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A makeshift squat-style toilet is still used at an evacuation center in the city of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, six months after the Noto Peninsula earthquake.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 2, 2024

Six months on from Noto quake, shelter toilets are still squat-style

Reports of health deterioration among evacuees, many of whom are elderly, due to the discomfort of having to use such toilets have emerged.
Japan skateboarding national team coach Daisuke Hayakawa performs at a skateboard training area in Tokyo on June 12.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Jul 2, 2024

Japan's skateboarding youth turn street culture into Olympic gold

National team coach Daisuke Hayakawa said that the number of skaters in Japan had tripled since the Tokyo Games.
Sanuki Kagari Temari sold at a store in Haneda Airport
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2024

Traditional Japanese crafts catching on among tourists at Haneda Airport

Their delicate craftsmanship and colors are attracting many foreign visitors to a specialty store at an airport in Tokyo.
Marine Le Pen speaks during the first round of legislative elections in Henin-Beaumont on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 3, 2024

Le Pen faces uphill battle to get majority in French election

Those against the National Rally are removing certain third-placed candidates from the next round of voting in France to avoid splitting the vote.
Masahiko Kato, president and chief executive officer of Mizuho Bank
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024

Mizuho seeks to back more strategic deals by Japan’s mid-caps

Though companies such as automakers grab the attention of global investors, smaller firms dominate in terms of the number of companies in Japan.
Comedian Daisuke Muramoto has been shunned by the Japanese media for taking his act into political territory. Filmmaker Fumiari Hyuga traces his post-pandemic search for a place in show business in "I Am a Comedian."
CULTURE / Film
Jul 3, 2024

‘I Am a Comedian’: A documentary following Daisuke Muramoto’s rocky comedy journey

Documentarian Fumiari Hyuga captures the story of an uncouth Japanese comedian’s efforts to say what can’t be said.
Onosato (left) participates in a training session last month in Ami, Ibaraki Prefecture.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jul 3, 2024

Nagoya ranking list marks the end of one sumo era and the start of another

This month marks the final sumo tournament for Nagoya's Dolphins Arena, and the rankings list could look very different when the new venue opens next year.
Japan forward Mao Hosoya controls the ball during a game against the United States in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 11.
OLYMPICS
Jul 3, 2024

Japan goes with all U-23 men's soccer squad for Paris Olympics

Veterans like Liverpool’s Wataru Endo, 31, had been rumored as possible options to supplement the 18-man squad, but instead Japan will be counting on youth in Paris.
Australia's Emma McKeon in action at the 2023 world championships in Fukuoka in July 2023
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Jul 3, 2024

Olympic swimmers hope for winning edge with latest 'rocket suits'

Competitors believe innovation can be the difference in a sport where medals are sometimes decided by a mere fingertip, although the evidence is not as clear.
Japan’s redesigned yen banknotes are shown at the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday, the day the new ¥10,000, ¥5,000 and ¥1,000 bills went into circulation. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 3, 2024

The new yen notes have an important story to tell

The inspiring stories of the three trailblazers whose portraits are featured on the new yen banknotes say a lot about the past, present and future of Japan.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Jul 5, 2024

EU voices concern at Orban Moscow visit rumor

Orban is the only EU leader to have maintained close ties with the Kremlin following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
A humanoid robot to be used by West Japan Railway for maintenance operations
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 5, 2024

Japan deploys humanoid robot for railway maintenance

The machine can use various attachments for its arms to carry objects, hold a brush to paint or use a chainsaw.
Asuka was one of Japan's earliest imperial capitals before the court eventually decamped for other locales.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 6, 2024

Cycling through Asuka, the forgotten capital of ancient Japan

During the Yamato Period (300-710), this village was one of the earliest capitals of the nascent Yamato state, even meriting its own aptly named Asuka Period (552-645).
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer
WORLD / Politics
Jul 7, 2024

Untested Starmer is suddenly the West’s last man standing tall

Keir Starmer — who’s spent the last six weeks campaigning under the one-word banner of ‘change’ — is about to discover how in politics, it can come at you fast.
Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture. The mayor of Himeji has suggested that foreign tourists pay four times more to enter the castle than the current ¥1,000 entrance fee.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2024

Japan really should charge tourists four times more

The suggestion by a Kansai mayor that foreign visitors pay more for tourist attractions doesn't go far enough. The government should establish a nationwide policy.
Attendees wave the flags of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region during an event aboard a Star Ferry to celebrate the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule in Hong Kong on July 1.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 9, 2024

As Singapore steps up scrutiny, affluent Chinese return to Hong Kong

Fallout from a blockbuster $2.2 billion money laundering case has put Singapore's family offices and wealthy immigrants under a microscope.
Yumiko Takano, chief executive officer of Oriental Land, speaks during a news conference in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, on Tuesday. Oriental Land has secured a deal with Disney Enterprises to launch Disney Cruises in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 10, 2024

Disney to add new ship in Tokyo to expanding cruise business

The new ship will be modeled after the Wish, the largest vessel in Disney's fleet.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko speaks in the suburbs of Kyiv on Tuesday in front of mine-clearing vehicles provided by Japan.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2024

Ukraine receives first shipment of mine-clearing vehicles from Japan

The shipment is part of ¥91 billion in grant aid aimed at assisting the country's reconstruction, with about 20 units scheduled for delivery this year.
A mystery-solving event with clues embedded in constellations projected on a dome is held at a planetarium in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on June 7.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2024

Japan's planetarium operators shoot for the stars with new events

The number of planetarium visitors in fiscal 2022 totaled 7.9 million, recovering to about 90% of the level before the COVID-19 pandemic.
A woman holds a baby wrapped in a blanket as displaced Palestinians leave an area in east Khan Younis after the Israeli army issued a new evacuation order for parts of the city on July 1.
WORLD
Jul 10, 2024

Gaza's pregnant women defy odds to give birth and protect their babies

For new mothers in Gaza, giving birth in a warzone is just the first step on a traumatic journey marked by constant fear and anxiety.
Dolphins Arena in Nagoya. While the new IG Arena will almost certainly provide a more enjoyable experience for fans, the hope is that action on the raised ring will retain the heat that Dolphins Arena has long been famous for.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jul 10, 2024

A farewell to a Nagoya sumo arena known for heat — inside and outside the ring

The upcoming Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament will be the last to be held at Dolphins Arena, which has been the scene of numerous memorable moments over the years.
A general view of the Belmarsh prison in London on May 20
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

U.K.'s overflowing prisons present PM Starmer with early crisis

The U.K. prison population has doubled over 30 years despite falling crime rates, and is projected to exceed 100,000 by 2026.
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jul 15, 2024

No AC this summer? No problem (for me).

I do have a unit, and I dutifully clean the filters now and then, but over the past two or three years, I’ve learned to live entirely without it.
Ground Self-Defense Force troops conduct a military drill on the uninhabited island of Irisuna in Okinawa Prefecture in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 12, 2024

Japan’s new defense white paper delivers strongest words yet on Taiwan

Tokyo pins the blame squarely on China's large-scale military exercises around the democratically ruled island for continued tensions in the region.
A Yamato Transport delivery center in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. Japan's parcel delivery firms are expanding drop-off services amid a rise in their redelivery rate and a shortage of truck drivers.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2024

Availability of parcel drop-off services increasing in Japan

The services are expected to help reduce redeliveries to lessen the heavy burden on delivery vehicle drivers.
A police officer patrols a beach following what Russian authorities say was a Ukrainian missile strike, in Sevastopol, Crimea, on June 24.
WORLD
Jul 14, 2024

Ukraine is targeting Crimea, a crucial base for Russia’s invasion

Now armed with U.S.-made precision missiles, Kyiv seeks to raise the cost for Russian occupation forces who have long used the peninsula as a base of operations.
Police officers stand guard in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, in April 2023 during a Lower House by-election campaign.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2024

Japan police to tighten security after Trump shooting

Specifically, prefectural police across the country have been urged to enhance vigilance in areas around venues for political events.
Ko Maung Saungkha, center, a poet who is a rebel commander in Myanmar, on the first day of training for new recruits in Karen State, on May 7.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 17, 2024

In the war against the junta in Myanmar, a poet commands a rebel army

Myanmar is a country entranced by poetry, with poets treated like celebrities and verse that has long been political used to galvanize the masses.
The North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, China, on April 20, 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 17, 2024

'Shocking': U.N. report details North Korea's widespread forced labor

In a damning report, the U.N. rights office detailed how people in North Korea have been "controlled and exploited."
Seoul Queer Culture Festival participants hold a huge rainbow flag during parade in Seoul on July 1, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 18, 2024

Top court hands South Korean gay couple win on spouse status

The two plaintiffs filed the suit against the National Health Insurance Service in 2021 after their spousal benefits were stripped.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes