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Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 10, 2021

For Trump and America, a final test of accountability

The fresh bid to remove Trump from office and strip him of his power without waiting until his term expires Jan. 20 capped a traumatic week that has rattled Washington.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2020

Mark Zuckerberg has another answer to Bitcoin

As German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz put it, referring to Libra's name change, 'a wolf in sheep's clothing is still a wolf.”
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 12, 2020

For Biden’s economic team, an early focus on climate

One issue that could distinguish Biden's core economic team from its predecessors? Climate change.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2020

Getting NATO back on track

Biden could start this process of reconciliation between France and Germany — and, more importantly, between the U.S. and its NATO partners — by canceling Trump's planned troop withdrawal.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 6, 2020

Report points to microwave ‘attack’ as likely source of illnesses that hit diplomats and spies

The report provides the most definitive explanation yet of the strange illness that struck scores of U.S. government employees.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 3, 2020

Thai protests target king’s billions of dollars in property investments

Thailand's royal family has long been the biggest shareholder in two of the country's most valuable companies as well as vast plots of land in central Bangkok.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2020

How Japan’s subscription economy could redefine the way consumers and firms interact

Japan has lagged behind other nations in terms of subscription-based activities, but the model is finally catching on as consumers explore new ways of doing business.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Oct 20, 2020

Let's discuss hanko

Take a look at the English vocabulary of traditions held in Japan's bureaucratic systems.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda speaks during an interview at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 27, 2025

Ahead of election, CDP chief vows 'responsible' tax cut

"Measures to cope with rising prices will be the biggest focus (of the July 20 House of Councilors election)," Yoshihiko Noda said.
A container is loaded onto a cargo ship at Hai Phong port in Vietnam. A trade deal secured by Vietnam with the U.S. sets a high bar for Japan's tariff talks.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 3, 2025

Vietnam steals a march and leaves Japan in a tough spot on U.S. tariffs

The deal sets a high bar for Japan and other countries still negotiating with the United States.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in a debate with leaders of seven other political parties at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 4, 2025

Sizing up the forthcoming Upper House election

Given all that is taking place, this is shaping up to be one of the most unusual Upper House elections in decades.
Mourners pay their respects to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday in the city of Nara where he was shot to death while giving a stump speech three years ago.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / EXPLAINER
Jul 8, 2025

Three years after Abe's shooting, where do things stand?

The criminal trial against the alleged shooter is proceeding at a snail's pace due to the sensitivity, complexity and social impact of the case.
Workers on the production line of a toy factory in Shenzhen, China
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 15, 2025

China’s economy expands 5.2% as exports propel growth

The world’s second-largest economy has powered ahead despite a 24% slump in shipments to the U.S. in the second quarter.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron hold a news conference in London on July 10 after wrapping up a joint military visit.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2025

France and U.K. tighten nuclear ties amid questions over U.S. commitment

While France and the U.K. are taking a positive step for European security, the announcement is both more and less than it seems.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in a campaign event in Yokohama on July 6. Japan faces deep structural challenges but lacks bold political vision and leaders willing to take risks for transformative change.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 20, 2025

Performative ‘elections’ expose a sad lack of vision

Political parties jostle for position and trade barbs but offer no clear plan for Japan’s growing structural challenges.
Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, in Tokyo on Sunday. Smaller conservative parties such as the DPP gained in the election at the weekend, at the expense of the Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 21, 2025

Conservatives win big in Japan — just not the Liberal Democratic Party

Sunday's election marks the first time the once-proud party has lost a majority in both houses since its foundation in 1955.
Japan’s ruling LDP-Komeito bloc lost big, smaller parties gained ground and the country now faces a more fractured, uncertain political future.
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2025

Voter revolt shatters Japan’s ruling coalition and empowers smaller parties

The big winners were smaller, newer parties on the right, Sanseito and the Democratic Party for the People.
Members of the Sudanese army walk past a destroyed military vehicle and bombed buildings in the state of Khartoum on March 26.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 25, 2025

Sudan's Islamists plot postwar comeback by supporting army

The Islamist movement was toppled in Sudan's uprising in 2019.
China has strict obscenity laws and regularly scrubs content deemed pornographic from its heavily-controlled domestic internet, so the scale of the image sharing on Telegram has shocked many in China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 29, 2025

Outrage in China after reports exploitative images of Chinese women shared in Telegram groups

Sexually exploitative images of women were shared with hundreds of thousands of users on Telegram, with the scale of the sharing shocking many in China.
Nippon Steel had pledged to ensure that more than half of members of the U.S. Steel board are American citizens.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 31, 2025

Nippon Steel names three American directors to U.S. Steel board

The move fulfills a pledge that the Japanese steelmaker made under a national security agreement reached with the U.S. government.
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at RAF Lossiemouth in northeast Scotland on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 2, 2025

Trump says he moved U.S. nuclear subs after barbs with Russia

President Donald Trump said the U.S. is moving two nuclear submarines to respond to what he called "highly provocative statements” from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Hala Al-Masri, 17, reacts at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on an UNRWA school that was sheltering displaced people, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday.
WORLD
Aug 4, 2025

Hamas says it will allow aid to hostages if Israel meets their conditions

A video released on Saturday of emaciated hostage Evyatar David drew criticism from Western powers and horrified Israelis.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump meet at the G20 summit in Osaka in 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 7, 2025

Trump could meet Putin over Ukraine as soon as next week, official says

Such a face-to-face meeting would be the first between a sitting U.S. and Russian president since Joe Biden met Vladimir Putin in Geneva in June 2021.
Students at the Taira First Elementary School in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, learn about the World War II "mock atomic bombs" during a special class given at the school in July.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2025

People work to pass on stories of U.S. 'mock atomic bombs' dropped on Japan in WWII

Over 400 people were killed by 49 of what are also called "pumpkin bombs" that the U.S. dropped on Japan between July 20 and Aug. 14, 1945.
The Parque da Cidade, the main venue for the COP30 summit, under construction in Belem, Brazil, on May 5.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2025

Lula’s plan for COP30 in Amazon risks becoming a logistical mess

With fewer than 100 days to go, Brazil is under fire from countries concerned about a shortage of hotel rooms and soaring accommodation costs.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a news conference in Berlin on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2025

How a call from Trump ignited a frantic week of diplomacy by Ukraine

A call by Trump to Zelenskyy and other European leaders raised concern over negotiations with Putin and set off a flurry of diplomacy ahead of the Friday summit.
U.S. National Guard members patrol at Union Station in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 16, 2025

Washington, D.C., police chief remains in command under White House deal

Trump administration lawyers conceded that Pamela Smith would remain in command of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint news conference with the European Commission president in Brussels on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 18, 2025

Trump’s peace-deal demands leave Ukraine's Zelenskyy with only bad options

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy faces an existential dilemma as he travels to Washington for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.
Omar Garcia Harfuch has earned respect from rank-and-file military and security forces by showing up, gun-in-hand, on the front lines, one source said.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 19, 2025

Battle-tested cop is Mexico's hope to tame cartels and placate Trump

Garcia Harfuch has earned praise for helping deliver on Sheinbaum's vision of increased cooperation with the U.S.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a news conference following their meeting to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, in Anchorage, Alaska, last week.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Doubts grow on Ukraine security plan as Russia demands role

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow should have a say in security arrangements for Ukraine, which could also involve Beijing.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell