Tag - oceans

 
Menu
Search
 
October 14, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

OCEANS

Silver Dania, a Norwegian-owned ship suspected of cable sabotage in the Baltic Sea, whose crew are Russian citizens, in the port of Tromso, Norway, where it has been brought for investigation, on Jan. 31.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 22, 2025
Lawmakers want U.S. tech CEOs to address concerns about submarine cables
Washington has been sounding the alarm about the network of more than 400 subsea cables that handle 99% of international internet traffic and about threats from China and Russia.
Polymetallic nodules — bulbous lumps of rock that are rich in battery metals such as cobalt and nickel which carpet huge tracts of Pacific Ocean seabed — in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands on June 12.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2025
Trump’s critical minerals obsession reignites deep-sea mining
President Donald Trump has issued an executive order expediting U.S. licensing of seabed mining, departing from international law.
Activists from Greenpeace protest deep-sea mining with an inflatable octopus and a banner that says "'Protect the deep sea" in Berlin earlier this month.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Jul 20, 2025
Restoring sea floor after mining may not be possible, researchers warn
One of the last wild zones on the planet, the sea floor is a coveted frontier for companies and countries eager to access high-demand minerals found there.
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Jul 20, 2025
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
The debate over the damage sunscreens cause to the marine environment is heating up as some regions ban certain chemical ingredients.
The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team mainly from Hokkaido University has found through a new method using technology.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2025
Japan team finds ancient ocean full of squids
The team of researchers discovered a large number of squid fossils from rocks of the late Cretaceous period using a technique called digital fossil-mining.
A front-page article from July 1950 reported that Kyoto's historic Kinkakuji had been "totally razed" in a fire.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jul 5, 2025
Japan Times 1950: Kyoto’s ‘Golden Temple’ burns to the ground
The historic Kinkakuji was destroyed in an act of arson in July 1950, a shocking event that would serve as the inspiration for a novel by Yukio Mishima.
Japan's deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu is seen anchored at a pier in Shimizu port, Shizuoka Prefecture, in 2013.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2025
Japan plans 'world first' deep-sea mineral extraction
Earlier this week the country pledged to work with the United States, India and Australia to ensure a stable supply of critical minerals.
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 29, 2025
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Want to be an advocate of Japan’s marine health? Look out for sustainably farmed fish the next time you dine at a restaurant.
The serpentine coastline of Funafuti Atoll, home to nearly half of Tuvalu's entire population of 11,500, on Feb. 19, 2004.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 26, 2025
Nearly one-third of Tuvalu citizens seek to live in Australia on climate visa
The visa program has been hailed as a landmark response to the looming challenge of climate-forced migration.
Japan said on Tuesday that it had lodged a protest with China after observing a new structure in a natural gas field in the East China Sea.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025
Japan protests new Chinese construction in East China Sea
In the latest development, Japan said on Tuesday it lodged a protest with China after observing a new structure in a natural gas field in the East China Sea.
Killer whales have been caught on video breaking off pieces of seaweed and using them to rub and groom each other, scientists announced on Monday, saying it is the first evidence of cetacean tool manufacturing.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 25, 2025
Killer whales use seaweed as tools to groom each other
The researchers hypothesize that the behavior promotes skin health while strengthening social bonds.
The HMS Spey, a patrol vessel for Britain's Royal Navy, conducted a routine navigation through the Taiwan Strait that was part of a long-planned deployment and took place in full compliance with international law, the Royal Navy said.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 20, 2025
China calls British warship's Taiwan Strait transit an attempt to 'cause trouble'
Britain's Royal Navy said the patrol vessel conducted a routine navigation through the narrow waterway that was in full compliance with international law.
A dead sea star in 2015. About 5 billion sea stars died from a disease outbreak, likely including this one.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 18, 2025
Marine heat waves are spreading around the world
Some unusual ocean events have become so intense that scientists have coined a new term: super marine heat waves.
While leaders, researchers and activists at the third United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, took steps to tackle overfishing and pollution threatening delicate ecosystems and the people who depend on them, getting countries to agree to better governance has been challenging.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jun 17, 2025
Investors want clear ocean management rules to scale up funding
The lack of a clear governing framework and robust ocean-related data has stymied private sector finance to date.
Africa’s "blue economy" (oceans and waterways) is vital for global trade, climate resilience and food security, and remains deeply underfunded despite its multibillion-dollar potential.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2025
Scaling investment for Africa’s sustainable 'blue economy'
Spanning more than 30,000 kilometers of coastline, Africa’s "blue economy" does $300 billion worth of business each year.
The oceans have absorbed most anthropogenic heat and carbon dioxide emissions since the start of industrialization. But their capacity to do so is not unlimited.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2025
The ocean is not just a carbon sink
Reducing the value of three-quarters of our planet to the singular role of carbon sink overlooks the ocean’s vast contributions to food security, cultural identity and economics.
People swim in the Mediterranean Sea on a sunny and warm spring day during the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which gathers leaders, researchers and activists to discuss how to protect marine life, in Nice, France, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jun 11, 2025
Leaders warn race for minerals could turn seabed into 'wild west'
Anxiety over Trump's push to fast-track deep-sea mining in international waters took center stage at the opening of the U.N. Ocean Conference in France.
A plastic bottle lies on the sand at Maccarese beach in Italy in 2018.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jun 10, 2025
Development banks to invest €3 billion in ocean plastics fight
Plastic waste entering the water could triple to up to 37 million metric tons per year by 2040, from around 11 million tons in 2021, the U.N. estimates.
Takuzo Aida, group director at the Riken Center for Emergent Matter Science, shows a sample of ocean-degradable plastic at its lab in Wako, Saitama Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 5, 2025
Scientists in Japan develop plastic that quickly dissolves in seawater
The new material is as strong as petroleum-based plastics but breaks down into its original components when exposed to salt.
A marine heat wave has led to boom in the octopus population.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jun 3, 2025
Octopus invasion in English Channel flags marine heat wave risks
Warming waters have suited the octopus but when one part of the natural ecosystem changes, there can be knock on effects.
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
After ruling bloc collapses, LDP and opposition scramble to find needed votes for PM
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday after leaving the ruling coalition earlier in the day.
After plenty of ups and downs, Osaka Expo concludes with message of unity
The sun sets on the Grand Ring on the final day of the Osaka Expo on Monday.
Hamas hands over surviving Israeli hostages as Trump visits region
Released Israeli hostages, twins Gali and Ziv Berman, held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, speak to each other after being released, as part of a prisoner-hostage swap and a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Reim, Israel, on Monday.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?
The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.
‘Takaichi trade’ starts unwinding as political calculus upended by Komeito exit
Less than a week ago, Sanae Takaichi seemed set to become Japan's first female prime minister.
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.
A Japanese comedian walks into an Aussie bar … and stays there
Takashi “Waka” Wakasugi stopped by the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya Ward last month following his stint at Edinburgh Festival Fringe performing his show “Comedy Samurai.”

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER