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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2023

Questions raised over Japan's habit of putting together large-scale supplementary budgets

In the past few years, spending big has in effect been the basic tenet for extra budget compilation, as the ruling camp pushed aggressively for massive additional outlays.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2023

Japan and South Korea discuss Seoul's proposal to solve wartime labor dispute

The Japanese government is expected to back the proposed solution so long as it can maintain its position on the issue of compensation, sources familiar with the bilateral ties said.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / Longform
Jan 16, 2023

The race to save the Japanese giant salamander

River infrastructure is causing the salamander's decline. To stop Japan from losing this rare species, conservationists are calling for an alternative vision of rural development.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jan 16, 2023

The drug mules carrying Europe's cocaine in their guts

More than a sixth of the cocaine consumed in France is smuggled inside the bodies of drug mules from its poverty-stricken South American region of Guiana.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2023

New AI smartphone app will be able to decipher Japanese cursive manuscripts

The app's beta version is set for release later this month, while the full version is scheduled to become available to the public this March.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Jan 16, 2023

Rafael Nadal victorious at Australian Open but heartbreak for Nick Kyrgios

Top-seeded Nadal recovered from a second-set wobble to defeat the 38th-ranked Briton 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2023

TV announcer turned portfolio manager beats 97% of Japanese peers

Maiko Uda reckons the Bank of Japan will raise its cap for 10-year sovereign yields to at least 1.5% within two years from 0.5% now.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2023

Japan’s transport ministry plans expressway fee collection through 2115

The transport ministry is drawing up bills to be submitted during the next parliament session that begins on Jan. 23, including a revision to the road construction law.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2023

COVID-19 tracker: Tokyo logs 4,433 new cases

Tokyo reported 4,433 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, down by 3,766 week on week.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 16, 2023

Japan opposition party lawmaker Hakase Suidobashi resigns

The comedian-turned-politician of Reiwa Shinsengumi had stopped his political activities in October last year after being diagnosed with depression.
Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture. The mayor of Himeji has suggested that foreign tourists pay four times more to enter the castle than the current ¥1,000 entrance fee.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2024

Japan really should charge tourists four times more

The suggestion by a Kansai mayor that foreign visitors pay more for tourist attractions doesn't go far enough. The government should establish a nationwide policy.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Apr 17, 2024

Why hasn't Japan moved to prop up the weak yen?

Even though the yen has already far exceeded the level that prompted action in October 2022, an intervention seems far off.
Japan's Yuki Ishikawa (left) scored a match-high 27 points during his team's win over Slovenia in the Nations League semifinals.
MORE SPORTS / Volleyball
Jul 21, 2023

Japan beats Slovenia to reach Nations League semifinals for first time

Japan defeated Slovenia in straight sets Thursday to reach the semifinals of the Nations League men's volleyball tournament for the first time in the history of the event, previously called the World League.
Medics help a woman who had passed out from the heat in Athens, Greece, on Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 21, 2023

Extreme heat and weather conditions attributed to stagnant jet stream

It’s no coincidence that extreme heat is engulfing huge swaths of Asia, Europe and North America all at the same time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly said he prefers U.S. President Joe Biden to Donald Trump, but the remark was widely interpreted to mean exactly the opposite.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

Putin hopes a Trump win would change course for Russia

While Putin has said he prefers U.S. President Joe Biden to Donald Trump, the remark was widely interpreted to mean exactly the opposite.
People walk with umbrellas to shade against the sun in Tokyo's Ginza area on Saturday. The Meteorological Agency announced the same day that the rainy season was believed to have ended in the Kanto-Koshin and Tohoku regions.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2023

Eastern Japan exits rainy season as high temperatures continue

Compared with an average year, the rainy season ended three days later in the Kanto-Koshin region, the agency said.
Young men and women celebrate Coming of Age Day in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Jan. 11, 2016.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 31, 2023

Japan's 18-year-olds at record-low 1.06 million on falling births

In Japan, the age of adulthood was lowered from 20 to 18 in April 2022 in a bid to encourage active social participation by youth.
Newly appointed British Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves No. 10 Downing St. following the results of the election, in London, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 6, 2024

David Lammy: Friend of Obama now U.K. foreign minister

The 51-year-old's ancestors were enslaved in Guyana, South America — a family history that Lammy says will inform his approach to foreign policy.
An artist's conception of a manned lunar rover using regenerative fuel cell technology
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 22, 2023

Toyota eyes lunar rover powered by regenerative fuel-cell tech

Toyota has teamed up with JAXA since 2019 to develop the manned lunar rover — which it dubbed the Lunar Cruiser — that they hope can be put on the moon in 2029.
A man watches a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 22, 2023

North Korea fires cruise missiles into Yellow Sea, but remains silent on U.S. soldier's fate

Experts say cruise missiles, which fly far slower than ballistic weapons, present a unique danger in that they can fly low and maneuver, making them potentially very difficult to intercept.
Misaki Nobata competes at the World University Games in 2023. A hero in her hometown of Oita, Nobata is one of three Japanese shooters who will compete at the upcoming Paris Olympics.
OLYMPICS / Shooting
Jul 19, 2024

‘Sniper from Oita’ sets her sights on Paris Olympics target

In a country with strict anti-gun laws, 20-year-old university student and rifle shooter Misaki Nobata is not your typical Olympian.
Despite Japan's still-nascent domestic winemaking scene, wine drinkers in the country have long enjoyed an obsession with obtaining certifications around the beverage.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 17, 2024

What’s driving Japan’s love affair with wine certifications?

Studying wine is an extremely popular pastime in Japan — despite the number of students without a professional need to do so.
Japanese imports of seafood are seen at a supermarket in Hong Kong on July 12.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 22, 2023

Hong Kong tightens radiation inspection of Japanese seafood imports

The tighter inspections started in mid-June and customs clearance of Japanese seafood was delayed by about three hours compared with earlier clearance times.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during Prime Minister's Questions, at the House of Commons in London on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 21, 2023

British PM Rishi Sunak avoids wipeout in key local elections

By-elections were seen as an indicator of the two main parties' prospects at a time when voters are struggling with high inflation, strikes and rising mortgage rates.
Rainbow flags were flown through the capital's busy Shibuya and Harajuku areas for Tokyo Rainbow Pride events this weekend as organizers hailed 30 years of one of Asia's largest LGBTQ celebrations.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 21, 2024

Tokyo Rainbow Pride lights up capital as organizers celebrate 30 years

Under the theme “Until it changes, don’t give up,” this year’s Tokyo Rainbow Pride was held after an eventful 12 months for Japan’s LGBTQ movement.
Green marks the spot where a fissure formed, then fused back together in this artistic rendering of nanoscale self-healing in metal. Red arrows indicate the direction of the pulling force that unexpectedly triggered the phenomenon.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 21, 2023

Self-healing metal? It's not just the stuff of science fiction

Scientists have witnessed pieces of pure platinum and copper spontaneously heal cracks caused by metal fatigue during nanoscale experiments.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 28, 2024

Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.

As with for any single parent, life can present challenges. For those times, you'll need to learn resilience, perseverance and attention to detail.
The 1975 perform at the Brit Awards at the O2 Arena in London in 2019
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 22, 2023

Malaysia halts music festival after same-sex kiss by U.K. band The 1975

Homosexuality is a crime in Muslim-majority Malaysia. Rights groups have warned of growing intolerance against the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
Ever since the Bank of Japan ended its negative rate policy, calls for the government to strengthen its fiscal discipline have been growing, with the country being haunted by public debt that is about twice the size of its gross domestic product.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 30, 2024

Two cheers for the end of free money in Japan

Corporations are better prepared for more expensive money than they were in the past, with strong balance sheets and a better understanding of risk.
A cargo vessel on the Sulina Channel en route to the Danube River, in Romania
WORLD
Jul 21, 2023

Ukraine grain relies on a river that’s drying up

A heatwave fanning across the southern part of Europe is lowering river levels and crimping export capacity, which will make shipping grain even more difficult.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals