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August 16, 2025
 

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ANIMALS

Researchers from Anicom Specialty Medical Institute, the National Institute of Genetics and Kazusa DNA Research Institute decoded the genome of American Shorthair cats and published the results in an article last October.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 18, 2025
Japanese researchers set Guinness record for cat genome
Researchers decoded the genome of American shorthair cats and published the results.
Instead of spending billions to resurrect woolly mammoths, we could focus on preserving endangered species, saving ecosystems, and securing biodiversity for the future.
COMMENTARY
Mar 17, 2025
Got $10 billion? Don’t blow it cloning a woolly mammoth.
Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based biotechnology and genetic engineering startup valued at $10 billion, has raised $435 million to "de-extinct” the woolly mammoth.
Bleached and dead coral around Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, located 270 kilometers north of the city of Cairns, Australia, on April 5, 2024
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Mar 17, 2025
From oil spills to new species: How tech reveals the ocean
New technologies are helping to reveal hidden oil spills, speed up the discovery of new species and uncover the impact of light pollution.
A red panda at the central zoo in Lalitpur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Mar 14, 2025
Nepal community efforts revive red panda population
Conservationists say educational outreach and sustainable livelihood programs helped improve the effectiveness of Nepal's conservation efforts.
A Red Knot (left) and a Ruddy Turnstone gather with other shorebirds to feed on Atlantic horseshoe eggs along a beach in Little Creek, Delaware.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Mar 14, 2025
Many U.S. bird species seen as reaching population 'tipping point'
A report found that avian populations are decreasing in almost every habitat, including grasslands and arid regions.
Horses attempt to graze on a hill covered with snow in Argalant, in central Mongolia's Tov province. The vast country is one of the most affected by climate change, by some counts warming three times faster than the global average.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 13, 2025
On the Mongolian steppe, climate change pushes herders to the brink
The vast country is one of the most affected by climate change, by some counts warming three times faster than the global average.
Oto, Japan's oldest lion, died Monday at Toyohashi Zoo & Botanical Park in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 10, 2025
Oto, Japan’s oldest lion, dies at 25 — equivalent to 100 human years
Born in 1999 at Asahiyama Zoo in the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Oto had been at Aichi Prefecture's Toyohashi Zoo & Botanical Park since 2001.
A monarch butterfly is seen at an enclosure at Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, in August 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Mar 7, 2025
Butterfly populations plummet by 22% in U.S. since turn of century
Studies in some other countries have documented declines at roughly the same rate as in the U.S. data.
Trash cans have been installed at Nara Park for the first time in about 40 years following a rise in littering alongside an increasing number of foreign tourists in recent years.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 5, 2025
Rise in tourists prompts Nara Park to install trash cans to protect deer
Increased littering in the park has created a health hazard for the protected animal.
A herd of sheep move across a solar farm in Haskell, Texas, on Dec. 2, 2024.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 4, 2025
Sheep grazing under solar panels help U.S. farmers to survive crop-price slump
Instead of plowing fields, Raines spent the year ferrying his flock of sheep to solar farms, to munch on the grass that grows around the gleaming panels.
A worker paints a robotic elephant model at a workshop in Thrissur, in India's Kerala state on Feb. 25.
WORLD / Society
Mar 4, 2025
Animal rights activists in India offer robot elephants to replace real ones
Accidents involving spooked elephants trampling crowds are common in India, leading some temples to switch to the robot versions.
Cat-related sweets sold by 7-Eleven in Tokyo. Employees of 7-Eleven have helped develop 23 types of cat-related products this year, compared with just five last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 21, 2025
Japan's Cat Day sees companies capitalize on 'a-meow-zing' economic boon
This year, products and services related to cats are estimated to generate ¥414.50 billion more than last year.
A bear that appeared in the city of Sapporo in June 2021
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025
Japan to approve shooting of wild bears that wander into town
After the amended law is enacted, brown and black bears will be designated as "dangerous animals" along with wild boars under a government ordinance.
Atsuko Sato holds her shiba inu, Neiro, alongside the bronze statue of her shiba inu Kabosu, in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, in December.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2025
Shiba inu Kabosu continues to be loved after death
Atsuko Sato received many letters from Kabosu fans across Japan on the dog's birthday last November, six months after her death.
A government-hired hunter holds up a captured iguana in Pingtung County, Taiwan, on Feb. 10. Taiwan's iguana population has exploded since the spikey-backed giant lizards were introduced more than 20 years ago as exotic pets. Many escaped or were dumped by their owners and have bred rapidly in the warm climate of southern Taiwan, invading neighborhoods and ravaging farmers' crops.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 17, 2025
Taiwan bounty hunters kill invading iguanas as numbers soar
Taiwan began culling iguanas nearly 10 years ago and this year's target has been set at more than 100,000.
As peckish deer chase delighted tourists in Japan's temple-dotted Nara Park, a quiet but dedicated team of litter-pickers patrols the stone paths, collecting plastic waste that threatens the animals' health.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 15, 2025
New street patrol helps Nara's deer clean up their act
Garbage dropped by tourists can pose a serious risk to Nara's famous deer, but a new group is cleaning up the town.
Dewi Sukarno (center) at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 14, 2025
Celebrity Dewi Sukarno launches political group for animal rights
The 12 Heiwa To party, whose name is a play on "wan-nyan" (bow-meow), will focus on animal protection as its main policy.
Tsuneo Yamaguchi, head of the Nihon Dobutsu Kaigo Center (right), takes in a border collie that was affected by the disaster in the Ishikawa town of Uchinada, from its owner.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2025
Nonprofit continues to care for pets displaced by Noto earthquake
One owner left their dog at the center after being unable to find an evacuation center that would accommodate pets.
Social loneliness contributes to the development of mental illness, obesity and Type 2 diabetes, a study finds.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 9, 2025
Social loneliness found to worsen arteriosclerosis in mice
A team from Keio University and others said that loneliness without social connections contributes to the development of mental illness, obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
Whips, cages and other items that were seized from Hiroshi Tsuji, who has been rearrested on suspicion of violating the animal welfare law, by the Metropolitan Police Department are displayed in the city of Tachikawa, Tokyo, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 7, 2025
Kawasaki taxi driver rearrested on suspicion of killing pigeon
It is believed Hiroshi Tsuji initially gave the bird food and water but began abusing it when it showed no affection in return.
The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731
Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
Japanese star convicted of indecent assault in Hong Kong
J-pop idol Kenshin Kamimura leaves the West Kowloon Law Courts on bail in Hong Kong on Wednesday, after he was found guilty of indecent assault of a woman who worked as his interpreter at a restaurant in Mong Kok district in March this year.
Tens of thousands left stranded at Osaka Expo by train service interruption
Visitors rest inside the Osaka Expo venue early Thursday morning
Welcoming foreign residents benefits Japan, three quarters of economists say
The streets of Tokyo's Ginza district in April. The number of foreign residents in Japan hit a record high at 3.76 million as of the end of last year, comprising just over 3% of the population.
Hiker missing in Hokkaido after bear attack found dead
The Rausu mountain range at Hokkaido's Shiretoko National Park. A man in his 20s who went missing after being attacked by a bear while hiking on Mount Rausu has been found dead.
The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731
Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
Will Ishiba's critics be able to garner enough support for a leadership race?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's political survival likely hinges on whether a leadership race will take place within the Liberal Democratic Party following its decision to have its election committee canvass the opinions of party members and prefectural chapters on the subject.
Hidden rosters and the legacy of Japan’s germ warfare
Katsutoshi Takegami, 77, in his storehouse attic where he discovered his father's Unit 1644 documents
Osaka Expo highlights the challenge of holding events in Japan's scorching summer
People huddle near a large fan blowing icy-cold mist at the Osaka Expo on July 12. Amid Japan's relentless summer heat, organizes have put myriad measures in place in order to keep guests safe.
At Himawari Shokudo 2, Italian food with a Japanese soul
At Himawari Shokudo 2, chef Hozumi Tanaka serves Italian-inspired fare with a focus on Toyama produce, such as this appetizer of lightly blanched "hotaru ika" (firefly squid) served atop mixed wild plants and a crepe prepared from "yamato-imo" yam.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers
By Tomoko Otake

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