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Since June, at least 10 gold bar scams, including failed attempts, have been confirmed in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Aichi and Shizuoka prefectures.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 26, 2024

Gold bullion scams targeting elderly people on the rise in Japan

Criminals posing as police officers on Line have been persuading people to convert money into gold and then leave it outside their homes.
Over 28,000 elderly people living alone died at home across Japan between January and June, police data has shown.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 29, 2024

28,000 elderly people died alone in Japan in first half of 2024

It took two weeks or longer for police to recognize the death in 4,913 of the cases.
Hokkaido's cuisine and the culture that underpins it get top billing in Tim Anderson's newest cookbook.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 15, 2024

‘MasterChef U.K.’ winner’s new cookbook puts Hokkaido cuisine on vivid display

Tim Anderson's cookbook covers a lot, but its strength is in presenting Japan’s largest prefecture as a detailed tapestry via straightforward recipes.
Alex Lucitante, of the indigenous Cofan ethnic group, in Lago Agrio, Sucumbos Province, Amazon region, Ecuador, on Jan. 15, 2023. This small community is famous for having driven mining companies out of their Amazonian territory in northern Ecuador.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 7, 2024

Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of U.N. forum

COP16 organizers have said Indigenous representatives will have input in national action plans
People visit the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima on Saturday.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2024

People in Hiroshima and Nagasaki reiterate call for peace after Nobel win

Nihon Hidankyo was named this year's recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for its work to abolish the use of nuclear weapons.
Atomic bomb survivors and members of Nihon Hidankyo attend a news conference a day after the group won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, in Tokyo on Oct. 12.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2024

Nihon Hidankyo to send 31 people to attend Nobel Peace Prize ceremony

"We hope to deliver the voices of hibakusha in the midst of perilous situations in the world," the assistant secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo said.
Students from Yamagata Prefectural Kamo Fisheries High School experience simulated pelagic tuna fishing using VR headsets in August.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2024

VR used to stir young people's interest in fishing industry

VR headsets allow users to see how workers catch tuna and do other work with a 360-degree view from aboard a ship.
“Ainu Puri” is a nuanced portrait of Shigeki Amanai (left), a modern Ainu man who strives to uphold his culture and heritage in daily life.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2024

‘Ainu Puri’: A vital portrait of indigenous culture in contemporary Japan

Takeshi Fukunaga’s documentary is an engaging examination of the life and community of a Hokkaido man devoted to his Ainu heritage.
Gold samples confiscated by Federal Police in Amazonas state, Brazil, on June 19
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 16, 2024

New technology aids Brazil's crackdown on illicit Amazon gold trade

A police program is creating a database of samples from across Brazil that are examined to determine the unique composition of elements.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (left) meets with Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki at the Okinawa Prefectural Government Office on Sunday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2024

Okinawa governor seeks timetable for transfer of U.S. marines

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki on Sunday called on the government to provide a concrete timetable for the transfer of U.S. Marines in Okinawa to Guam, following the recent start of the relocation.
Jins' new device, called the "Jins Assist," allows users to click and move the cursor of a computer via head movements.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2025

Eyeglass company Jins' new device lets people use a PC via head movements

Weighing only 4 grams, Jins' device can help people with hand or arm disabilities navigate a computer through small head movements.
High school student Mayu Kobayashi (right) speaks as she and other "student peace ambassadors" call for the abolition of nuclear weapons in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 6, 2025

Japanese high school students call for nuke abolition in New York

They stress that peace must be continuously protected and is not something to be taken for granted.
A research team found that brown fat, which encourages the body to burn fat, tended to be more active among those conceived during the colder months, meaning they are less likely to gain weight.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 9, 2025

Japanese team finds people conceived in winter less likely to be overweight

The team analyzed the brown fat of 356 men between the ages of 18 and 29.
People march to the parliament in protest of the Treaty Principles Bill, in Wellington, New Zealand, in November 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 10, 2025

New Zealand parliament rejects controversial move to revise indigenous law

New Zealand’s Parliament overwhelmingly rejected a bill to redefine the Treaty of Waitangi — the 1840 founding pact between Maori and the British Crown — after months of protest.
An immature college student (Riku Hagiwara, left) is caught in the middle of a love triangle in “She Taught Me Serendipity.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 24, 2025

‘She Taught Me Serendipity’: A quiet reminder not to take people for granted

While Akiko Ohku’s latest seems like a rom-com on its surface, the ensemble piece delves deeper into the importance of appreciating loved ones while you can.
Former labor minister Kim Moon-soo arrives at the People Power Party's national convention in Goyang, South Korea, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 3, 2025

