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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 15, 2022

Stranded tourists on virus-hit China resort island see hope after protests

Travelers can fly out of Hainan provided there are no new cases in their tour groups and hotels within the last seven days.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 11, 2022

Unification Church ties likely to weigh on Cabinet despite Kishida's bid for stability

The changes to the Cabinet lineup may do little for the Kishida administration's falling popularity ratings and could impact its efforts to deal with primary policy issues.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2022

Kishida shuffles key Cabinet and LDP posts amid sagging approval ratings

The reshuffle took place a month earlier than expected and comes amid myriad challenges for the prime minister at home and abroad.
JAPAN / Society / EXPLAINER
Aug 9, 2022

Why the Unification Church has become a headache for Kishida

Support for Kishida's cabinet has fallen to the lowest since he took office in October at 46%, with many poll respondents saying they wanted an explanation about ties to the church.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 8, 2022

SoftBank CEO pledges sweeping cost cuts after $23.4 billion loss

Low tech valuations have been draining SoftBank's ability to turn public listings of its portfolio companies into liquidity to fuel further big bets.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2022

Five more prefectures issue declarations in BA.5 variant fight

A total of thirteen prefectures in Japan have issued declarations for strengthening measures against the rapidly spreading BA.5 omicron subvariant of COVID-19.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2022

Fallout from Taiwan visit looms large over Pelosi’s meeting with Kishida

At a news conference following the meeting, Pelosi was defiant in asserting the right of U.S. officials to visit their Asia-Pacific allies — including Taiwan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2022

After Nancy Pelosi’s visit, what now for Taiwan?

Conflict between China and Taiwan is not imminent, but Beijing still has more up its sleeve that threatens the island democracy.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 28, 2022

U.S. says 'substantial offer' on the table for Russia to release Brittney Griner

Washington said they offered Moscow a deal to bring home WNBA star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan weeks ago.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 28, 2022

Russian forces capture Ukraine's second biggest power plant

Seizing the Soviet-era coal-fired Vuhlehirsk power plant in eastern Ukraine would be Moscow's first strategic gain in more than three weeks.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2022

Japan moves to prevent spread of monkeypox after confirming first case

Health minister Shigeyuki Goto has said that the ministry will continue to search for more information about the first patient, including the route of transmission.
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2022

Bank of Japan keeps easing policies in place, reaffirming position as global outlier

The decision by the central bank was widely expected among economists, as long-time Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has shown no sign of departing from his dovish policy.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 21, 2022

Russia restarts major gas pipeline and expands Ukraine war goals

The pipeline restart came after comments from Russia's foreign minister showed the Kremlin's goals had expanded during the five-month war.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 18, 2022

As Russia runs low on drones, Iran plans to step in, U.S. officials say

The potential delivery of hundreds of Iranian drones would help the Kremlin replenish a fleet that has suffered steep losses in Ukraine.
Workers unload bags of humanitarian aid that entered Gaza by truck in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2024

Netanyahu says he won’t bow to pressure to call off Rafah invasion

Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has come under international pressure to drop a threatened incursion into Rafah.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is flanked by security personnel as he arrives at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan for a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2024

Ukrainian PM cautions of war’s spillover as he looks to tamp down fatigue fears

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal warned in Tokyo that a Russian victory would prompt more conflicts across the globe.
A screen grab shows Anton Kuznetsov, a fighter in the BARS 9 volunteer force of the Russian military, in an apartment in Balakliia, Ukraine, in September 2022
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 25, 2024

How Russia's military uses volunteer fighters to plug gaps in Ukraine

Approach provides Moscow with an additional avenue from which to mobilize parts of the population, get them trained and provide additional mass.
JAPAN / Society / First person
Mar 1, 2024

Ohtani is taken. It’s enough to make you cry.

It’s official, and it's over: Shohei Ohtani has left the future husband market and, in the blink of an eye, leveled a field of fairy-tale dreams.
Motoki Taniguchi (left) and one of his clients, Maurice Shelton, hope their lawsuit can change alleged police practices involving stop-and-search.
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 8, 2024

A lawsuit puts alleged racial profiling by police on trial in Japan

Three residents with foreign roots have filed a lawsuit claiming Japanese police target visible minorities. We discuss what they hope to achieve.
Americans, who by nearly every measure are hungering for a new direction, are confronted with the choice between a continuation with U.S. President Joe Biden or a restoration with former leader Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2024

The Biden-Trump rerun: A nation craving change gets more of the same

Americans love a candidate who promises something new. But when a sitting president runs against a former one, can either claim the mantle of change?
Ground Self-Defense Force members disembark from a V-22 Osprey aircraft during an annual live-fire exercise at East Fuji Maneuver Area, in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

Osprey safety concerns linger in Japan, despite U.S. reassurances

Critics have decried the lack of specifics about the cause of the deadly November crash as Tokyo and Washington tout "unprecedented" information-sharing.
Left: A man protesting the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games clashes with police on Aug. 8, 2021. Right: An AI-generated version of the photo to the left is included to show the difference between real and fake images in news reporting.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2024

Stranger than fiction: How AI threatens photojournalism

AI images will increasingly replace photos of real events in news reporting, posing an existential threat to photojournalism's accuracy and integrity.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 13, 2024

Japan's Space One rocket explodes shortly after launch

The firm's solid-fuel Kairos rocket burst into flames just seconds after liftoff, in a major setback for Japan’s space development aspirations.
Leonid Volkov, who was chief of staff to Alexei Navalny, speaks during an interview in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 2021.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2024

Top Navalny aide attacked with hammer outside home in Lithuania

At least one assailant smashed Leonid Volkov's car window, sprayed him with tear gas and began beating him with the hammer.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a campaign rally in Rome, Georgia, on March 9.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2024

Trump launched CIA covert influence operation against China

A team promoted allegations that Communist Party members were hiding ill-gotten money overseas, sources said.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 15, 2024

Ai Fukuhara reaches custody settlement after abduction accusation

Although the physical custody of their son as well as their daughter will be with her ex-husband, the couple will continue to have joint custody over them.
Call loan brokers at Tokyo Tanshi in Tokyo in November. After decades of setting its benchmark rate near zero, the Bank of Japan is poised to tighten, spurring new opportunities for veteran traders after decades of setting its benchmark rate near zero.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 17, 2024

Japan’s $4 trillion offshore funds will ignore first BOJ hike

Only 40% of 273 respondents said the BOJ's first interest-rate hike since 2007 will prompt investors to sell foreign assets and repatriate the proceeds.
Customers make a toast at an eatery in Tokyo. Many view Japan’s economy as being on the rise, and that of regional powerhouse China as declining. But how accurate is this narrative?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2024

Japan is back, China is over. The trouble with narratives.

The idea that Japan and China's roles have flipped, with the former on the rise and the latter in decline, obfuscates important facts and trends.
Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka hits a forehand during a match at Indian Wells on March 13.
TENNIS
Mar 20, 2024

Tennis rallies around Sabalenka at Miami Open after boyfriend's death

Sabalenka's partner, Belarusian former NHL ice hockey player Konstantin Koltsov, 42, died earlier this week, police said.

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