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French riot police take position as part of a demonstration by dockers during the inauguration of the first French offshore floating wind turbine, Floatgen, in the port of Saint-Nazaire, France, in 2017.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Sep 24, 2024

Offshore wind opponents in Australia and Europe look to U.S. for advice

Many hope they can transform what was once a disorganized scattering of local activists into an increasingly sophisticated global network.
Italian former prime minister and economist Mario Draghi (left) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen take part in a joint news conference about the future of European competitiveness at the EU headquarters in Brussels on Sept. 9.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 25, 2024

Draghi warns Europe — and Japan — about the failure to innovate

The warning could not be clearer. Europe faces “an existential crisis.” “Over time, we will inexorably become less prosperous, less equal, less secure and, as a result, less free to choose our destiny.” Moreover, “without action, we will have to either compromise our welfare, our environment...
The Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Sazanami arrives in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean during a scheduled port visit in July. The Sazanami became the first Japanese warship to sail through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 26, 2024

Japan MSDF warship sails through Taiwan Strait for first time

The transit on Wednesday, which follows a spate of Chinese military moves near Japan, drew a strongly worded warning from Beijing.
Yonaguni Mayor Kenichi Itokazu speaks to a Ground Self-Defense Force soldier at the town hall on Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost inhabited island in Okinawa Prefecture last  November.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2024

Deterring Taiwan conflict is top priority for Japan's ‘front-line’ mayor

The mayor believes the U.S. and Japan must do away with "strategic ambiguity" over Taiwan if they intend to keep China in check.
Newly elected Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake addresses the nation in Colombo on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 27, 2024

Sri Lanka’s leftist leader faces tough test to alter IMF deal

The new president took office with a mandate to bring relief to citizens, but the hard part is getting the lenders to play along.
Keiichi Ishii was chosen as new leader of Komeito, the junior coalition partner of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party,at a party convention on Saturday, the first change of its leadership in 15 years.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 29, 2024

Ishii named Komeito head in first leadership change in 15 years

The change came as the term of the previous leader, Natsuo Yamaguchi, 72, expired and he did not seek re-election.
While Shigeru Ishiba’s victory suggests a shift within the Liberal Democratic Party, he still faces challenges from those who remain loyal to the old party guard. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 29, 2024

Japan’s perennial political underdog finally gets a win

Ishiba margin of victory was slim, meaning that there is still a sizable portion of the party who will be resistant to his initiatives.
Wozme, founded by dancer and choreographer Wakaba Kohei, is composed of Kana Kitty, Ami Ishii, Akane Watanabe and Natsuki. Its aim is to inject elegance and beauty, traits traditionally associated with femininity, into the sometimes grotesque art form of butoh dance.
CULTURE / Stage / Longform
Sep 29, 2024

Wozme, an all-women dance troupe, wants to move the needle in butoh

The art form’s younger dancers are experimenting with long-standing approaches to the choreography, marketing and image of this captivating piece of Japanese culture.
The French government and Paris Games organizers had promised to leave a legacy that would help tackle the problem of people spending too much time on screens and doing too little exercise.
OLYMPICS
Oct 2, 2024

Frustrated French clubs turn away players in post-Olympics sports boom

Swimming clubs have registered around 10,000 new members, while table tennis clubs are expecting around 20% more players.
Workers picket outside of the APM container terminal at the Port of Newark in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2024

U.S. dockworkers strike to stop automation already seen at other ports

Longshoremen have gone on strike for the first time since 1977 as the union takes a hard-line stance against automation.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, 66, has experience as the onetime head of Japan’s former Defense Agency before it became a full-fledged ministry and is seen as a pair of steady hands.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 2, 2024

Ishiba looks to 'defense tribe' to fill key Cabinet positions

The new prime minister has named four former defense ministers to key posts — most notably, the defense and foreign affairs portfolios.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2024

Further BOJ rate hike this year in doubt after Ishiba's surprise warning

A survey last month showed 53% of economists forecast the BOJ would push up interest rates in December, but that outlook is now in question.
Port workers from the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) participate in a strike at the Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth, Virginia, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2024

U.S. port workers, operators reach deal to end East Coast strike

A tentative agreement for a wage hike of around 62% over six years will immediately end a crippling three-day strike.
Dul Saroth (left) and Soeum Samrach, deminers with the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, practice using the Advanced Landmine Imaging System in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province in August.
JAPAN / Longform
Oct 7, 2024

The Japanese tech that could one day make Southeast Asia landmine-free

The Advanced Landmine Imaging System being tested in Cambodia promises to speed up landmine clearance work and save lives.
If the Liberal Democratic Party does not perform well and loses seats in the coming election, Shigeru Ishiba’s tenure may be one of the shortest in modern Japanese political history.
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2024

Ishiba faces challenges from the opposition — and his own party

Ishiba needs to be ready for challenges coming from all directions: outside the country, from the opposition and from his own party.
Containers are stacked at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal (PMT) in Portsmouth, Virginia, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Oct 5, 2024

U.S. port strike throws spotlight on big union foe: automation

Companies view automation as a path to better profit while unions see it as a job-killer.
The average price of new condos in Tokyo's 23 wards in the first half of this year stayed over ¥100 million and a notable wave of price increases was observed in urban areas surrounding Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2024

Tokyo area condo prices remain sky-high

The average price of new condos in central Tokyo's densely populated 23 wards stood at ¥108.55 million in the first half of this year.
A researcher works in the Ruvkun Lab in the Richard B. Simches Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, on Monday. U.S. scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun won the Nobel Prize in Medicine on Monday for their discovery of microRNA and its role in how genes are regulated.
WORLD
Oct 8, 2024

What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained

Several treatments and tests are under development using microRNAs against cancer, heart disease, viruses and other illnesses.
Omar Abdullah (center), leader of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference party, arrives to address the media outside his residence in Srinagar on Tuesday, after his election win in Indian-administered Kashmir.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 9, 2024

Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade

Voters backed opposition parties to lead the Muslim-majority territory's regional assembly in the first local elections since 2014.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya asked his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to provide a proper accounting of the facts in the stabbing death of a schoolboy in China last month during their telephone talks on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 10, 2024

Japan still pushing China for explanation over killing of schoolboy

Japan wants an explanation as soon as possible, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
The city of Kyoto boasts historic artifacts and cityscapes that millions are willing to travel thousands of kilometers to see, but such treasures are not cheap to maintain, prompting the city to ask foreign tourists for a helping hand.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 13, 2024

Kyoto partners with e-gift service company to let tourists Donate & Go

The new donation service allows foreign tourists to contribute toward the preservation of cities they visit while receiving a gift in return.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump campaigns at the Dodge County Airport in Juneau, Wisconsin on Oct. 6. Even before he kicked off a comeback bid, foreign governments realized that Trump was still a force in American politics and  took him into account in their dealings with the United States.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 12, 2024

Much of the world treats Trump as a shadow president

The former U.S. president has remained a force in international politics, with governments taking him into account in their dealings with the U.S.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba chairs an Asia Zero Emission Community meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Oct 13, 2024

Where does Shigeru Ishiba stand on the climate issue?

Ishiba appears to be charting a new course on renewable energy, especially with a nascent effort to tap Japan's bountiful geothermal potential.
Israeli soldiers carry the body of a victim of the earlier Hamas attack at on a kibbutz in southern Israel, during clean-up operations on Oct. 10, 2023.
WORLD
Oct 13, 2024

Secret documents show Hamas tried to persuade Iran to join its Oct. 7 attack

Minutes of Hamas’ secret meetings obtained by The New York Times show Sinwar’s determination to persuade Hamas’ allies, Iran and Hezbollah, to join the assault.
With projections indicating a population drop in Japan from around 125 million to 63 million by 2100, traditional solutions like immigration and labor reforms are unlikely to be effective in time.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 15, 2024

Japan should master, not resist, its demographic destiny

Japan needs a strategic reorientation toward accepting and mastering its demographic changes rather than resisting them.
In his July Republican Party acceptance speech, Donald Trump vowed to launch the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2024

Who wants to buy the miracle tonic of mass deportation?

Donald Trump's mass deportation plan could result in thousands of deaths, tear families apart, and devastate communities.
This year’s T3 Photo Festival features work by contemporary artists such as Fuyuhiko Takata, whose video piece “Cut Suits”shows white-collar workers becoming naked by cutting their business attire off of each other. 
CULTURE / Art
Oct 18, 2024

T3 Photo Festival reflects on past and present of the medium

The Tokyo event marks the 50th anniversary of a landmark New York show of Japanese photography by juxtaposing images from that era with works by contemporary artists.
For Designart 2024, 130 (one thirty) is exhibiting its first furniture collection of 100% recyclable 3D-printed works at Issey Miyake Ginza.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Oct 19, 2024

117 creative exhibits take over Tokyo for Designart 2024

Designart’s official exhibitions at the World Kita -Aoyama Building in Minato Ward are always well-rounded displays of both established and up-and-coming designers.
Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Oct. 7. The number of Japanese nationals who traveled abroad in the first half of this year totaled 5.8 million, a 60.4% increase from the same period in 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 18, 2024

Mid- to long-term foreign residents in Japan hit record high

A total of 3.31 million foreign nationals were residing in the country for three months or longer as of the end of June, up 5.8% from the end of 2023.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Huntington Place in Detroit on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 19, 2024

U.S. cities seek to 'Trump-proof' inequality action ahead of election

After the pandemic and protests following the death of George Floyd in 2020, racial and economic inequality moved to the center of federal policymaking.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?