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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2020

Is Indonesia selling out to investors?

An omnibus law passed last week chisels away at Indonesia's wall of labor protections, making it a win for employers and investors while angering unions.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 9, 2020

Biden considering new White House office on climate change

Democrat Joe Biden is considering creating a special White House office led by a climate "czar” to coordinate efforts to fight global warming if he is elected president, according to people familiar with the deliberations.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 12, 2020

As Myanmar erases names of destroyed Rohingya villages, U.N. map-makers follow suit

On maps produced in 2020 by the U.N. mapping unit in Myanmar, which it says are based on Myanmar government maps, the site of the destroyed village is now nameless.
COMMENTARY / World / Post-Coronavirus Briefing
Sep 4, 2020

Neither U.S. nor China will lead post-coronavirus order

The age of the two economic superpowers, which have been engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war, could be over.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 31, 2020

Trump lauds Abe as Japan's 'greatest prime minister' as bromance set to end

In their phone call Monday morning — the pair's 37th such call — Abe said Japan would continue working to develop new national security policies.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 15, 2020

Waking up to child abuse by caregivers

Children who are sexually abused may not understand what is happening to them or are cowed into silence by their abusers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2020

Split over Japan's virus law between cities and government widens

A nationwide surge in new infections has triggered debate at all levels of government on not only how the law should be changed but when.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 29, 2020

China hawks gain ground among Japan's conservatives, long divided on Beijing

In March, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was forced to postpone plans to greet Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a state guest. Months later, the topic is still making waves.
An employee at a wholesaler puts a price tag on a package of sea urchins from Hokkaido at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 26, 2025

Warming seas add to food inflation woes as urchin rice bowls hit ¥18,000

Policymakers have mostly blamed rising food prices on the weak yen's upward pressure on import costs, but the effects of global warming now also loom as a risk.
Voters look at posters of candidates for an Upper House election outside a polling station in Tokyo on July 20. The young abandoned the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for other conservative and newer parties in the recent poll. REUTERS
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 31, 2025

What is a ‘Japanese conservative’ in this day and age?

My view is that younger voters saw the LDP as a group of elderly, self-absorbed elitists who were out of touch with the issues that mattered to them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping take part in a photo ceremony at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin, China, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 1, 2025

Xi and Putin take swipe at West during regional summit in China

Chinese leader Xi Jinping slammed "bullying behavior" from certain countries — a veiled reference to the U.S. — at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 5, 2025

Kim and Xi offer mutual support ‘no matter how international situation changes’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first in-person talks in six years on Thursday, with the two vowing to build up ties.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with Mozambique President Daniel Chapo during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) in Yokohama on Aug. 22.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 14, 2025

JICA's Africa 'hometown' project may be renamed

The renaming is being considered after false information about the project spread on social media, claiming it would lead to an increase in the number of immigrants.
Fans cheer on the home favorites during the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 16, 2025

Japanese athletes inspired by raucous home fans at World Athletics Championships

The atmosphere at National Stadium has been raucous in the opening days of the championships, particularly when hometown heroes are on the track or field.
U.S. soldiers participate in the Freedom Shield joint U.S.-South Korea exercise near the North Korean border in Yeoncheon, South Korea, in March.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Sep 16, 2025

Trump 2.0 and the U.S.-South Korea alliance

Debate in Seoul over the future of the U.S.-South Korea alliance has intensified since Trump returned to the White House
Paulina “Jedda” Puruntatameri with Antonia Burke and Tiwi fisher Clinton offshore of Melville Island, one of the Tiwi Islands, in Australia's Northern Territory. Together with other Tiwi, Jedda has been campaigning for years to stop Australian company Santos and its backers, including Japanese investors, from drilling for natural gas at the Barossa gas field.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Sep 21, 2025

As Japan keeps buying gas, Aboriginal Australians pay the price

Japan is Australia’s second-largest export market for energy and natural resources, giving Tokyo a certain political weight when it comes to Australian energy matters.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2025

Vladimir Putin’s ‘negotiations’ are a trap

Putin wants to destroy Ukraine as a state and Ukrainian as a national identity.
People carry a banner depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, as they protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after he delivered an address at the 80th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 27, 2025

Trump says Gaza talks with Middle East countries are intense and will continue

Trump met leaders and officials from multiple Muslim-majority countries this week to discuss the situation in Gaza.
Public executives in Japan are held to exceptionally high standards of judgment and propriety, as shown by the swift resignation of Suntory CEO Takeshi Niinami after a police inquiry into his alleged involvement in the import of CBD supplements. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2025

'For relaxing times...' don’t be a CEO like Suntory’s Niinami

Niinami says he’s done nothing wrong and he hasn’t been charged.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Monday, the same day the White House released a 20-point plan designed to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2025

With all-or-nothing Gaza plan, Trump turns tables for Israel

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Hamas would "pay in hell" if it did not accept the 20-point plan within days.
The ruling and opposition parties hold talks at the parliament building on Sept. 5 over a proposal to scrap the provisional gasoline tax surcharge.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Oct 1, 2025

Ruling-opposition talks on gasoline tax cut stall ahead of LDP election

The slowdown is widely attributed to the political lull caused by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election slated for Saturday.
Association for Philippines-China Understanding (APCU) Chairman Raul Lambino shakes hands with guests during a ceremony for the Award for Promoting Philippines-China Understanding at The Manila Hotel in Manila in June.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Oct 6, 2025

How China waged an infowar against U.S. interests in the Philippines

China paid for a cyber campaign to weaken support for Philippine government policy and to sow discord over Manila's security alliance with the United States.
A plume of smoke rises in the background as Palestinians return from a food distribution point run by the U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation group, near the Netsarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 7, 2025

Gaza talks turn to key sticking points between Israel and Hamas

Israel and Hamas both endorse the overall principles behind Trump's plan, under which fighting would cease, hostages would go free and aid would pour into Gaza.
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 11, 2025

Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity

Set in Ezo (modern-day Hokkaido), the highly anticipated samurai action-adventure game contains familiar thrills but subpar substance.
A billboard showing an image of U.S. President Donald Trump to thank him for his role in reaching a ceasefire deal with Hamas, and another one bearing Israel's national flag, are installed on a main highway in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 11, 2025

Major win for Trump on Gaza, but will it stand test of time?

It remains to be seen whether the 79-year-old Trump will devote the same level of energy to the conflict over the long term, once his victory lap is over.
U.S. President Donald Trump  gestures next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport as Trump leaves Israel en route to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, to attend a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a U.S.-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal, in Lod, Israel, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 14, 2025

Trump convinced Netanyahu to take a deal. Can he keep him on board?

With Israel and Hamas divided over many aspects of Trump's plan, Netanyahu's approach may shift as he attempts to keep his right-wing coalition together for next year's elections.
Brooklyn Nets' Cam Thomas dribbles past Phoenix Suns' Oso Ighodaro during the NBA pre-season basketball game at the Venetian Arena in Macau on Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2025

The NBA’s return to China is no slam dunk

From a commercial point of view, re-engaging with its second-biggest market is an obvious move.
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone strike on the outskirts of Odessa, Ukraine, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 15, 2025

Ukraine raises alarm over foreign components in Russian drones

Kyiv estimates that more than 500 drones and missiles launched by Russia in one of its major barrages on Oct. 5 contained more than 100,000 foreign components.
Steel products are the target of two anti-dumping probes Japan has begun so far this year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 15, 2025

Japan turns to anti-dumping measures as international trade gets complicated

An uptick in number of probes this year indicates an evolving strategy.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney makes a live address on Canada’s plan to build a stronger economy, in advance of the 2025 Budget, in Ottawa on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 23, 2025

Carney plots ‘talent attraction’ plan as U.S. upends H-1B visa

The Canadian prime minister has previously said he wants to attract employees from the technology sector who might have otherwise gone to the U.S.

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