Search - 2020

 
 
Tourists line up to board the sightseeing ship Nijiiro Sakana-go at Misaki Port in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, in June.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Aug 16, 2024

Japanese fishing communities aim to harness appeal

The Fisheries Agency plans to boost its sea industry promotion team to better support regional revitalization across Japan.
American Sepp Kuss celebrates after winning Vuelta a Espana in September last year. The Visma rider will be looking to go back-to-back when the Grand Tour begins Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Cycling
Aug 16, 2024

Kuss and Roglic to battle for wide open Vuelta a Espana

With star trio Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel not competing this year, several other cyclists are eyeing the chance to claim a Grand Tour triumph.
Lee Yi-yang
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 17, 2024

Taiwan names Lee Yi-yang as next de facto ambassador to Japan

Lee, the next head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, was a close aide to former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian.
The display window of a brokerage showing the closing numbers of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, along a street in the capital on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 17, 2024

Foreign investors are trading Japan’s stocks like never before

The Nikkei 225-issue average slumped 12% on Aug. 5, the biggest percentage fall since Black Monday in 1987, before rebounding 10% the next day.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Praty hopes to capitalize on a sense of renewal stemming from the election of a new president to succeed Fumio Kishida, who has said he will not seek reelection.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 18, 2024

LDP pinning hope on boost from leader change

The LDP will hold a leadership election in September to choose the successor to President Fumio Kishida, who said last week that he will step down.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

Singapore’s Wong hands out fresh perks ahead of election

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong sought to reassure citizens their voices are being heard during his first and last National Day Rally before Singapore's general election.
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she steps off Air Force Two upon arrival at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in the city Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

Trump and Harris to turbocharge race with convention and rival events

Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump will battle for momentum — and attention — around the Democratic National Convention.
Wind turbines in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture
BUSINESS
Aug 19, 2024

Japan offers lifeline to ESG investing amid backlash overseas

In light of the anti-ESG sentiment in the U.S. and Europe, analysts said that Japan can play a key role in driving sustainable finance globally.
E-scooter startup Lime has launched its service in some of Tokyo’s most densely populated neighborhoods
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 20, 2024

Uber-backed e-scooter startup Lime enters Japan after Korea exit

Lime, which has a global fleet of around 200,000 e-bikes and scooters, on Monday launched its service in some of Tokyo’s most densely populated areas.
A non-genuine battery for electric bicycles catches fire in an experiment conducted by the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2024

Number of fires linked to 'fake' lithium-ion batteries on the rise

Non-genuine alternatives are not subject to the same rigorous design and quality control standards, making them more prone to causing fires.
North Korean soldiers are seen outside a guard post (top) from near South Korean guard post in the South Korean border city of Paju in April 2022. A North Korean has defected to the South by walking across the heavily fortified border that separates the peninsula, Seoul's military said Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 20, 2024

Second North Korean soldier defects to South this month

Preliminary figures from the Unification Ministry show this year until June some 105 people had defected.
Yukio Edano, a former leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks to reporters on Aug. 9 to express his intention to run in the party's leadership race.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2024

CDP faced with division as it heads into leadership race

The next CDP leader will be expected to unify the different groups within the party and cooperate with other opposition parties to increase its seats during polls.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to the Livingston County Sheriff's Office in Howell, Michigan, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2024

Trump pushes agenda in town with historic links to white extremism

Donald Trump did not speak out against hate during his 45-minute remarks in a Michigan town with historic ties to white supremacy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, look at weapons said to have been captured during Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, as they visit the Russian Special Forces University in Gudermes, Chechnya, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Aug 21, 2024

Ukraine's drone attack on Moscow 'one of largest ever,' mayor says

Russian air defense units destroyed at least 11 drones flying toward the capital, as well as 34 over the border Bryansk region and others, officials said.
Takako Yamashita, a descendant of a former Japanese resident of the Russian-controlled islands called the Northern Territories, seeks to preserve memories of life on the isles through the creation of pictorial maps.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2024

Memories of Russian-held isles preserved through pictorial maps

The maps feature the names of residents on each house and colorful illustrations of flora and fauna, as well as scenes from daily life.
Military vehicles carrying DF-26 ballistic missiles travel past Beijing's Tiananmen Gate during a military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing in September 2015.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2024

