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April 28, 2025
 

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The government will raise adjustment allowances for public school teachers, paid instead of overtime, for the first time since the special measures law on salaries of public school teachers came into force in 1972.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024

Japan decides on 10% boost to teacher allowances

The hike, expected to start in January 2026, would be the first since the law came into force in 1972.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda appears to want to keep his options open by noting the need to keep rates low to support the economy while flagging the risk of maintaining them at low levels for too long.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 25, 2024

Ueda avoids giving clear hint on chances of January rate hike

The Bank of Japan governor is sticking to his view that the central bank needs to keep monitoring risks for the economy.
Katsumi Arase (left), head of the Central Council for Education, receives from State Minister of Education Arata Takebe a consultation document asking the panel to consider ways to give schools more discretion in setting their curriculum, at the education ministry on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 25, 2024

Japan eyes more discretion for schools in upcoming curriculum revision

A government panel has been tasked with considering ways to give schools more flexibility in determining class hours and content as part of the next curriculum revamp.
A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Type 10 main battle tank fires ammunition during a live fire exercise at the JGSDF's training grounds in the East Fuji Maneuver Area in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 26, 2024

Japan set to approve record budget, spending more on defense and regions

While the government will have to lean heavily on debt issuance, record tax receipts will enable the cutting back of fresh bond issuance by almost a fifth.
Greenpeace activists protest nuclear power in Berlin in April 2023, just as Germany was shutting down its three remaining nuclear power plants. 
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2024

It's time for Germany to admit its mistake on nuclear energy

The main thing standing in the way of Germany rebuilding its nuclear sector is a stubborn insistence that it can’t be done.
New Nadeshiko Japan coach Nils Nielsen (center) poses for photos with JFA President Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (left) and Norio Sasaki, the JFA’s women’s soccer chair, during a news conference on Dec. 18.
SOCCER
Dec 26, 2024

JFA hopes Nils Nielsen's international focus leads Nadeshiko Japan back to glory

Nils Nielsen was officially unveiled as the new Nadeshiko boss at a packed news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 18. 
A member of the medical staff treats a woman with COVID-19 next to her four-day-old baby at a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, in November 2021.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 27, 2024

COVID pregnancies may have boosted autism risk, study shows

"There’s something really going on,” pediatric infectious diseases physician Karin Nielsen says. "We don’t want to alarm the world, but that’s what our data are showing.”
Storage tanks at the BP Cherry Point Refinery near Blaine, Washington
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 27, 2024

Big Oil backtracks on renewables push as climate agenda falters

The likes of BP and Shell this year sharply slowed their plans to spend billions on wind and solar power projects.
For the 20 Questions column this year, writers asked their interview subjects about everything from their lives in Japan to their thoughts on news topics.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 28, 2024

There were plenty of hot topics to opine on in 2024

We take a look back at some of the best answers that our interviewees gave for 20 Questions from throughout the year.
The competition rate of employment examinations for public school teachers in Japan hit the lowest levels for all of elementary, junior high and high schools since data began being compiled in fiscal 1979.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2024

Japan sees record low competition rate for becoming school teachers

The decline reflected the mass departure of teachers who reached retirement age, which led to increased demand for new recruits, as well as a decrease in the number of applicants.
Osamu Suzuki, a former president of Suzuki Motor, in October 2016
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 27, 2024

Osamu Suzuki, who ran Suzuki Motor for five decades, dies at 94

Suzuki is known for spearheading the carmaker’s entrance in the Indian market, starting manufacturing there in 1983.
World leaders meet at the United Nations in New York in September to adopt the Pact for the Future. One of its key annexes is the Global Digital Compact, a framework to secure an open and human-centered digital future for all.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2024

To serve humankind, AI must be shaped by U.N. values

The U.N.'s Global Digital Compact is the first universal agreement on the international governance of AI. It seeks to ensure an open and equitable digital future for all.
A bear trap in Hokkaido Prefecture. Bears have recently been found inside homes and shops.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 27, 2024

Increasing number of Japanese bears find human dwellings ‘just right’

Cases of bears making their way into homes and shops are on the rise across the country as the animal's natural food sources become scarce.
A Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter flies over GSDF's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade soldiers and U.S. Marines during a drill in Okinawa last year.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2024

Japan and U.S. draw up guidelines for extended deterrence

The two countries came up with the guidelines for extended U.S. nuclear and conventional deterrence at a time when the security environment in the region is becoming more severe.
Cats sit on steps at Grazing Plains Farm in Newton, Kansas, in May. Researchers are keeping a close eye on the mounting cases of bird flu infections in cats.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 28, 2024

New bird flu mutation discovered in U.S. as cat infections cause alarm

Several experts cautioned that it was too early to determine whether these changes would make the virus more transmissible or more severe in people.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during a briefing at the White House in Washington earlier this month.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 28, 2024

North Koreans see mass casualties on Ukraine front lines, U.S. says

About a thousand North Korean troops were killed or wounded in the last week alone in Russia's Kursk region, U.S. officials say.
A poster depicting the characters of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" in Tokyo's Shibuya Station in 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 28, 2024

Sony's Crunchyroll finds its early lead in anime under attack

Netflix, Walt Disney and Amazon are all digging into their deep pockets to license shows, making it more expensive for anime-steaming site to compete.
Evacuated people rest at a green house converted into an evacuation center in the aftermath of an earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 2. Japan is preparing to create a disaster management agency, with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba particularly keen to improve the conditions of emergency shelters for disaster evacuees.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 30, 2024

Japan preparing to create disaster management agency

Disaster-related deaths exceeded 220 in the 2016 quake disaster in Kumamoto Prefecture and topped 240 in the Noto Peninsula temblor.
People in temporary housing units in quake-hit Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, use a bus to go out on Dec. 16.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 29, 2024

Nursing care needs surge in Noto quake-hit areas

The increase is believed to be due to a drop in daily exercise amid prolonged living in temporary housing because of disaster-related evacuations.
A Self-Defense Forces soldier from a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile unit takes part in a drill at Yokota Air Base in Fussa, western Tokyo, in August 2017.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2024

U.S. military coordination unit eyed in central Tokyo

Such a location near the Defense Ministry is expected to allow both sides to smoothly draw up joint operational plans.
Although meat consumption has been dropping, it's not happening quickly enough to meet climate targets, something to keep in mind over the holidays.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024

Why are my vegan friends going back to meat?

Helping people eat healthier diets with more fruit, vegetables and fiber would have enormous benefits for human well-being and the planet.
Indonesia's plan to increase biodiesel mandates to 50% by 2028 could require clearing 5.3 million hectares of forest for palm oil plantations by 2042, an area larger than Denmark.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024

The year’s worst climate news you haven’t heard about

Not enough floodwaters for dams, more coal burning and demand for Indonesian palm oil show efforts to slow global warming are flagging.
A customer uses a bank card at a contactless payment terminal on a stall at the Bauveau Market in Paris on Feb. 15, 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 30, 2024

Drama-prone fintechs face mixed regulatory environment in 2025

The incoming U.S. administration has made financial deregulation a policy priority for the next four years while European policymakers continue to take a cautious approach.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba must get cooperation from at least one opposition party to ensure passage of the 2025 fiscal year budget. He must also show he is capable of a smooth working relationship with the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 1, 2025

Three tests Ishiba must pass to survive in 2025

Overcoming the challenges that lay ahead will require the prime minister to make the best use of his political and diplomatic negotiating skills.
Chugo Saito at Isenoumi stable on Friday. Saito has joined his older brother, Seigo, at the stable.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Dec 31, 2024

Sumo’s brotherhood gets latest inductee

Wakaikari’s younger sibling Chugo Saito is the first-ever high schooler to get a special dispensation.
Opium is harvested from poppies in Bang Laem Village, Shan State, Myanmar.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 31, 2024

Drugs, scams and sin: Myanmar’s war has made it the global crime capital

Growing opium poppies is illegal in Myanmar, but small-scale farmers see it is a relatively low-risk cash crop.
On the first day of the 2000s, the world was relieved that the Y2K computer glitch was mostly nothing. And in Russia, Vladimir Putin came to power.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jan 1, 2025

Japan Times 2000: Japanese celebrate new year

Check out what was on the front page on Jan. 1 in 1925, 1950, 1975 and 2000.
A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Jan 1, 2025

Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake

The Year of the Snake is characterized by wisdom, calm and steady progress. It urges introspection, calculated moves and a journey of reinvention.
A Dior store front in Rome. Despite passing audits, Dior's contractors in Italy have been accused of labor abuses.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 2, 2025

Inside luxury goods' broken audit system

Revelations of worker exploitation in Dior's Italian production chain have exposed flaws in supply chain audits and triggered judicial action.
The strategic partnership agreement between Japan and the European Union took effect on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2025

Japan-EU strategic partnership agreement takes effect

Under the deal, both sides will strengthen cooperation in a wide range of fields, including security, environment and energy, and personnel exchanges.
China seizes disputed reef near key Philippine military outpost
China Coast Guard officers unfurl a national flag on Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in disputed waters of the South China Sea this month in this screen shot taken from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Japan to resist Trump efforts to form trade bloc against China
As Japan gears up for the trade talks, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is also seeking to cushion the blow that the U.S. tariffs may have on the domestic economy.
As many as nine dead after driver plows into Vancouver festival crowd
An ambulance is parked at the site of the Lapu Lapu day festival, where a vehicle drove into a crowd killing several people in Vancouver on Saturday.
Arunima Mazumdar: ‘Japanese literature has a niche but deeply engaged readership in India’
Arunima Mazumdar, a New Delhi-based communications professional, began sharing her love of Japanese literature online in 2022. The platform has grown into a robust community known as Dokusha Book Club.
Japan struggles with gray zone of AI deepfakes exploiting children
AI-generated content — including those made using pictures of real people, which are known as “deepfakes” — is not explicitly covered under Japan's current legal framework, nor are human-drawn illustrations that depict child abuse.
Expo '25 gives the world a masterclass in mascots
2025 Osaka Expo mascot Myaku-Myaku dances on the stage during the event's official opening ceremony on April 12.
Japan struggles with gray zone of AI deepfakes exploiting children
AI-generated content — including those made using pictures of real people, which are known as “deepfakes” — is not explicitly covered under Japan's current legal framework, nor are human-drawn illustrations that depict child abuse.
‘Wildcat Dome’ challenges Japan's historical narratives
On the surface, "Wildcat Dome" tells a personal story of damaged children — now adults — bound together by tragedy. Underneath, there’s a constant undercurrent of political consequence, invisible and pervasive like radioactive particles.
Reclaiming Sanya, one meal at a time
Magokoro Yoshihira (center) is the managing director of Yui Associates, which operates the neighborhood fixtures of Sanya Cafe and Juyoh Hotel. Yusuke Takahashi (left) met Yoshihira during a difficult period in his life and now works as the cafe’s chef. Nancy Anne (right) has worked for over 10 years at Juyoh Hotel and enjoys the multicultural environment.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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
By Alex K.T. Martin

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