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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2021

The curious case of the Balkan war criminals

International tribunals are largely ceremonial until leaders who commit war crimes are ousted, or their armies defeated.
OLYMPICS / Longform
Jul 5, 2021

Twists and turns: Retracing Tokyo’s tumultuous path to the Olympics

Games organizers have been forced to confront ballooning costs, accusations of plagiarism and bribery, and — to top it all off — a crippling global pandemic.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 27, 2021

The young female climate activists driving change in Asia

A number of young women in the region are stepping forward to demand greater action on one of the defining issues of this generation.
Hindu devotees sit after a deadly stampede before the second Shahi Snan (royal bath) at the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj, India, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 29, 2025

Over a dozen dead in stampede at Hindu mega-festival in India

The six-week Kumbh Mela festival is the single biggest milestone on the Hindu religious calendar.
Economic coercion has become a prominent tool in global geopolitics, with both China and the U.S. relying on it to pursue their policy goals, and more so with Donald Trump now in office.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2025

When big countries wave their big economic sticks

There is no agreed definition of economic coercion under international law; like pornography, we know it when we see it.
Bosses at artificial intelligence companies are concerned about finding enough electricity to keep servers running at data centers.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 31, 2025

AI’s electricity demand means new tech is coming to grids

Startups have an opportunity to develop and deploy grid-enhancing technologies, including pumping more power through cables.
Billed as a “cultural bridge that connects Japan and Vietnam,” Tet Viet Saitama drew tens of thousands of attendees from across the Kanto region.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Feb 2, 2025

Home away from home: My first time at a Tet festival in Japan

A longtime resident of Japan attends Saitama’s first public celebration of Vietnam’s most important holiday.
Communist Party supporters take part in a rally next to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in July 2022. Economic reforms pushed by the U.S. in 1990s on Russia caused hardship and extremism, fueling Vladimir Putin's rise.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2025

A secret cable and a clue to where America-Russia relations went wrong

Putin is the main culprit for Russia’s return to authoritarianism, aggression and hostility to the West. But American arrogance and presumptions cannot be dismissed.
DeepSeek’s AI breakthrough has shaken assumptions about China’s innovation, highlighted weaknesses in U.S. tech restrictions, and reinforced China’s push for self-sufficiency despite export controls.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2025

DeepSeek forces a rethink of China’s ability to innovate

The Trump administration hasn’t outlined a policy toward technology flows yet, but it ordered a review of export controls on day one.
Brazil forward Neymar (left) fights for the ball during a training session at Rei Pele training centre, in Santos, Brazil on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Feb 4, 2025

Neymar homecoming is reminder of promise unfulfilled

Last week, 12 years on, he returned to first club Santos — Neymar the celebrity with unimaginable wealth, but a player whose fragile body has been badly diminished by injuries.
A statue of the founder of the International Olympic Committee, Pierre de Coubertin, at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland
OLYMPICS
Feb 5, 2025

The closed-door battle to lead the Olympics

For such a consequential election, much of it is taking place in the dark, away from any form of public or private debate.
A vigil is held in central Budapest on Tuesday to commemorate a 43-year-old Japanese woman, whose charred body was found in a burned out apartment the previous week. Counter terrorism forces detained her husband, an Irish citizen, on Monday on suspicion of killing the woman.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 5, 2025

Irish man held over suspicious death of Japanese woman in Hungary

The charred body of the victim — the man's former wife and mother of their two children — was found in a burned-out apartment in central Budapest on Jan. 29.
Heat forward Jimmy Butler (center) shoots the basketball over Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (left) and forward Aaron Gordon during the third quarter of a game at Kaseya Center on Jan. 17.
BASKETBALL
Feb 6, 2025

Warriors reportedly land Heat's Jimmy Butler in multi-team trade

Butler has agreed to a new two-year, $121 million extension with the Warriors through 2026-27, according to multiple reports.
Capital gains on direct Bitcoin purchases are subject to taxes of up to 55% in Japan, making investing in stock proxies like Metaplanet via the Nippon Individual Savings Account program a cheap and convenient option for small-scale and first-time buyers.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 10, 2025

Bitcoin hoarder’s stock soars 4,000% in Japan on crypto rally

Shares of Metaplanet are up more than 4,000% over the past 12 months, the largest gain among all Japanese equities in that period.
Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuya Endo (third from left) joins a tour of the BRP Melchora Aquino, the BRP Melchora Aquino, last May. The Philippine Coast Guard ship was provided to Manila under Japan's official development aid program.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 11, 2025