Biden approved secret nuclear strategy refocusing on Chinese threat

In a new classified document, the U.S. president ordered preparations for possible coordinated nuclear confrontations with Russia, China and North Korea.
The departure of the head of Apple's App Store comes as the division is being split into two teams: one overseeing Apple’s own store and another responsible for alternative app distribution.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2024

Apple’s App Store head to leave in reorganization amid global scrutiny

Matt Fischer, a vice president who has run the App Store business since 2010, will leave the iPhone maker in October.
Jannik Sinner has been cleared to continue competing despite failing two doping tests this year.
TENNIS
Aug 22, 2024

Tennis players decry double standards after Jannik Sinner avoids doping ban

Some players have suggested that the Italian received preferential treatment.
University students in Varanasi, India, protest against a recent rape and murder of a doctor in West Bengal. Despite some improvements in legislation following high-profile cases, such as the 2012 gang rape, violence against women has worsened, with recorded rapes increasing.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2024

Protests won’t change India's attitude toward rape

Despite some improvements in legislation following high-profile cases, such as the 2012 gang rape, violence against women has worsened, with recorded rapes increasing.
A supermarket worker puts up a sign asking purchasers to buy only one bag per person, in Tokyo on July 25.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2024

Why it's hard to find rice at Japan's supermarkets right now

In recent weeks, store shelves have often been barren, with many shops displaying signs asking purchasers to stick to one bag per person.
Torrential rain in Tokyo on Wednesday night
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 22, 2024

Tokyo under assault by ‘guerrilla rainstorms’

An inflow of warm, humid air from the Pacific Ocean is contributing to the unstable weather conditions this week, the Meteorological Agency says.
Yukio Edano announces his bid to run in the leadership race of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 23, 2024

Yukio Edano pushes centrist image in CDP leadership bid

The ex-leader is attempting to shed a leftist identity by avoiding the expression "zero nuclear power" and pledging to review ties with the Japanese Communist Party.
The land ministry is planning to create a system in which the central and local governments would evenly shoulder part of the demolition costs that condominium management associations should pay.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2024

Japanese government to subsidize demolition of old condo buildings

The land ministry is planning to subsidize such demolitions from the fiscal year beginning April 2025.
Traditionally seen as a cautionary tale of collapse due to overpopulation, recent research suggests that Easter Island's population was likely small and that they adapted to environmental challenges through innovative agricultural practices.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2024

Easter Island collapse gets the fresh look it deserves

Once viewed as a cautionary tale of overpopulation, recent research suggests Easter Island's population was small and adapted through innovative agriculture practices.
A television station broadcasts U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Chair Jerome Powell speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Aug 24, 2024

Powell's Fed not shy about election-year cuts and ready to defend job market

The Fed chief sent a strong signal that the central bank will start cutting interest rates in mid-September, roughly seven weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to Liberal Democratic Party members during a leadership election at its headquarters in Tokyo in September 2020.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 24, 2024

Ex-defense chief Shigeru Ishiba announces fifth bid for LDP presidency

The party heavyweight underscored a commitment to clean politics, pledging to work to restore trust in the LDP after a wide-ranging slush fund scandal.
U.S. Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her husband, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, wave from the stage on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 24, 2024

Harris faces challenge of translating convention joy to fall momentum

Trump is no pushover, and history is littered with presidential candidates who roused their partisans at conventions only to fall short come November.
Emergency responders assist a man who collapsed during lengthy heat wave in Phoenix in July last year.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 24, 2024

Heat kills thousands in the U.S. every year. Why are the deaths so hard to track?

As heat waves become more frequent and intense, researchers and activists say the lack of effective tracking is leading to needless deaths.
Lions players celebrate after a win over the Buffaloes on Wednesday at Belluna Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 25, 2024

A fight over free agency in NPB, with help from an American union

The union representing players in NPB is fighting to secure rights over players' images and give them the opportunity to make the jump to MLB sooner.
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arrives onstage Thursday to speak on the fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2024

Kamala Harris charts her vision for the United States

Harris’ speech capped a week featuring the Democratic Party’s brightest stars, showcasing a broad, diverse and inclusive party.

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