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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 2, 2021

Stay warm, safe and social this winter season

With a little preparation and an understanding of how the human body reacts to cold, you can take your social life outdoors to avoid COVID-19.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2021

Coronavirus looms over Japan's new year festivities

New Year's Day is the biggest holiday in Japan's calendar, but this year's festivities were subdued following record highs in new coronavirus cases nationwide and calls from the government to stay home.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2021

Japan’s stance against emergency appears to shift as virus cases soar

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is considering a request to the central government to declare a state of emergency, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2021

Five cheers for 2021

But as 2021 nears, things look a lot better than they did just a few months ago. We now have at least five reasons to celebrate the New Year.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 31, 2020

In 2020, sports was about staying safe and speaking out

When the pandemic subsides, what will endure from 2020 in sports?
WORLD / 2020 in Review
Dec 31, 2020

Images of 2020 | Achievement: Against all odds

A brief look back at the powerful images from 2020 that inspired hope
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 30, 2020

Thailand offers work permits to undocumented migrants to curb virus

The announcement came as Thailand deals with its worst coronavirus outbreak to date, with more than 1,500 cases since mid-December having been linked to mostly Burmese migrant workers.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2020

After massive COVID-19 spending, how large is Japan’s debt?

Experts say increased spending is unavoidable but that Japan will need to start seriously discussing how it will deal with its debt once the pandemic eases.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 29, 2020

The lessons from East Asia's coronavirus successes

Japan and its neighbors have largely fared better than the West during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now have a duty to pass on their knowledge.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Dec 29, 2020

'I won’t take it': China struggles to get the world to trust its vaccines

That uncertainty presents another roadblock in China's efforts to extend its political influence across Asia, Africa and South America.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Dec 29, 2020

Learning how to use 'ira-ira' without getting frustrated

The onomatopoeic terms 'ira-ira' and 'unzari' can help express feelings of frustration and being fed up in general. Therefore, they're helpful during a pandemic-related lockdown.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 29, 2020

EU's marathon COVID-19 vaccination drive off to uneven start

The EU's campaign to vaccinate Europeans against COVID-19 has got off to an uneven start in what will be a marathon effort to administer shots to enough of the bloc's 450 million people to defeat the viral pandemic.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2020

Shut that window! Open that window! Coronavirus in winter presents new challenge

The dry and often freezing climate is proving to be challenging as restaurants, shops and other facilities scramble to keep their facilities safe.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2020

A dismal year everywhere was even worse for Iran

After a year in which the regime has failed on every other front, it will almost inevitably double down on its only other source of legitimacy: its visceral anti-Americanism.
President Lee Jae Myung has nominated Koo Yun-cheol to be his administration’s new finance minister.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 29, 2025

South Korea's Lee names Koo Yun-cheol finance minister and makes other picks

Koo, a former vice finance minister, still needs to go through parliament hearings before being confirmed as finance minister.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday. Inflation in Tokyo slowed in June for the first time in four months as a result of government steps to reduce utility and gasoline prices.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 29, 2025

Measures to ease inflation must be speedy, says Prime Minister Ishiba

Ishiba has opposed lowering the sales tax ahead of an Upper House election where voters will vote on the performance of his minority government.
Japanese seafood in a supermarket in Hong Kong in July 2023
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2025

China partially lifts ban on Japanese seafood imports in bid to ease frictions

Tokyo labeled the move “a major turning point,” though improving the relationship still faces hurdles over China’s military moves near Japan.
A satellite view shows an overview of Fordo underground complex, after the U.S. struck the underground nuclear facility, near Qom, Iran, on June 22.
WORLD
Jun 30, 2025

U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites set up 'cat-and-mouse' hunt for missing uranium

Iran's more than 400 kg of uranium is enough, if further enriched for up to nine nuclear weapons.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2025

U.K. considers envoy for Britons held abroad

Cases like jailed Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and imprisoned Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai have highlighted the issue.
Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, in Washington on June 24. The question of how to handle the fallout from White House decisions may loom large as Powell is set to speak on a panel with peers from the euro zone, Japan, South Korea and the U.K.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 30, 2025

Powell and Lagarde count cost of Trump’s turbulence

At the halfway point of 2025, global policy is almost paralyzed by the need to navigate risks posed both to inflation and growth in the wake of Trump’s actions.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick met with Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 30, 2025

Japan-U.S. trade negotiations deadlocked after months of fruitless talks

Trump's comments on Sunday suggest he is in no mood to compromise on tariffs.
PRESS
Jul 1, 2025

The Japan Times receives Honorable Mention at SOPA 2025 Awards for Editorial Excellence

A longform feature on a Noto Peninsula community’s recovery efforts following a magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck the northern coast area on Jan. 1. 2024, written by staff writer Alex K.T. Martin and published by The Japan Times, Ltd. (President and CEO: Minako Suematsu) received an Excellence in...
Nissan will begin talks this week to seek job cuts at its Sunderland plant in Britain.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2025

Nissan says it will seek voluntary job cuts at U.K. plant

Nissan said the move was aimed at increasing the efficiency of the Sunderland plant in northeastern England to make it a "leaner, more flexible" operation.
"I can't overstate the talent available, women's college basketball and internationally," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said of the key factors in forging ahead with a WNBA expansion and why the timing was right.
BASKETBALL
Jul 1, 2025

WNBA expands to 18 teams with Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia added

Cleveland will be the first franchise to play in the WNBA among the latest additions, in 2028.
Sanseito supporters applaud Saya, Sanseito candidate for the Upper House election from Tokyo, and Manabu Matsuda, a candidate from proportional representation, at a public rally at Tsukiji Market on June 28.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 1, 2025

Sanseito touts 'Japanese First' rhetoric to gain support

Some observers say conservative voters who left the Democratic Party for the People are turning to the fledgling opposition party by default.

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