The Japan Times - News On Japan, Business News, Opinion, Sports, Entertainment And More

Tokyo Weather

January 10, 2025

Subscribe
Digital Print

January 10, 2025

South Korea turmoil

Nippon Steel

Trump transition

Latest News

Deep Dive

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

Rahm Emanuel professes that the biggest thing he has brought to the U.S.-Japan relationship might be a fresh injection of vitality.

JAPAN / Politics

Emanuel leaves reform legacy amid historic shifts in U.S.-Japan alliance

By Jesse Johnson and Gabriel Dominguez

The departing U.S. ambassador arguably oversaw the most consequential shift in the U.S.-Japan alliance in decades.

Rahm Emanuel professes that the biggest thing he has brought to the U.S.-Japan relationship might be a fresh injection of vitality.

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.

JAPAN / Science & Health

Japan's health ministry reports record-high flu cases in late December

By Yukana Inoue

In the week through Dec. 29, the total number of reported flu cases was nearly three times the number from the same period in 2023.

Prices continue to outpace wage increases in Japan.

BUSINESS / Economy

Real wages fall for a fourth month, squeezing Japanese households further

By Kazuaki Nagata

Inflation-adjusted real wages dropped 0.3% from a year earlier in November as some food prices and utility rates increased.

People remove snow in the city of Aomori on Thursday.

JAPAN

Caution urged as heavy snow forecast for Sea of Japan coast

By Karin Kaneko

Authorities have warned individuals to consider vehicle safety as well as the risks of traffic disruptions, snow falling from roofs and damage to buildings.

Beauty salon Dione, which has over 100 branches nationwide, offers hair removal treatments for children as young as 3 years old. It uses hair removal equipment that emits a special light heated to around 38 degrees Celsius, unlike conventional equipment that involves temperatures of 60 to 80 C.

JAPAN / Society

Hair removal for kids — boosting confidence or preying on insecurities?

By Karin Kaneko

Hair removal treatments are increasingly being extended to children as young as three years old in Japan, raising concerns over the risks.

Beauty salon Dione, which has over 100 branches nationwide, offers hair removal treatments for children as young as 3 years old. It uses hair removal equipment that emits a special light heated to around 38 degrees Celsius, unlike conventional equipment that involves temperatures of 60 to 80 C.

A ceiling collapse at a demolition site in the city of Chiba trapped three workers in the rubble.

Ceiling collapse at Chiba demolition site traps three workers

By Jessica Speed

Two men were pulled from the wreckage, while emergency crews are still working to free the remaining trapped individual.

Masanori Hirabaru, 43, is escorted out of a police station in Kitakyushu on Dec. 20 to be brought to prosecutors in relation to a double stabbing at a McDonald's outlet in Fukuoka Prefecture. He was rearrested Thursday on a charge of murder.

Police rearrest suspect in McDonald's attack on murder charge

Authorities have rearrested Masanori Hirabaru, 43, over the double stabbing in Fukuoka Prefecture in December that left one of two teenage victims dead.

Japan to convene parliament for ordinary session starting Jan. 24

Ishiba expresses eagerness to visit China soon

Japan eyeing mandatory ID check for scrap metal trading

Japan to deepen U.S. alliance, former Prime Minister Suga says in Washington

Attendees sit in Xpeng's modular "flying car" during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Trade war worries loom over Las Vegas tech show

By Thomas URBAIN

The potential for Trump's trade policies to roil the global tech industry has loomed large over the Consumer Electronics Show.

Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing reported strong growth in revenue and operating profit for the three months through November on robust demand in Japan, North America and Europe.

Uniqlo owner reports strong growth in Japan and Western markets

By Kanoko Matsuyama

Operating profit rose 7% to ¥157.6 billion for the three months ended November from a year earlier, with sales increasing to ¥895.2 billion.

Seven & I profit drops despite recovery in convenience stores

By Kanoko Matsuyama

Germany electric vehicle sales go into reverse

By Sebastien ASH

Stubbornly resilient lithium supply remains hurdle to recovery

By Annie Lee

Japan sales of foreign-brand vehicles fall 8.5% in 2024

A water bomber flies over houses burned down by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of in Los Angeles on Thursday.

Explosive Los Angeles wildfires rage on even as fierce winds ebb

At least five people have been killed, thousands of structures have been incinerated and nearly 180,000 people have been ordered to evacuate.

A supporter of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol holds South Korean and U.S. flags in front of flower wreaths bearing messages of support near his residence in Seoul on Thursday.

Impeached South Korean president's party sees signs of revival

Anti-corruption officers' botched attempt to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol is reinvigorating conservatives to rally behind the People Power Party.

Musk takes slash-and-burn style to Europe after bolstering Trump

By Alex Wickham, Michael Nienaber, Joshua Green and Arne Delfs

U.S. veterans and officials urge Trump to continue resettling at-risk Afghans

By Jonathan Landay

Focus shifts to Tibet earthquake survivors as search called off

By Joe Cash and Ryan Woo

Drug from bowel bacteria helps blood cancer patients facing deadly complication

By Jason Gale and Thomas Gibson

Hideki Matsuyama set a PGA Tour scoring record on his way to a win at The Sentry in Kapalua, Hawaii, on Sunday.

Hideki Matsuyama going for Hawaii sweep at Sony Open

Matsuyama won The Sentry on Sunday with a 35-under-par 257, the lowest 72-hole score in relation to par in PGA Tour history.

NFL still planning to stage playoff game between Rams and Vikings in LA

49ers prepared to go all in on quarterback Brock Purdy

Aryna Sabalenka set to take center stage again at Australian Open

Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate help Celtic extend lead in Scottish Premiership

U.S. President Jimmy Carter and then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan greet each other before their U.S. presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio, in October 1980.

What if Reagan's vision had been more like Carter's?

Thomas L. Friedman

Yes, Carter had his share of missteps, but he was way, way, way ahead of his time on clean energy.

What you think you know about Ukraine is probably wrong

By Marc Champion

Media coverage and political tensions color reactions to Nippon Steel's U.S. acquisition

By Kuni Miyake

Japan PM struggles with both U.S. relations and China’s growing threats

By Edo Naito

Missteps highlight Ishiba’s foreign policy challenges

By Stephen R. Nagy

A beach house is engulfed by the flames of the Palisades fire as seen along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, on Wednesday.

Extreme weather and suburban sprawl fuel LA's wildfires

By Issam AHMED

A prolonged dry spell and strong winds played key roles, though experts say it's too soon to say how much climate change contributed.

Japanese researchers connect rise in glass eels to climate change

Where the smart climate tech venture money is going in 2025

By Brian Kahn

After a year of hard climate talks, ‘minilateralism’ is an alternative

By Aaron Clark

Japan’s weather in 2024: Record temperatures hurt people’s health and wallets

By Tomoko Otake

The film version of “The Solitary Gourmet” is a directorial debut for Yutaka Matsushige, long known for his leading role as salaryman and gourmand Goro Inogashira.

‘The Solitary Gourmet’: Palatable movie adaptation may leave you wanting more

By James Hadfield

Lead actor Yutaka Matsushige’s film directing debut offers ambient pleasure for fans of the long-running TV series.

‘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

'Shogun,' 'Hacks' win top TV honors at Golden Globes

By Danielle Broadway

‘Fracture’ dissects 100 years of Japanese graphic design

By Ray Masaki

Japan’s ski resorts are popular with tourists and knowing some basic Japanese will help you navigate the slopes a lot easier.

Japanese ski vocabulary: Hit the books before you hit the slopes

By Eric Margolis

Knowing some basic terms will help you graduate from that linguistic bunny slope in no time.

Now in Osaka, Yannick Alleno wants ‘flavors people have never experienced’

By Melinda Joe

Japan’s ‘quiet revolution’ of luxury travel nears fruition

By Tan Pin Yen

Traveling for sake's sake: The emergence of brewery tourism in Japan

By Yukana Inoue

Start the new year with a fresh approach to teaching Japanese

By Yaeko Kabe

For the 20 Questions column this year, writers asked their interview subjects about everything from their lives in Japan to their thoughts on news topics.

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

We take a look back at some of the best answers that our interviewees gave for 20 Questions from throughout the year.

And Bingo was her name-o

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

Yurie Collins: ‘Everyone seems sedated, fed-up … that’s why they turn to comedy’

By Zoria Petkoska

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports

By Synergy Media Specialists

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.14 : Unicharm Corp.Unicharm recycles diapers back into diapers

mission sustainability vol.14 : Unicharm Corp.Unicharm recycles diapers back into diapers