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Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
BASEBALL
May 15, 2025

Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan

The widely held belief is that American Horace Wilson introduced the sport to Japan in 1872. Fitts' discovery revises the timeline to 1869.
"Jinsei," which follows its protagonist over a century, probes themes of identity and societal issues with a dark comic touch. The director, however, says he created the story without knowing where it would lead.
CULTURE / Film
May 16, 2025

For his first feature film, director Ryuya Suzuki created a masterpiece

With no script or crew, the animator created "Jinsei," a bold debut inspired by classics such as "Citizen Kane" and "Scarface."
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Presidential Palace in Ankara on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 16, 2025

Peace breakthrough unlikely as Putin declines to meet Zelenskyy in Turkey

Hopes were further dented by U.S. President Donald Trump saying there would be no movement without a meeting between himself and Putin.
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring against Espanyol during their match in Cornella de Llobregat, Spain, on Thursday.
SOCCER
May 16, 2025

Lamine Yamal scores stunning goal as Barcelona clinches La Liga crown

Only the Champions League escaped an exciting young Barca side this season.
Walking along Osaka's Kanjosen brings you closer to a different side of the city that the head-in-the-clouds Expo 2025 misses.
LIFE / Travel
May 17, 2025

Fighting Osaka Expo fatigue? Walk the 21-km Loop Line for a cure.

Officially completed in 1961, the Osaka Kanjosen runs through the city’s most famous and less touristed neighborhoods alike.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump as first lady Melania Trump and Akie Abe look on while on board the Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Kaga, stationed at the Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 28, 2019.
JAPAN
May 16, 2025

SDF activities expand 10 years after key security legislation

Japan has enhanced cooperation with the United States and other friendly nations in the face of challenges such as China's maritime expansion.
A Mynavi survey has found that even dual-income households are facing financial strain in Japan.
JAPAN / Society
May 16, 2025

Finances are tight for dual-income households too, survey finds

Nearly half of full-time workers whose spouses also work say they are struggling financially.
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa and his delegation in the Oval Office of the White House in April. Since then, Japan's trade negotiations with the U.S. have produced no tangible results.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 16, 2025

Akazawa's dilemma: no tariff deal or a half-baked deal

Japan has realized the U.S. has no intention of seriously talking about duties on automobiles now.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a Cabinet meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 16, 2025

Pension bill makes it to parliament after two-month delay

Internal resistance from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party toward certain proposals in the draft bill led to the delay.
Tesla's story about keeping used cars for "robotaxis" fits a long pattern of unfulfilled promises to deploy self-driving vehicles — most recently announced for June in Austin, Texas.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2025

Tesla took back leased cars for use as 'robotaxis,' but sold them instead

Despite repeated promises, the robotaxis never came and Tesla flipped many of the off-lease cars to new buyers.
Vocaloid idol Hatsune Miku and kabuki actor Nakamura Shido II first performed together in 2016. This month, they’re reviving the show for the Osaka World Expo.
CULTURE / Stage
May 17, 2025

Traditional performing arts are plugging into modern audiences

Noh and kabuki are getting an image update by teaming up with pop culture figures such as Vocaloid idol Hatsune Miku and DJ Ken Ishii.
U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out Friday at the Supreme Court after it blocked his bid to resume deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members, saying the justices are "not allowing me to do what I was elected to do."
WORLD / Politics
May 17, 2025

U.S. Supreme Court maintains block on Trump deportations under wartime law

The top court faulted his administration for seeking to remove the Venezuelan migrants without adequate legal process.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver a speech marking his 100th day in office at Macomb County Community College Sports Expo Center in Warren, Michigan, on April 29.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 18, 2025

Trump’s deals cast China both as foe and prize, blurring signals

Pick through the details of recent U.S. trade negotiations and an outline of Donald Trump’s vision for the global economy starts to come into focus. As do its contradictions.
Laurent Patouillet, the CEO and president of Agnes b. Japan, says the focus of its business is to remain independent, and evolve and adapt.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 18, 2025

Agnes b. Japan CEO hopes to evolve the brand with focus on sustainability

Laurent Patouillet, who has headed the brand's Japanese operations since 2018, believes there is more that it can do to be environmentally sustainable.
A Mexican Navy training ship is seen near the Manhattan Bridge after it slammed into the nearby Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday.
WORLD
May 18, 2025

Mexican Navy training ship crashes into Brooklyn Bridge, killing two

Nineteen others were injured after the ship lost power and hit the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Sunday.
Some of the photos related to Aum Shinrikyo, taken by Seiichi Takeuchi, are displayed at an educational facility in Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi Prefecture.
JAPAN
May 18, 2025

