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BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2020

‘Selling dog as mutton’: Mobile carriers dip on minister’s rebuke

Shares in some of the country’s largest mobile phone carriers dropped in Tokyo after the communications minister accused the companies of deploying a bait-and-switch tactic in cutting the costs of mobile phone plans.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 20, 2020

Japan's need for a clear U.S. commitment over the Senkakus

Since 2010, Washington has stated and reiterated its position that the Senkakus fall under U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty obligations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Nov 20, 2020

March 2011 victims identified thanks to forensic officer's lifelike portraits

Shuichi Abe has been hailed for his realistic drawings, which have reunited a number of bodies with their families in Miyagi Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Nov 19, 2020

Tokyo Olympics in the balance as COVID-19 surges around world

Proceeding with plans to host the postponed 2020 Games during what could be an ongoing pandemic is, at best, a gamble with increasingly high stakes and a dubious payoff.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2020

COVID-19 mutated. Can vaccines keep up?

So far, scientists have found only one mutation that improves the survival ability of the virus. The more transmissible strain is referred to as G614.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 19, 2020

Australian special forces suspected of 39 murders in Afghanistan

The report said the majority of those killed, which included prisoners, farmers and other Afghan locals, were captured when they were killed and therefore protected under international law.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 19, 2020

Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine deliveries could start 'before Christmas'

Final trial results showed the vaccine had a 95% success rate and no serious side effects, the drugmakers said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2020

Boeing Max cleared to fly in U.S. as FAA lifts longest grounding

The U.S. actions set the stage for other regulators to clear the Max, which would allow airlines worldwide to resume passenger service with the plane.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 18, 2020

Episode 73: Japan's third wave of COVID-19

Gearoid Reidy, a senior editor at Bloomberg, joins us to discuss whether we might see a new state of emergency and the hope provided by the recent news about vaccines.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 18, 2020

Can Japan bridge the vaccine divide?

Japan too has been developing its own drug, Avigan, against COVID-19. Yet the drug being developed by Fujifilm is not a vaccine but rather a treatment for coronavirus symptoms.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2020

In Africa’s debt fog, China loses too

As the African continent's biggest lender, the bigger prize for China has always been political.
Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes holds a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2025

Hibakusha's stories will change the world, Nobel committee chair says

Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes also stressed the importance of maintaining nuclear taboo, saying a fear of nuclear weapons would not bring about any solutions.
Yukinori Okamura (left), curator at the Maruki Gallery for "The Hiroshima Panels," explains the artworks to visitors on July 4 in Higashimatsuyama, Saitama Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2025

Almost 80 years on, 'Hiroshima Panels' pass on memories of atomic bombing

The late artist couple Iri and Toshi Maruki created the panels and continued to paint pictures of the aftermath for over 30 years based on their experiences and witness accounts.
China's government will offer subsidies to parents to the tune of $500 per child under the age of three per year, Beijing's state media said on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 29, 2025

China rolls out childcare subsidy to boost birth rate

The assistance is meant as an incentive for young couples wary of rising costs of child-rearing.
Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg throws out a ceremonial first pitch before the game between the Cubs and the Mets at Wrigley Field on June 23, 2024.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 29, 2025

Legendary Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg dies at 65

Longtime Cubs teammate Mark Grace said "When you examine the offense and defense, you'll find some years where he was the best player you've ever seen in your life."
An elderly man clears mud in front of a flooded market after heavy rains at Taishitun village in Miyun district, on the outskirts of Beijing, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 29, 2025

Floods kill dozens after Beijing records almost a year of rainfall in days

China's usually arid north has seen record precipitation in recent years, with some scientists linking the rainfall to global warming.
Ground Self-Defense Force troops fire a Type-12 anti-ship missile as part of the RIMPAC 24 sinking exercise around the Hawaiian Islands in July last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2025

Japan eyes locations for deploying longer-range standoff missiles

The defense minister said that the location for the weapons, due to be deployed by next March, has yet to be decided — though reports called Kumamoto Prefecture a top candidate.
U.S. and Chinese flags flutter outside Sweden's government offices "Rosenbad" in Stockholm on Tuesday, ahead of the second day of trade talks between China and the U.S.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 30, 2025

U.S., China agree to continue talks on tariff truce extension

The Stockholm negotiations marked the third round of U.S.-China trade talks in less than three months.
Palestinians crowd a coastal path west of the city of Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip after managing to get aid parcels on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2025

Britain warns Israel it could recognize Palestinian state as Gaza starves

The warning, which drew a harsh Israeli rebuke, came after a hunger monitor warned a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding and immediate action is needed.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (left) is escorted by Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya at the start of their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2025

Japan-South Korea top diplomats’ meeting shows ties on solid footing

In an unusual move, Seoul’s foreign minister visited Tokyo before Washington, as the Asian neighbors emphasized the importance of maintaining stable relations.
The officials of Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation speak during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2025

Debris removal at Fukushima nuclear plant pushed back to 2037 or later

This delay may push the completion of the plant's decommissioning process beyond the target year of 2051 set by the government and Tepco.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 30, 2025

Australia adds YouTube to teen social media ban, tearing up exemption

The country's internet regulator cited a survey that found 37% of minors reported seeing harmful content on the site.
A wall is pockmarked by bullet holes following sectarian violence in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, on July 25.
WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 30, 2025

How Syrian attackers killed: One hand on the gun, another on the camera

Videos posted to social media provide some of the most detailed depictions yet of the sectarian bloodshed that erupted Syria this month.
The town of Severo-Kurilsk on Russia's northern Kuril Islands is hit by a tsunami on Wednesday in this image taken by a drone.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 30, 2025

Powerful quake off Russia sparks Pacific tsunami

The quake off Russia's remote Kamchatka Peninsula triggered tsunami up to 4 meters across the Pacific and sparked evacuations as far away as Hawaii.
Rugby World Cup Australia Managing Director Chris Stanley (far left), Rugby Australia Chief Executive Phil Waugh (next left), former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper (center left), Chairman of World Rugby Brett Robinson (center right), World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin (next right) and former Australia sevens player Chloe Dalton (far right) pose with the Webb Ellis Cup at the launch of ticketing for the 2027 Rugby World Cup at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jul 30, 2025

'Most accessible ever' tickets planned for Australia's 2027 Rugby World Cup

More than a million tickets for every stage will be priced at under A$100.
A container ship approaches the Busan Port Terminal in Busan, South Korea, on July 23. Seoul's trade agreement with the U.S. brings one of the world’s biggest exporters into Washington’s emerging trade framework just a day before the deadline.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 31, 2025

U.S. sets South Korea tariff rate at 15% with energy and shipbuilding investment

The agreement brings one of the world’s biggest exporters into Washington’s emerging trade framework just a day before the deadline.

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