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Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 25, 2021

Suga stares down Japan's Olympic challenge

Whether or not to go ahead with the already-delayed Summer Games is a decision fraught with implications, and not only for public health.
OLYMPICS
Jul 31, 2020

How the postponement ended the Olympic dreams of athletes

Some athletes have chosen not to wait another year to participate in the delayed Tokyo Games.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Mar 5, 2020

Judo standouts Funa Tonaki, Naohisa Takato set lofty goals for 2020 Games

Funa Tonaki and Naohisa Takato aim to give the Japan national judo team a boost by winning gold medals on July 25, when the judo competition kicks off at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 13, 2016

Table tennis 'sisters' hoping to grab gold for Japan

“The three sisters” are all different in terms of age and personality. What they have in common, however, are places on the strongest women's table tennis squad Japan has ever dispatched.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2015

The first Olympic hurdle should be voter support

Making plebiscites obligatory for all bidding cities could be the first step toward restoring the tattered reputation of the Olympics.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jun 23, 2013

ASIJ student McNeill helping to boost Tokyo 2020's bid

There are no definitive guidelines in place, no simple slogans summarizing how individuals and groups should support or oppose an Olympic bid. Of course, it's up to them.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 17, 2022

China’s gamble on a new Olympic strategy pays off in gold medals

China's most successful Winter Olympics team ever is a motley lineup that includes the son of hockey legend Chris Chelios, a former child actor and a Louis Vuitton model.
OLYMPICS
Jul 19, 2021

The many faces of Tokyo 2020’s charm offensive

Despite a lack of visitors and spectators at this year's Olympics, an army of volunteers aims to do their best and make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 26, 2021

‘Cascade of calamities’ plagues Tokyo’s Olympic ambitions

While polls show a majority of Japan's citizens want the Olympics postponed or canceled, so far there's no indication Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will call them off.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 8, 2021

Olympic boycott risks becoming the next big U.S.-China battle

While most diplomats doubted there would be an outright boycott, they noted that a lot can change before the opening ceremony 10 months from now.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Mar 16, 2021

In rare move, athletes and coaches speak out against Olympic planners

With support for the Tokyo Games still low, hopeful participants are taking to social media to push back against public perceptions that they are united with the event's organizers.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 14, 2019

News outlets miss pivotal factor in decision to shift 2020 Olympic events

When the International Olympic Committee announced that the marathon and race walk competitions for next year's Olympics would be moved to Hokkaido due to fears that the summer heat in Tokyo might be too intense, Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike had no choice but to accept the directive, although she made a point...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Feb 14, 2019

Joint Korean 2032 Olympic bid faces hurdles of sanctions, cultural differences and state of war

If North and South Korea succeed in their long-shot bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics, any athletic feats may be overshadowed by the political achievements needed to make the games happen.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2016

Jingoism is the ugly side of the Olympic Games

The Olympics should focus more on the feats of human athletic attainment and less on the nationalities of the competitors.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2013

At stake in bid — ¥3 trillion

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government estimates that hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics will produce economic effects worth ¥3 trillion from Hokkaido to Okinawa.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Longform
Oct 3, 2022

What Japan’s iconic beef can teach us about ‘soft power’

The upcoming u2018Wagyu Olympics' in Kagoshima Prefecture is expected to create much-needed buzz about the industry among consumers at home and abroad.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2022

Olympic delegations should side with Taiwan and leave their national flags at home

Although the Olympic Charter forbids discrimination, the International Olympic Committee bans the Taiwanese from expressing their national identity, even after a hard-earned victory.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Nov 27, 2021

In IOC’s ‘quiet diplomacy,’ critics see whitewash of China’s actions

For the its many critics, the guarded language the IOC used when referring to the Peng case was just the latest proof that it will not take any action that might upset China's government.
Outgoing IOC President Thomas Bach delivers a speech at an IOC session on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Mar 20, 2025

IOC names outgoing boss Bach as honorary president for life

Bach, a German lawyer and former Olympic fencing champion, took over in 2013 and immediately introduced wide-ranging reforms.
Zhao Xintong waves to the crowd with a Chinese flag draped over his shoulders after winning the World Championship Snooker final in Sheffield, England, on Monday.
MORE SPORTS
May 8, 2025

Snooker chief feels Zhao Xintong's historic world title can help Olympic bid

Snooker's hope to be included in the 2032 Brisbane Olympics is realistic and will be enhanced by China's growing power in the sport, according to one of the men behind the bid.
Japan captain Mai Yanagida bats against Hong Kong during the women's Sano City International Trophy cricket tournament on June 4 in Sano, Tochigi Prefecture.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
Jun 15, 2025

From samurai threat to Asian Games as Japan cricket fights obscurity

Japan's cricket association says the sport is slowly gaining popularity and hopes next year's home Asian Games and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics can take it to a new level.
Antimonopoly trials against Dentsu Group and five other firms as well as their officials involved are underway.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2025

FTC fines Dentsu Group and others ¥3.3 billion

The FTC also found an antimonopoly law violation by ADK Marketing Solutions but refrained from imposing a fine on the firm.
A swimmer dives in into the River Seine in Paris on Saturday.
WORLD
Jul 5, 2025

'Childhood dream': Seine reopens to Paris swimmers after centurylong ban

The seasonal opening of the Seine for swimming is seen as a key legacy of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya celebrates after winning women's marathon gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games at Sapporo Odori Park in Hokkaido, Japan on Aug. 7, 2021.
OLYMPICS / Athletics
Jul 25, 2025

Tokyo Olympic champion Jepchirchir relishes Japan return

Jepchirchir has been named as one of three Kenyan women in the marathon squad for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on September 13-21.
Germany's Laura Dahlmeier died after a mountaineering accident in Pakistan, her management team said Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 31, 2025

German Olympic champion Laura Dahlmeier dies after mountaineering accident

The accident occurred around noon on Monday, at an altitude of approximately 5,700 meters at Laila Peak, the Alpine Club of Pakistan said on Tuesday.

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