South Korea's conservatives pick hard-liner Kim Moon-soo as presidential candidate

Kim, 73, was a labor activist in his university days but later became a hard-line conservative.
Osaka police arrested Yuki Yazawa for attempted murder after he allegedly plowed his car into elementary school children in Osaka on Thursday. 

 department is investigating how and why the 28-year-old suspect,
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 4, 2025

Suspect who hit Osaka children with SUV said he disliked people living without hardship

The Osaka Prefectural Police Department is investigating how and why the 28-year-old suspect, Yuki Yazawa, committed the assault.
Supplies wait to be loaded on trucks to go into the Gaza Strip, at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, on its Israeli side, on May 29.
WORLD
Jun 10, 2025

U.N. says most flour delivered in Gaza looted or taken by starving people

A U.S. official has called for Israel to let in far more aid via multiple crossings and routes.
Yoko Koiso, who lost her daughter in the 2021 mudslide in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, prays during a memorial ceremony held in the city on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2025

People mourn victims of Atami mudslide four years on

Participants offered silent prayers for the 28 victims as sirens blared around the city.
People watch a campaign speech in Tokyo on July 13.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 20, 2025

Record 26.2 million people vote early in Upper House poll

The figure represents 25.12% of all voters, with many people using the early voting system given the long weekend.
The government has approves expanded disaster relief to better support the elderly and people with disabilities during emergencies, including armed attacks.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2025

Japan expands aid for the elderly and people with disabilities in emergencies

There have been concerns about some evacuees dying due to their health deteriorating after evacuation, and the need to strengthen protections in the event of armed attacks.
Evacuees at a shelter in Saitama Prefecture after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011. With a tsunami expected to reach some areas within minutes after a Nankai Trough megaquake, the government is asking municipalities to designate areas where advance evacuation is necessary.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2025

Megaquake alert would urge 520,000 people to evacuate

The figure exceeds the total number of evacuees after the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, which came to about 470,000.
Ann Burroughs, head of the Japanese American National Museum, called it "inconceivable" for the United States to be "building concentration camps, denying the lessons learned 80 years ago."
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2025

Japanese American museum blasts Trump's use of internment camp to detain people

The Trump administration set up an immigration detention center within the grounds of an army base that was used during World War II as an internment camp for Japanese Americans.
An ICE agent speaks to people lined up to enter the U.S. Immigration Court, in Manhattan, New York City, in June.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 26, 2025

Inside ICE, Trump's migrant crackdown is taking a toll on officers

Some current and former ICE officials say the agency is grappling with burnout as staff try to keep pace with the aggressive enforcement agenda.
Founded in 1948, Puma reported €281.6 million in net income last year and €8.8 billion in sales, and counts a global workforce of roughly 22,000.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 26, 2025

Pinault family is exploring options for Puma, including a sale

Puma has been trying to revamp itself under new CEO Arthur Hoeld after failing to generate much enthusiasm for its products with consumers in recent years.
Japanese manga artist Tetsuya Chiba speaks during an interview in Tokyo on July 8.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2025

Manga artist Tetsuya Chiba hopes for no more wars

Through his works, Chiba looks to pass down stories from World War II to future generations.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 26, 2025

Trump suggests many Americans 'like a dictator'

Democrats have repeatedly accused Trump of pushing presidential power way past its constitutional limits.
Daiki Hama, lecturer at Tama University in Tokyo, shows his creation of a virtual Siberian internment camp and a virtual reality headset in April.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2025

Japanese lecturer digitally re-creates post-WWII Siberian detention camp

The virtual camp has been used for hands-on events for children at a museum and training sessions for student storytellers at the Maizuru Repatriation Memorial Museum.
Indian National Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi addresses the media in front of a screen showing India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center) and Home Minister Amit Shah at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Aug. 7, ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the Indian state of Bihar.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 26, 2025

India's election commission faces claim of vote-rigging ahead of state poll

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said his party lost dozens of seats in the 2024 parliamentary elections as voter rolls were manipulated to favor the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Members of the national guard patrol near diners in Washington on Aug. 23.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 26, 2025

Trump and JD Vance attack 2028 rivals in national guard push

Trump has pushed the boundaries of his powers in trying to rid Democratic-run cities of what he says is rampant crime, drawing accusations he is politicizing the military.

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