Search - 2019

 
 
A displaced woman packs up her family's belongings at a school turned into a shelter in Beirut on Nov. 27.
WORLD / Society
Dec 2, 2024

'We have a lost generation': Lebanon's education crisis

At least 500 public schools in Lebanon, roughly one in two in what is a badly underfunded sector, were converted into shelters in recent months to house people.
Supporters of homeless individuals protest against their eviction from a former labor welfare center at its premises in the Airin District in the city of Osaka on Sunday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 2, 2024

Osaka eviction of homeless from former welfare center sparks protest

Protesters clashed with police in defense of the homeless individuals, who they say are day laborers who contributed to building the city.
A 40-year-old house in the city of Fukuoka that has been renovated by Katitas, a company that buys up secondhand houses for resale. The company retained the house's original wooden ceilings and window frames to preserve the property's vintage look.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Dec 9, 2024

As demand rises for abandoned houses, so do cases of hidden defects

Industry experts recommend prospective buyers conduct thorough inspections before concluding transactions for akiya.
Rakuten Group is considering the sale of hybrid perpetual notes that can be called after five years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2024

Rakuten plans return to dollar bond market with hybrid notes

Rakuten’s liquidity has improved but an increased reliance on the dollar bond market may indicate weakened domestic funding access.
Sadao Abe, who played the role of a time-traveling Showa Era teacher transported to present day in a popular TV drama, receives the 2024 buzzword of the year award for the word "futehodo," the nickname of the series.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 2, 2024

Japan’s 2024 buzzword of the year urges a reevaluation of past norms

“Futehodo” — a nickname for a TV drama that depicts the generational gap between the Showa and Reiwa eras — has been crowned the most trending word of 2024.
Nomura’s reputation has taken a hit after it admitted to a bond market manipulation in October and following charges brought against a former employee in November on suspicion of robbery, arson and attempted murder of an elderly couple during a customer visit.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 2, 2024

Nomura’s Japan corporate bond market rank slips after probe

Japan’s biggest brokerage saw its position fall to sixth place in November and its market share shrink to 2.1%, the latest data shows.
The goal of the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, building on years of evolving trade restrictions, is to slow China’s domestic development of advanced semiconductors and artificial intelligence systems that may help its military.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 3, 2024

U.S. tightens curbs on China’s access to AI memory and chip tools

The new measures included exemptions for key allies such as Japan and the Netherlands.
An anti-regime fighter operates a truck-mounted gun as displaced Syrian Kurds drive vehicles loaded with their belongings along the Aleppo-Raqqa highway.
WORLD / FOCUS
Dec 3, 2024

Who are the former jihadis now holding Syria's Aleppo?

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) says it no longer has any links to al-Qaida, but it remains blacklisted by the United States and the European Union.
A farmer burns straw stubble after harvesting a paddy field on the outskirts of Jind in India's Haryana state on Nov. 26.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 3, 2024

The farm fires helping to fuel India's deadly air

Burning is a cheap way to clear fields for new crops, making it hard for farmers to shift to other methods despite the consequences.
An H2A rocket carrying the Hayabusa2 asteroid probe is launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Dec. 3, 2014.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 3, 2024

Hayabusa2 continues its journey, 10 years after launch

The unmanned asteroid probe was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Dec. 3, 2014.
People watch South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law and the following announcement that he will lift the martial law, after parliamentary vote, at a railway station in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 4, 2024

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol, embattled conservative

The novice politician took office with some of the lowest approval ratings of any democratically elected South Korean president.
Teck Resources signage during the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto, Canada, on March 2, 2020
WORLD / Politics
Dec 4, 2024

Canada mining group uses China ban to push back on Trump's tariffs

Trade tensions with the U.S. are escalating after President-elect Donald Trump threatened to slap 25% tariffs on all goods coming from Canada and Mexico.
Elementary school children offer prayers in front of the photograph of Tetsu Nakamura in Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, on Nov. 24, five years after his death.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2024

Nakamura's wishes for Afghanistan live on five years after his death

The Japanese doctor worked in the country for many years providing medical assistance and building irrigation canals.
Mitsubishi has dismissed Gong Huayong, a Shanghai-based copper trader at one of its China units, after finding that he had made unauthorized trades with local companies, including some that were related to him.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2024

Mitsubishi loses $90 million in suspected China metal fraud

The company has dismissed a Shanghai-based copper trader after finding that he had made unauthorized trades with local companies.
Japanese creatives, athletes and activists saw their efforts recognized on the world stage in various ways this year. At the Oscars (left) Takashi Yamazaki and his team took a prize for “Godzilla Minus One,” while later in the year Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada (center) took Emmys for their work in “Shogun.” Shohei Ohtani (right) was arguably the biggest Japanese star of the year.
CULTURE / 2024 in Review
Dec 4, 2024

Japan's soft power soared to new heights in 2024

From Oscars and Emmys to a Nobel Peace Prize, it was a year of awards and triumphs in key cultural fields.
The fall of Aleppo in Syria to political chaos in Tbilisi, Georgia, and even recent events in Paris, give us a glimpse of a possible post-American new world disorder.
COMMENTARY
Dec 4, 2024

Welcome to the post-American new world disorder

From Aleppo in Syria, to Tbilisi, Georgia, and even Paris, last weekend gave us a glimpse of a possible post-American new world disorder.
The town of Futaba is still dealing with the effects of 3/11, but that isn't stopping some residents from looking forward.
LIFE / Travel
Dec 7, 2024

Futaba pivots to 'hope tourism' to revive its fortunes

Whether you’re a long-term resident of Japan or flying in for a holiday, the message is clear: Futaba welcomes you.
Koichi Katsumata is the first chef to receive a Michelin star in Japan for an 'assiette dessert' (dessert course) restaurant
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 8, 2024

Welcome to Yama, Japan’s first Michelin-starred dessert restaurant

“We don’t just serve food — we serve memories, stories and a sense of place,” says chef Koichi Katsumata.
Passengers at the check-in counters of Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Jan. 3. The average budget for domestic trips during the upcoming year-end and New Year holiday period is estimated to hit a record high for the second straight year.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2024

Domestic travel budget for holiday period projected to hit record

The increase reflects soaring accommodation costs and growing demand for travel to distant destinations, JTB said.
The Topix and the yen have been largely moving independently over the past two months, shifting away from Japanese stocks’ past tendency to rise on a weaker yen.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 6, 2024

Cheap yen boost for Japan’s stocks shrinks to nil on hawkish BOJ

The Topix and the yen have been largely moving independently over the past two months.
Miho Nakayama rose to stardom in 1985 after the release of her first single “C,” which established her popularity as an idol.
CULTURE
Dec 9, 2024

Miho Nakayama, known for 'Love Letter' and her music, dies at 54

Nakayama had a solo Christmas show scheduled in Osaka on Friday, but had canceled the show in the morning, citing health reasons.
Starbucks Coffee Japan will replace paper straws with plant-based biomass plastic straws from next month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 6, 2024

Starbucks in Japan to ditch paper straws for plant-based biomass plastic in 2025

The coffee company says the new straws are fully biodegradable in seawater and soil, and will not soften like paper ones.
Crowds gather in front of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Friday, a day ahead of its official reopening.
WORLD
Dec 7, 2024

Notre-Dame Cathedral reopens on Saturday, five years after fire

The 860-year-old medieval cathedral has been meticulously restored, with a new spire and rib vaulting.
Makoto Uchida, President and CEO of Nissan, holds a press briefing at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 in Tokyo on Oct. 25, 2023. Uchida is under presser to deliver a turnaround and to keep his job at the troubled carmaker.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 8, 2024

Nissan boss Uchida races to save the automaker — and his job

Makoto Uchida is under pressure to reverse Nissan’s fortunes after years of turmoil following the 2018 arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn.
Yankees outfielder Juan Soto hits a solo home run against the Dodgers in Game 2 of the World Series in Los Angeles on Oct. 26. Soto reportedly agreed to a contract with the New York Mets on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 9, 2024

Star slugger Juan Soto to join Mets on record deal worth $765 million

None of the money in the deal is deferred, and the contract could end up being worth over $800 million.
Destruction left in the wake of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine in the city of Hulyaipole, in the country's Zaporizhzhia region, in September 2022
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2024

Does a savage war of partition await Ukraine?

Donald Trump appears bent on striking a “peace” deal with Russia that involves Ukraine’s dismemberment.
Students at Hiroshima University’s School of Dentistry offer silent prayers for the donors of bodies before they practice anatomy on the cadavers in late October.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Chugoku
Dec 16, 2024

In death, body donors become silent teachers for medical students

Practical training on cadavers significantly increases the understanding of the human body, says one professor.
Yurie Collins is a bilingual comedian based in Tokyo. In addition to being a prize-winning roast comic, her dating-themed "Tokyo Hoe Tales" shows have proven to be a hit with women of all nationalities.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 10, 2024

Yurie Collins: ‘Everyone seems sedated, fed-up … that’s why they turn to comedy’

Yurie Collins is a bicultural stand-up comedian who has opened for comedian Atsuko Okatsuka and the upcoming Iliza Shlesinger show in Tokyo.
Roki Sasaki delivers a pitch during the first inning of the World Baseball Classic semifinal against Mexico in Miami in March 2023.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 10, 2024

45-day negotiation window set to begin as Marines post Roki Sasaki

The right-handed flamethrower has until 7 a.m. (JST) on Jan. 24 to sign with an MLB team.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to a press conference in Jerusalem on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 10, 2024

Netanyahu to take the stand in his corruption trial for the first time

Charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Netanyahu will testify three times a week, despite the war in Gaza.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.