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U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she steps off Air Force Two upon arrival at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in the city Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

Trump and Harris to turbocharge race with convention and rival events

Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump will battle for momentum — and attention — around the Democratic National Convention.
The U.S. Steel Irvin Plant in Pennsylvania
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 6, 2024

Union chief assails U.S. Steel CEO and calls deal for company flawed

United Steelworkers President David McCall said he didn’t think the future of U.S. Steel hinged on Nippon Steel buying the company.
A screen displays a message urging supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump to make a plan to vote early or in-person during a campaign rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 30.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 10, 2024

Trump hunts for elusive 2024 election prize — infrequent voters

Trump, more than in previous cycles, sees infrequent voters as critical.
Shigeru Ishiba (center) celebrates in Tokyo on Friday after he was elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. He defeated economic security minister Sanae Takaichi (second from left) in a runoff vote.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2024

Shigeru Ishiba’s tenure as prime minister could be short-lived

Questions about his leadership and management ability weaken his prospects.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes his visiting French counterpart,  Emmanuel Macron, in Washington in April 2018. European leaders, such as Macron, recognize the need to adapt to a new reality where globalization may no longer drive growth, especially if Trump wins the U.S. election.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2024

Trump-proofing Europe looks impossible

Global supply chain strengths turn into weaknesses in a fragmented world, with unreliable access to cheap energy, Chinese consumers and U.S. security.
U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2024

Biden congratulates Nihon Hidankyo on winning Nobel Peace Prize

Biden's statement praised the national group of hibakusha atomic bomb sufferers "for their historic work to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again."
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba would face a number of obstacles to updating the Status of Forces Agreement — something that hasn’t occurred since its promulgation in 1960.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Oct 16, 2024

Ishiba's goal of revising U.S. troops pact likely long-term project

The prime minister's push to change the Status of Forces Agreement governing the U.S. military presence in Japan is unlikely to happen any time soon.
Yahya Sinwar gives a speech in Gaza City in April 2023. Israeli forces cornered and killed the leader of Hamas in a ruined house in Gaza on Oct. 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2024

The killing of Sinwar presents a tricky opportunity

It’s always a mistake to speak of "solutions” in the Middle East, but plausible grounds for optimism can do a lot to dissolve the allure of fanaticism.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, face off in an election Tuesday that will have wide-ranging implications for Japan.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 3, 2024

Status quo or disruption? Breaking down the U.S. election's impact on Japan

Regardless of who wins, Washington is likely to have limited bandwidth to change tack in a significant way with its most important Asian ally.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

Ishiba holds first phone call with Trump as Japanese PM seeks to build ties

Ishiba called his first one-on-one conversation with Trump "friendly," saying that he expects the two will be able to "speak openly and candidly.”
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba reviews Self-Defense Forces troops during the SDF's 70th anniversary at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Camp Asaka, which straddles Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 9, 2024

Ishiba considering U.S. visit for first in-person talks with Trump

The Japanese government is working with the Trump team on arranging the visit and officials may visit the U.S. next week to discuss details.
Donald Trump believes the U.S. should prioritize its own national interests like other countries rather than maintaining its traditional role as a global leader, signaling a dramatic shift in how the United States may engage with the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2024

Who will step up if Trump steps back?

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is indifferent to the global order and may adopt a foreign policy approach that reshapes the global balance of power.
Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto told a local weekly that a lawsuit is possible if the company's proposed buyout of U.S. Steel gets blocked without proper procedures being followed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 13, 2024

Nippon Steel does not rule out lawsuit if U.S. Steel deal nixed, CEO says

If the deal falls through without a legitimate reason or proper procedures, the Japanese steelmaker would consider suing the U.S. government, CEO Eiji Hashimoto says.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gestures as he meets with House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 14, 2024

Trump's team drawing up list of Pentagon officers to fire, sources say

It is unclear if Donald Trump will endorse the firings, although in the past he has railed extensively against defense leaders who have criticized him.
Anduril Industries' Ghost-X unmanned aircraft is one of the systems included in the next tranche of the Pentagon's Replicator program that it plans to field from August next year.
WORLD
Nov 14, 2024

Pentagon unveils more Replicator drones to counter China

This is just the second time the U.S. has provided specifics on what it’s buying in its move to field thousands of cheap, smart and autonomous attack drones.
Air Self-Defense Force F-35A fighter jets at the U.S. military's Misawa base in Aomori Prefecture. The deployment of the U.S. military's cutting-edge F-35A stealth fighters at the base will start in the spring of 2026.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2024

