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U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters in the White House on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 23, 2025

How Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts leave a vacuum that China can fill

When President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States would move ahead with a long-debated project to build a stealthy next-generation fighter jet, the message to China was clear: The United States plans to spend tens of billions of dollars over the next decade, probably far longer, to...
Increased reliance on AI and digital technology is weakening cognitive skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solving, as people depend more on machines for tasks that once required mental effort.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2025

‘Use it or lose it’ — a grim mantra for the AI age

In sum, “excessive dependence on AI without concurrent cultivation of fundamental cognitive skills may lead to underutilization and subsequent loss of cognitive abilities.”
Ryuji Matsumoto pats one of the sheep at his farm in the town of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Apr 14, 2025

The man behind Fukushima town's 'Strawberry Sheep'

Ryuji Matsumoto, 54, incorporates dried strawberries into the feed for his sheep, which gives their meat a certain sweetness.
Shohei Ohtani jerseys displayed for sale at an MLB pop-up store in Tokyo on March 6.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 1, 2025

Dodgers' Ohtani has most popular jersey in MLB

The reigning National League MVP has led sales in the U.S., Japan and globally for 18 consecutive months
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 3, 2025

Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs

The duty rate for Japanese products is the "worst among the scenarios that had been imagined" by the market.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. TSMC could face a penalty of $1 billion or more to settle a U.S. export control investigation over a chip it made that ended up inside a Huawei artificial intelligence processor,
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 9, 2025

TSMC could face $1 billion or more fine from U.S. probe, sources say

The penalty is to settle a U.S. export control investigation over a chip it made that ended up inside a Huawei artificial intelligence processor.
Shipping containers at a port in Nanjing, in eastern China's Jiangsu province, on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 9, 2025

China raises tariffs on U.S. goods to 84% as trade war escalates

China’s move came hours after Trump's sweeping measures went into force, taking the cumulative rate announced this year to 104%.
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in St. Petersburg on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 12, 2025

U.S. envoy meets Putin as Trump tells Moscow to 'get moving' on Ukraine

The talks come at a time when U.S.-Russia dialogue aimed at agreeing on a ceasefire ahead of a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine appears to have stalled.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a chart next to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick as Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on April 2.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 14, 2025

Trump warns tariffs are coming for electronics after reprieve

The American president downplayed a weekend exemption as a procedural step in his overall push to remake U.S. trade.
The Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Minnesota is seen off the coast of Western Australia on March 16.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 15, 2025

AUKUS exemption to U.S. defense trade controls doesn't cover nuclear subs, officials say

The controls create hurdles to defense industry collaboration on U.S. Virginia-class sub production.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday in Washington.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 16, 2025

Trump calls the U.S.-Japan alliance ‘one-sided.’ Tokyo says otherwise.

Some observers believe the U.S. president’s worldview is stuck in the 1980s, a time when trade deficits with Japan captured the attention of U.S. policymakers.
Marriage proposals in Japan look a lot like those in other countries, but there are traditions that are specific to the country that some people still adhere to.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 18, 2025

Voicing intentions and a peek into a traditional Japanese engagement ceremony

While the basics of a marriage proposal are similar to what happens in most countries, an extra ceremony requires specific gifts.
Ukrainan President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a news conference in Kyiv on Thursday.
WORLD
Apr 19, 2025

Ukraine bans China's firms for helping Russia make missiles

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not offer any evidence of the claim, which came a day after he alleged China had been supplying weapons to Russia.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws during the seventh inning of Los Angeles' win over the Rangers on Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 19, 2025

Tommy Edman and Yoshinobu Yamamoto lift Dodgers past Rangers

The Dodgers were without reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani, who was placed on the paternity list.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife Mamiko Tanaka attend a Lakers game in Los Angeles on Dec. 8, 2024.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 20, 2025

Shohei Ohtani announces birth of daughter

Ohtani announced the birth of his first child in a post on social media.
The entrance to Harvard Law School in 2023. Harvard sued U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Monday in a sharp escalation of the fight between the prestigious university and the Republican, who has threatened its funding and sought to impose outside political supervision.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 22, 2025

Harvard University sues to block Trump from cutting billions in research funding

Since his January inauguration, Trump has cracked down on top U.S. universities, saying they mishandled last year's pro-Palestinian protests.
U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2025

Trump ousts White House national security adviser Waltz, replacing him with Rubio

Waltz was blamed for adding the editor of The Atlantic to a private thread describing details of an imminent U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen.
A United Nations Security Council meeting on Tuesday. The U.N. is considering an overhaul that would represent the most sweeping reforms in decades, according to an internal memo.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2025

U.N. considers major overhaul amid funding crisis, internal memo shows

Deep budget shortfalls — 20% staffing cuts at UNICEF, 30% at the migration agency—have spurred urgent calls for “bold and immediate” efficiency measures.
Urgent diplomacy and restraint are needed to prevent further escalation between India and Pakistan, as both sides risk being pulled into a dangerous conflict with potential global consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2025

Can India and Pakistan step back from the brink?

India and Pakistan on many occasions have been on the brink of major conflict, yet have successfully climbed down.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (second right) and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer (left) meet with Japan’s economic revitalization minister, Ryosei Akazawa, in Washington on May 1. In an attempt to ease trade tensions, Bessent and Greer will meet with a Chinese team in Switzerland from Saturday. 
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2025

A moment of hope for U.S-China trade frictions

The U.S. and China will meet in Switzerland to discuss trade tensions, but deep mistrust and structural issues are hurdles they will have to overcome to make progress.
Masataka Yuhara, secretary-general of the Friends of Lee Teng Hui Association in Japan, which has been calling for "Taiwan" to be permitted as a place of origin in family registers.
JAPAN
May 14, 2025

Japan to recognize Taiwan as place of origin in family registration system

Residents of Taiwanese descent in Japan and their support groups have welcomed the change.
Japan is considering adding three more sectors, including distribution warehouse management, to its program to grant residency status to foreign workers with what are being called "specified skills."
JAPAN
May 16, 2025

Japan eyes three more sectors for foreign workers program

The three sectors — distribution warehouse management, services supplying sheets and towels to hotels, and resource recycling — are struggling to secure workers.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stands beside a MiG-29 aircraft and air-launched weaponry on display during anti-air combat and air raid drills at an undisclosed location in the country on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 17, 2025

North Korea's Kim oversees air drills and calls for stepped-up war preparations

Kim, who inspected anti-aircraft combat and airstrike drills, called for "all units in the entire military" to bring about "a breakthrough in war preparation."
Robin Zeng, founder and chairman of battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), attends the company’s listing ceremony at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 20, 2025

Chinese battery giant CATL soars more than 13% on Hong Kong debut

A global leader in the sector, CATL produces more than a third of all electric vehicle (EV) batteries sold worldwide.
Lists containing the names and details of members of biological warfare units that the former Imperial Japanese Army had stationed in China
JAPAN
May 21, 2025

Name lists of former Imperial Japanese Army biowarfare units released

The National Archives has disclosed details of the members of two units based in China to researchers looking to uncover the mysteries surrounding them.
PRESS
May 28, 2025

The Japan Times Destination Restaurants が 今年の受賞レストランを発表

Destination Restaurants
AI hallucinations — when generative models fabricate information — are becoming more frequent, harder to detect and increasingly dangerous as we embed the technology deeper into society.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2025

AI hallucinations? What could go wrong?

The notion that we can’t ensure that AI will produce accurate information is, uh, “disturbing” if we intend to integrate that product so deeply into our daily lives.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 6, 2025

EU backs International Criminal Court after U.S. sanctions judges

Slovenia urged the EU to use its blocking statute, which lets the EU ban European companies from complying with U.S. sanctions that Brussels deems unlawful.
June is Pride Month, which means it’s the perfect time to get acquainted with how sexual minorities have been represented in Japanese fiction if you’re not familiar with these narratives already.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 11, 2025

Pride and prose: Novels that illuminate queer lives in Japan

From Yukio Mishima and Haruki Murakami to Li Kotomi and Akira Otani, dive into Japanese fiction’s LGBTQ+ narratives in honor of Pride Month.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani runs after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
BASEBALL
Jun 16, 2025

Shohei Ohtani to make Dodgers pitching debut Monday

It will be Ohtani's first big league pitching appearance since Aug. 23, 2023, and his first with the Dodgers.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes