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Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA
Dec 29, 2022

Dazzling Luka Doncic following Dirk Nowitzki's path

'We can't take him for granted,' Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said about Doncic. 'Again, people get their money's worth when they come watch him play. He puts on a show.'
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 30, 2022

Lessons learned from the tragedy of the Balkans

The people of the Balkan Peninsula have the unfortunate luck of living at the crossroads of an invasion route.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Nov 2, 2022

Centuries-old records test sumo’s modern superstars

Autumn Basho champion Tamawashi is 11 tournaments away from becoming sumo's all-time ironman, but there are other marks in the sport widely expected to remain untouchable.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 26, 2022

Why people are flocking to a symbol of Taiwan’s authoritarian past

The Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park, housed on the campus of a former military school, is a chilling reminder of the excesses of Taiwan's not-so-distant authoritarian past.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Sep 18, 2022

The journey that never was: A Viking explorer in Heian Japan

If a Viking ship had landed on the shores of Japan instead of North America in the 10th or 11th centuries, what would they have found and how would it have changed history?
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 31, 2022

Mikhail Gorbachev, reformist Soviet leader, dies at 91

Adopting principles of glasnost and perestroika, he weighed the legacy of seven decades of Communist rule and set a new course, presiding over the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 4, 2022

What role should Japan play as the Russia-Ukraine war shakes the international order?

Executives of the Asia Pacific Initiative discuss the part Tokyo should play as Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches six months.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 30, 2022

Rebuilding a community starting from scratch

Moved by visits to the area, a pair of students wants visitors to know there is more to the town of Futaba, Fukushima Pref., than disaster.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 11, 2022

Researchers trace the evolutionary origins of the Japanese wolf

A study suggests the now-extinct Japanese wolf originated through the hybridization of ancient, giant Pleistocene wolves and continental wolf lineages tens of thousands of years ago.
What often goes overlooked are the contributions made by Black Americans in the founding of the United States.
COMMENTARY
Jun 20, 2024

The United States has forgotten its founders included Black men and women

What often goes overlooked are contributions made by Black Americans in the founding of the United States.
The front facade at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. The stadium, widely regarded as the spiritual home of Japanese baseball, turns 100 on Thursday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 31, 2024

Koshien at 100: 'Sacred' dirt, the Hanshin Tigers and a storied high school tourney

For baseball fans across Japan, Koshien Stadium — which celebrates its 100th anniversary on Thursday — is more than just a ballpark. It's a cathedral.
A demonstrator carries a cross during the annual "March for Life" in Washington on Jan. 19.
WORLD / Society
Aug 8, 2024

U.S. public schools are becoming the new religious battleground

The religious movement is fueled by opposition to what conservatives call liberal curricula in school, including a focus on diversity and LGBTQ rights.
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arrives onstage Thursday to speak on the fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2024

Kamala Harris charts her vision for the United States

Harris’ speech capped a week featuring the Democratic Party’s brightest stars, showcasing a broad, diverse and inclusive party.
The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani reacts after being doused with water after his walk-off grand slam against the Rays at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB / Sac Bunts
Aug 26, 2024

New 40-40 club member Shohei Ohtani has real shot at unprecedented 50-50 campaign

Ohtani has a chance to make even more history after reaching the 40-40 club.
Americans face a choice in the November presidential election between Donald Trump’s isolationist vision of America alone and Kamala Harris’ approach, which builds on the Biden administration’s legacy of strengthening alliances to tackle global challenges.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2024

America’s role in the world is hard. It just got much harder.

November's election offers stark contrast between Donald Trump’s isolationism and Kamala Harris’ focus on strengthening alliances.
Stadium workers paint the World Series logo on the field at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, a day ahead of the start of the Fall Classic.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 25, 2024

Baseball’s biggest stars and biggest markets align for MLB broadcaster

As much as the history of the two franchises, the teams’ star players and league-leading records this season should help attract more casual baseball fans.
Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada won the outstanding lead actress and actor awards in a drama series, respectively, for "Shogun" at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 15.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2024

'Peak Japan' is now, so seize the moment, Japan

Japan has never been hotter! Japan is the number one country in the world right now, as voted on by everyone else except for the Japanese.
A Ukrainian flag flies over the site of the former monument to Russian Empress Catherine the Great in Odesa, Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2024

Ukraine’s post-colonial future

If the Ukrainians are truly fighting for us, it is because they are fighting the last battle against European imperialism.
The PlayStation 5 on display during the annual Tokyo Game Show in September. PlayStation was Sony's first foray into the world of video games when it hit the shelves in Japan on Dec. 3, 1994.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 2, 2024

PlayStation at 30: How Sony's gray box conquered gaming

The PlayStation became a legend, selling more than 102 million units and positioning Sony as a heavyweight in a hugely lucrative sector.
The United Nations once projected the world’s population would peak at 10.3 billion in the 2080s, but now expects 700 million fewer inhabitants by 2100.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2024

Why falling fertility is not a crisis

The current population decline mirrors past transitions like the industrial revolution, where smaller families fueled economic growth and innovation.
A falconer during the Suwa Falconry Preservation Society's event in Tokyo on Friday. Falconry predates recorded history, originating, scholars believe, when nomadic herders observed birds of prey hunting and recognized their potential as partners.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 5, 2025

Tokyo falconers keep ancient traditions soaring

While a recent showcase was all about fun and education, like other sports involving animals, falconry is also serious business for competitors at the upper echelons of the sport.
Elon Musk makes a stiff arm salute during an inaugural event for U.S. President Donald Trump at Capitol One Arena in Washington on Monday. A time when the far right is once again on the rise, the interpretation of Musk's gesture was straightforward for many — especially in Germany.
WORLD
Jan 25, 2025

‘Awkward gesture’? ‘Roman salute’? In Germany, its meaning is clear.

A gesture associated with the Nazis has a surprising history. But in Germany, there was little doubt about its meaning.
Trucks cross the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, in Canada in the early morning hours of Feb. 1.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2025

Betrayed: How Trump’s tariff threats tore the U.S.-Canada bond

Donald Trump’s menacing rhetoric seems to have fractured the fraternal trust that has been the core of the relationship between the U.S. and Canada.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and wife Usha stand in front of an iron gate with the slogan "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work will set you free") as they arrive for a tour of the Dachau Concentration Camp memorial site in southern Germany on Feb. 13.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2025

Without America, ‘the West’ will splinter, wither and die

Trump and his movement do not share similar values, at least not unequivocally, and that is now sinking in across the rest of the West, which the U.S. has led for eight decades.
Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Mar 7, 2025

Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly

Despite longstanding taboos, evolving attitudes toward women's health highlight shifting cultural norms.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, marked by betrayal and disregard for relationships, has weakened America’s global alliances, prompting countries to consider alternative allies.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2025

America is surrounded by enemies — that it created

This is not just a Trump problem; America’s whole reputation is shot.
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Apr 2, 2025

A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers

Syndicates are increasingly targeting middle- to upper-class individuals from across the world through something as harmless as online video games.
Sheffield United players celebrate the team's second goal against Bristol City in Bristol, England, on Monday.
SOCCER
May 13, 2025

Wilder backs Blades to end playoff curse

Sheffield United will face Sunderland or Coventry in the final at Wembley on May 24.
Shigeo Nagashima (left), then the manager of the Tokyo Giants, waves to fans with players and coaches during a victory parade in central Tokyo in 2000. Nagashima died at the age of 89 on Tuesday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 3, 2025

Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima dies at 89

Long before the rise of Shohei Ohtani and Ichiro Suzuki, Nagashima was arguably the most famous player in Japanese baseball history.
Descendents of the original "Gonin Byakushō" families are the only vendors allowed inside the gates of Kotohira Shrine, where they sell "kamiyoame," a golden-hued, yuzu-flavored candy meant for good fortune.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 7, 2025

At a mountainside shrine, yuzu candy made by imperial decree

Located in the mountains of western Kagawa Prefecture, Kotohira has yet to suffer — or benefit — from Japan’s overtourism rush.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic