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Eating locally grown food could be part of a decokatsu lifestyle that's both good for the planet and your wallet.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jun 15, 2025

Decokatsu could save you money and help the planet. But you probably haven't heard of it.

The ambitious government program aims to get people to live in ways that are healthier for the planet without being restrictive about it.
Rio Takeda banked roughly ¥265.7 million during the 2024 season in prize money on the back of a tour-high eight wins.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jun 15, 2025

What gender pay gap? In Japanese golf, women are on par with men

Fan and sponsorship growth has players in the JLPGA making just as much as their male counterparts, a rarity in the male-dominated world of sports.
A registration system linking local governments with the so-called connected population — nonresidents who regularly interact with regional areas — is designed to encourage people living in urban areas to play active roles in rural communities amid their shrinking populations.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 15, 2025

Japan considers new system to connect urban and rural populations

The system aims to help those in overpopulated cities to play more active roles in rural communities with shrinking populations.
A man works at the site of a rare earth metals mine at Nancheng county, in China's Jiangxi province, in October 2010.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 15, 2025

U.S.-China trade truce leaves military-use rare earth issue unresolved

The renewed U.S.-China trade truce left a key area of export restrictions tied to national security untouched, an unresolved conflict that threatens a more comprehensive deal.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Sunday ahead of his departure for a Group of Seven leaders' summit in Canada.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

Ishiba arrives in Canada for G7, with Trump trade deal on his mind

The Japanese leader hopes to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to drop trade tariffs that have imperiled his country's economy.
A defiant U.S. President Donald Trump attend the 44th Group of Seven gathering in Charlevoix, Canada, in 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

Trump returns to G7 he once loathed as Iran crisis intensifies

President Donald Trump arrives in Canada as the center of attention for a Group of Seven summit of world leaders whose main purpose will be to mollify him.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at Calgary International Airport in Canada on Sunday for a Group of Seven leaders' summit.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2025

Polls show support for Ishiba recovering ahead of election

A survey conducted over the weekend by Kyodo News showed the approval rating for Ishiba’s Cabinet at 37.0%.
Tatjana Maria lifts the trophy after winning the HSBC WTA tennis Championships at Queen's Club in London on Sunday.
TENNIS
Jun 16, 2025

Maria crowned first Queen's Club women's champion in 52 years

The 37-year-old becomes the oldest player to claim a WTA title since Serena Williams won in Auckland in 2020.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking will be one of the funding sources for a wealth management joint venture by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and SBI Holdings.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 16, 2025

Sumitomo Mitsui and SBI to launch wealth management joint venture

Policymakers in Japan are encouraging individual investors to put more of their money in riskier assets such as equities.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 8 and U.S. President Donald Trump in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, on May 30. Despite an aversion to Trump, the survey showed consistent support for the U.S. alliance, with 80% of respondents saying the U.S. was important for Australia’s security, while attitudes toward China have slightly improved.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

Australians equally distrust Trump and Xi, survey finds

Australians’ faith in the U.S. has deteriorated following President Donald Trump's return to the White House.
Demonstrators shoot water pistols during a protest against mass tourism in Barcelona on Sunday.
WORLD / Society
Jun 16, 2025

Protesters against overtourism take to the streets of southern Europe

Groups across Spain, Italy and Portugal argue that uncontrolled tourism sends housing prices soaring and forces people out of their neighborhoods.
Local authorities in Tokyo are resorting to unconventional measures to raise voter turnout, including partnering with public bathhouses amid Japan’s ongoing sauna boom and collaborating with high school students to create promotional materials.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 16, 2025

Tokyo teams up with bathhouses to boost voter turnout for assembly election

The previous election in 2021 showed a much lower turnout rate among younger demographics.
Proposals to delist Taiyo Holdings have emerged as Japanese companies face pressure from the Tokyo Stock Exchange to boost their value to stay listed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 16, 2025

Taiyo to decide on delisting as early as August, president says

The chemical manufacturer is set to hold its annual shareholders’ meeting on Saturday in which its president, Eiji Sato, is likely to face a vote on his ouster.
Urawa's Samuel Gustafson (center) celebrates scoring the winning goal against Yokohama FC at Saitama Stadium 2002 on June 1.
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 16, 2025

Urawa Reds ready to take on the Club World Cup's bigger stage

Urawa goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa has no doubt that this year’s Club World Cup will offer a much bigger stage.
Sweden's Armand Duplantis celebrates after setting a new world record of 6.28 meters in the men's pole vault at Stockholm Stadium in Sweden on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Jun 16, 2025

