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Wrestlers approach the ring during a regional sumo tour in Misato, Saitama Prefecture in April 2016.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Aug 27, 2025

Sumo’s grueling summer tour reveals wrestlers' true condition

The heat and length makes the summer tour by far the most physically taxing in sumo, giving fans greater clarity regarding the health of their favorite rikishi.
Jet fighters from the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercept a Chinese long-range H-6 bomber operating in the Alaska air defense identification zone in July 2024.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 27, 2025

Joint Sino-Russian patrols push Japan to rethink defense posture

Over the past two years, joint China-Russia overflights have become increasingly sophisticated and extended.
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
BASEBALL / FOCUS
Aug 27, 2025

Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball

A young player’s dream was to play in the National High School Baseball Championship. A series of bullying incidents this year changed all of that.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, in Kyiv on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Aug 28, 2025

Ukraine sees 'priceless' digital battlefield data trove as key to West's support

Since Russia launched its 2022 invasion, Ukraine has collected reams of meticulously logged battlefield statistics.
A worker wearing protective equipment walks near the Electric Arc Furnace at the 7 Steel facility in Cardiff, Wales, on July 18.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 28, 2025

Sky-high electricity costs hindering the U.K.'s progress toward net zero

Energy bills have stripped firms of money to improve efficiency, deterred the shift to lower-carbon power sources and made wind-farm, pylon and battery production less competitive.
Japan faces a strategic dilemma between an unreliable U.S. security alliance and an assertive China, requiring it to pursue flexible, resilient and multilayered partnerships while avoiding dependence on either power.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 28, 2025

Japan must prepare for a post-American Indo-Pacific

Tokyo must confront an uncomfortable truth: The U.S.-led order that enabled Japan’s postwar success is dead and no one knows what comes next.
A man reads The Times of India newspaper in Delhi on Wednesday. Donald Trump’s tariffs on India expose New Delhi’s overreliance on U.S. exports but also create an opening for India to pivot toward Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2025

Trump’s tariffs should spur Indo-Japan convergence

Historically, India has never been a treaty ally of the U.S., but it has maintained a strong relationship with America.
The Ming Yang OceanX in the Qingzhou IV offshore wind farm near Yangjiang, China, on Aug. 8.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 29, 2025

China is running the world's most powerful floating wind turbine

The OceanX is an eloquent symbol of the ambitions of Chinese green technology companies.
Japan's chief tariffs negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, expects to visit the U.S. at least once more before the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump issues an executive order to formally lower tariffs on Japanese imports.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2025

Akazawa expects to make another trip to U.S. ahead of executive order

Various consultations need to be completed before the agreement can be implemented, Japan's chief tariff negotiator says.
A group of Ground Self-Defense Force service members discuss drone operations and capabilities at a joint static display during the Orient Shield 24 opening ceremony at the Yausubetsu Training Area in Hokkaido in July last year.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2025

Japan looks to build drone ‘shield’ in record defense budget request

The Defense Ministry is seeking a budget exceeding ¥8.8 trillion that includes a ¥128.7 billion plan to build a multilayered coastal defense system.
The Lhasa River, a major tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo River, flows near the southern part of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. China’s new megadam project could become a geopolitical and ecological time bomb. Getty Images
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2025

The global perils of China’s new ‘superdam’ project

One might have expected the revelation of China's huge dam project to set off alarm bells worldwide. Instead, the reaction has been muted.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a joint news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2025

At Tokyo summit, India and Japan outline path forward for the coming decade

The leaders of the two countries outlined multiple areas of cooperation, including tech, the environment and health.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, British Defense Minister John Healey (center) and British Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom walk after the welcome ceremony upon arrival of Britain's Prince of Wales aircraft carrier at Tokyo International Cruise Terminal on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 30, 2025

British defense chief emphasizes close security ties with Japan

British Defense Secretary John Healey has underlined his country's close security ties with Japan amid the changing security environment.
Boxing gloves on the wall of a gym in Tokyo ahead of a training session by American star Floyd Mayweather in September 2022. Intense sparring, drastic weight loss and lax regulation have created a dangerous environment in Japanese boxing, officials say, as the sport in the country reels from the deaths of two fighters.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Aug 31, 2025

Attack and never give up: Inside Japan's deadly boxing scene

The twin tragedies sent shockwaves through Japanese boxing, with authorities scrambling to investigate and facing pressure to tighten safety.
Emergency kit product for pets developed by Irish Ohyama
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2025

Japan boosting disaster preparedness for pets

A ministry official said there is no law making it mandatory to accept pets into shelters.
Sukiya plans to cut prices for its beef bowls for the first time since 2014 starting on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 31, 2025

