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Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at Enmarket Arena during a two-day campaign bus tour in Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 30, 2024

Seven takeaways from Harris’ first major interview

The vice president answered questions in the CNN interview without causing herself political harm or providing herself a significant boost.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 28, 2023
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2024

Israel's Netanyahu and Gallant are locked in a divided government

Arguments have repeatedly broken out between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the Gaza war.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, is one of two contenders who have consistently outperformed other candidates in the Liberal Democratic Party leadership race in recent polls conducted both among the general public and LDP supporters.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 11, 2024

Nine hopefuls vie for LDP presidency in complex election

The leadership race is the most crowded in the ruling party’s history and one of its most unpredictable in decades.
Liberal Democratic Party presidential election candidates after a campaign event in Nagoya on Saturday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 18, 2024

LDP leader candidates split on separate surnames for married couples

While party conservatives worry about damaging family unity, others say it’s time to push through a legislative change.
A poster showing portraits of candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election at the party headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 27, 2024

Takaichi and Ishiba head to runoff in LDP leadership election

Ishiba, 67, and Takaichi, 63, emerged as the top picks in a crowded field of nine in the race that will decide the country’s next prime minister
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2024

Further BOJ rate hike this year in doubt after Ishiba's surprise warning

A survey last month showed 53% of economists forecast the BOJ would push up interest rates in December, but that outlook is now in question.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato attends an interview with media outlets at the Finance Ministry on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 7, 2024

Japan's new finance minister vows to finish the job as deflation czar

Katsunobu Kato's message indicates that financial conditions might remain accommodative for some time.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump greet each other at a campaign event in Duluth, Georgia, in October.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 23, 2024

Gaetz exit puts spotlight on other Trump nominees accused of sexual misconduct

Trump’s willingness to choose cabinet members with histories of alleged sexual misconduct threw his transition plans off course this week.
Ten percent of municipalities said they did not know details of the megaquake warning system or how to respond to the alert, and 2.8% said they did not even know its name.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 27, 2024

Many municipalities in Japan lack understanding of megaquake advisory system

A Cabinet Office survey found that 12.8% of municipalities were not aware of what steps they should take when a megaquake advisory is issued.
U.K. Members of Parliament will vote on assisted dying for the first time in nine years.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 29, 2024

U.K. Parliament to hold first vote on assisted dying in nine years

Under the legislation put forward, assisted dying would be restricted to adults with a terminal illness who are expected to die within six months.
A Meteorological Agency official speaks during a news conference held in Tokyo in August to announce the lifting of the government's emergency alert system for a megaquake that may occur in the Nankai Trough.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2024

Japan improves public relations for Nankai Trough megaquake alert

The first such alert, issued in August, caused confusion and unrest as the system was not widely recognized.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, South Korea's main opposition party, leaves after delivering a public statement on the impeachment motion against acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024

In South Korea’s impeachment saga, who’s really in trouble?

Lee Jae-myung, facing six criminal cases, needs an election before any convictions are finalized, as a conviction could disqualify him from running for president.
U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, Pennsylvania, in December 2019. The Biden administration blocked the $14 billion takeover of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel on Friday, citing grounds that the sale posed a threat to national security.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jan 5, 2025

Biden’s decision on Nippon Steel deal followed divide in his orbit

The split was emblematic of so many shifts in U.S. policy — including of Biden’s pledge to build trust with allies and the race against China.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama speaks to reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 19, 2025

LDP heavyweight Moriyama boosting profile within party

Moriyama's increased presence within the Ishiba administration has failed to shore up low levels of public support.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks after being sworn in during a ceremony in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD
Jan 26, 2025

Pete Hegseth vote portends glide path for other Trump nominees

Trump's success in pushing through his Pentagon chief nomination despite private doubts among lawmakers amounted to a fresh testament to his hold over the GOP.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and members of the Liberal Democratic Party take a group photo at the party's headquarters in Tokyo during the Oct. 27 Lower House elections.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 30, 2025

Adjusting to the new normal in Japanese politics

The upheaval of the past year has forced a fundamental rethinking of how political watchers must observe things in Tokyo
The proportion of respondents who said that the surname debate was something they felt they had a personal stake in increased by 2.7 percentage points from the previous survey by the Cabinet Office in 2022.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2025

44% in Japan feel they might be affected by dual-surname debate

The possible introduction of a selective dual-surname system was one of the key issues in last year's election for the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and U.S. President Donald Trump. Microsoft and Nvidia are quietly engaging with the Trump administration on policies affecting AI, chip exports and data centers
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 9, 2025

Tech giants Microsoft and Nvidia taking a quieter approach to Trump

Under Biden, the United States curbed the sale of Nvidia chips to China and capped the sales of its AI chips to more than 100 other countries
The government has made a shift toward nuclear amid predictions of higher electricity demand stemming from semiconductor production and data centers for AI in the decades to come.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Japan backs nuclear power in climate plan criticized as insufficient

The government is targeting emissions cuts of 60% by fiscal 2035, but environmental groups and businesses have called for more ambition.
The government plans to make it easier for urban workers to get side jobs in regional areas.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 2, 2025

Government to help regional firms hire urban workers for side jobs

The subsidies are part of a program that matches corporate workers with struggling small and midsize companies in regional areas.
Canadian Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney speaks during the Liberal Party’s gathering in Ottawa, Canada, on Sunday. Carney will most likely be in power just a few weeks before a federal election is held.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2025

Carney gets down to work as Canada election drumbeat grows

The prime minister-designate promises a speedy transition to a new administration that he says will focus on the economy and fighting back against U.S. tariffs.
Mark Carney, Canada's incoming prime minister (center), during a swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Friday. Carney has been sworn in as Canada's 24th prime minister, bringing the former central banker to power in the middle of an explosive trade war with the U.S.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2025

Canada has a new prime minister with a very hard first assignment

Mark Carney steps into his role as U.S. President Donald Trump sets his sights on Canada’s sovereignty and keeps threatening more tariffs.
The latest results are likely to increase doubts within the party about Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s leadership going into the Upper House election in the summer.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 24, 2025

Ishiba’s approval ratings continue to fall amid gift voucher backlash

The latest results are likely to increase doubts within the party about Ishiba’s leadership going into the Upper House election.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a news conference in Tokyo on April 1. The approval rating for Ishiba's Cabinet fell to 30.6% over the weekend, according to a JNN poll.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 7, 2025

Ishiba under pressure to take stronger stance against U.S. on tariffs

Some opposition leaders are urging the prime minister to rally his party around a strategy before speaking with the U.S. president, but others are eyeing his removal.
Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest, makes front-page news on May 18, 1975.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
May 3, 2025

Japan Times 1975: Junko Tabei becomes first woman to summit Mount Everest

A 35-year-old housewife from Saitama achieved the impressive feat in May 1975 with the help of a Sherpa guide and 15-member Japanese women’s team.
Clockwise from top left: Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi
JAPAN / Politics
May 9, 2025

Who could become Japan's next prime minister?

Regardless of the outcome of July's Upper House election, the bar will be high for anyone seeking to unseat incumbent Shigeru Ishiba.
Then-U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz checks his mobile phone while attending a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on April 30.
WORLD / Politics
May 22, 2025

Hacker behind U.S communication breach stole data from across government

The discovery potentially raises the stakes of a breach that has already drawn questions about data security in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Elon Musk holds a chainsaw featuring a Spanish slogan that translates as  "Long live freedom, damn it" during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Feb. 20.
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2025

Elon Musk leaving Trump administration, capping turbulent tenure

Musk's departure was quick and unceremonious, and he did not have a formal conversation with Trump before announcing his exit.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof in The Hague, Netherlands on Tuesday. Schoof has resigned as prime minister after the far-right Freedom Party pulled out of the government.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2025

Dutch prime minister resigns after far-right party pulls out of coalition

The Freedom Party withdrew from the Dutch government over the refusal of three coalition partners to agree to its plans to curb migration.
In an annual gender gap report, Japan recorded its strongest gains in economic participation, where its score climbed to 61.3% from 56.8% in 2024.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 12, 2025

Japan ranks 118th out of 148 countries in gender gap report

Japan's gender parity ranking was unchanged from a year ago and is still the lowest among Group of Seven countries.

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’