1,400 photos donated to remember horrors of Aum Shinrikyo cult

Kamikuishiki resident Seiichi Takeuchi, 97, waged a battle against the group from the time the cult set up the base in the village's Fujigane district in 1989.
Founded with a mission of promoting electric vehicles, Formula E has always placed sustainability at the forefront of its raison d’etre.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
May 18, 2025

For Formula E, ‘sustainability is at the heart’

Now in its 11th season, Formula E's efforts to reduce emissions and promote electric vehicles are paying off.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer (left) U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (second from left), U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (second from right) and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's economic revitalization minster, pose for a photo ahead of a meeting in Washington on May 1.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 19, 2025

China-U.S. trade truce prompts nations to consider tougher tactics

After China’s tough negotiating tactics earned it a favorable deal, nations taking a more diplomatic and expedited approach are questioning whether that’s the right path.
Scottie Scheffler holds the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
May 19, 2025

Scottie Scheffler claims third major with 5-shot win at PGA Championship

Scheffler is also the first player since Seve Ballesteros more than four decades ago to win his first three majors by at least three shots.
McLaren drivers Lando Norris (left) and Oscar Piastri celebrate on the podium after finishing second and third, respectively, in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
May 19, 2025

McLaren teammates relish chance to race without team orders

Oscar Piastri started on pole and finished third, and Lando Norris took second place after lining up fourth.
Supporters of far-right Portuguese party Chega celebrate general election results at its party headquarters in Lisbon on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
May 19, 2025

Ruling party tops Portugal polls marked by far-right surge

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro's Democratic Alliance remains short of a parliamentary majority.
Pakistan's Chinese-made J-10C fighter jets fly over Islamabad in March 2024. Claims that Chinese fighter jets downed advanced Western-made Indian aircraft in recent clashes have caught investors' attention, raising prospects for increased arms sales for Beijing.
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2025

China’s defense industry is getting a DeepSeek moment

Investors are reassessing Beijing’s military capacity and potential to rise as an arms exporter.
Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating reflects growing concern over Washington’s unwillingness to confront rising debt, soaring deficits and interest costs — even as global investors keep piling into Treasuries.
COMMENTARY
May 19, 2025

Moody’s tells us what we already know about U.S. debt

Take the firm’s decision to strip the country of its top AAA credit rating seriously, not literally.
Cantourage employees inspect and process cannabis flowers at the company's production site at an undisclosed location in Bavaria, southern Germany, on April 29.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2025

High times for German cannabis firm amid medical boom

Cantourage's revenue totaled €51.4 million ($57.5 million) last year, a 118% increase on 2023.
Indonesian President Prabowo delivers a speech during a May Day rally in Jakarta on May 1.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 19, 2025

In Indonesia, fears grow that new history books may rewrite dark past

The 10-volume series would have an Indonesia-centric narrative and aims "to reinvent the Indonesian identity," Culture Minister Fadli Zon said.
Coco Gauff hits a return against Jasmine Paolini during the Italian Open final in Rome on Saturday.
TENNIS
May 19, 2025

Coco Gauff hopes to break through at French Open after losing two finals on clay

Gauff lost to Jasmine Paolini in the Italian Open final after falling against Aryna Sabalenka in the final round at the Madrid Open
Tomy's time-honored Kurohige Kiki Ippatsu, or Pop-Up Pirate, is set to go through its first rule change in 30 years in July.
JAPAN / Society
May 19, 2025

Nostalgic games and toys spark renewed interest in Japan

Products from bygone decades have evoked nostalgic memories for adults of a certain age while piquing fresh interest among the younger generation.
An illustration of Nipponopterus mifunensis, a new genus and species of pterosaur
JAPAN
May 19, 2025

Pterosaur fossil found in Japan identified as new species

This is the first time that a pterosaur has been named based on a fossil found in Japan.
Employees work on the production line of American infant product and toy manufacturer Kids II at a factory in Jiujiang, in China's Jiangxi province, in June 2021.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 19, 2025

China consumption miss overshadows factory strength amid tariffs

Despite the resilience of factories, weaker consumption for April points to the need for more supportive policies as economists warn of complacency after a 90-day pause on tariffs.
Police officers stand guard on May 7 outside Todaimae Station in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward after a random stabbing that injured a University of Tokyo student.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
May 19, 2025

Random stabbing cases in Japan raise fears: Could the next victim be me?

Experts say these incidents often reflect a deeper issue at the societal level.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past