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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with his partner Jodie Haydon (right) and his son Nathan Albanese (left) at the Labor Party election night event in Sydney on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 5, 2025

Albanese landslide offers rare chance to fix Australia’s economy

Albanese’s center-left government has the best chance in years to take the hard steps economists have called for to ignite growth.
Emperor Emeritus Akihito with Empress Emerita Michiko during a public appearance at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Jan. 2
JAPAN
May 5, 2025

Emperor emeritus to be hospitalized for heart tests

The former emperor has been diagnosed with a high probability of myocardial ischemia, which occurs when blood flow to the heart is insufficient.
Suntory Sunbirds Osaka players celebrate after winning the title.
MORE SPORTS / Volleyball
May 6, 2025

Sunbirds and Marvelous each secure titles for Osaka in inaugural SV. League

The SV. League was launched last year with the aim of becoming the world's most popular volleyball league by 2030.
Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko stroll in the garden of Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park in the city of Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, on May 28, 2024.
JAPAN
May 6, 2025

Emperor emeritus is hospitalized for a heart exam

In July 2022, the emperor emeritus was diagnosed with right heart failure caused by tricuspid valve insufficiency.
Bolstered by a strong turnout last year, Raw Wine Tokyo, a natural wine festival, is returning to quench the thirst of natural wine lovers.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 9, 2025

The world’s biggest natural wine festival returns to Tokyo

After impressing the city’s wine buffs last year, Raw Wine is back with more than 80 natural wine producers from around the world.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with Vietnamese President Luong Cuong in Hanoi on April 28. Ishiba’s visit to Vietnam and the Philippines highlighted Japan’s enduring Indo-Pacific strategy amid rising regional uncertainty.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 8, 2025

Japan’s durable 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific' strategy brings stability

So while Ishiba’s visit to Southeast Asia may have just seemed like another round of trips during a holiday week, they were emblematic of something much more than that.
Emperor Emeritus Akihito, 91, rides in a car with Empress Emerita Michiko, 90, after he was discharged from the University of Tokyo Hospital on Saturday following an examination for suspected myocardial ischemia.
JAPAN
May 11, 2025

Emperor emeritus diagnosed with silent myocardial ischemia

Emperor Emeritus Akihito, 91, was diagnosed with the condition where blood flow from the coronary arteries to the heart muscle is reduced due to excessive exercise.
A Japan Coast Guard vessel sails in front of the Uotsuri islet, one of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands. Concerns are growing in Tokyo after a Chinese government helicopter violated Japan's airspace around the uninhabited islets.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 12, 2025

Escalation fears rise in Japan following Chinese moves near Senkakus

Beijing sent a government helicopter to the area for the first time, while Chinese government ships have been spotted in the area for more than 170 straight days.
A stolen Kanzeon Bodhisattva statue in Daejeon, central South Korea, in January
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 11, 2025

Stolen Buddha statue handed over to Japan in South Korea

South Korea's Supreme Court recognized the Japanese temple's ownership of the statue in 2023, rejecting claims that it was stolen by Japanese pirates in the 14th century.
Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Michael Logico, who was involved in managing the latest iteration of the Balikatan U.S.-Philippine drills, told The Japan Times that he expects military ties with Japan to surge even further once Tokyo ratifies a key visiting-forces agreement with Manila.
JAPAN
May 12, 2025

Japan set for bigger role in Philippines after SDF’s debut in key drills

A top Philippine general has said he expects the Self-Defense Forces’ involvement in both bilateral and multilateral activities to grow substantially.
An electric vehicle factory in Ningbo, China, on April 9, 2024. For years, Xi Jinping, the leader of China, has planned to make the world dependent on its exports and know-how, but the strategy has costs for his own country.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2025

This is the trade conflict Xi Jinping has been waiting for

A willingness to weaponize the supply chain may be one of the starkest examples of how Xi is redefining China’s relationship with the world.
Rory McIlroy plays a shot during the third round of the Truist Championship golf tournament in Philadelphia on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
May 13, 2025

McIlroy looks to the future after post-Masters thrill ride

"I honestly could not be in a better place in my life professionally, personally, all of it," Rory McIlroy said.
A Warren Buffett Squishmallow is displayed during a Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, in May 2023. Buffett’s $25 billion bet on five Japanese trading houses reflects his belief that the country’s overlooked market rewards patient investors who embrace its unique business culture.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 13, 2025

Buffett’s little Japan handbook — and other lessons

The legendary investor recently revealed what inspired his interest in Tokyo’s trading houses — and offered a host of tips for would-be followers.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 13, 2025

Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate

Broaching the subject has traditionally been seen as akin to kicking a hornet's nest.
India's air conditioner market is set to grow from the current 14 million units to 30 million units in terms of volume by 2030, driven by hotter summers and rising disposable incomes.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 13, 2025

Indians buy 14 million air conditioners a year, and need many more

A record 14 million AC units were sold in India last year, with a ninefold increase in residential ownership forecast by midcentury.
The motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump is parked next to a 12-year old Qatari-owned Boeing 747-8 that Trump was touring in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 15.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2025

Trump’s freebie Qatar jet is the stuff of nightmares in spyworld

"If we had built the plane, knowing it was going to a foreign government, we would probably have bugged it,” said Thad Troy, a former station chief with the CIA.
Former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica reacts after receiving a tribute in Montevideo on March 26. Mujica, a former guerrilla fighter and icon of the left in Latin America, died at the age of 89 on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2025

Latin America mourns world's 'poorest president' Mujica, dead at 89

The iconic 89-year-old died of cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment.
A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is tugged toward a thermal power station in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture, in 2017.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2025

Japan under pressure from U.S. to invest in Alaska LNG pipeline

Doubts over the pipeline's profitability and viability leaves Japan's participation in the $44 billion (nearly ¥6.7 trillion) project uncertain.
Masataka Yuhara, secretary-general of the Friends of Lee Teng Hui Association in Japan, which has been calling for "Taiwan" to be permitted as a place of origin in family registers.
JAPAN
May 14, 2025

Japan to recognize Taiwan as place of origin in family registration system

Residents of Taiwanese descent in Japan and their support groups have welcomed the change.
The government should "design a specific system by around fiscal 2026 to make standard childbirth expenses free of charge,” an expert panel said, as the aging nation seeks to reverse its declining population and shrinking pool of tax-paying workers.
JAPAN
May 15, 2025

Expert panel suggests Japan’s government make childbirth free

The proposal follows a child care policy package adopted in 2023 to reverse Japan’s declining birthrate by supporting families with young children.
Scott Callon, CEO of Japan Display Inc, will step down on June 1 to take responsibility for the company's poor performance.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2025

Japan Display to cut 1,500 jobs in Japan on consecutive years of losses

The struggling maker of small and midsize liquid crystal display panels reported a consolidated net loss of ¥78.2 billion ($538.7 million) for fiscal 2024.
As Japan heads into summer elections, debate over the consumption tax has intensified, with opposition parties demanding cuts to ease pressure on households and the government defending the levy as essential amid rising debt and economic uncertainty.
EDITORIALS
May 16, 2025

Don’t overreact to the consumption tax debate

Economic uncertainty in combination with rising prices are squeezing the budgets of households, businesses and the government.
Akemi Tao talks on behalf of late hibakusha Masahiro Kunishige during an event to pass down the memories of the atomic bombing experiences at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in February.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 20, 2025

'Memory keepers' pass on Hiroshima A-bomb survivors' stories

Becoming a memory keeper requires about two years of training. Applicants study the realities of the U.S. nuclear attack and practice public speaking skills.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in parliament in Budapest on Tuesday. Critics have likened recent moves by the prime minister to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to crack down on domestic rivals.
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2025

Viktor Orban tightens grip on freedoms in Hungary ahead of election next year

Over the past 15 years, the premier has expelled a university, overhauled the judiciary and whipped up propaganda campaigns against political opponents.
As Japan confronts global economic shifts and mounting fiscal pressures, its upcoming election risks being consumed by a stale, politically fraught debate over the consumption tax.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 21, 2025

Don’t reopen the ‘demon's gate’ debate in Japan

As Japan confronts global economic shifts and mounting fiscal pressures, its upcoming election risks being consumed by a stale, politically fraught debate over the consumption tax.
Britain's King Charles inspects a guard of honor in Edinburgh, Scotland, last July. The rising cost of the British monarchy, marked by increased taxpayer funding and limited transparency, is prompting questions about whether the public is getting fair value for supporting the royals.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2025

A king’s ransom: The eye-watering cost of Charles III

Brits should be told how much their royals’ extravagant lifestyles are costing them.
Princess Aiko will visit Laos in November, her first official visit overseas, according to the Imperial Household Agency.
JAPAN
May 23, 2025

Princess Aiko to visit Laos in November as first official foreign trip

Japan received an invitation from Laos this month as the two countries celebrate the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations this year.
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sails through the Miyako Strait in Okinawa Prefecture on its way to the Pacific in April 2021.
JAPAN
May 26, 2025

Chinese aircraft carrier conducts fighter jet operations in East China Sea

This was the first time Japan announced that the Liaoning aircraft carrier was conducting training in the area home to the disputed Senkaku Islands.
PRESS
May 28, 2025

The Japan Times Destination Restaurants が 今年の受賞レストランを発表

Destination Restaurants
The Finance Ministry in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
BUSINESS / Markets
May 28, 2025

Weak 40-year bond sale keeps pressure on Japan to tweak issuance

The 40-year yield rose 5 basis points following the sale, to 3.335% as of 4:20 p.m. in Tokyo, while the 30-year rate jumped 7 basis points.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes