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Occupational therapist Mitsuyoshi Okutsu interacts with children at Kamioka Elementary School in Hida, Gifu Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 1, 2024

Occupational therapists join the ranks of staff at Gifu schools

It is estimated that there are around 110,000 occupational therapists in Japan, working mainly at hospitals and welfare facilities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are both international pariahs, struggling to find ways to shore up their increasingly isolated countries.
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 2024

Don’t be alarmed by the new Russia-North Korea partnership

Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are both international pariahs, struggling to find ways to shore up their increasingly isolated countries.
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji temple in Tokyo. This year is expected to bring 33 million travelers to Japan, an unprecedented surge and a 30% increase from last year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 21, 2024

How an arrival tax could stem the overtourism tide

How can Japan ensure that tourism benefits locals and travelers alike? There's no silver bullet but an arrival tax of around $40 could be a good starting point.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2024

For Kishida, the LDP election means a fraught summer ahead

Attention is turning to what the prime minister will do as potential rivals rally support ahead of September's vote for party president.
Pedestrians cross a road in Pudong's Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai. China has long touted itself as the world’s safest nation, making rare outbursts of public violence stand out.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jun 22, 2024

China’s spate of violence prompts outburst of economic anxiety

The reaction of Chinese social media users to a spate of recent violent attacks has exposed widespread discontent about the nation’s downturn.
Tokashiki Beach acts as a sanctuary for sea turtles and offers ideal snorkeling waters. It was also the site of the U.S. Army’s preliminary invasion that led to the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 150,000 people.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Jun 23, 2024

On Okinawa's Tokashiki Island, life's a beach — one of the best in the world

Many of the island’s residents first came as tourists, attracted to the exquisite Aharen Beach, and simply stayed.
A man visits the Cornerstone of Peace, a monument in the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, with his family, including his great-grandchildren, on Sunday, the 79th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2024

Okinawa marks 79 years since end of fierce ground battle

During a memorial service, participants observed a moment of silence in honor of the more than 200,000 war dead and renewed a pledge for peace.
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force tanks take part in a live fire exercise near Gotemba on May 26.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2024

EU seeks defense industry partnerships with Japan and South Korea

These would mark the EU's first such security and defense-related collaboration with Asian nations.
Japan's men's and women's gymnastics teams pose for photos during a news conference to announce the team's uniforms for the 2024 Games.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jun 24, 2024

Leotard vs. unitard debate in gymnastics still raging ahead of Paris Olympics

The German gymnastics team took a stand against sexualization in the sport in 2021, but heading into Paris, the leotard is still very much in vogue in Japan and abroad.
A general shareholders meeting is held at Sompo Holdings in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2024

Japan nonlife insurers apologize to shareholders over scandals

Leaders of three major Japanese nonlife insurers apologized at their respective general shareholders meetings over scandals rocking the industry.
Naoto Ohtake, president-elect of the Institute of Science Tokyo, said it aims to have international students make up 30% of all undergraduate science and engineering majors by 2050.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2024

Institute of Science Tokyo will reapply for grant from ¥10 trillion fund

Tokyo Institute of Technology and Tokyo Medical and Dental University, which will merge to form the new university, had jointly applied before but failed.
The government has a provisional target of keeping PFAS levels in tap water at 50 nanograms or lower per liter.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 24, 2024

Government instigates nationwide survey on PFAS in Japan's tap water

Some 12,000 water providers have been given until the end of September to report on potential water contamination with PFAS.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference after being found guilty over hush-money charges, at Trump Tower in New York City on May 31.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 25, 2024

U.S. and allies race to ‘Trump-proof’ Biden security deals by year-end

Concerns are rising about a potential push to undo or restructure Biden-era agreements should the ex-president be returned to the White House.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lights a candle in memory of the victims of the Crocus City Hall attack, on the day of national mourning in a church at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on March 24.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2024

Dagestan shootings spotlight rising Islamist threat for Putin

The latest violence, with at least 20 killed in coordinated shootings in Russia's far south on Sunday, raises tough questions for its intelligence and security services.
An ingot of a rare earth metal used to make components for technology products at a factory in China. The country is the world’s top exporter of rare earth elements, but that may change if deep-sea mining gains traction in nations like Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 25, 2024

