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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 9, 2021

China's Xi says reunification with Taiwan 'will be realized'

Xi sounded an ominous tone, reiterating that “Taiwan independence is the greatest obstacle to national reunification and the most grave hidden danger to national rejuvenation.'
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 4, 2021

Kishida uses new Cabinet to signal continuity to allies and China

Japan's new prime minister will need to draw upon his extensive experience as foreign minister in balancing relations with Beijing.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2021

Is the Chinese Communist Party returning to the 'communist' path?

To address a sense among the public that economic unfairness is a growing problem, Xi Jinping announced his 'common prosperity' policy aimed at correcting the country's income disparity.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 22, 2021

Will Japan’s next PM take a shot at constitutional amendment?

An important political factor at play here is that every single LDP candidate has to voice support for constitutional amendment if they hope to win the party presidential race.
JAPAN / Politics / The LDP's game of thrones
Sep 9, 2021

The LDP's outspoken 'maverick' steps up to fight for the party's top spot

Cosmopolitan and media savvy, Taro Kono is a reformist but has his share of liabilities.
People farm in the Punakha valley, Bhutan, in 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 11, 2024

Buddhist Bhutan to build 'mindfulness city' to create jobs and woo investment

The Gelephu Mindfulness City will lie in a special administrative region with separate rules and laws.
Reiko Okada shows her ink paintings that depict female students making paper balloons as she talks about her wartime experience on Okunoshima island in Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Nov 25, 2024

The stories behind Japan's WWII 'balloon bombs'

Former students are detailing wartime work that had the potential to unleash devastation.
Japan’s megabanks have resumed trading activities with Nomura Holdings, people with knowledge of the matter said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 18, 2024

Nomura's trading clients return after market manipulation probe

Many of the firms returned to Nomura after the brokerage explained measures it is taking to prevent a recurrence of the breach, sources said.
Donald Trump, the then-Republican presidential candidate and now the president-elect, visits the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, in February. His appointments to key positions in his new administration show he is moving aggressively on mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2024

Trump's mass deportation plan has its leaders in place

Even before Trump’s victory, Tom Homan, the former acting director for ICE, promised to "run the biggest deportation operation this country's ever seen.”
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk speaks while on stage with Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. president Donald Trump during a rally at the site of the July assassination attempt against Trump, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 21, 2024

U.S. government efficiency panel to use Supreme Court rulings for agency cuts

The panel will be led by Elon Musk, billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and Vivek Ramaswamy, founder of biotech firm Roivant Sciences.
Motohiko Saito talks to reporters on Monday after his reelection as Hyogo governor. His surprising comeback highlights rising populism in Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 22, 2024

Has the age of populism finally reached Japan?

Motohiko Saito's reelection in Hyogo sparks concerns over populist trends in Japan's politics.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, in June 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 27, 2024

Trump team weighs direct talks with North Korea's Kim

Several in Trump's team now see a direct approach from him, to build on a relationship that already exists, as most likely to break the ice with Kim Jong Un.
Keith Kellogg, then-national security adviser to then-U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, speaks during a press briefing on Sept. 22, 2020, in the White House in Washington.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

Trump picks Keith Kellogg as envoy for Ukraine and Russia

The retired general is a longtime adviser who’s supported the president-elect's aims of ending the war swiftly, including by potentially cutting off military aid to Kyiv.
The primary motivation for potentially adding Japan to the Five Eyes alliance is the considerable intelligence contributions the country could make concerning China, North Korea, Eastern Russia and East and Southeast Asia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 30, 2024

If ever invited, should Japan make it 'Six Eyes'?

The primary motivation for potentially adding Japan to the alliance is the considerable intelligence contributions the country could make.
People watch South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law and the following announcement that he will lift the martial law, after parliamentary vote, at a railway station in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 4, 2024

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol, embattled conservative

The novice politician took office with some of the lowest approval ratings of any democratically elected South Korean president.
World Anti-Doping Agency Director-General Olivier Niggli speaks during the agency's symposium in Lausanne, Switzerland, in March.
OLYMPICS
Dec 4, 2024

Anti-doping agency froze out investigators who warned about China

The decision by WADA’s leaders to keep its own investigators in the dark raises new questions about WADA's response to possible doping by Chinese athletes.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba responds to questions from the press corps at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 5, 2024

Martial law turmoil will likely affect Japan-South Korea ties

Some Japanese government officials are struggling to understand President Yoon Suk Yeol's intention, saying the martial law issuance was surprising and unexpected.
Lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo sits alone as the only People Power Party lawmaker to remain in the chamber for a vote on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 7, 2024

Move to impeach South Korea's Yoon in limbo after ruling party walkout

While lawmakers debated the motion, introduced by the main opposition Democratic Party, only a single member of Yoon's People Power Party remained in his seat.
A liquefied natural gas plant operated by Sakhalin Energy in Sakhalin, Russia. Japan, the world's second biggest LNG buyer, depends on Russia for 9% of its LNG.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 12, 2024

Rival supplies and depleting fields give Japan an exit from Russian gas

Japan, the world's second-biggest liquefied natural gas buyer, depends on Russia for 9% of its LNG.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi during a meeting last month in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2024

LDP and opposition far from consensus over corporate donations

At this point, there is no prospect of any bill securing a majority and the focus is on whether parties can compromise with each other and reach an agreement.
Children stand next to the sea at the Kara Tepe camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos, Greece, in October 2020.
WORLD / Society
Dec 13, 2024

'Invisible' refugee children caught in Europe's migration red tape

In the first nine months of 2024, arrivals of unaccompanied children to the main entry points to the European Union were 8% higher, despite overall arrivals slowing.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani,  at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 13, 2024

The global spy alliance should let Japan join

Tokyo’s inclusion in the club is long overdue, especially as the region combats China’s growing assertiveness and the unpredictability of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
The U.S. Air Force's CV-22 Osprey displayed during Japanese-American Friendship Festival at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo on May 18
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2024

U.S. and Japanese Ospreys grounded this month after precautionary landing

While the details about the precautionary landing are not known, the incident has raised concerns over the vulnerability in Osprey components.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew leave after Prince Philip's Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey in March 2022. Revelations that a suspected Chinese spy became a confidant of Britain's Prince Andrew is renewing scrutiny of King Charles' disgraced brother.
WORLD
Dec 15, 2024

Latest scandal raises fresh questions about U.K.'s Prince Andrew

The latest scandal erupted on Thursday after judges upheld a government ban on the Chinese businessman, identified only as H6, from entering Britain.
The ancient city of Hatra, Iraq, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2024

Why cultural heritage must be protected in wartime

Attacks on cultural sites are acts of cultural erasure, born of the same eliminationist motives that also drive genocide.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak during Turning Point's annual AmericaFest 2024 in Phoenix on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 23, 2024

Trump upending global politics a month before taking office

While it’s not unusual for political leaders at home and abroad to jockey for the ear of an incoming president, the scale of Trump’s pre-inauguration influence is vast.
Volunteers place eelgrass seeds on slabs of agar gel with tweezers during an event in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, on Nov. 9.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024

Seagrass bed restoration work spreads in Miyagi Prefecture

Seagrass and seaweed beds are capturing global attention as they absorb carbon dioxide.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell