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Japan Times
WORLD
May 16, 2021

How the U.S. policy on masks went from science to secret to surprise

For a nation mired in a pandemic for more than a year, the biggest step toward a return to normal came suddenly, even to U.S. President Joe Biden.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
May 15, 2021

Boxing nurse Arisa Tsubata's Olympic dream crushed by COVID-19

In order to focus on her boxing, the 27-year old quit her job at a major hospital in January to take on a less demanding and lower-paid position at a smaller psychiatric clinic.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 15, 2021

New Zealand PM vows to fight hate and study social media algorithms

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Saturday that world leaders and tech firms looking to stamp out violent extremism online would need to focus efforts on understanding social media algorithms that drive content.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
May 15, 2021

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike wants you to 'Just Say No' to drinking in the streets

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike wants young people to stay home and study rather than go out drinking during the pandemic. Is she targeting the wrong crowd, though?
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
May 14, 2021

Japan names 20-man provisional basketball roster for Tokyo Olympics

NBA players Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe were among those named to the provisional roster.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2021

India’s virus crisis impacting Japanese firms, clouding short-term outlook

One of the hardest-hit companies is Suzuki Motor Corp., which relies heavily on the Indian market with its Maruti Suzuki India subsidiary.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 14, 2021

Australia's Scott Morrison stands by ‘one country’ remark on China and Taiwan

Such a stance would represent a shift in the U.S. ally's longstanding policy of 'strategic ambiguity” toward Taiwan's status.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 13, 2021

Japan to ban re-entry of foreign residents who visit India, Nepal and Pakistan

The new rules will still allow Japanese nationals to re-enter and will not bar many foreign residents who left before the measure takes effect.
The Japanese postal mark displayed on a Japan Post post box in Tokyo
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2025

Number of Japan Post clients affected by misuse of information rises to 10 million

"We deeply apologize for causing anxiety and worry," Japan Post Holdings Managing Executive Officer Miho Ichiki told a news conference.
The buildings sector consumes 32% of the world's energy and contributes 34% of CO2 emissions.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Mar 18, 2025

'More and faster': U.N. calls to shrink buildings' carbon footprint

CO2 emissions from the building sector rose around 5% in the last decade when they should have fallen 28%, according to a new report.
After U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin's phone call, talks aimed at advancing toward a broader peace plan will begin immediately, the White House, though it was unclear whether Ukraine will be involved.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 19, 2025

Putin spurns a Ukraine ceasefire but Trump calls talk a win

The Russian leader agreed only to limit attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, with experts saying Moscow could be playing for time.
Smoke billows behind a cemetery (foreground) during Israeli strikes west of Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Mar 19, 2025

Israeli Gaza strikes widen attacks on Iran’s militant allies

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the renewed strikes were "only the beginning” and vowed to maintain military pressure until Hamas releases hostages.
A service member of the 13th Operative Purpose Brigade "Khartiia" of the National Guard of Ukraine operates a mine-laying unmanned ground vehicle with anti-tank land mines installed on it, in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on Jan. 13.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 19, 2025

Poland and Baltic nations plan to withdraw from land mine convention

Poland and the Baltics are concerned that an end to the war in Ukraine could lead Russia to rearm and target them, instead.
Public Security Intelligence Agency officers enter the headquarters of Hikari no Wa, one of the three successor groups to Aum Shinrikyo, in Tokyo in July 2019.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 19, 2025

Aum Shinrikyo successor groups still dangerous, justice minister says

The minister also expressed concern about the groups' activities in recent years to recruit young people with little knowledge of the deadly attack.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference in January in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 19, 2025

Bank of Japan holds steady at 0.5% as trade war escalates and inflation rises

The move was widely expected, with economists unanimous in seeing back-to-back rate increases as unlikely from the central bank, which made one in January.
Japan's shipments abroad have advanced in the first two months of this year, as Japanese companies brace for the rollout of higher tariffs in the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 19, 2025

Japan’s exports rose more quickly in February ahead of Trump tariffs

Global trade flows face potential major disruptions as the U.S. continues to escalate its tariff campaign, targeting nations where Japanese carmakers have manufacturing bases.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waits for a session of the House of Councillors Budget Committee to begin in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Explainer
Mar 19, 2025

What's the fuss over Ishiba's gift vouchers?

The prime minister's standing has worsened following reports that he handed out gift vouchers worth ¥100,000 ($668) each to rookie lawmakers from his party.
A soldier stands guard at a railway station in the Sibi district of southwestern Balochistan province, Pakistan, on March 12 as part of a security operation after militants hijacked a passenger train the previous day.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2025

Pakistan’s economy is back. But so is terrorism.

The disconnect between the grim drumbeat of terror attacks on the country’s margins and the positive economic news from its heartland is startling.
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 19, 2025

Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description

The lastest scandal comes amid broader concerns over the LDP's misuse of political funds, further damaging Prime Minister Ishiba’s reputation.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with C.C. Wei, chief executive of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., at a news conference in Washington on March 3.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 19, 2025

Tariff threats spur TSMC’s Taiwan peers to seek U.S. expansion

Taiwanese electronic firms' migration of manufacturing to the U.S. has accelerated from previous years as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens more trade barriers.
Alex Miller, CEO of Alimentation Couche-Tard, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 20, 2025

Couche-Tard seeks to reassure investors on Seven & I approach

The parent company of the Circle K chain has been pursuing Seven & I for months, bidding almost $50 billion for it, but has been rebuffed.
Outgoing International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach delivers a speech during the 144th IOC Session in Costa Navarino, Greece, ahead of an election to determine his successor.
OLYMPICS
Mar 20, 2025

Strange race to lead Olympic sports gets stranger

Smear campaigns have targeted some of the leading contenders in the final days before the vote, scheduled for Thursday in Greece.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has walked away from the banking industry’s largest climate alliance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 20, 2025

MUFG leaves climate group as Japanese banks join Wall Street exits

MUFG follows Tokyo-based rivals Nomura Holdings and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in leaving the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
Visitors at Myoko Suginohara Ski Resort in Myoko, Niigata Prefecture, on March 5
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2025

Myoko ski resort area feels trepidation as foreign money pours in

Many locals fear Myoko could go the way of Niseko.
Melanie Joly, Canada's foreign minister, speaks during a news conference in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada, last week.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 20, 2025

Canada condemns China’s execution of four Canadians on drug charges

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa defended Beijing’s strict penalties on drug-related crimes.

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