Sukiya to slash beef bowl prices for first time in 11 years

The move, which comes after a hike in March, will effectively bring prices back down to levels below its major rivals Yoshinoya and Matsuya.
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force take part in an exercise at Camp Naha in Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2025

Pacifist Japan struggles to boost troops as China anxiety grows

In 2023, the Self-Defense Forces aimed to hire almost 20,000 people, but recruited just half that number, according to the Defense Ministry.
A Kurdish member of the Dohuk Antiquities Department works on a grave unearthed along the banks of Mosul Dam on an archaeological site in the Khanke sub-district of Dohuk Governorate on Saturday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 31, 2025

Ancient tombs unearthed in Iraq due to drought

The tombs, believed to be over 2,300 years old, were unearthed at the edges of the Mosul Dam reservoir in the Khanke region of Iraq's Duhok province.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange requires companies exiting the market through management buyouts or acquisitions by controlling shareholders to provide explanations regarding procedures and price fairness.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 1, 2025

Tokyo Stock Exchange pressed for more disclosure on management buyouts

The book value of companies has been one area of focus for investors amid the TSE’s yearslong campaign to unlock higher returns to shareholders.
"It's not just about sales. It's about system change," said Marty Pomphrey, general manager of Patagonia Japan, on Aug. 6.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 1, 2025

‘Cool’ Patagonia wants to take used items into the mainstream

The American outdoor brand is looking to make the offering of secondhand goods alongside new products the next step of its evolution.
By the end of August, 8,341 people had been transported by ambulance for heatstroke in Tokyo alone.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 1, 2025

More sweltering days forecast for September after hottest summer on record

Temperatures were more than 2.36 degrees Celsius higher than average across Japan in August, with the heat expected to continue into this month.
Lightship co-founder and CEO Toby Kraus says his company's model of recreational vehicle attracts both hardcore environmentalists and RV veterans who aren’t necessarily concerned about climate change.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 2, 2025

Road trips are getting cleaner and quieter as RVs go electric

This year, serious alternatives are emerging to the gas-guzzling rigs chugging between national parks.
Royal Navy Commodore James Blackmore, the commander of U.K. CSG 25, said in an interview aboard the Prince of Wales aircraft carrier that the chance to train closely with the Maritime Self-Defense Force was a "golden moment" for military ties between the countries.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 2, 2025

In Indo-Pacific deployment, U.K. carrier group boosts warfighting capability, says commander

The British warship also saw F-35B fighters — one British and one American — touch down and take off from the deck of the MSDF’s Kaga de facto aircraft carrier.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping attend the BRICS Summit plenary session in Kazan, Russia, on Oct. 23.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 2, 2025

Realism and realpolitik rule Indian foreign policy

A decade from now, there is likely to be heated debate in the United States over “who lost India,” an accounting that may rival the “who lost China?”
Osaka stayed in first place thanks to high scores in the economy and for tourist attractions.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2025

Osaka rated most powerful Japanese city outside Tokyo for fifth year

Osaka stayed in first thanks to high scores in the economy and for tourist attractions, with the city hosting the World Expo.
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which will host the 2026 World Cup Final next year
SOCCER
Sep 4, 2025

FIFA to use dynamic pricing for World Cup ticket sales with seats starting at $60

Fans will have their first chance to secure tickets for next year's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico during a presale starting Sept. 10.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama attend the LDP’s plenary meeting in Tokyo on Aug. 8. Once dominant, the ruling party is now struggling to maintain control amid calls for Ishiba to step down.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2025

Dragging on the LDP’s political drama does little for Japan

From dominance to doubt, the ruling party struggles to maintain control.
Pakistani soldiers ferry flood-affected villagers evacuated by boat from the Muzaffargarh district in the country's Punjab province on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2025

Pakistan's latest floods compound grim reality of climate finance shortfall

Less-developed countries that contribute minimally to climate change bear the brunt of its impacts as funding pledges by advanced, higher-emitting countries fail to be fulfilled.
East Asia’s fertility plunge is driven not just by financial costs but by perfectionist cultural expectations that burden parents with intense educational and social demands.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 5, 2025

‘Confugenics’ and East Asia's demographic crisis

The numbers are staggering when you dig into them. Parents in Japan covered half of higher education costs in 2024 — more than double the OECD average.
Scorched land following a wildfire in the village of San Vicente de Leira, in Galicia, Spain, on Aug. 21
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 5, 2025

How Europe lost an area the size of Cyprus to wildfires this year

Climate change is playing a major role in Europe, the world's fastest-warming continent, as searing heat and drought fueled this summer’s blazes.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight