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PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 24, 2021

Episode 87: Half a million and counting — Japan's rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine

Around 500,000 people have been vaccinated in Japan to date, one of the slowest vaccination programs across developed nations.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Mar 24, 2021

Nadeshiko Japan hero Homare Sawa to miss Tokyo Olympic torch relay

Homare Sawa, the most valuable player and top goal scorer of the World Cup in Germany, is dealing with a long-term condition affecting her inner ear and will not run in the relay.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Mar 24, 2021

Japan state-funded hotel deal pays rent to Myanmar Defense Ministry

The payments, starting in 2017, are not illegal but are potentially embarrassing for Tokyo given alleged human rights abuses by Myanmar's military.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Mar 24, 2021

Simona Halep on hunt for Grand Slam titles and Tokyo Olympic medal

World No. 3 Simona Halep said she is more interested in silverware than her ranking and will focus on the Grand Slams and the Olympics.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 24, 2021

Agon Shu adheres to social distancing in Fire Rites Festival

A long procession of people dressed as yamabushi mountain priests makes its way into an amphitheater in the hills of eastern Kyoto to the sound of majestic symphonic music. This is how the Agon Shu Buddhist Association’s annual Fire Rites Festival always begins. But this year there were some very visible...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 23, 2021

Japanese firms launch domestic clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines

Even as Daiichi Sankyo and KM Biologics begin work to prove their shots' efficacy and safety, the public is unlikely to have access to them until fiscal 2022 at the earliest.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2021

Vaccine techno-populism is how Europe loses

Even with four vaccines approved by EU regulators, governments are fumbling the logistics of getting needles in arms.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 23, 2021

By catching bats, these 'virus hunters' hope to stop the next pandemic

The researchers are tasked with catching thousands of bats to develop a simulation model they hope will help the world avoid a pandemic similar to COVID-19
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 23, 2021

AstraZeneca's U.S. trial data a confidence booster for COVID-19 shot

The data paves the way for potential emergency authorization in the United States and boosts confidence in the shot after setbacks in Europe.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 22, 2021

Vaccine battle heats up with EU ready to halt U.K. shipments

Both sides have blamed each other for export curbs and nationalism, posing a risk to the fragile post-Brexit trade relationship agreed on only in December.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 21, 2021

The NCAA sees its worst fears realized in a canceled tournament game

It was a Faustian bargain that college basketball made last autumn when it plowed ahead with a season into the headwinds of the coronavirus pandemic. There would be games, college sports administrators declared, because there needed to be a path to the NCAA men’s tournament, which the governing body...
OLYMPICS
Mar 21, 2021

Japanese fans have attended sporting events since July. Will they be safe at the Olympics?

Thorough countermeasures and restrictions on active support introduced by the country's professional sports leagues have allowed large crowds back into stadiums.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 20, 2021

Scientists probe new theories on whether AstraZeneca shot linked to blood clots

Scientists are exploring several possibilities that might explain at least 18 reports of extremely rare blood clots in the brain that occurred in individuals in the days and weeks after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 20, 2021

Seoul ends mandatory coronavirus testing for foreign nationals after outcry

The reversal came as the National Human Rights Commission confirmed it was probing if the policies of several local governments for all foreign workers to be tested were discriminatory.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 19, 2021

What the 'Quad' is and isn’t

The 'Quad' leaders virtual meeting stressed the provision of public goods, the free and open Indo-Pacific and a rules-based order.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 19, 2021

Asian American lawmakers call out racist language: ‘I am not a virus’

Lawmakers described the fear rippling through the Asian American community, and argued that the uptick in attacks was a direct result of the rise of anti-China messaging.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Mar 19, 2021

Even Grand Slams feeling financial pinch in 'bubbles,' says ATP chief

Tennis organizers have managed to hold their marquee events despite the pandemic, but arrangements such as charter flights and bio-secure environments have come a cost.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 19, 2021

EU's drug regulator backs 'safe and effective' AstraZeneca vaccine

The news comes following an investigation into reports of blood clots that prompted more than a dozen nations to suspend its use.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2021

China catalyzes the consolidation of the 'Quad'

The surprise from the March 12 summit was that — unlike the past Quad foreign ministers' meetings — it yielded a joint statement, which articulated a clear-eyed vision.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2021

Tax havens are sabotaging the sustainable development

In 2015, Gabriel Zucman estimated that at least $7.6 trillion of the world's private wealth was held in tax havens, equivalent to 8% of global household financial assets.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2021

Suga says COVID-19 emergency will be lifted for Tokyo region on Monday

The prime minister's decision comes after Tokyo reported a monthly high for new coronavirus cases.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2021

The Scottish drama Shakespeare couldn’t make up

Sturgeon has been weakened, no doubt, but in Westminster only one question matters: how best to keep the union intact.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2021

The future of money is digital, but is it Bitcoin?

The Bank of Japan has no immediate plans, but it acknowledges the possibility 'of a surge in public demand” for official digital cash going forward.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 16, 2021

Hong Kong's tough COVID-19 rules see babies isolated and families cramped in tiny spaces

Hong Kong authorities have ordered that anyone testing positive for the virus must go to a hospital, including babies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 16, 2021

Never give up on the United States

Recent developments offer grounds for optimism — a genuine shift might be taking place.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Mar 16, 2021

Boston Marathon to cap entrants at 20,000 amid pandemic

This year's Boston Marathon will be limited to 20,000 entrants in a bid allow greater social distancing throughout the course given the COVID-19 pandemic, race organizers said on Monday.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight