Search - japan

 
 
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has urged U.S. partners and allied nations to follow his country's example and increase military expenditure and preparedness.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2025

Poland’s top diplomat calls on U.S. allies to spend more on defense

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski touts the example of Warsaw whose defense spending is set to rise to 4.7% of gross domestic product this year.
Japan Post Holdings plans to sell a stake in Japan Post Bank that could raise ¥630 billion ($4.2 billion).
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2025

Japan Post plans sale of $4.2 billion stake in banking unit

The company will sell as many as 416.1 million shares at a discount of 2% to 4% of the stock’s market price.
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki, at a news conference on Friday, said the Cabinet has approved a bill to revise relevant laws to digitalize criminal procedures in the country.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 28, 2025

Japan's Cabinet approves bill to digitalize criminal procedures

Once passed, existing laws will be amended to allow greater use of technologies by law enforcers and the judiciary.
On March 21, 1925, a front page headline announced that the Tokyo Radio Broadcasting Bureau, the precursor to NHK, had begun operations with a communications range of 50 kilometers.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Mar 1, 2025

Japan Times 1925: Government sanctions official broadcasting station, the precursor to NHK

Japan’s first official broadcasting station began operating 100 years ago, setting a new precedent for the speed of communication and news.
Nadeshiko Japan celebrates after winning the SheBelieves Cup in San Diego on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Feb 28, 2025

Nils Nielsen's vision for Nadeshiko Japan comes to life at SheBelieves Cup

The remarkable achievement has brought about a renewed optimism among the fanbase, as Japan seems ready to turn the page after years of perceived underperformance.
AIREC, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven humanoid robot, demonstrates a maneuver for changing diapers or preventing bedsores in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 1, 2025

AI robots may hold key to nursing Japan's aging population

Japan is the world's most advanced aging society with a falling birth rate, dwindling working-age population and restrictive immigration policies.
Smoke rises from a forest fire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Feb. 28
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2025

Japan battles biggest wildfire in decades

Flames are estimated to have spread over about 1,200 hectares in the forest of Ofunato in the northern region of Iwate since fire broke out on Wednesday.
Smoke is seen rising from the mountains of the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Friday. Authorities said the wildfire kept spreading, burning 1,800 hectares by Sunday morning.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2025

Thousands flee after Japan's biggest wildfire in decades

There were about 1,300 wildfires across Japan in 2023, concentrated in the February to April period when the air dries out and winds pick up.
Pedestrians commute through Shibuya Station in central Tokyo, an area that is almost never devoid of people.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Mar 3, 2025

As the rest of Japan shrinks, Tokyo grows

Women and young people are leading a migratory wave that the government is struggling to halt.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks at a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 3, 2025

Japan unlikely to attend future meetings for nuke ban treaty

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi indicates that Tokyo's absence from this week's meeting is due to the treaty being incompatible with U.S. nuclear deterrence.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's destroyer Akizuki (far left) leads the MSDF fleet during a naval review in Sagami Bay, south of Tokyo, in October 2012.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2025

Japanese destroyer passes through Taiwan Strait for just second time

The solo passage last month by the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Akizuki comes amid warming ties with Beijing, but also follows ramped-up military pressure by China.
Yuji Iwasawa is the second Japanese to assume the ICJ's presidency, behind Hisashi Owada, the father of Empress Masako.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 4, 2025

Japan's Iwasawa elected as head of International Court of Justice

He is the second Japanese to assume the ICJ's presidency, behind Hisashi Owada, the father of Empress Masako.
Natsumi Sakai, a Lower House member of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, during an interview in parliament last month
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 4, 2025

Gender equality in politics remains elusive in Japan

Japan has a long way to go before fully achieving gender equality in politics.
Ground Self-Defense Force helicopters return after dropping water as they fight a wildfire around Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Sunday. Firefighters were still battling Japan's biggest forest fire in half a century on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Japan's worst wildfire in half a century spreads

White smoke billowed from a forested area around the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, six days after the blaze began amid record low rainfall.
According to the Cultural Affairs Agency, shodō is defined as the act of writing kanji and kana characters using traditional brushstrokes and techniques.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Japan to again propose calligraphy for UNESCO heritage list

The government is expected to submit the fresh proposal to UNESCO by the end of the month.
A stick-sized container containing an egg and a tank used to freeze eggs
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Mar 5, 2025

More women in Japan turn to egg freezing amid increase in financial support

Although the practice is emerging as a new option for women, experts are urging individuals to carefully weigh its benefits and drawbacks.
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline along the Dalton Highway in Stevens Village, Alaska, on Sep. 19, 2024
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

Trump says Japan and South Korea want to partner in Alaska pipeline

Japan, South Korea and other countries want to partner with the United States in a "gigantic" natural gas pipeline in Alaska, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, claiming they would invest "trillions of dollars each."
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani arrives at the Naval Station Ernesto Ogbinar, previously known as Wallace Air Station, in San Fernando City, La Union province, Philippines, on Feb. 23. Japan and the Philippines have entered into a reciprocal access agreement that is pending approval by the Lower House.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

LDP panels approve implementation bill for defense pacts

The bill will streamline laws associated with such agreements, for instance, when a member of a foreign military deployed to Japan commits a crime.
Japan and South Korea are in their most fragile political states in decades just as their ally, the United States, enters the second administration of President Donald Trump.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 5, 2025

Japan and South Korea in the age of ‘America first’

Japan and South Korea are at their most fragile political states in decades just as their ally, the United States, has begun the second administration of Donald Trump.
Sony Group President Hiroki Totoki told a news conference last month that the Playstation maker had been preparing for tariffs by building up inventory from its gaming and electronics divisions in the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Mar 6, 2025

Sony and Suntory build U.S. stockpiles as Japan faces Trump tariff threat

In his latest trade salvo this week, U.S. President Donald Trump hinted that he might target Tokyo next, after imposing tariffs on Mexico and China.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino unveils Brazil as the winner of the bid to host the 2027 Women's World Cup at the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok on May 17, 2024.
SOCCER / Women's World cup
Mar 6, 2025

Japan shut out of bid process for hosting 2031 World Cup

Japan Football Association President Tsuneyasu Miyamoto said in an interview last year that Japan wanted to host the 2031 event to "raise the value of women's football here."
Masamune Goto (front) pilots his boat during a powerboat racing competition at Tokyo's Tamagawa boat course on Feb. 23.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 6, 2025

Powerboat racing revs up bid to shed shadowy reputation in Japan

Powerboat racing started more than 70 years ago under a special gambling law that classifies it alongside horse racing, speedway and cycling in Japan.
Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Mar 7, 2025

Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly

Despite longstanding taboos, evolving attitudes toward women's health highlight shifting cultural norms.
Ayako Urasawa shows a skirt with a pocket too shallow to hold a smartphone.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 7, 2025

Women in Japan call for clothing that has pockets

Many women's jackets, pants and skirts either lack pockets or have only shallow pockets.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba with parliamentary vice ministers at the Prime Minister's Office in November. The share of women among Japan's lawmakers was 15.7% as of last December.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025

Japan's share of female lawmakers lowest among G7 members

While the global average was 27.2%, the figure in Japan stood at 15.7% as of last December.
Firefighters battle a wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2025

Japan partially lifts wildfire evacuation orders

Wet weather, which began Wednesday following a record dry period, is helping firefighting efforts.
Trade Minister Yoji Muto speaks during a meeting with steel and aluminum company executives on Feb. 25.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025

Japan to send trade minister Muto to U.S. amid tariff tensions

The visit is set to take place from March 9 to March 11, just before the extra levies on steel and aluminum are expected to kick in on March 12.
Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Akio Isomata (left) and secretary to Sri Lanka's Finance Ministry, Mahinda Siriwardana, attend a joint news conference after the signing of debt restructuring agreements between the two countries in Colombo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025

Sri Lanka signs $2.5 billion debt deal with Japan

Japan said it was granting concessions on a ¥369.45 billion ($2.5 billion) loan under a comprehensive debt treatment plan.
Former Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said Japan must fix "any misunderstanding" held by U.S. President Donald Trump that its central bank was intentionally weakening the yen with monetary policy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025

Japan must fix 'misunderstanding' it is manipulating yen, says ex-BOJ chief Kuroda

Trump said he had told Japan and China they could not continue to reduce the value of their currencies, as doing so would be unfair to the United States.
Concept art for the renewed National Museum of Territory and Sovereignty
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2025

Japan's territory museum to reopen in April following renovations

The museum in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward is designed to publicize Japan's position on disputed territories.

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