Search - time

 
 
Prosecutors said Tamotsu Shiiki, 58, had sex with a 12-year-old girl at a karaoke parlor on Aug. 20 after he approached her on the streets, well aware that she was underage.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 5, 2024

Former Nippon Ishin lawmaker pleads guilty to statutory rape

The lawmaker had approached her on the streets of the Kabukicho entertainment district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Aug. 20 and was aware she was underage.
The skeleton of a mammoth, one of the large mammals that roamed North America during the last Ice Age, is displayed at the Mammoth Site where numerous mammoth fossils have been excavated, in Hot Springs, South Dakota, on Aug. 31, 2018.
WORLD
Dec 5, 2024

Mammoths topped the menu for North American Ice Age people

Scientists discovered that the woman's diet was mostly meat from megafauna — the largest animals in an ecosystem — with an emphasis on mammoths.
While FromSoftware's Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a strong contender for game of the year, Black Myth: Wukong, the first AAA game made by a Chinese developer, offers some stiff competition.
LIFE / Digital / 2024 in Review
Dec 6, 2024

It’s Japan versus China for 2024’s game of the year

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Black Myth: Wukong both have a claim to the best game of 2024, a year marked by cultural scandals and lawsuits.
Every Tokyo transplant has their favorite comfort food spot, and it seems Kanye West has found his at Good Wood Terrace.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 8, 2024

Did Kanye West really discover Tokyo’s best jerk chicken spot?

Social media in Japan has become fascinated with Good Wood Terrace after Ye’s visit, with many visiting to try it out themselves.
Mental health, education and social services needed to intervene in many cases before the behavior of minors became a police issue, said a research paper by the Five Eyes, which also include the U.S., Canada, Britain and New Zealand.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 6, 2024

Young people involved in one-fifth of Australian terrorism cases, intelligence chief says

Australia passed legislation this month to ban children under the age of 16 years from social media platforms starting late next year.
Lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo sits alone as the only People Power Party lawmaker to remain in the chamber for a vote on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 7, 2024

Move to impeach South Korea's Yoon in limbo after ruling party walkout

While lawmakers debated the motion, introduced by the main opposition Democratic Party, only a single member of Yoon's People Power Party remained in his seat.
Rebel fighters hold weapons in front of the Hama governor's building after capturing the city during their advance across northern Syria on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 6, 2024

Syria rebels capture another key city in fresh blow to Assad

Hama lies about halfway between Aleppo, which opposition fighters captured in a shock attack on government-held territory last week, and Damascus.
About $105 trillion is projected to be passed down from older generations over the next quarter century, according to research firm Cerulli Associates, an amount roughly equal to global gross domestic product in 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 6, 2024

A $105 trillion inheritance windfall is on the way for U.S. heirs

The latest inheritance projection by Cerulli is 45% higher than the 25-year forecast the firm made only three years ago.
People walk around an outlet mall in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture. At stores across Japan, clerks use a form of polite language called "manyuaru keigo," literally, “manual honorifics,” named for the service manuals they study it from.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 6, 2024

Japan's honorific language can be challenging for native speakers, too

According to surveys, more than half of those in their teens, 20s and 30s, believe they cannot use "keigo," or honorific language, appropriately.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visit the cenotaph for the victims of the Korean atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima Peace Park in Hiroshima in May 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 6, 2024

Former PM Kishida worried upheaval in Seoul may hurt ties

Kishida, who left office in September, formed a warm relationship with Yoon over frequent meetings.
Ten people are suspected of forcibly entering a club in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Dec. 17 last year and assaulting a male security guard.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 6, 2024

Alleged operator of anonymous X account arrested over club assault

Z-Ri, a pun on the name of the kung-fu actor Jet Li, is an influential account that posts about the inner workings of Japan's underworld.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced in a statement on Thursday that David Sacks will be the "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar."
WORLD
Dec 6, 2024

Trump appoints former PayPal exec David Sacks as AI and crypto czar

Sacks is considered a member of the "PayPal Mafia" of former workers and executives at the digital finance firm that includes prominent Trump supporters.
A Metropolitan Police Department flyer on high-paying illegal work advertised on social media, known as yami baito
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 6, 2024

Police may be able to use fake IDs to investigate yami baito

The new measures would allow investigators to sign up for shady jobs with disguised identities and make contact with individuals behind the recruitment.
Yuta Takahashi (back center) with Sunao Tsuboi, former co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo (front, center), in December 2017
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2024

Japanese youth carries on message of prominent atomic bomb survivor

In giving Nihon Hidankyo the Nobel Peace Prize, the committee noted that "new generations in Japan are carrying forward the experience and the message of the witnesses."
Protesters condemn South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law declaration and call for his resignation during a rally in Seoul on Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2024