Japan exploring more defense transfers to Philippines, envoy says

As Tokyo revises its export guidelines to ease defense equipment transfers, the partners expect more security cooperation on the horizon.
Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas (left) puts up a shot over Kings center Alex Len during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center on Jan. 19. Len has now signed for the Lakers.
BASKETBALL
Feb 12, 2025

Lakers sign Ukrainian 7-footer Len to join Doncic and LeBron

A rescinded trade for Mark Williams left the Lakers needing a big man to play alongside superstars Luka Doncic and LeBron James after the departure of Anthony Davis.
Japanese companies face mounting pressure as U.S.-China tensions grow, forcing them to navigate security concerns, economic dependencies and shifting trade policies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 12, 2025

For Japanese firms, the China dilemma is set to intensify

“America First” and “Make America Great Again” are simple slogans that can be fitted to any outcome. All that ultimately matters is the final say of the president.
Travis Kelce (87) leaves the field after the first half of Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Feb 13, 2025

Chiefs star Travis Kelce to take time before making decision on future

The 35-year-old Kelce, who is dating Taylor Swift, has made five Super Bowl appearances with the Chiefs in six seasons
In the most recent expansion to the long-running Warframe, Alpha Takahashi voices cyborg mechanic Aoi Morohoshi.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Feb 15, 2025

Alpha Takahashi: ‘The world of video games was tied to my upbringing’

The Tokyo-born actor has voiced Psylocke in Marvel Rivals, Hanako Arasaka in Cyberpunk 2077 and many more since breaking into the industry in 2013.
Leaders of patients' groups submit signatures opposing the move by the government to raise the medical copayment ceiling on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Feb 14, 2025

Japan to rethink medical copayment hike amid patient outcry

Many patients, especially those undergoing costly but effective cancer therapy, say a hike might force them to abandon their treatments.
While Valentine’s Day in the West is traditionally associated with men giving flowers to women, in Japan the day has typically involved women giving gifts of chocolate to men.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2025

A sweet Japanese Valentine's Day tradition is nearly dead

The custom of giri-choco, loosely meaning "obligatory chocolate,” was once commonplace in offices around the country.
Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (97) and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) battle along the boards for a loose puck during a game in  Edmonton, Alberta, on Jan. 30.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2025

The NHL could’ve had a good year if not for tariffs

In 2016, the league denied an expansion franchise to Quebec, citing the "state and volatility of the Canadian dollar.”
Nolan Arenado, seen during a game at Yankee Stadium in August 2024, reported to spring training with the Cardinals on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 17, 2025

Nolan Arenado reports camp with Cardinals 'ready to go play ball'

"I'm back, and I'm ready to go play ball," Arenado told reporters on Sunday. "I'm a ballplayer, and I'm a Cardinal, until I'm told I'm not.
One-third of elementary school students in Japan do not like learning English, according to a 2021 poll, an 8% rise since 2013. The pressure of taking proficiency tests is eroding children's  engagement with studying English and its benefits.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 17, 2025

Japan’s English-language education doesn’t pass the test

An excessive focus on testing students' English ability is turning language learning into a chore, depriving children of the joy and opportunities of intercultural communication.
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.
Mike Sunda at a concert in Haikou, China
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 20, 2025

Mike Sunda: ‘Creative production comes with a bigger responsibility than ever before’

Creative strategist Mike Sunda talks about his influences and the filming of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Mamushi” music video.
Yamanote Jijosha has a long history of staging Shakespeare plays, and in celebration of its 40th anniversary, the company will present “Othello” and “Macbeth.” Previously, it toured productions like “Titus Andronicus,” which premiered in Tokyo in 1999, saw multiple revivals and had a homecoming in 2015.
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 21, 2025

Directing is never a monologue at the experimental Yamanote Jijosha theater company

To mark its four decades of existence, the company stages two Shakespearean tragedies for a triumph.
David Moreton, a former professor at Tokushima University, originally came to Japan as a missionary in 1988. He is now one of the world’s foremost experts on the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Feb 24, 2025

How a Canadian missionary found spiritual transformation in Shikoku

David Moreton has devoted decades to researching southern Japan’s famed 88-temple pilgrimage, established by influential monk Kobo Daishi.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear