Search - 2020

 
 
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force disembark from a V-22 Osprey aircraft during a live-fire exercise in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Sep 5, 2023

Why building an effective Japan-U.S. kill chain will enhance defense

The conflict in Ukraine has demonstrated that modern warfare necessitates advanced coordination of operations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center) and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a picture during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 31, 2023

Xi likely to skip G20 summit in India: sources

The summit was considered an opportunity for Xi and U.S. President Joe Biden to smooth over recent trade and geopolitical tensions.
National Forest and Wild Fauna Service personnel check on a sea lion, amidst rising cases bird flu infections in Peru in February 2023.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 31, 2023

After racing across continents, bird flu threatens Antarctica

Unlike earlier versions of bird flu, H5N1 has also spread widely in wild birds and routinely spilled over into wild mammals.
An air raid shelter converted into luxury apartments at Ungererstrasse 158 in Munich, Germany
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Sep 4, 2023

Market flop: How Germany's property boom ended

The country's property sector in Europe's largest economy is suffering its worst slump in decades.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 4, 2023

Trial to start over 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack

The focus is on what Shinji Aoba, accused of murder and attempted murder, will have to say about his motive for the arson incident.
A schoolgirl wears a padded hood for protection from falling debris during an earthquake simulation exercise at an elementary school in Tokyo. The government estimates a 70% chance of a magnitude 7 event striking directly underneath the capital in the next 30 years.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2023

Tokyo has lived on the brink of the ‘Big One’ — for a century

The Great Kanto Earthquake demolished the nascent Japanese capital, killing more than 100,000 people — some 3% of the city’s population at the time.
Buildings in Guangzhou, China. Aside from short-term solutions, economists see three options for China to restructure its economy.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Sep 4, 2023

Part of China's economic miracle was a mirage. Reality check is next.

While many analysts see a slow drift towards Japan-style stagnation as the most likely outcome, there is also the prospect of a more severe crunch.
Tourists walk in front of Crown and Anchor pub on Neal Street in London in 2018. Pubs are big part of British culture.
WORLD / Society
Sep 4, 2023

What’s really killing Britain’s historic pubs

With each time-honored spot that’s shuttered, another little piece of British history is lost.
A rainbow at the site of this year’s Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada
WORLD / Society
Sep 4, 2023

What is Burning Man, and why have Paris Hilton and Elon Musk shown up?

The festival has been described as a site of countercultural revelry that draws both hippies and Silicon Valley types.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 4, 2023

Japan top court upholds ruling against Okinawa over Futenma move

The decision may accelerate the relocation effort, as it requires the prefectural government to approve design changes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 4, 2023

Ex-Recruit employee given 25 years by Tokyo court for raping 10 women

Kenshiro Maruta sexually assaulted the women, including a job-hunting college student, between April 2017 and October 2020.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2023

Suspect in 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack admits setting blaze

The focus of the trial will now shift to the defendant’s motive and whether he can be held criminally responsible for the attack.
Women work in a warehouse in on the outskirts of Chennai, India.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 5, 2023

India's women gig workers organize with WhatsApp and secret meetings

Once seen as promising greater autonomy and higher earnings for women in India, the system is now riddled with issues.
A woman shops for medicine at a drugstore in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 5, 2023

More young women overdosing on over-the-counter drugs

In a country where illicit drugs are hard to obtain, many have begun to abuse cough and cold medications, which are legal and easily accessible.
A statue of Lady Justice is seen at the Court of Final Appeal building in Hong Kong on Tuesday as the city's top court ruled in favor of same-sex partnerships, including civil unions, though it stopped short of granting full marriage rights in a partial win for the city's LGBTQ community.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2023

Hong Kong's top court rules to recognize same-sex civil unions

The ruling, a partial win for the city's LGBTQ community, stopped short of granting full marriage rights.
The Huawei Technologies Co. booth at the Smart China Expo in Chongqing, China, on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 6, 2023

Huawei's new chip breakthrough likely to trigger closer U.S. scrutiny: analysts

The most advanced chip that chipmaker SMIC had previously been known for making was 14 nanometers.
A lifesaver keeps watch at Sunset Beach in Chatan, Okinawa prefecture. Around 6 billion metric tons of sand and other sediment are extracted from the ocean every year, wreaking havoc on coastal communities and biodiversity.
ENVIRONMENT / Oceans
Sep 6, 2023

Extracting sand from world's oceans devastates biodiversity: U.N.

The United Nations Environment Program warned that the scale of dredging was growing, with dire consequences.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2023

Hokkaido tour boat sinking caused by safety gaps, report says

The operator of the Kazu I sightseeing tour boat, which sank off Hokkaido last year, had no safety management system, according to a government report
Part of the deserted Legend of Sea project developed by Country Garden
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 7, 2023

China’s credit wreck exposes governance failings to the world

"Foreign money managers still have willingness to invest in China, but how much we invest is in flux.”
People make their way through Tokyo's Ameyoko shopping district. In a sign rising inflation is already taking a toll on consumption, Japan's household spending suffered its biggest drop in nearly 2½ years in July.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Sep 7, 2023

China's economic gloom hangs over Japan's long-awaited recovery

If Beijing fails to shore up demand with meaningful stimulus, that could potentially delay an exit from the Bank of Japan's ultraloose monetary policy.
World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz plays a shot against Alexander Zverev during their quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open in New York on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Sep 7, 2023

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev win to set up semifinal clash

Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev are the last two U.S. Open champions.
Kohei Saito, a philosophy professor at the University of Tokyo who appears regularly in Japanese media to discuss his ideas, at home in Tokyo on March 16.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 7, 2023

Can shrinking be good for Japan? A Marxist bestseller makes the case.

Saito has tapped into what he describes as a growing disillusionment in Japan with capitalism’s ability to solve the problems people see around them.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2023

Taiwan’s ‘silicon shield’ against China is an illusion

China may be reliant on Taiwanese semiconductors, but that doesn't stop Beijing from harboring a military takeover.
An activist in Seoul protests Japan’s plan to release treated wastewater from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 7, 2023

Anger at Fukushima’s wastewater; hope in its renewables

Good news and bad news out of Fukushima.
Naomi Osaka participates in a forum on mental health during the U.S. Open in New York on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Sep 7, 2023

Naomi Osaka makes U.S. Open return. But not for tennis.

Naomi Osaka returned to the U.S. Open to participate in a forum on mental health and sports alongside former Olympian Michael Phelps.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2023

Ex-LDP member and offshore wind advocate arrested over bribery

Masatoshi Akimoto is suspected of receiving ¥60 million from Masayuki Tsukawaki, then-president of Japan Wind Development.
An Apple store in the Huangpu district in Shanghai
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 8, 2023

Apple grapples with turmoil in China days before iPhone 15 launch

The bans may just be part of a longstanding trend.
More cooks are pursuing careers in cooking for wealthy clients, but the glitz that makes it into viral TikTok videos isn’t always the whole picture.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 10, 2023

Private chefs toe the line between occupation and isolation

A new chapter in the age of food celebrity is unfolding online as more cooks take up careers as private chefs and go public with the perks of the job.
Johnny & Associates President Julie Keiko Fujishima (second from right) acknowledged that company founder Johnny Kitagawa had sexually abused agency employees for decades during a press conference in Tokyo on Sept. 7.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Sep 9, 2023

What’s in a name? A lot of baggage and trauma, unfortunately.

Johnny and Associates' recognition of abuse is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to move forward.
Residents watch the McDougall Creek wildfire in West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, last month.
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Sep 9, 2023

Conspiracy theories falsely link wildfires to 'smart cities'

Disinformation about deadly wildfires in the United States and Canada has run rampant across social media.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji