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Japan Times
Special Supplements / Hiroshima G7 Summit Special
May 19, 2023

Nonstate actors issue call for stronger climate policies

The Japan Climate Initiative, a network that connects stakeholders who are taking action on climate change, held a news conference to announce the release of its message, “Overcoming Two Crises with Renewable Energy and Carbon Pricing,” in Sapporo on April 12, three days before the G7 Ministers’...
Japan Times
Special Supplements / Hiroshima G7 Summit Special
May 19, 2023

Split education system needs a shake-up, president warns

Waseda University, one of Japan’s leading private universities, began its history as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, which was established in 1882. The founder, Shigenobu Okuma, served as Japan’s prime minister twice, in 1898 and 1914. Waseda has produced eight of the country’s prime ministers, including Fumio...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 8, 2023

American School in Japan unveils master plan for renewed campus

Renderings of ASIJ’s possible new look depict a winding, river-shaped building that allows its elementary, middle and high schools to flow into and interact with one another.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 3, 2023

Business innovations boost national recycling efforts

The Japanese have long embraced the need to protect and preserve the natural world, safeguarding our shared environment for generations to come. As a nation, the Japanese have been ahead of the game when it comes to initiatives such as recycling to conserve finite stocks of resources, helping to tackle...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Mar 6, 2023

Bank of the Ryukyus taking steps to promote women in management

The bank has seen a significant rise in the number of female employees at all ranks.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 9, 2023

At Japan’s first winery, the country’s oldest grape lives on

Discovered in 1922 at Iwanohara Vineyard, the Muscat Bailey A grape may be one of Japan's great contributions to global wine.
Japan Times
Special Supplements
Jan 19, 2023

Educational excellence in a diverse setting

It’s human nature to seek out people who share our values and ideas, but only through proactively interacting with people from other countries and cultures can we broaden our worldviews. For third-year student Airu Ito, stepping out of his comfort zone was a key factor in finding new opportunities...
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 15, 2023

One year on, massive Tonga eruption still reverberates across Pacific Rim

The blast underscored the risks to other nations in the 'Ring of Fire,' particularly Japan, and the importance of gathering precise data to understand just how big those threats might be.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 4, 2023

Both hurt and saved by regulations, what is next for crypto in Japan?

Strong regulations may have helped Japan avoid some of the FTX fallout, but some LDP lawmakers are pushing for a loosening of rules to embrace virtual assets.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 15, 2022

New national security strategy needs to respond to realities on three fronts

With China, North Korea and Russia each posing a different problem, Japan's security strategy must shift to realistic strategies that cope with and deter existing threats.
The natural beauty of Minakami has attracted hundreds adventure tourism companies, but there's still no overarching network of safety protocols in place.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 15, 2023

In Japan’s adventure tourism mecca, the rush comes with risk

Minakami has come a long way since the early days of its adventure tourism beginnings, but if it wants to last well into the future, regulation may be key.
Junior high school students participate in a community-based club activity without any instructors in Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Aug 15, 2023

Facing long hours, teacher pushes for data-driven reforms

Given the long working hours for Japan's schoolteachers, one educator from Gifu Prefecture is leading initiatives for teachers’ work-style reforms.
An image of a fetus on the screen of a portable ultrasound system.
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 15, 2023

The world’s first artificial womb is on the way

The artificial placentas are intended to help struggling prematurely born infants develop much like they would in the prenatal environment.
Minoru Kihara
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 17, 2023

New Japan defense chief 'very concerned' about Chinese military moves

Minoru Kihara called trilateral cooperation with South Korea and the U.S. “the cornerstone” of Tokyo’s response to the regional security concerns.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo gives a news conference at the Boeing aircraft hangar facility in Shanghai on Aug. 30.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 12, 2023

Foreign businesses face a hostile China

The Chinese government's "zero-COVID" policy and regulatory favoritism toward local companies have created obstacles for foreign businesses.
Spain's Olga Carmona and Ona Batlle celebrate after the Women's World Cup final in Sydney on Aug. 20. The team had been in dispute with the Spanish federation before the tournament.
SOCCER
Oct 19, 2023

FIFA official urges nations to fully support women's soccer

Soccer associations need to properly support their women's teams so they can perform at their best, FIFA's Sarai Bareman said.
From left: Naho Sato, President Masamichi Idemitsu and Naoki Tajima
ESG CONSORTIUM
Dec 18, 2023

Mita Kosan develops real estate, community in central Tokyo area

Mita Kosan Co. Ltd., a real estate developer and leasing company, is housed in an office building right across the road from Keio University’s East Gate in the Mita district of Tokyo’s Minato Ward. The area has a uniquely mixed atmosphere: premium and academic, yet homey with a lot of small local...
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House in Washington in January 2023. Some Japanese businesses are keenly waiting for the results of the U.S. presidential election in November.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 1, 2024

Japanese firms seek political stability and stronger alliance: survey

A possible Taiwan contingency is just one of the issues on the minds of companies in the country.
Since September 2022, Patagonia has allocated profits amounting to $71 million to environmental initiatives that include stopping a proposed mine in Alaska and conserving land in South America, as well as helping to elect pro-environment U.S. Democrats.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2024

The competitive edge of doing good in business

Are companies that give all profits to charity also doing good for their business? Some examples show they are, and that this model is worth pursuing.
A nationwide survey by Japan Press Research Institute released in October found that 74.6% of respondents see or hear news a few times a week on the internet. Meanwhile, 87.6% receive news through private broadcasters.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 21, 2024

How to deal with influence operations in the era of generative AI

A significant number of people in Japan don't care about where online news is sourced from, one poll found.
Shinichiro Kashima
ESG CONSORTIUM
May 22, 2024

Nippon Life engages to encourage green transition

Engaging with high-emitting companies to spur transformation of their business rather than divesting from them is becoming increasingly important to combat climate change, said an executive officer of Japan’s biggest insurance company. “Thinking about society as a whole, it is important that we asset...
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
PODCAST / deep dive
May 23, 2024

What does climate change sound like in Okinawa?

This week, Japan Times climate editor Chris Russell joins us to discuss what researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology are listening to.
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2024 Liveability Index gave Tokyo perfect scores for stability and health care.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 28, 2024

Osaka and Tokyo ranked as world’s ninth and 14th most livable cities

The Economist Intelligence Unit scores cities on the basis of education, stability, health care, culture, and the environment and infrastructure.
Many second-generation Indian migrants decide to leave Japan for higher education — with Indians making up less than 1% of the country’s student population — but there is evidence that this cohort’s interest in attending Japanese universities is growing.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 10, 2024

Do university-bound Indian migrants actually stay in Japan?

Can Japan retain second-generation Indian migrants who are seeking a college education? The evidence is mixed, showing an uptick that still has a long way to grow.
A passerby holding a parasol wipes her face as she walks on the street amid a heatstroke alert in Tokyo and other prefectures, in Tokyo on July 9.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Boiling Point
Jul 19, 2024

How to prevent and respond to heatstroke in Japan this summer

Staying hydrated and controlling the rise in one's body temperature are the fundamental ways for preventing and alleviating heat-related illnesses.
A mongoose on a road in Nago, northern Okinawa, in December 2022. The mongoose was first introduced to Japan in Naha in 1910 for the purpose of exterminating the local habu snakes and rats.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Sep 23, 2024

After Amami-Oshima success, Okinawa's mongoose eradication in focus

Okinawa island's much bigger resident population makes it a challenge to get rid of the animal.
Parents walk their children to school in Guanghzou, China, on Sept. 4, 2019
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2024

China's private tutoring firms emerge from the shadows after crackdown

There is now tacit consent from policymakers in China to allow the tutoring industry to grow.
NATO and the so-called Indo-Pacific Four nations of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand have largely focused on security matters in Europe.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 29, 2024

Why the security of Asia and Europe are inseparable

Cooperation between Europe and the Indo-Pacific, including Japan, has never been more important as their defense depends not only on the U.S., but on each other.
Security forces members detain a demonstrator as people protest against the management of the emergency response to the deadly floods in eastern Spain, in Valencia, Spain, on Saturday.
WORLD
Nov 10, 2024

Spain's flood disaster was its worst in recent history. Here's what went wrong.

By the time many received the government's flood alert, water was already surrounding cars, submerging streets and pouring into their homes.
The Self-Defense Forces facilities are believed to have become sources of PFAS contamination because they used firefighting foam containing the toxic chemicals in the past.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 24, 2024

High levels of PFAS found in water from 44 private suppliers across Japan

Among them are five that supply water to Self-Defense Forces facilities.

Longform

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