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January 05, 2025
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January 05, 2025
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An entrance sign for Nippon Steel's East Nippon Works Kashima Area facility is pictured in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, last month.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Nippon Steel rejection shows national security means whatever you want
By Eric Martin
Experts and former officials say the decision signals how sharply the U.S. has turned away from the principles of globalization.

More coverage

What's next for the Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel deal?
Biden blocks Nippon Steel’s $14.1 billion takeover of U.S. Steel
An entrance sign for Nippon Steel's East Nippon Works Kashima Area facility is pictured in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, last month.
Former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks during a news conference in Ise, Mie Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
CDP chief Noda rejects grand coalition with LDP
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as LDP president, said Wednesday that there "should be an option to form" such a tie-up.
Tomiko Itooka died of old age in a nursing home for the elderly in the city of Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture.
JAPAN
Tomiko Itooka, the world's oldest person, dies at 116
Itooka died of old age in a nursing home for the elderly in the city of Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, according to the ministry and city officials.
A demonstrator holds a placard that reads "I will fight with President Yoon Suk Yeol" during a rally in support of the impeached South Korea president in the Gwanghwamun area of Seoul on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
South Korea's political crisis: what could happen next?
By Claire Lee
From another arrest attempt to waiting for a Constitutional Court decision, the scenarios that could decide President Yoon Suk Yeol's fate are numerous.
Scheduled to welcome its first guests in early 2025, the Waldorf Astoria Osaka is just one of many luxury hotel openings Japan has seen in recent months.
LIFE / Travel
Japan’s ‘quiet revolution’ of luxury travel nears fruition
By Tan Pin Yen
“The Japanese luxury travel scene has undergone quite the metamorphosis over the past decade,” says one industry insider.
Scheduled to welcome its first guests in early 2025, the Waldorf Astoria Osaka is just one of many luxury hotel openings Japan has seen in recent months.

JAPAN

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed support for allowing for married couples to retain different surnames.　
Japan's dual-surname option could see turning point in 2025
Support for allowing spouses to retain separate surnames is strong among the opposition, and even within the Liberal Democratic Party, which rules as a minority government.
A massive ring-shaped roof at the venue of the Osaka Expo
Advanced medical and AI technologies to be showcased at Osaka Expo
The event is scheduled to kick off on April 13.
Safety board to further analyze JAL jet collision at Haneda
Three people found dead in Kobe home
U.S. approves sale of advanced air-to-air missiles to Japan
Biden honors Mitsuye Endo, who fought WWII incarceration

BUSINESS

Yasushi Dozen, chief investment officer at Kepple
Japan's ¥10 trillion startup investment target more improbable than ever
By Kazuaki Nagata
Investors and startup supporters say Japan is still in the seed-planting phase of startup development and must address some structural issues.
A 2024 Toyota Prius Prime during the 2024 New York International Auto Show in New York last March
U.S. new car sales rose to five-year high in 2024, helped by hybrids
Sales continued to rise from their pandemic lows, bolstered by replenished inventories, higher incentives and surging demand for hybrid vehicles.
Meiji Yasuda girds to be more daring in global M&A hunt
By Nao Sano
Brooklyn brewers take on sake, America's new hip tipple
By Elizabeth Beattie
Biden to block U.S. Steel sale to Nippon Steel, source says
Uniqlo and 7-Eleven face sales headwinds despite brighter consumer spending
By Reina Sasaki and Harshita Swaminathan

WORLD

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a U.N. Security Council session at U.N. headquarters in New York on Dec. 19.
Top U.S. diplomat to visit South Korea with eye on political crisis
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will also visit Tokyo, where he will hold talks with Japanese officials on Monday and Tuesday.
Police officers on Bourbon Street, hours after a man drove a pickup truck into people in the French Quarter of New Orleans, on Wednesday.
How the Islamic State radicalizes people today
By Alissa J. Rubin
On New Year’s Day, a man with an Islamic State group flag killed at least 14 people when he drove into a crowd in New Orleans.
Wounded Ukrainian soldiers find solace in Greek monasteries
By Alexandros Avramidis
Biden to ban new oil drilling over vast stretch of U.S. Atlantic and Pacific waters
By Jennifer A Dlouhy
Do you believe in life after death? These scientists study it.
By Saskia Solomon
Are Russian sanctions working? Debate takes new urgency with Trump.
By Patricia Cohen

