Search - new

 
 
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 23, 2025

Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu

The monster dolls may be driving fans wild elsewhere, but Japan has long had plenty of its own domestically produced characters that know exactly what consumers want.
A middle school student (Chiyuri Nishiguchi) tries to keep her family afloat following the sudden death of her mother in Yoshihiko Taniguchi’s “Happy Life.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2025

‘Happy Life’ brings dignity to family’s struggle with grief and poverty

Yoshihiko Taniguchi’s film balances realism and compassion in its depiction of a family adrift after a sudden death.
Consumer prices in Japan rose 3.1% from a year earlier in July, slowing from a 3.3% gain in the previous month but still suggesting that inflation remains relatively sticky.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2025

Japan’s inflation hovers well above BOJ’s goal even as it slows

Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.1% from a year earlier in July, slowing from a 3.3% gain a month earlier.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a news conference following their meeting to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, in Anchorage, Alaska, last week.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Doubts grow on Ukraine security plan as Russia demands role

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow should have a say in security arrangements for Ukraine, which could also involve Beijing.
Displaced Palestinian women fleeing the northern Gaza Strip ride with their belongings as they head south, in Gaza City, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Netanyahu says Israel to resume Gaza negotiations to end war and free hostages

The statement is the Israeli prime minister's first response to a temporary ceasefire proposal put forward by Egypt and Qatar that Hamas has accepted.
Democratic Texas Rep. Gene Wu speaks at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday. State officials are redrawing congressional maps to benefit Republicans.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Americans worry democracy is in danger amid gerrymandering fights, poll finds

As Texas Republicans redraw the state's congressional maps to benefit their party, California Democrats threaten to respond in kind.
An All Nippon Airways passenger plane landed on a runway where a work vehicle was operating at Wakkanai Airport in Hokkaido on Wednesday, according to the transport ministry.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2025

'Serious incident' to be probed after ANA plane lands while vehicle on runway

The Japan Transport Safety Board has appointed two aviation accident investigators to begin an investigation into the event at Wakkanai Airport in Hokkaido.
Nissan's popular "<i>kei</i> car" Roox is seen displayed outside the company's global headquarters in Yokohama in November.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2025

Nissan updates popular 'kei car' as it revamps aging lineup

The fourth-generation Roox, better mileage, more safety features and built-in connectivity, will go on sale by the end of the year for ¥1.6 million.
A boxing match at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Feb. 29, 2016. Japanese boxing has been rocked by a series of serious injuries and deaths.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Aug 22, 2025

Japanese amateur boxer in intensive care after latest incident

The JBF, which oversees amateur boxing in Japan, said the man had not fought a match for over 10 years and had been in training to make a comeback.
Ann Burroughs, head of the Japanese American National Museum, called it "inconceivable" for the United States to be "building concentration camps, denying the lessons learned 80 years ago."
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2025

Japanese American museum blasts Trump's use of internment camp to detain people

The Trump administration set up an immigration detention center within the grounds of an army base that was used during World War II as an internment camp for Japanese Americans.
A London-based design pair has turned handhold straps on the Den-en-toshi Line into stylish table lamps.
LIFE / Style & Design
Aug 25, 2025

Retired Tokyo trains live on as upcycled table lamps

Former railcars on the Den-en-toshi Line have been refashioned into table lamps available for purchase from Aug. 25.
Eric Trump plans to attend a shareholder meeting of Japanese bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet on Sept. 1, according to people familiar with the matter.
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2025

Eric Trump to visit Japan in September amid crypto push

The U.S. President’s son plans to attend a shareholder meeting of Japanese bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet.
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin as they meet in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15.
EDITORIALS
Aug 22, 2025

Peace in Ukraine is within reach — if the world holds firm

Peace prospects swing with Trump’s erratic diplomacy. Allies, including Japan, need to stress unity and rule of law as they prepare to fill gaps and stabilize support for Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hand with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, last week.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2025

Was Trump’s Russia-Ukraine summit doomed from the beginning?

Negotiations are doomed to fail if you neglect both reality and standard practices that must never be ignored.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a speech at the closing ceremony of the Japan-led Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD 9, on Friday in Yokohama.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2025

TICAD adopts Yokohama Declaration to strengthen multilateral trade

The communique emphasized proposals to solve problems facing African states, apparently reflecting Japan's wish to highlight a different approach to that of China.
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 22, 2025

Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas

Yellowish and high in acidity, German sake won't please the purists, but open-minded consumers, especially wine drinkers, may find something appealing.
Artist Nikita Kadan and dancer Min Tanaka modeled their art and choreography respectively on prosthetic limbs as commentary on the island’s history of being a center for isolating people with Hansen’s disease.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 23, 2025

Healing Oshima Island's history of disease with a touch of art

Min Tanaka opened the Setouchi Triennale’s summer session on Oshima, Kagawa Prefecture, with a site-specific dance at Nikita Kadan’s sculpture, an allegory for support.
A boy walks with a canister as Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military offensive take shelter in tents in Gaza City on Friday.
WORLD
Aug 22, 2025

U.N. declares famine in Gaza, placing blame on Israel

Israel denied there was a famine, saying the report was "based on Hamas lies laundered through organizations with vested interests."
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell attends the Kansas City Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Moran, Wyoming, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 23, 2025

U.S. Fed chair opens door to rate cut as Trump steps up pressure

But Fed chief Jerome Powell also continued to argue that policymakers must guard against the prospect that President Donald Trump’s tariffs lead to persistent inflation.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and  Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands at joint press announcement after summit talks in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 24, 2025

At meeting rich in symbolism, Ishiba and South Korea's Lee agree to steadily build ties

In the two countries' first joint document in 17 years, the leaders agreed to work together "to advance future-oriented and mutually beneficial common interests."
A North Korean soldier stands guard in a watch tower next to a giant loudspeaker near the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas on June 12.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 23, 2025

Seoul says fired warning shots after North Korean troops crossed border

Pyongyang's state media said earlier Saturday that the incident occurred as North Korean soldiers worked to permanently seal the frontier dividing the peninsula.
Director of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency Lt. Jeffrey Kruse (left) testifies during a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington in March 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 23, 2025

In latest purge, Hegseth removes head of Pentagon intel agency and others

The move appeared to be the latest attempt to penalize current and former military, intelligence and law enforcement officials whose views have been seen as at odds with Trump.
Audrey Strauss, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell during a news conference in New York in July 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 23, 2025

U.S. Justice Department releases Ghislaine Maxwell transcripts

The accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein said U.S. President Donald Trump was friendly with the convicted sex offender but was "never inappropriate with anybody."
Shinji Mizutani opened Tanikoretani in August 2024, after converting a dilapidated shophouse in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa into a retro-look "izakaya" tavern.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 24, 2025

Behind Tanikoretani’s quiet facade, a lively world of sake-fueled food

A chance encounter with a two-story rental space led Shinji Mizutani to set up a vibrant tavern in Tokyo’s Kiyosumi-Shirakawa neighborhood.
A soldier speaks to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on July 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 24, 2025

Taiwan voters reject lawmaker recalls, clouding defense budget

None of the seven opposition Kuomintang legislators targeted in Saturday’s second round of recall elections by the Democratic Progressive Party were removed.
Statues of bulls in Pudong's Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai on Aug. 18
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 24, 2025

Bubble risks grow as China’s stock bull run defies economy angst

A deflationary spiral that’s eroded corporate pricing power in the world’s second-largest economy is one of the biggest reasons to doubt the sustainability of the current rally.
The Savannah River Site, an 800-square-kilometer Department of Energy site, located in the sand hills region of South Carolina
WORLD / Politics
Aug 24, 2025

Trump plans to make Cold War-era plutonium available for nuclear power

Plutonium has previously only been converted to fuel for commercial U.S. reactors in short-lived tests.
Trojena, the ski resort that is scheduled to host events during the 2029 Asian Winter Games, is part of the planned Saudi megacity of NEOM, which has faced a string of challenges in recent years.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 24, 2025

Saudi Arabia and Olympic Council weigh moving Asian Winter Games

The event is seen as a key marker for Saudi Arabia’s global ambitions and the kingdom could eventually simply choose to scale back plans for the planned ski resort.
Tottenham Hotspur's Brennan Johnson celebrates after scoring his club's first goal of its win over Manchester City on Saturday.
SOCCER
Aug 24, 2025

Manchester City's troubles reappear as solid Spurs win again

Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha struck for the Europa League winners just before halftime as Spurs went into a tie at the top of the table.
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Aug 24, 2025

Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?

Those in the travel industry are working to advertise cooler destinations, amid the prospect that the heat may prompt people to give up on traveling in the summer altogether.

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