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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold yen bonds at lower costs in its second Japan deal of the year as speculation mounts that the billionaire investor may put more money into the nation’s share market.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 17, 2023

Berkshire sells yen debt amid talk it’s eyeing more Japan stocks

Berkshire is one of the largest overseas issuers of yen debt, and 32 out of its past 40 bond deals have been in the Japanese currency.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako greet guests during the autumn garden party at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on Nov. 2.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2023

LDP to consider imperial law revision for stable succession

The focus of discussions will be, in part, on whether to allow Japan to have a female emperor.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrives for the leaders and spouses dinner during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 18, 2023

Philippines' Marcos meets China's Xi amid South China Sea tensions

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, seeking ways to come up with mechanisms to lower tensions.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 18, 2023

Kishida to press China on Fukushima ban after deal on expert talks

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that China had agreed to expert-level talks aimed at addressing its ban on Japanese seafood.
U.S. President Joe Biden makes a toast during the leaders and spouses dinner at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 18, 2023

APEC leaders divided on Ukraine and Gaza wars, but back WTO reform

Some leaders objected to language on Gaza and Ukraine "on the basis that they do not believe that APEC is a forum to discuss geopolitical issues."
Bonobos groom each other at the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Nov 18, 2023

Good neighbors: Bonobo study offers clues into early human alliances

Human society is founded on our ability to cooperate with others beyond our immediate family and social groups, and the same may be said about bonobos.
A worker uses a vacuum cleaner inside a bullet train at Suseo Station in Seoul on Nov. 13. South Korea is launching a four-week campaign against bedbugs after multiple reports of infestations sparked widespread public anxiety.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Nov 19, 2023

Bedbug anxiety comes for Asia, and the pest killers are here for it

Outbreaks in France and South Korea have people across Asia on high alert for bedbugs. Exterminators in the region say business is booming.
BASEBALL
Nov 19, 2023

Australia gains crucial experience at Asia tourney in Tokyo

For smaller baseball countries like Australia, the opportunity for its young players to play Japan at a packed Tokyo Dome is invaluable.
The labor ministry is planning to review the workers' accident compensation program to cover all freelancers commissioned to work for companies.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2023

Japan to expand workers' accident compensation for freelancers

The measure is aimed at creating an environment in which freelancers can work with a sense of security.
People use smartphones on the street in Tokyo in January 2019.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Nov 20, 2023

The NTT Law — a guard against monopoly, or barrier to innovation?

Some say the law regulating the telecom giant stops it from competing against the likes of Google, but others say it contains vital market protections.
Farm workers carry rice saplings on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, in July.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Nov 21, 2023

In India, 'natural farming' draws young people back to the land

The farming method shuns synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, involves the use of organic manure and no tilling of the land.
New Zealand's Richie Mo'unga in action against Argentina in the semifinals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, in Saint-Denis, France, on Oct. 20
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Nov 21, 2023

Mo'unga ready to forget All Blacks after Japan switch

Mo'unga has moved to Toshiba Brave Lupus on a three-year deal, meaning he cannot play for the All Blacks during that time unless eligibility rules change.
A wind turbine and an electricity pylon in Finedon, Britain. Developers can no longer use financial modeling that assumes gas power plants are used constantly throughout their 20-year-plus lifetime, analysts said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 21, 2023

Giant batteries drain economics of gas power plants

Batteries that ensure stable power supply are becoming cheap enough to make developers abandon scores of projects for gas-fired generation worldwide.
Despite being a global leader in more costly offshore wind production, the number of new turbines going up in the English countryside has been at a virtual standstill for nearly a decade.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2023

Winds of change? The bid to revive England's onshore sector

The number of new turbines going up in the English countryside has been at a virtual standstill for nearly a decade.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reviews a military honor guard during a full honors arrival ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington on May 3.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 22, 2023

Philippines launches joint sea and air patrols with U.S. military

This week's three-day joint exercise was a "significant initiative" to boost interoperability between the two countries, the Philippine president said.
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 22, 2023

Things get warmer with Xi; Johnny’s get the cold shoulder

While Japan and China look to ease tensions, NHK makes things tense with a Johnny’s-less “Kohaku” announcement.
A member of the India team sorts through rubbish at the end of the first round of the Spogomi World Cup 2023 final, in which teams pick up as much rubbish as possible in a set amount of time, in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2023

Load of rubbish: Litter-hunters vie for world title in Tokyo

The Spogomi World Cup saw 21 countries battle it out to collect the most rubbish within a set time limit.
Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto Prefecture hands out "blindfold" stickers that visitors can use to cover up their wishes written on wooden plaques.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 23, 2023

Privacy concerns prompt people to cover up Shinto prayer plaques

The plaques have been used to express wishes for centuries, and now some shrines are allowing them to be covered with stickers for privacy reasons.
Cormorant fishing master Youichiro Adachi (left) holds the leashes tied to the necks and bodies of cormorants on the Nagara River in Oze, Gifu Prefecture, on Sept. 8.
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 30, 2023

Environmental change threatens Japan's cormorant fishing legacy

The method of fishing was once common in Japan, and a version of it has also been practiced in China
A survey found that the number of children newly hospitalized for anorexia nervosa in Japan came to 183 in fiscal 2022, up around 60% from fiscal 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 24, 2023

Anorexia in children remained an issue three years into pandemic

Cases in fiscal 2022 were 40% higher than the level in fiscal 2019, before the pandemic.
At KIPI, a 1.06 gigawatt coal-fired plant will power the $2 billion Adaro Minerals Indonesia aluminum smelter due to begin operating in 2025.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 24, 2023

A coal-powered industrial boom is testing Indonesia’s green goals

The reality to support a low-emission ambition lies years in the future
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Nov 24, 2023

With Azabudai Hills complex, Mori aims to transform Tokyo again

The developer has looked to rectify the capital's perceived weaknesses in a bid to make it more competitive against the likes of London and New York.
Helping Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s political fortunes is the Liberal Democratic Party’s inability to agree on a successor.
EDITORIALS
Nov 24, 2023

Kishida is in trouble, but he’ll survive — for now

A Jiji Press survey released earlier this month put the Kishida Cabinet's approval at 21.3%, the lowest level since his inauguration in 2021.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen (right) celebrates with engineer Gianpiero Lambiase after winning the Qatar Grand Prix in Lusail, Qatar, on Oct. 8.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Nov 25, 2023

Gianpiero Lambiase embraces role as man in Max Verstappen’s ear

Lambiase has helped Verstappen win 53 Grand Prix titles and three Formula One drivers’ championships in their time together.
Heidrun Holzfeind documents urban and rural scenes, such as two policemen on bicycles nonchalantly rolling down a street, in her video piece "The 49th Year." The footage is presented alongside incarcerated New Left group leader Toshihiko Kamata’s writings about Japan’s highly supervised society in the exhibition "News from K."
CULTURE / Art
Nov 26, 2023

'News From K' captures the oppression of landscape

Letters from prison by New Left group leader Toshihiko Kamata reveal a sense of limbo in Heidrun Holzfeind’s new work.
A Satellite image shows the world's largest iceberg, named A23a, in Antarctica on Nov. 15.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 25, 2023

World's largest iceberg breaks free and heads toward Southern Ocean

At almost 4,000 square kilometers (1,500 square miles), the Antarctic iceberg called A23a is roughly three times the size of New York City.
Turkey and other meat at a grocery store in Chicago
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Nov 26, 2023

Eat less meat is message for rich world in food’s net-zero plan

The global food systems’ road map to 1.5 Celsius is expected to be published by the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization next month.
A boar captured in a project to connect farmers and young hunters
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2023

Efforts underway to help license holders get hunting experience

Crop damage and and dangerous animal encounters are on the rise in Japan, but active hunters are dwindling.
Ukrainian military members fire a howitzer at Russian forces in the Zaporizhzhia Region of Ukraine in December. Ukraine’s war effort is highly dependent on the U.S. and the other Western nations who comprise the country’s largest military and economic backers. 
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2023

The wars shaping the new world order

From Gaza to Urkaine to Taiwan, there is an unfolding geopolitical drama and global rebalancing among the great-powers.
A hydrogen storage tank and loading system at a liquefied hydrogen receiving terminal in Kobe
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 27, 2023

U.K. concerned about Japan’s co-firing plans to curb emissions

The move 'prolongs the life of coal plants and leads to emissions,' said the head of climate change and energy at the British Embassy in Tokyo.

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