investing.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint meeting of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on July 24.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 3, 2024

Netanyahu, defiant, appears to have gone rogue, risking a regional war

Absent a clear goal in the war, the prime minister's defiance is dividing Israel from its allies and the country itself.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about the release of Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who were detained in Russia, as she departs to return to Washington, at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 4, 2024

Surging Harris spars with Trump over debate dates

Trump's proposal to confront Harris on Fox, a network that has long supported him, was his latest effort to recapture momentum.
Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air-defense system over the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel, on Sunday, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 4, 2024

Fears of Middle East war grow after Hamas leader's killing

The killing this week of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran has triggered vows of vengeance from Iran and the so-called "axis of resistance."
South Korean Ambassador to Japan Yun Duk-min is interviewed in Tokyo on July 19.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 4, 2024

South Korea's outgoing envoy pushes for joint declaration on history recognition

Yun Duk-min reiterated that a declaration could be announced in 2025 to mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral diplomatic ties.
Smoke and flames rise from Park Fire burning near Chico, California, on July 25.
WORLD
Aug 4, 2024

California wildfire now fourth-largest in state history

More than 6,000 firefighters in California's Central Valley continued to battle the largest blaze in the U.S. on Saturday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden hold a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on July 25.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 4, 2024

Killing of Hamas leader fuels more tension between Biden and Netanyahu

The U.S. president has expressed concern that the assassination has thrown cease-fire talks into doubt, something the Israeli leader rejects.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greets supporters from atop a truck during a demonstration against the presidential election results, in Caracas on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 4, 2024

Venezuela opposition declares 'we have never been so strong'

Thousands gathered peacefully across Venezuela, including in the capital Caracas where Maria Corina Machado thrilled supporters with a surprise appearance.
South Korea's Lim Si-hyeon has three gold medals from the 2024 Paris Games. Archers from the country have all been given cars by team sponsor Hyundai.
OLYMPICS
Aug 4, 2024

Diamonds, meatballs and motors: How Olympians can win more than medals

Many rewards are financial, but they can also be more eclectic.

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