F-35A deployment at Misawa base to start in spring 2026

The U.S. Department of Defense plans to spend about $10 billion to upgrade its fighter jets deployed in Japan over several years.
U.S. President Donald Trump is interviewed by Fox and Friends co-host Pete Hegseth at the White House in Washington on April 6, 2017.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 20, 2024

Trump picks Gaetz and Hegseth hold grudges against the agencies they would run

They both feel victimized by the agencies they would take over, giving them further motivation to embrace Trump's call for a to-the-bones makeover.
The United Steelworkers union claims that Nippon Steel's latest offer is tantamount to bribery.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2024

Union blasts Nippon Steel’s $5,000 per worker bonus in U.S. Steel deal

The United Steelworkers called Nippon Steel's move “a classic union-busting tactic” and a “desperate attempt to win over support for its doomed acquisition.”
Rep. Michael Waltz, a Republican from Florida, speaks with former President Donald Trump while attending the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines in August 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 18, 2024

For Waltz, advising isolationist Trump is a Taiwan-sized challenge

Florida congressman Mike Waltz has built his reputation in Washington as a China hawk, working on a House task force to coordinate policy toward Beijing.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Jan 5, 2025

'Guernica' is always with us

How do we account for the past year, almost nine decades after "Guernica," when all the boundaries of horror have been pulverized?
Elon Musk has waded into German politics twice in recent days on X.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 23, 2024

Germany’s SPD calls for antitrust act to clip Elon Musk’s power

While Wiese's comments will likely intensify the war of words with the world’s richest person, it’s unclear whether regulators in the U.S. will agree with his proposal.
The path forward for the Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel deal is unclear. The companies could sue the U.S. government, another buyer could swoop in for U.S. Steel, or Republicans who favor the deal could urge U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to find a way to approve it.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jan 4, 2025

What's next for the Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel deal?

The companies could sue the U.S. government, another buyer could swoop in, or those who favor the deal could urge Trump to find a way to approve it.
Hiroyuki Sanada's overlooked Golden Globe and Emmy wins and the media's differing reactions to "Shogun" mirror the contrasting political and media responses to Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel, highlighting how local interests shape public perception in both cases.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 8, 2025

Media coverage and political tensions color reactions to Nippon Steel's U.S. acquisition

If the U.S. Steel issue continues to be exacerbated, it might yield short-term benefits for U.S. domestic politics, but it will ultimately hand a windfall to foreign competitors.
A serviceman prepares to fire a Giatsint-B howitzer toward Russian troops at a front-line position in the Kharkiv region on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 10, 2025

Zelenskyy urges allies not to drop the ball ahead of Trump's return

The Ukrainian president implored representatives from roughly 50 nations to maintain their military support for his country’s nearly three-year war with Russia.
After months of legal tussles, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law that would ban TikTok in the name of national security.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 19, 2025

TikTok shuts down U.S. access as Trump seeks app's reinstatement

Only months after overwhelmingly backing the law, lawmakers are now fretting about the ban, with all eyes on whether Trump can swoop in and find a way to save the app.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo in May 2019.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 19, 2025

As Trump returns, will Japan be able to weather the storm?

Tokyo may be surprisingly more suited to work with Trump — and beat back any exorbitant demands — than it was during his first stint.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro says Manila's moves to beef up deterrence — including continuing to have a powerful U.S. missile system deployed on its territory — “are for the protection of our territorial integrity and sovereignty."
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 6, 2025

Philippines all in to get its own midrange missile system

The plan, as disclosed by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, comes amid Chinese pressure to remove a powerful U.S. weapons system from its territory.
Philippine National Security Council Assistant Director-General Jonathan Malaya says information and psychological warfare have "become part and parcel" of China's malign influence in his country.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 7, 2025

Chinese hybrid warfare ops surge in Philippines: top security official

There has been a rise in Chinese disinformation tactics as well as suspected surveillance and espionage activities in the Philippines, the official said.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2025

Ishiba says Trump didn't push defense spending hike or discuss tariffs

Ishiba also echoed Trump's pledge to help mediate a move by Japan’s Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel rather than purchasing the American company.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 21, 2025

Pentagon eyeing plan to halt U.S. Forces Japan upgrade, reports say

The move could create “political risk” for Washington with Tokyo and reduce the scope of command and control in the Indo-Pacific region as the U.S.-China rivalry heats up.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.