We’ve got to get deep-sea mining right

Seabed mining could muddy the waters of critical minerals' supply chains by tapping into new sources. But will environmental and legal concerns sink the project?
The Eiffel Tower is seen from the water of the River Seine
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 25, 2024

River Seine's water quality in doubt as Paris counts down to Olympics

Heavy rain in May and June has caused major pollution problems in the river.
German and Japanese fighter jets take part in an exercise over Japan in September 2022.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2024

Japan to hold fighter jet drills with Germany, France, Spain in July

A contingent of more than 30 military aircraft from Germany, France and Spain will arrive in Japan next month to conduct a series of training exercises with the ASDF.
There were a total of 219 victims of bear attacks in Japan in fiscal 2023, which resulted in six deaths, according to Environment Ministry statistics.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 26, 2024

Aomori woman, 80, killed by bear amid surge of attacks nationwide

She was foraging for bamboo shoots in the mountains when she was attacked by what local officials have determined to be an adult Asian black bear.
Shareholders queue to enter a venue for SoftBank Group's annual general meeting in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2024

Activist investing booms in Japan amid corporate governance reforms

International hedge funds and home-grown investors have turned the country into the world’s second-largest market for activists.
The yen fell as much as 0.4% to ¥160.39 per dollar on Wednesday, extending losses this year to around 12%.
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2024

Yen’s tumble to weakest since 1986 boosts risk of intervention

The Japanese currency fell as much as 0.4% to ¥160.39 per dollar on Wednesday, extending losses this year to around 12%.
Expedition tents at Everest Base Camp, 140 kilometers northeast of Kathmandu, in May 2021
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 27, 2024

As ice melts, Everest's 'death zone' gives up its ghosts

Among those scaling the soaring Himalayan mountain this year was a team aiming to bring corpses down.
Namgyal Phunchok, a Changpa community leader at Chushul village in Ladakh, says the area's pastoralist way of life had been undermined.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 27, 2024

The herders caught up in India and China's icy conflict

Swaths of grazing lands have become demilitarized "buffer zones" to keep rival forces apart.
Health minister Keizo Takemi speaks to reporters in Tokyo in March.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 27, 2024

Panel sets out investment vision for Japan's health care startups

Since 2019, the number of health care startups established each year in Japan has declined to around 50.
Muslim pilgrims use umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun as they arrive at the base of Mount Arafat, also known as Jabal al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, on June 15.
WORLD
Jun 28, 2024

Climate change boosted deadly Saudi Hajj heat by 2.5 degrees, scientists say

The heat would have been approximately 2.5 degrees Celsius cooler without the influence of human-caused climate change, according to a team of European scientists.
While Japan may not have a large market for English-language publications, there's still hope to grow your career overseas while living here.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Jul 1, 2024

How to make it as an English-language author in Japan

Some writers find career stability in teaching, while others find that the culture and vibrance of this country inspires their imaginations.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego in March last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 29, 2024

Australian diplomat says adding AUKUS partners 'complicated'

A senior Australian diplomat has said he does not believe the U.S. Congress is open to expanding the pact — though collaboration would be a different matter.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves tour a Morrisons supermarket during a Labour general election campaign event in Wiltshire, England, on June 19.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 29, 2024

Revolt against Starmer’s Labour by long-time backers puts star candidates at risk

There’s little prospect the trend will cost Labour the election, but some of the party's leading lights could lose their seats.
A drum sits inside the Korea Exchange in Seoul on June 13. South Korea is extending a ban on stock short selling through March 30 next year and planning harsher penalties for illegal trades.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 30, 2024

High-speed traders and short sellers face growing Asia crackdown

Recent developments show the difficulty of keeping up with increasingly sophisticated trading strategies and their market impact — challenges set to grow further with AI.
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa attends the oath of office ceremony for his second term as South African President, at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, on June 19.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2024

South Africa opposition debuts in Ramaphosa’s unity cabinet

The announcement of the new executive followed more than a week of negotiations.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's new flagship H3 rocket is launched from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 1, 2024

Japan successfully puts advanced satellite into orbit using H3 rocket

The agency’s third H3 rocket launch was carrying the high-resolution Daichi-4 Earth observation satellite, which cost around ¥32 billion to develop.

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