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Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 12, 2021

Europe’s region of rogues looks to be on more shaky ground

Central Europe has seen the abrupt resignation of one leader, a shock election defeat for another and tens of thousands of anti-government protesters flocking to the streets.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 7, 2021

Will mixed expectations on Kishida affect economic security?

Kishida's approval ratings seem to reflect the current mood of the nation's pandemic-frustrated public.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2021

China’s record-setting incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ

Incursions into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) by Chinese military aircraft have broken consecutive records in the past week, with 154 warplanes dispatched to Taiwan’s ADIZ over the past five days.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2021

Japan's new economic security minister sets out agenda amid global supply chain woes

One of the major tasks for Takayuki Kobayashi, a Finance Ministry bureaucrat-turned-politician, is to create a new legal framework to support the implementation of related policies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 3, 2021

Daughter of Philippines' Duterte to run for president in 2022, report says

Sara Duterte-Carpio, currently mayor of Davao, the Philippines' third-largest city, could take up the mantle of her father, who announced Saturday that he is retiring from politics.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Perspectives
Oct 2, 2021

Has Japan’s COVID-19 response really been that bad?

Mainstream media has painted a bleak narrative about how Japan has handled the pandemic, but comparative data shows it has, for the most part, responded much better than its G7 peers.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2021

Experts reach out to Japanese youths to debunk COVID-19 vaccine myths

The government is making a renewed push to allay concerns over the vaccines' safety, but they face an uphill battle against the disinformation rife on social media.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2021

LDP race kicks off as Japan faces pandemic and national security challenges 

Fumio Kishida, Sanae Takaichi, Taro Kono and Seiko Noda are each vying to lead the ruling party in a race that lacks a true front-runner.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Sep 15, 2021

North Korean missiles land in Japan EEZ as nuclear threat grows

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has condemned the launches, the second test-firing in less than a week, as an “outrageous threat to peace and security in the region.'
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 12, 2021

Kasumi Abe: ‘We have to tell younger generations what happened here’

On the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, Japanese journalist Kasumi Abe reflects on her love for the city she now calls home.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2021

With Aso’s blessing, vaccine chief Taro Kono officially joins the LDP race

At a packed news conference on Friday, Kono touched on his achievements as the minister in charge of administrative reform and the vaccine rollout.
JAPAN / Politics / View from Osaka
Sep 10, 2021

Who you gonna call?: Parties with Osaka roots sad to see Suga go

With the upcoming change in LDP leadership, Nippon Ishin no Kai may lose its direct line to the Prime Minister's Office at a crucial time in Kansai politics.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 9, 2021

United Nations’ computers breached by hackers earlier this year

The reconnaissance carried out by the hackers may enable them to conduct future hacks or to sell the information to other groups that may seek to breach the U.N.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 9, 2021

North Korea's Kim oversees first military parade since Biden's swearing-in

The parade, which did not reveal any new weapons systems, was apparently directed at a domestic audience with an aim of boosting morale amid the battle against the coronavirus.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 4, 2021

Suga's abrupt exit throws LDP race wide open

With Suga's withdrawal from the race, a significant obstacle has been removed for leading LDP hopefuls to enter the contest.
Matt Groening (right), creator of the show "The Simpsons," attends the premiere of the "The Simpsons Movie" along with characters from the series in Springfield, Vermont, in July 2007.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2024

‘The Simpsons’ has become a parody of itself. That’s a good thing.

With the "The Simpsons" viewership down to just 10% of its peak, the show is often in the news for controversies rather than content.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba appears to doze off as Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (center) looks on before the first round of a parliamentary vote to nominate a prime minister following the Oct. 27 general election, during a special session of parliament in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 12, 2024

Ishiba’s apparent dozing in parliament due to cold, top spokesman says

Video showing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba appearing to doze off during a key session of parliament went viral on social media.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) meets with President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in Moscow on Nov. 2.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 13, 2024

Russian sends 200 military instructors to Equatorial Guinea in West Africa push

The deployment fits into a wider pattern of waning Western influence in the region while offering Moscow funding opportunities.
Digital minister Masaaki Taira, who has jurisdiction over a bill to introduce an “active cyberdefense” system, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 13, 2024

Government set to postpone submission of cyberdefense bill to next year

The delay in the bill to introduce an "active cyberdefense" system follows the ruling bloc's election drubbing, which drained the prime minister's political capital.
Troops from the Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade take part in a marine landing drill as a part of the country's nationwide 05JX military exercises in Kagoshima Prefecture in November of last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2024

Elite GSDF troops to regularly deploy for drills in Australia

Tokyo will begin the deployments of the GSDF’s elite Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade to the city of Darwin starting next year.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump greet each other at a campaign event in Duluth, Georgia, in October.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 23, 2024

Gaetz exit puts spotlight on other Trump nominees accused of sexual misconduct

Trump’s willingness to choose cabinet members with histories of alleged sexual misconduct threw his transition plans off course this week.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba addresses a meeting at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters on Thursday to discuss political reform.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 25, 2024

Corporate donations remain sticky point in political reform talks

The opposition wants such donations banned but the ruling coalition maintains that a ban would curtail the political freedom of the private sector.
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun attends the opening ceremony of the Xiangshan Forum at the Beijing International Convention Center on Sept. 13. Dong is the third consecutive incumbent or former defense chief to be probed over alleged corruption.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 27, 2024

China defense minister being investigated for corruption, report says

The probe could undermine efforts to maintain military-to-military communications just months before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te speaks during the annual Taiwan-EU investment forum in Taipei on Nov. 18.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 28, 2024

Taiwan president's plan to stop over in Hawaii and Guam angers Beijing

Lai Ching-te will depart Saturday for a visit to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — the only Pacific island nations among Taiwan's 12 remaining allies.
Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of defense, speaks to reporters at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington on Nov. 21.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2024

Pete Hegseth’s mother accused her son of mistreating women for years

She said on Friday that she regretted the 2018 email and had apologized to him.
Protesters outside the National Assembly call for the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 4, 2024

How the streets of Seoul responded to a martial law decree

South Koreans immediately took to the streets after President Yoon Suk Yeol shocked the nation with a late-night decree of martial law.
Rebel fighters hold weapons in front of the Hama governor's building after capturing the city during their advance across northern Syria on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 6, 2024

Syria rebels capture another key city in fresh blow to Assad

Hama lies about halfway between Aleppo, which opposition fighters captured in a shock attack on government-held territory last week, and Damascus.
Makoto Uchida, President and CEO of Nissan, holds a press briefing at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 in Tokyo on Oct. 25, 2023. Uchida is under presser to deliver a turnaround and to keep his job at the troubled carmaker.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 8, 2024

Nissan boss Uchida races to save the automaker — and his job

Makoto Uchida is under pressure to reverse Nissan’s fortunes after years of turmoil following the 2018 arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn.
A TikTok creator and advocate wears a button showing support outside of the U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 16 in Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 9, 2024

‘It’s for real this time’: TikTok creators react to potential ban

Many of TikTok’s users seemed to have only just begun to grasp that the app could be on its last legs in this country.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji