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Democratic-backed Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Judge Susan Crawford gestures to supporters after voters elected her to the state Supreme Court, at her election night headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 2, 2025

Liberal wins Wisconsin Supreme Court election in setback for Trump and Musk

The election was widely seen as an early referendum on Trump's presidency, and the campaign easily became the most expensive judicial contest in U.S. history.
Onosato (left) receives the Emperor's Cup from Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku in Osaka on March 23.
SUMO
Apr 2, 2025

Sumo’s 'Big 12' are an eclectic group

Only a dozen rikishi now active have lifted the Emperor’s Cup on the final day of a tournament.
Japanese cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama. The United States will start collecting new 25% import duties on cars and car parts from Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 2, 2025

Japan has some cards to play in trade war with the United States 

It could offer voluntary restraints on exports, or it could offer to buy more from the U.S. in order to reduce the trade surplus with that country.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (right) and teammate Yuki Tsunoda (second from right) alongside Racing Bulls drivers Isack Hadjar (second from left) and Liam Lawson at the F1 Tokyo Fan Festival 2025 in Odaiba, Tokyo, on Wednesday
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 2, 2025

Red Bull and Racing Bulls display unity in Tokyo ahead of grand prix

Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda has moved up to replace Liam Lawson, who was demoted to the junior team.
The bus stop sign for the Ghibli Museum at Mitaka Station. The viral trend of AI-generated Ghibli-style images reflects both a longing for comfort in uncertain times and the ongoing debate over AI’s impact on art.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 2, 2025

For a brief moment, everything was Ghibli

ChatGPT will make almost anything Ghibli-ish, but it won’t draw Totoro.
Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, speaks to reporters after surpassing the record for the longest Senate speech at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD
Apr 2, 2025

Cory Booker condemns Trump’s policies in longest senate speech on record

Cheers broke out in the chamber when the senator passed Strom Thurmond's record for longest speech.
DOGE, the U.S. government reform project, embodies America's brash, fast-paced approach to change, while Japan’s cultural norms emphasize slower, more deliberate decision-making rooted in consensus.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 2, 2025

The DOGE solution? 'No thanks,' says Japan, with reason

I can’t imagine a DOGE-like beast in Japan. No one can. It is utterly alien to every tradition, precedent or cultural inclination in this country.
Marine Le Pen’s embezzlement conviction and election ban intensify France’s political divide, challenge French President Emmanuel Macron’s government and set the stage for a far-right succession battle.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2025

Le Pen’s MAGA-style martyrdom is new risk in France

One big factor could complicate Le Pen’s pivot to MAGA martyrdom, however: The antics of Trump himself.
Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing (center) arrives to meet earthquake survivors gathered in the compound of a hospital in Naypyitaw last Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 2, 2025

Myanmar's deadly earthquake brings diplomatic payoff for junta chief

The disaster opens up diplomatic channels closed to the junta for four years after it ousted an elected government in 2021 to unleash a brutal civil war.
New vehicles parked at a pier in Yokohama on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2025

'Give me a break': Trump tariffs threaten Japan auto sector

The 5.6 million people employed directly or indirectly in the auto sector are now fearful about their future.
Goro Miyazaki joined Studio Ghibli in 1998 and directed films including 2006's "Tales from Earthsea" and 2011's "From Up on Poppy Hill."
CULTURE / Film
Apr 2, 2025

AI may be coming for anime, but Hayao Miyazaki is irreplaceable, son says

Goro Miyazaki says that though nothing can replicate the depth of his father's work, new technology brings "great potential for unexpected talent to emerge."
People line up for food aid in Sagaing, Myanmar, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2025

Myanmar quake toll tops 3,000 as weather poses threat for rescuers

Rains will add to the challenges faced by aid and rescue groups, which have called for access to all affected areas despite the strife of civil war.
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 3, 2025

Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments

NHK's new four-episode miniseries, “After the Quake,” probes the ripple effects of past major disasters across Japanese society.
Mitsuko Kusabue plays the feisty proprietor of a ramshackle drinking establishment in “Let’s Meet at Angie’s Bar.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2025

‘Let’s Meet at Angie’s Bar’: A granny like none other

Acting veteran Mitsuko Kusabue brings wisdom and wit to Yurugu Matsumoto’s lighter-than-air comedy.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte holds a news conference in Brussels on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2025

At summit, NATO eyes growing industrial collaboration with Asian partners

The summit comes as the military alliance seeks to step up ties with its Indo-Pacific partners.
Containers are loaded onto a ship at the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, on Wednesday ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of new tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 3, 2025

Trump tariffs pile stress on ailing world economy

They will sap yet more vigor from a world economy barely recovered from the post-pandemic inflation surge.
Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Athletics during the second inning in Sacramento, California, on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 3, 2025

Seiya Suzuki hits two homers to help Cubs complete rout of A's

Suzuki hit three of Chicago's homers in the series.
People visit the graves of relatives as is customary on the first day of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, at the damaged cemetery of the Yarmuk camp for Palestinian refugees in Damascus on Monday.
WORLD
Apr 3, 2025

Syria says deadly Israeli strikes a 'blatant violation'

Syrian state media said the strikes hit close to a defense research center in Damascus, among other sites, while a war monitor reported four dead.
Some students avoid using school restrooms altogether because of traditional squat toilets, a survey has found.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2025

For incoming first graders, a major hurdle awaits — Japanese squat toilets

According to one survey by the education ministry, roughly 1 in 4 students said they were unable to use the traditional toilets.
New students of the University of Tokyo attend an entrance ceremony at the Budokan Hall in Tokyo in April 2023.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2025

Half of college students in Japan worry about living costs

Some students have said they refrain from buying things more often than they have previously.
Michael Johnson (center) believes Grand Slam Track will be a landmark moment for track and field.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Apr 3, 2025

Michael Johnson's ambitious Grand Slam Track series prepares for first event

The circuit gets under way in Kingston on Friday.
Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shinsuke Yamanaka
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2025

Japan to revise nuclear disaster response guidelines

Under current guidelines, the shelter-in-place period after a nuclear disaster and the timing of its lifting are not specified.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is splashed with water after hitting a walk-off home run against the Braves at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
BASEBALL
Apr 3, 2025

Shohei Ohtani hits walk-off homer as unbeaten Dodgers make history

The Dodgers became the first defending champion to open a season 8-0.
A report by the U.K.-based Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative warns that ignoring climate-related financial threats could expose executives to lawsuits, regulatory scrutiny, and financial losses.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 3, 2025

Japanese execs could face lawsuits for climate inaction: report

Coauthored by legal scholars specializing in corporate governance, the study underscores the mounting financial and legal risks facing companies in Japan.
The Capitals' Alex Ovechkin (left) celebrates with teammate Tom Wilson after scoring against the Hurricanes in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 3, 2025

Alex Ovechkin moves within two goals of Wayne Gretzky's record

Gretzky's record of 894 goals is a mark that was once thought to be unapproachable.
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway’s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital’s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2025

Tokyo’s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway

The line will become a pedestrian-focused green space called Tokyo Sky Corridor, with sections opening in phases before its full relaunch in 2035.
Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda speaks during a news conference for the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 3, 2025

Yuki Tsunoda feeling relaxed ahead of blockbuster Red Bull debut 

The veteran of 89 Formula One races appeared at ease in his new colors, exuding the quiet confidence that he’s had since making his debut in the series in 2021.
Aeon has released a ¥321 ($2.20) frozen bento boxed meal containing peperoncino pasta and a hamburger steak with tomato sauce, which went on sale on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 3, 2025

Japan retailers boost own-brand products amid inflation

Private-label products, which retailers develop with manufacturers, can be sold at lower prices than those of name-brand products because of reduced costs.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels on Thursday.
WORLD
Apr 3, 2025

U.S. to remain in NATO, Rubio says, but higher defense spending needed

Rubio said Washington’s goal is for member states to prioritize defense spending to enable the alliance to become “stronger and more viable.”
Yuki Tsunoda wears his special kabuki-themed helmet on Thursday ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 3, 2025

Five drivers to watch at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix

From Lewis Hamilton to Yuki Tsunoda, here are five of the drivers to keep an extra close eye at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.

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