Search - 2021

 
 
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 17, 2023

Scientists use laser to guide lightning bolt for first time

A team of scientists from six research institutions have been working for years to replace the humble lightning rod with a far more sophisticated and precise laser.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 17, 2023

China's economy slows sharply, with 2022 growth one of worst on record

GDP grew 2.9% in October-December from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday, slower than the third-quarter's 3.9% pace.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 17, 2023

German defense minister quits at crunch moment for Ukraine aid

Christine Lambrecht resigned on Monday after months of heavy criticism over Berlin's stuttering response to the war in Ukraine as well as a series of gaffes.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / Longform
Jan 16, 2023

The race to save the Japanese giant salamander

River infrastructure is causing the salamander's decline. To stop Japan from losing this rare species, conservationists are calling for an alternative vision of rural development.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jan 16, 2023

The drug mules carrying Europe's cocaine in their guts

More than a sixth of the cocaine consumed in France is smuggled inside the bodies of drug mules from its poverty-stricken South American region of Guiana.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2023

New AI smartphone app will be able to decipher Japanese cursive manuscripts

The app's beta version is set for release later this month, while the full version is scheduled to become available to the public this March.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2023

TV announcer turned portfolio manager beats 97% of Japanese peers

Maiko Uda reckons the Bank of Japan will raise its cap for 10-year sovereign yields to at least 1.5% within two years from 0.5% now.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jan 16, 2023

Manga and anime helping Tomakomai to boost tourism sector

In an effort to attract visitors, people in charge of community development in Tomakomai have begun to pay attention to the city's manga and anime resources.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jan 16, 2023

Tomakomai bets on pop culture for tourism boost by embracing cosplay events

The number of visitors to the Tomakomai Cosplay Festa has increased over the years, with about 16,000 people attending in 2019, making it one of the city's most popular events.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2023

Wagyu goes high tech to meet surging demand

Farmers say overseas wagyu fans help make up for weak domestic demand, particularly in premium cuts such as sirloin.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jan 16, 2023

Si-woo Kim rallies to win Sony Open

The key moment came at the par-3 17th, where Kim's tee shot missed the green. He chipped in from about 28 feet away for a birdie that proved pivotal.
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2023

Japanese CEOs facing inflation are talking more about merit-based pay

On one hand, such talk can be seen as a sign of corporate Japan casting aside the remains of a compensation system based on across-the-board rewards and seniority.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2023

Japan's sharp wholesale price rise heaps pressure on BOJ's ultraeasy policy

While global commodity prices slipped, companies continued to pass on past increases in raw material costs for goods such as auto parts and electricity equipment.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 16, 2023

OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, casts spell on Microsoft

Tesla tycoon Elon Musk was an early investor in OpenAI, and Microsoft is reported to be in talks to up an initial investment of between $1 billion and $10 billion.
Since Koji Sato, 54, became Toyota CEO in April last year, the automaker has announced its biggest share buyback on record.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2024

Influx of new CEOs in Japan brings shift in generational mindset

Many of the new crop of leaders were in junior roles as the nation’s economic miracle unraveled, and they’re now seeking out new ways of doing things.
A campaign event of reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian less than a week ahead of a presidential election called after Ebrahim Raisi’s death
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2024

Iran’s election could bring lasting peace

The upcoming election in Iran is more consequential than it's being given credit for. A triumph of the only reformist candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, would be momentous.
You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jul 4, 2024

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Summer music festivals are back, but for how long? Climate change is putting the heat on our favorite outdoor entertainment.
Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are assembled at the company’s plant in Renton, Washington, on June 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2024

Boeing to plead guilty to fraud in U.S. probe of fatal 737 MAX crashes

Boeing will plead guilty to lying to the FAA about a software feature on the MAX, which saved money by reducing pilot training requirements.
Yukio Edano, a former leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks to reporters on Aug. 9 to express his intention to run in the party's leadership race.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2024

CDP faced with division as it heads into leadership race

The next CDP leader will be expected to unify the different groups within the party and cooperate with other opposition parties to increase its seats during polls.
New recruits of the Bamar People's Liberation Army during a training session at a camp in Myanmar's Karen state in March.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 24, 2024

In Myanmar's jungles, young volunteers train hard to fight junta

Discipline is enforced with harsh blows for any mistake and exhaustion is no excuse for rest as a "soldier's duty transcends fatigue."
An Indian national flag flies next to an immigration check post on the India-Myanmar border in Zokhawthar village in the Champhai district of India's northeastern state of Mizoram, in 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 24, 2024

India extends unprecedented invite to Myanmar's anti-junta forces, sources say

The civil war in Myanmar risks destabilizing India's border with the nation, and some of its key infrastructure projects there.
Republican Vice President-elect JD Vance (left) and President-elect Donald Trump speak during an election night event in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

JD Vance once compared Trump to Hitler. Now, he's his vice president-elect.

Trump and many of his allies see Vance's transformation as genuine, but detractors see his shift in views as a ploy to ascend the ranks of Republican politics.
Sulaiman, a Rohingya refugee who recently fled Myanmar, poses for a picture at a refugee camp near the town of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Nov. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 17, 2024

How Myanmar’s junta is suppressing information about a hunger crisis

Junta representatives have warned aid workers against releasing data and analysis that indicate millions of people in Myanmar are experiencing serious hunger.
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.”
The Apple App Store app on an iPhone on June 25, 2024
BUSINESS / Tech
May 1, 2025

Apple must halt non-app store sales commissions, judge says

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sided Wednesday with Fortnite maker Epic Games over its allegation that the iPhone maker failed to comply with a court order.
Stockpiled rice arrives Thursday at a rice-milling factory operated by a subsidiary of household appliance company Iris Ohyama in the town of Watari, Miyagi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
May 30, 2025

Some retailers hesitant to buy stockpiled rice on quality concerns

Smaller shops in Japan are worried that older batches might not taste as good, which could cause customers to take their business elsewhere.
The total number of people who sat for police departments' exams in Japan during fiscal 2023 fell by more than 20% from fiscal 2021, while 30% of applicants who received informal job offers turned them down.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2025

Police in most prefectures miss hiring targets

Around 30% of the applicants given informal offers in many prefectures end up turning them down.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past