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New Zealand's blindside flanker Shannon Frizell (left) takes part in a training session in Rueil-Malmaison, France, on Tuesday ahead of the Rugby World Cup final.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 25, 2023

New Zealand and South Africa take ultimate rivalry to grandest stage

The rich history of this 102-year-old matchup has seen political turmoil, countless bruising battles, a previous World Cup final and even a 0-0 draw.
Asteroid mining only works in a science-fiction world where metals are thousands of times more expensive than they are today.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2023

Commercial asteroid mining has a astronomical cost issue

Asteroid mining only works in a science-fiction world where metals are thousands of times more expensive than they are today.
Despite shifts in the global economy and trade, the world remains highly integrated and globalization is far from over.
COMMENTARY
Oct 25, 2023

Globalization’s demise has been greatly exaggerated

Trade flows, allocation of dollars, and supply chains are evolving, but these changes are not uniform and can be challenging to predict.
Munakata Shiko's "Oshira-sama: The Flying Silkworm Deities" (1968)
CULTURE / Art
Oct 26, 2023

Major retrospective traces hero's journey of 'Japan's van Gogh'

An exhibition of Shiko Munakata's works shows evidence of a charismatic character and a career that reflects Japan's changing relationship with the West.
Israeli soldiers gather around a tank near the border with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 15. The IDF is preparing to conduct a ground offensive into the Palestinian territory.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 26, 2023

When history rhymes: Are we back in 2003, at the dawn of the Iraq War?

Given the parallels between the Israeli position today and the U.S. invasion of Iraq a decade ago, history can offer important lessons.
The simplest option for many Japanese industries facing labor shortages might be to do what the taxi sector is doing — keep people in the workforce longer.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 26, 2023

Octogenarian taxi drivers to the labor-crunch rescue

An option for many Japanese industries facing labor shortages might be to do what the taxi sector is doing — keep people in the workforce longer.
A poster bearing a photo of Israeli hostage Noga Weiss is displayed during a gathering called Balloons of Hope in Sydney on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2023

Israelis weren't the only victims of Hamas' attack

All nations should send a clear message to Hamas and its supporters that all the hostages must be immediately released.
Climate activists demand that the World Bank stop fossil fuel financing on the first day of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Marrakech, Morocco, on Oct. 9.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2023

Telling countries not to be poor is bad climate advice

As developing nations bear the brunt of the costs of climate change; the world's richer states need to pay up.
A U.S. Air Force B-52 strategic bomber is escorted by South Korean F-35s during a joint military exercise over the Korean Peninsula that also involved Japan's Air-Self Defense Force.
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2023

Japan, U.S. and South Korea patrol the skies together

The three countries have historically engaged in bilateral exercises with the United States, but this trilateral exercise in the air is a notable first.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2023

LDP to create new team on imperial succession

Prince Hisahito, Crown Prince Akishino's 17-year-old son, is the only member of his generation currently eligible.
A health care worker administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a child in Rio de Janeiro in January 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2023

How we got COVID’s risk right but the response wrong

It was not the initial consensus on the fatality rate that drove the response but rather the way the risks of COVID-19 were balanced with the costs.
Shibuya's local government has mounted a campaign to dissuade revelers from visiting the neighborhood for Halloween celebrations and has banned drinking in the streets.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2023

Shibuya wants to cancel Halloween. That's a mistake.

This year, Shibuya isn't dressing up for Halloween. The neighborhood is turning revelers away, ignoring its role as a youth culture hub.
Trendy buzzwords tend to be most at risk of dying out as they often reflect ideas and trends that are fleeting.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 31, 2023

A foray into the realm of Japanese ‘dead words’

Old slang and problematic terms are prime candidates when it comes to slipping out of usage and disappearing from the Japanese lexicon.
A graphic pro-Israel advert was displayed within mobile phone video games in Britain, France, Austria, Germany and Holland.
WORLD
Oct 31, 2023

Graphic pro-Israel ads displayed in children’s mobile phone games

Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the video was a government-promoted ad but said they had "no idea" how it ended up inside games.
Then-Chinese Premier Li Keqiang takes the oath after he was re-elected for a second term during the sixth-plenary session of the National People's Congress in Beijing in March 2018.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2023

Remembering Li Keqiang, who retired with a broken heart

He is best known outside of China for the Li Keqiang Index, created by The Economist to measure the nation’s economic growth.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends an extraordinary session at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Oct. 23.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 31, 2023

Prime Minister Kishida and a month of misery

The challenges Fumio Kishida faces are eroding confidence in his leadership and are likely to influence policy decision-making.
More and more children are producing content as online influencers and generating lots of money.
COMMENTARY
Oct 31, 2023

Kidfluencers are today’s version of chimney sweeps

Protecting children from labor exploitation is difficult in the age of social media.
Reporters take cover upon hearing sirens warning of an incoming rocket attack from Gaza, in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, on Oct. 23
WORLD / Politics
Oct 31, 2023

Media reporting on Israel-Hamas war face singular challenges

Lack of access to Gaza, with both the Israeli and Egyptian access points closed, is creating difficulties journalists say they have rarely seen before.
Jesse Ehrenfeld, the board chairman of the American Medical Association, in Chicago in 2019. The F.D.A. has approved many new programs that use artificial intelligence, but doctors are skeptical that the tools really improve care or are backed by solid research.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 1, 2023

Doctors wrestle with AI in patient care, citing lax oversight

Are AI programs likely to identify something a doctor would miss?
An Israeli man attends a day of prayer in the Old City of Jerusalem on Oct. 19 where attendees called for the safe return of hostages taken by Hamas militants earlier in the month. 
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2023

Israel’s own 9/11 moment

Israel needs to prepare now for when the fighting stops. Will it look to the Palestinian Authority to administer Gaza? What role will the U.N. play?
A ceremony marking the opening of the carbon credit market at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on Oct. 11
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2023

Why all carbon credits aren’t created equal

Because the carbon credit market is unregulated and completely voluntary, it’s been able to get away with a lack of scrutiny.
Every time Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda has made an announcement since taking up his post, that information has appeared initially not in the public domain, but in the pages of the fourth estate.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 2, 2023

Bank of Japan leaks are making an awful mess

Central bank decisions can move billions of dollars and with the BOJ, the closely watched outlier that it is, its conclusions have more impact than most.
The front page of The Japan Times from Nov. 13, 1948, heralds the verdicts given to Japan's war criminals.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Nov 3, 2023

Japan Times 1948: Tojo and 6 others are sentenced to hang

As sentences are handed down in 1948, two other eras deal with fallout from an earthquake and an oil shock.
Occupy Wall Street protesters hold a rally in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve bank in downtown Denver in November 2011.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2023

When minority rule by neoliberals fails

Left-leaning movements and progressive ideas and policies have gained ground in the United States, altering the perception of free markets.
Motorists drive past a giant billboard depicting Muslim people walking with their national flags toward the Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem, in central Tehran's Valiasr Square on Oct. 25.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2023

In a worldwide war of words, Russia, China and Iran back Hamas

Officials and researchers say the deluge of online propaganda and disinformation is larger than anything seen before.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to reporters in Melbourne last month.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 4, 2023

Australia's Albanese set for state visit in China as ties thaw

It is the first such visit by an Australian leader in seven years as the two nations look to shore up their relationship.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the first Japanese leader to address a special joint session of the Philippine Congress, waves beside Philippines' Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Philippines' House Speaker Martin Romualdez at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Philippines, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 4, 2023

Japan and Philippines agree to take defense ties to next level

Tokyo and Manila launched talks on a visiting forces agreement, while the Philippines became the first recipient of Japan's new military aid program.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida waves with Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim during his official visit to Malaysia, in Putrajaya, outside Kuala Lumpur, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 5, 2023

Japan turns to Southeast Asia to boost security network

The leader sought to strengthen Japan's security and defense ties with Malaysia and the Philippines, amid growing concerns over Chinese assertiveness.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, exits the federal courthouse in Manhattan in February.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2023

Sam Bankman-Fried won't be the last crypto mogul behind bars

If Sam Bankman-Fried culpability for the "pyramid of deceit” behind FTX’s collapse seemed so obvious, it’s partly because he was prosecutorial gold.
U.S. President Joe Biden attends an event at the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2023

Trump leads in five critical states as voters blast Biden, poll finds

Voters in U.S. battleground states said they trusted Donald Trump over Joe Biden on the economy, foreign policy and immigration.

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A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami