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January 12, 2025
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January 12, 2025
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Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (right) and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a ceremonial welcome at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Indonesia, on Saturday
JAPAN / Politics
Ishiba turns to Southeast Asia amid growing international uncertainty
By Gabriel Dominguez
Experts say that Ishiba's decision to prioritize Malaysia and Indonesia was a sign of the importance of the two major regional economies.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (right) and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a ceremonial welcome at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Indonesia, on Saturday
Rescue workers search a flooded area during the aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis, which caused severe floods at the Chikuma River, in the city of Nagano in October 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Disaster-hardened Japan faces enormous costs from climate change
By Anton L. Delgado
The total cost in climate damages for the country through 2050 could amount to ¥952 trillion if more ambitious action isn't taken.
The exterior of a blast furnace building run by Nippon Steel in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
U.S. delays enforcement of order blocking Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel deal
The delay will give the courts time to review a legal challenge brought by parties earlier this month against Biden's order.
Yuzuru Hanyu smiles during an interview in his hometown of Sendai in between performances of his latest tour, Ice Story.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
30 minutes with Yuzuru Hanyu
By Mai Yoshikawa
The two-time Olympic champion exited the competitive arena in 2022. His overall career goal — to make spectators say "wow" — has not changed.
Hobonichi's 'techō' notebooks come in both set and customizable formats, and a thriving community of enthusiasts means there are even extensive guides on how to make the journal even more unique to your individual approach to journaling.
LIFE / Style & Design
American stationery nerds are fueling a Japanese notebook boom
By Thu-Huong Ha
A Japanese-made paper planner from the 1980s has reblossomed in the post-COVID era.
Hobonichi's 'techō' notebooks come in both set and customizable formats, and a thriving community of enthusiasts means there are even extensive guides on how to make the journal even more unique to your individual approach to journaling.

JAPAN

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) shakes hands with Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto after giving a press statement following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Indonesia on Saturday.
Ishiba hopes diplomacy will give boost to parliamentary management
As the Ishiba administration will have to go into the parliamentary session leading a minority government, he is hoping diplomacy will give his administration a boost.
A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism official explains a new system for detecting vacant houses, on Dec. 23.
Government developing AI-based system to detect vacant houses
The aim of the system is to spot such properties at an early stage and make them available for sale or rent, or demolish them before they collapse.
Timed detonator from dud shell likely behind airport blast
Japan may provide support to boost roll out of smartphone-based health cards
Indonesian and Japanese leaders agree to boost defense and energy ties
Eight students recovering after hammer attack at university in Tokyo

BUSINESS

Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance plans to raise its starting monthly salary for university graduates joining the nonlife insurer in April 2026 to as much as ¥410,000.
Tokio Marine to raise starting pay to up to ¥410,000
The insurance firm aims to secure and retain human resources amid continuing labor shortages in Japan.
A Muji store at Kansai International Airport in Osaka
Owner of Muji stores looks to build clean power plants
Ryohin Keikaku will look to build clean power plants in an effort to meet its emissions targets.
Snack makers try to keep long-selling products 'fresh'
Japan bank lending hits record high at end of 2024
IMF chief sees steady world growth in 2025, continuing disinflation
Apollo weighs $9.5 billion stake in Seven & I management buyout
By Hideki Suzuki and Taro Fuse

WORLD

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives for a meeting in Rome on Friday.
Ukraine questioning two captured North Korean soldiers
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would provide media access to the prisoners of war because "the world needs to know what is happening."
Olaf Scholz, Germany's chancellor, during the SPD party congress in Berlin on Saturday
Scholz steps up criticism of Trump’s expansionist rhetoric
By Michael Nienaber and Arne Delfs
In power since 2021, Scholz’s SPD party has slumped as an early election looms for Europe’s largest economy on Feb. 23.
South Korea's Yoon will not attend first impeachment hearing
Special counsel who led Trump prosecutions leaves U.S. Justice Department
Blue Origin rocket set to debut in crucial SpaceX challenge
By Loren Grush
Thai suspect confesses to killing Cambodian ex-lawmaker

Sports

Kei Nishikori hits a return against Brazil's Thiago Monteiro during their first round clash at the Australian Open on Sunday.
Nishikori rolls back the years in five-set Melbourne epic
The 35-year-old, who reached a career-high No. 4 in the world and was a U.S. Open finalist a decade ago, was on the brink of defeat at John Cain Arena against Thiago Monteiro.
Texans devour Chargers as Ravens run over Steelers in wild-card games
China's women esports players defy sexism for love of the game
By Luna Lin
Rusty Zheng into second round as Grand Slam tennis returns to Melbourne
By Nick Mulvenney
Lindsey Vonn sixth in downhill return as veteran Federica Brignone wins

Opinion

Houses destroyed in the Palisades Fire along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, on Thursday
California fires expose a $1 trillion hole in U.S. home insurance
Mark Gongloff
Santa Ana winds and wildfires are natural to California, but climate change and human development have made them far more destructive.
In the art of war, mimicry runs the gambit from disguises to deepfakes
By Diego Gambetta and Thomas Hegghammer
Robust new nuclear target for Japan is shrouded in uncertainty
By Parul Bakshi
Be ready for the new Cold War, under the sea
What if Reagan's vision had been more like Carter's?
By Thomas L. Friedman

ENVIRONMENT

Smoke from the Pacific Palisades fire blankets the area in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Researchers see a growing health danger from the vast plumes of pollution spawned by wildfires like the ones devastating Los Angeles.
Far from the Los Angeles fires, the deadly risks of smoke are intensifying
By Hiroko Tabuchi
By some estimates, wildfire smoke causes as many as 675,000 premature deaths a year worldwide, as well as a range of serious health problems.
‘We’re in a new era’: How climate change is supercharging disasters
By David Gelles and Austyn Gaffney
Politics, not climate, to drive sustainable finance trends in 2025
By Simon Jessop
Record heat pushed 2024 above global warming threshold of 1.5 C
By Eric Roston
Extreme weather and suburban sprawl fuel LA's wildfires
By Issam AHMED

CULTURE

On Dec. 31, rock duo B’z appeared on NHK's year-end "Kohaku Uta Gassen" music extravaganza for the first time in a career spanning more than three decades.
An explosive B’z set on ‘Kohaku’ hints at a strategy to win over viewers
By Patrick St. Michel
Japan’s best selling act delivered one of the biggest moments of the year-end music blowout and reinforced the importance of catering to a more middle-aged market.
The unnervingly timed return of ‘Squid Game’
By Erik Augustin Palm
‘The Solitary Gourmet’: Palatable movie adaptation may leave you wanting more
By James Hadfield
‘Mending Cracks’: A muddled drama about brotherly discord
By Mark Schilling
'The Brutalist,' 'Emilia Perez' take home Golden Globes' top film honors
By Lisa Richwine, Danielle Broadway and Dawn Chmielewski

LIFE

Hobonichi's 'techō' notebooks come in both set and customizable formats, and a thriving community of enthusiasts means there are even extensive guides on how to make the journal even more unique to your individual approach to journaling.
American stationery nerds are fueling a Japanese notebook boom
By Thu-Huong Ha
A Japanese-made paper planner from the 1980s has reblossomed in the post-COVID era.
‘Dorayaki’ creators say flavors trump the dessert’s murky origins
By Cassandra Lord
The case for Japan-ifying everything you cook
By Simon Daly
Japanese ski vocabulary: Hit the books before you hit the slopes
By Eric Margolis
Now in Osaka, Yannick Alleno wants ‘flavors people have never experienced’
By Melinda Joe

COMMUNITY

Kaz Shiomi is looking forward to the Osaka Expo this year, which will be held from April 13 to Oct. 13.
Kaz Shiomi: ‘I want to show people … how to color outside the lines’
By Laura Pollacco
Producing toys under her kiko+ & gg* brand, the business owner hopes to encourage children to find their own unique paths in life.
And Bingo was her name-o
There were plenty of hot topics to opine on in 2024
By Gendel Gento, Kimberly Hughes, Ora Margolis, David McElhinney, Zoria Petkoska, Justin Randall, Himari Semans, Patrick St. Michel and Ansel Swindells
A holiday season built on creativity and care
By Baye McNeil
From the stage to the streets, make a difference this holiday season
By Kimberly Hughes

Editors' Picks

LIFE
Can an international makeover help Tokyo salons meet foreign demand?
By Laura Pollacco
Otono Kuboki, a Japanese Canadian hair stylist for salon chain Sozo, is a key figure in the company's mission to elevate the viability of Japan's hairdressing industry to foreign residents.
CULTURE
Isekai anime offers a key to understanding globalization
By Stevie Suan
“The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic” centers on three teenage protagonists who are transported into a fantasy world where they must grapple with a foreign culture.
JAPAN
Japanese space startup readies for second lunar lander launch
By Jessica Speed
Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada with the countdown clock for the launch of the startup's lunar lander, in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on Thursday
JAPAN
Emanuel leaves reform legacy amid historic shifts in U.S.-Japan alliance
By Jesse Johnson and Gabriel Dominguez
Rahm Emanuel professes that the biggest thing he has brought to the U.S.-Japan relationship might be a fresh injection of vitality.
CULTURE
‘Unbound’ breaks NHK period drama tradition with a hero of the common folk
By Mark Schilling
NHK’s latest taiga period drama, “Unbound,” centers on Tsutaya Juzaburo (Ryusei Yokohama), a commoner who becomes a successful bookseller and publisher.

Podcast

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

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake
By Kathryn Wortley

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MORE SPORTS
30 minutes with Yuzuru Hanyu
By Mai Yoshikawa
Yuzuru Hanyu smiles during an interview in his hometown of Sendai in between performances of his latest tour, Ice Story.
JAPAN
Eight students recovering after hammer attack at university in Tokyo
Police investigate the scene after eight people were injured by a hammer-wielding woman on Hosei University's Tama campus in Tokyo on Friday afternoon.
SUMO
Stage set for action-packed New Year Basho with yokozuna promotion battle
By John Gunning
Kotozakura is in position to fight his way to a promotion to yokozuna going into the New Year Basho.
JAPAN
Race circuit and resort among post-event proposals for Osaka Expo site
By Yukana Inoue
A portion of the Grand Ring at the site of the Osaka Expo during a media tour late last month
JAPAN
Japan's health ministry reports record-high flu cases
By Yukana Inoue
A busy street in Tokyo on Dec. 30. The number of influenza patients per clinic, on average, in the final week of December was the highest since health ministry records began in 1999.