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Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 20, 2021

Japan’s refusal to sanction Myanmar undermines Biden’s strategy

Tokyo's reluctance to put financial pressure on the junta shows the difficulties Washington faces in convincing Asian allies to put real teeth behind calls to defend democracy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 20, 2021

The Japanese scientist fighting prejudice, misinformation and COVID-19

Akiko Iwasaki is leading a team of immunologists hoping to beat 'long COVID-19' while also debunking myths surrounding the coronavirus.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Jun 20, 2021

Soccer player Kumi Yokoyama comes out as transgender: 'It would be harder to live closeted'

The former Nadeshiko Japan striker, who plays for the NWSL's Washington Spirit, has received a flood of support from athletes and LGBTQ advocates following their announcement on Saturday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 20, 2021

Obscured truths come to light in Hideki Noda’s ‘Fakespeare’

William Shakespeare is one of the world’s most influential playwrights, but his life continues to be shrouded in mystery. Since his death in 1616 at the age of 52, no handwritten manuscripts have ever surfaced, and even his six supposed signatures all spell his name differently.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / The World of Translators
Jun 20, 2021

Morgan Giles: ‘I’m astounded by the sense of community among literary translators’

The World of Translators series wraps up with Morgan Giles, whose first full-length work, Yu Miri's “Tokyo Ueno Station,” won the National Book Award for translated literature in 2020.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 19, 2021

Apple Daily is running low on funds to print Hong Kong newspaper

The pro-democracy Apple Daily has enough cash on hand to continue operating as normal only for a couple of weeks, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 19, 2021

Biden’s cyber red line is prime for a Putin challenge, experts say

The Russian leader may attempt to comply with Biden's pronouncement by 'washing” hacking through 'affiliates in disparate nation states” to make it harder to attribute the attacks.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 19, 2021

Shohei Ohtani to contest Home Run Derby at MLB All-Star Game

Ohtani made the announcement to fans on his Instagram account with a video showing several of his home runs from this season so far.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 18, 2021

Suga's first growth strategy met with calls to tackle Japan's chronic labor issues

Although much of the spotlight tends to gravitate toward hot economic issues, economists say that it is critical — and timely — for Japan to work on its more deeply rooted problems.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jun 18, 2021

Rick Carlisle resigns as Mavericks coach

Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle resigned on Thursday.
A giant screen shows news footage of Chinese President Xi Jinping shaking hands with DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng during a symposium on private enterprises, at a shopping complex in Beijing on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 18, 2025

China's tech rally rests on 'hot money'

Hong Kong tech shares have surged 31% since the middle of January to hit three-year highs on Monday while President Xi Jinping sat down with top tech leaders in Beijing.
A Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train featuring the Tokyo DisneySea amusement park Fantasy Springs theme is unveiled in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2025

JR Central unveils Disney-themed shinkansen train in Tokaido line first

The train's livery in inspired by the theme of Fantasy Springs, a new area of the Tokyo DisneySea amusement park
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes British Prime Minister Keir Starmer before an informal summit of European leaders to discuss the situation in Ukraine and European security at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Europe talks up more defense spending as Ukraine peacekeeper plan divides

The leaders also said they were ready to provide security guarantees to Kyiv "depending on the level of American support."
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba receives fruit from tangerine farmers of Shizuoka Prefecture in Tokyo on Jan. 22. The government's new regional revitalization plan focuses on convincing younger workers to choose a career and life somewhere other than a major urban center such as Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Can Ishiba's 'joyful Japan' policy revitalize the nation's rural regions?

The prime minister may be taking cues from the mistakes of past efforts, but ultimately, even the best rural revitalization plan is tough to realize in practice.
U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza proposal is a reckless plan that would forcibly displace Palestinians, destabilize neighboring countries, empower Iran and and hinder any long-term peace efforts.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2025

Trump’s Gaza plan is a crazy answer to a valid question

It is a propsal that will love Israel to death, revive Iran to life and destabilize every American friend.
Canada faces a tough decision on how to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump's economic threats, particularly regarding energy exports, with options ranging from strategic energy cuts to export taxes.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2025

Weaponizing Canadian oil would rattle Trump

Reducing crude output has the potential to inflict real pain on U.S. refiners and consumers.
U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (from left), Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz, Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, national security adviser Mosaad bin Mohammad al-Aiban, the Russian president's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attend a meeting at Riyadh's Diriyah Palace on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Russia and U.S. agree at talks without Ukraine to press ahead with bid to end war

Ukraine and European leaders are worried that Trump could cut a hasty deal with Moscow that rewards Russia for invading its neighbor.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 18, 2025

Ex-BOJ deputy Nakaso sees BOJ hiking to 1% and perhaps beyond

His remarks come as market participants debate the likely terminal rate of the central bank’s current tightening cycle.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party is heading for an election loss bigger than under any German leader since the Federal Republic was set up in 1949.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Scholz leaves Germans with worst economic blues in a generation

Not since Gerhard Schroeder’s narrow defeat in 2005 has the economy featured so prominently in an election.
Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki (left) meets Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito (right) in Kitahiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, in December.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2025

Japan not to attend meeting on nuclear ban treaty for third time

The decision may draw criticism from many members of the public and Komeito, with both calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Rafael Grossi (left), director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya at a joint news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2025

Japan and IAEA to boost cooperation on Fukushima No. 1 decommissioning

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and IAEA chief Rafael Grossi discussed the nuclear plant and the release of treated water from the facility into the ocean.
A woman uses her phone next to a logo of the WhatsApp application during Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, India, on Sept. 20, 2022.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 19, 2025

WhatsApp faces tougher EU rules as open channel users top 45 million

The messaging app's open channels are feeds affiliated with news outlets or public figures that under the European Union's Digital Services Act are comparable to social networks.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Wednesday that the Japanese government has raised the issue of auto tariffs with the U.S. government, given the importance of Japan’s automobile industry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 19, 2025

Japan raises auto tariff issue with U.S. as Trump threatens hike

The U.S. president's threat to impose a 25% levy on car imports would likely deliver a big blow to Japan’s economy.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged troops for a Ukraine peacekeeping force, but Britain and its military lack the resources to deliver.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

Starmer offers Ukraine a defense check it can't cash

Under Starmer’s leadership, there has been no sign that the U.K. is ready to expand its armed forces to the numbers that could sustain such a campaign.
Taiwan worries that Donald Trump’s dealmaking with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine signals uncertainty for its own security, and the island democracy is boosting  efforts to strengthen U.S. ties and defense spending.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

Trump’s phone call with Putin is causing a stir in Taiwan

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te’s government should consider what it can offer Trump to avoid becoming a pawn in the U.S.-China rivalry.
Resonac Holdings CEO Hidehito Takahashi
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025

Resonac explores deal structures for possible JSR takeover

A deal would be a key step in the chemicals maker’s ambition to corner the Japanese artificial intelligence semiconductor materials market.
A visitor feeds the deer at Nara Park in Nara on Jan. 27. The monthly number of foreign visitors to Japan hit a record high in January.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2025

Monthly number of visitors to Japan hit record high in January

The number of inbound visitors is estimated to have risen 40.6% from a year before to 3,781,200, exceeding 3 million for the fourth consecutive month.

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