Yoon’s incoherent, incompetent coup defies logic and reason

Yoon’s lack of political acumen must not be allowed to tar all his policies.
Yoshiki Taniguchi (right), mayor of Aioi, Hyogo Prefecture, apologizes to Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito ahead of a meeting between prefectural government officials and leaders of municipalities in the prefecture held in Kobe on Nov. 26. Taniguchi publicly questioned whether Saito had the credentials to become governor before his election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 5, 2024

'Old' media blames 'new' media for success of 'populist' candidates

Many young voters, especially those in their 20s, are believed to have supported Hyogo Gov. Saito due to his social media outreach.
Newly arrived asylum-seekers take advantage of phone chargers and free Wi-Fi to connect with family back home at an immigrant service center in Oceanside, California, in October 2023.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2024

Sanctuary cities may be having an identity crisis

So far, the mayors and governors of these sanctuary cities and states have remained largely undeterred, even defiant in the face of such threats.
Alexandre Pantoja at a news conference in Rio de Janeiro in May
MORE SPORTS
Dec 6, 2024

Newcomer Kai Asakura aims to dethrone Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 310

Asakura, a 31-year-old from Japan, is a two-time Rizin bantamweight champion.
David Sacks during an event in San Francisco in 2016. President-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Sacks would take on the role of "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar."
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
Dec 7, 2024

Trump's crypto team takes shape but questions remain over who will drive policy

Some analysts said the creation of a crypto czar, a new role, sowed ambiguity over who would drive policy and flagged the potential for clashes.
No new turbines have been ordered in Sweden since the first quarter, according to the latest data from industry group Svensk Vindenergi, the longest such stretch in two years.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 7, 2024

Free green power in Sweden is crippling its wind industry

The country has one of the greenest grids in the world. But even more is needed to electrify the rest of its economy.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani gets a hit during Game 1 of the World Series on Oct. 25. The Golden At-Bat is an idea that would change everything about how baseball — the ultimate team sport — has always worked.
BASEBALL
Dec 7, 2024

Golden At-Bat could give MLB a new shine. Is it worth it?

What if a team could choose one at-bat in every game to send its best hitter to the plate even if it wasn’t that guy’s turn to hit?
Iwao Hakamata (right) and his sister Hideko attend a news conference on Nov. 29
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2024

Sister of ex-death row inmate Iwao Hakamata wins human rights award

The Tokyo Bar Association said it recognized Hideko Hakamata's decadeslong efforts to save her brother and her work to eradicate wrongful convictions.
A residential area of Tokyo. Rising prices has made it difficult for the child-rearing generation to secure large houses in the capital.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 7, 2024

Tokyo government considering fund for housing support

The planned fund will provide necessary financial aid for private businesses to develop affordable housing.
Shareholders board a HondaJet for a sightseeing flight at Oita Airport in Kunisaki, Oita Prefecture, on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 8, 2024

HondaJet flies with shareholders aboard

Eight passengers, including shareholders chosen by lottery from 6,846 applicants for the shareholder benefit program and their families, enjoyed a 30-minute flight.
People gather at Umayyad Square in Damascus on Sunday. The Islamist-led rebels declared that they have taken the city.
WORLD
Dec 8, 2024

Syrian rebels topple President Assad; prime minister calls for free elections

Syrian rebels seized Damascus, ending President Bashar Assad's 13-year rule and raising uncertainty over a transition led by Islamist group HTS in a war-torn nation.
Terumi Tanaka, a co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo (center), and other members of the delegation prepare to depart from Haneda Airport for Oslo on Sunday to attend this year's Nobel Prize award ceremony.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2024

Hidankyo members leave for Nobel Peace Prize ceremony

The Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony will be held from 1 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a banquet.
The government's pension reform plan under consideration will make it easier for part-timers to join the kosei nenkin employee pension program.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 8, 2024

Japan to scrap ¥1.06 million employee pension threshold in 2026

The government also plans to abolish a requirement that companies must have at least 51 employees for employees to join the kosei nenkin program.
Filipino housekeepers undergo training to work for a Japanese staffing company. By applying the same criteria when hiring overseas and local workers, Japanese firms tend to underutilize the unique skills that foreign nationals can bring.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 8, 2024

Firms should quit turning foreign workers into Japanese ones

Many foreign nationals struggle with the idiosyncrasies of Japan's employment system. Firms tend to assimilate overseas personnel rather than utilize their unique skills.
Supporters of Georgia's opposition parties hold a rally to protest against the government's decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union, in Tbilisi on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 9, 2024

Georgia pro-EU protesters defiant as thousands rally for 11th day

Thousands of people gathered outside the parliament building in the capital Tbilisi on Sunday, waving EU flags and blowing whistles.
A Syrian rebel fighter kisses a child as they gather in Homs after Syria's army command notified officers on Sunday that President Bashar Assad's 24-year authoritarian rule had ended on Sunday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Dec 9, 2024

How Syrian rebels' stars aligned for Assad's ouster

Opposition militias sensed an opportunity to loosen the president grip on power when, about six months ago, they received Turkey's tacit blessing for a major offensive.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight