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Smoke rises from the US Navy vessel USS New Orleans as water is sprayed to help put out the fire, near the White Beach Naval Facility in Okinawa on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 21, 2025

Fire on U.S. Navy ship off Japan put out after burning for 12 hours

Two U.S. sailors were treated for minor injuries from the fire on the USS New Orleans, anchored near Okinawa, the U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement.
Kazuhiro Nomura, president of BK Japan Holdings, which operates Burger King in Japan
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 21, 2025

Big burgers and bigger ambitions for Japan's Burger King

The fast-food chain has grown fourfold in just six years.
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 22, 2025

Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it

Summer Sonic 2025 showcased Japan’s pop power: Mrs. Green Apple, Hikaru Utada and rising stars outshone the festival’s headliners.
Chatbots are pivoting to the ad model and optimizing for eyeballs, just like social media did. And AI knows more about us than Google or Facebook ever did.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2025

Ads ruined social media. Now they’re coming to AI.

Imagine a person telling their AI they’re feeling depressed, and the system recommending some affordable holiday destinations or medication to address the problem.
Seven & I Holdings' market value dipped below Aeon for the first time in two decades, as shares in the operator of 7-Eleven stores languish after Alimentation Couche-Tard abandoned its bid for the company.
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2025

Seven & I value eclipsed by Aeon as revamp struggles to impress

Aeon, Japan’s second-biggest grocery conglomerate, reached a market capitalization of ¥5.19 trillion ($35.2 billion) at the close of trading in Tokyo on Thursday.
The entrance of Nissan's global headquarters, in Yokohama
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2025

KKR is a front-runner in Nissan’s $610 million HQ sale

KJR Management, a Japanese real estate unit of KKR, offered around ¥90 billion ($610 million) for the 22-story office building.
A lot of Japanese workers join online group texts to communicate with their coworkers, but at what point do those chats threaten a healthy work-life balance?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 22, 2025

Expressing annoyance with work group chats in Japanese

Some employees value the convenience; others feel trapped by after-hours texts and social expectations embedded in office messaging culture.
A Ukrainian service member throws a grenade during training in the Donbas region, Ukraine, in April. Russia controls about 88% of the Donbas region, according to U.S. estimates and open-source data.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Putin demands Ukraine give up Donbas, not join NATO and no Western troops: sources

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognized Ukrainian land as part of a deal.
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.
Sergio Gor
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 23, 2025

Trump nominates Sergio Gor to be next U.S. ambassador to India

Sergio Gor, who is currently the director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, would also serve as a special envoy for South and Central Asian affairs.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’