'Magical' Duplantis soars to pole vault world record in Stockholm

With victory in the event already guaranteed, Duplantis broke the world record for the 12th time as he sailed over the bar at the first attempt.
A public clash between Donald Trump and Elon Musk exposed the national security risks of the U.S. government's heavy reliance on SpaceX, a private company controlled by a single individual.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2025

Washington divorcing SpaceX just isn’t possible right now

The U.S. government depends on SpaceX for low-cost space launches while competitors lag behind.
Nippon Steel is buying United States Steel in a deal that gives the U.S. government a golden share in the U.S. steelmaker.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 16, 2025

Nippon Steel may have gotten the deal it wanted all along

The Japanese company has already committed to heavy investment in U.S. Steel and a U.S.-controlled board of directors at the American steelmaker.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (left) speaks to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on June 13.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 16, 2025

Nvidia's pitch for sovereign AI resonates with EU leaders

The concept for every nation to develop its own artificial intelligence is based on the idea that the language, knowledge, history and culture of each region are different.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi talks to rice farmers in Fukushima Prefecture on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

Agriculture ministry aims to stop publishing rice index amid accuracy concerns

A gap between the rice crop situation index and farmers’ testimonies about actual yields occurred because the agriculture ministry was using outdated sampling numbers.
The national government's envisioned disaster management agency is a signature project of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba,
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

Many regions eager to host branches of upcoming disaster agency

A total of 28 entities representing prefectures, municipal government and other bodies have expressed their interest.
Smoke billows from an explosion at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) building in Tehran on Monday after it was struck in an Israeli attack.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 17, 2025

Israel and Iran trade blows as air war rages into fifth day

The Israeli military said Tuesday it had killed Iran's top military commander — a close confidant of the country's supreme leader — amid rising fears of a wider conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks to have a family photo taken at the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 17, 2025

G7 backs Israel’s ‘right to defend itself’ as Trump hastily leaves summit

In a tersely worded joint statement, the bloc labeled Iran a “principal source of regional instability.”
SoftBank Group has sold 21.5 million T-Mobile U.S. shares for $224 each in an unregistered overnight block sale.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 17, 2025

SoftBank raises $4.8 billion through T-Mobile share sale

The Japanese technology giant sold 21.5 million T-Mobile shares for $224 each in an unregistered overnight block sale.
The Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani throws against the Padres during the first inning at Dodger Stadium on Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 17, 2025

Shohei Ohtani makes Dodgers pitching debut

Ohtani made his long-awaited return to the mound — and his first pitching outing in Dodger Blue — as an opener against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on Monday.
Nihonbashi bridge, long overshadowed — literally — by an elevated expressway, is at the center of a multidecade project to relocate the highway underground in hopes of restoring the scenery around the historically significant bridge.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2025

Tokyo moves to restore open skies over historic Nihonbashi bridge

The elevated expressway is set to be completely removed in fiscal 2040 under a project expected to cost ¥320 billion ($2.2 billion).
While leaders, researchers and activists at the third United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, took steps to tackle overfishing and pollution threatening delicate ecosystems and the people who depend on them, getting countries to agree to better governance has been challenging.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jun 17, 2025

Investors want clear ocean management rules to scale up funding

The lack of a clear governing framework and robust ocean-related data has stymied private sector finance to date.
Arsenal players and fans celebrate outside Emirates Stadium in London after winning the Women's Champions League  on May 26.
SOCCER
Jun 17, 2025

Nielsen projects women's soccer to become top-five most popular sport

Women's soccer is already one of the top 10 most followed sports globally, and momentum appears to be building.
People shop at a covered market in Suva, Fiji, on Sept. 5.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2025

Pacific Islands should boost women's participation in work, says World Bank

Six countries did not have paid parental leave, often forcing women to leave the labor force when they started families, a report said.
New Zealand's Ardie Savea in action against Ireland at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Nov. 8
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jun 17, 2025

All Black Savea to skip Super Rugby for Japan sabbatical in 2026

Moana Pasifika coach Tana Umaga said Savea, who was the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year this season, would be welcomed back with open arms in 2027.
Residents react as Ukrainian rescuers conduct a search after a Russian missile strike in Kyiv on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jun 17, 2025

Russia kills at least 15 in strikes on Kyiv and other cities

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian forces sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine.

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