Sports

Ami Yuasa won the B-Girl competition during the breaking event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Breaking’s big year that wasn’t
By Jonathan Abrams
Beyond music insiders or Olympic aficionados, most would struggle to recall the winners of the inaugural breaking competition at the Games.
Iga Swiatek carries Poland into United Cup semifinals
Luke Littler beats 'The Bullet' to reach World Darts Championship final
Manchester City's Bernardo Silva says Premier League title no longer within reach
Tragedy in New Orleans casts somber mood over Sugar Bowl

Opinion

Then-economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura marks the opening of the carbon credit market at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 2023. The GX League, which includes the emissions trading system, already covers over half of Japan’s emissions.
Japan poised to lead in a brighter carbon market era
Phil Cohn
The patchy, voluntary nature of carbon markets around the world is finally changing after world leaders agreed to a new system for trading emissions reductions across borders.
AI has not yet destroyed democracy
By Sergei Guriev
The olive oil crisis is over — but fears continue to linger
By Javier Blas
We need energy for AI, and AI for energy
By Eric Schmidt
Hope for the economy in 2025, but dangers loom

ENVIRONMENT

People cover themselves with umbrellas during a hot summer day in Tokyo's Ginza district in August. Temperatures shot up in early July, even before the official end of the rainy season, and the high temperatures persisted well into the fall.
Japan’s weather in 2024: Record temperatures hurt people’s health and wallets
By Tomoko Otake
Average temperatures across the nation and surrounding seas exceeded last year’s record-breaking levels "by a significant margin," affecting everything from well-being to farming.
Great things can grow in small places
By Laura Pollacco
After a year of hard climate talks, ‘minilateralism’ is an alternative
By Aaron Clark
Is Japan finally ready to tap its abundant geothermal energy potential?
By Eric Johnston
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
By Anton L. Delgado

CULTURE

Ian Lynam's "Fracture" is the result of 15 years of research and production and excavates 100 years of Japanese graphic design history from the Meiji (1868-1912) to Showa eras (1926-89).
‘Fracture’ dissects 100 years of Japanese graphic design
By Ray Masaki
Ian Lynam puts his kaleidoscopic expertise to work examining Japanese graphic design from an internationalist and feminist perspective.
'Emilia Perez' heads into Golden Globes as strong favorite
By Romain FONSEGRIVES
The bond between the Japanese and animals as seen in ukiyo-e
By Aiko Imaizumi
Toru Fuyuki, composer of 'Ultraseven' theme song, dies at 89
Still sounding young at 85, Midori Kato is the voice of old Japan
By Motoko Rich and Hisako Ueno

LIFE

Incorporating modern technologies into your Japanese classes might be a way to connect with younger students.
Start the new year with a fresh approach to teaching Japanese
By Yaeko Kabe
It’s important for language instructors to update their methods to best appeal to their younger students.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake
By Kathryn Wortley
Architect Sou Fujimoto says his 'Grand Ring' will be a symbol of unity at the Osaka Expo
By Natsuko Fukue
From Michelin stardom to humble meals, Tokyo dining had an eclectic 2024
By Robbie Swinnerton
How Hokkaido quietly became a culinary treasure trove in 2024
By Simon Daly

COMMUNITY

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.
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
Seven strangers and an algorithm: Can this new dinner app help you make friends?
By Phoebe Amoroso

Editors' Picks

LIFE
Traveling for sake's sake: The emergence of brewery tourism in Japan
By Yukana Inoue
Tonoike Sake Brewery has been gearing their brewery toward tourism since the late 1980s, attempting to lure tourists to the town of Mashiko.
CULTURE
Guitarist Marty Friedman goes to bat for J-pop in new autobiography
By Philip Brasor
One of the themes in American guitarist Marty Friedman’s autobiography “Dreaming Japanese” is that while he has become a star in his own right in Japan, he still feels that he doesn’t “belong.”
SUMO
Sumo’s brotherhood gets latest inductee
By John Gunning
Chugo Saito at Isenoumi stable on Friday. Saito has joined his older brother, Seigo, at the stable.
JAPAN
A year after a deadly earthquake, Noto Peninsula still faces long road to recovery
By Alex K.T. Martin
Photos taken from the same place but at different times in the Noto Peninsula towns of Wajima (left) and Suzu illustrate the progress made following the devastating earthquake that hit these areas of Ishikawa Prefecture on Jan. 1, 2024.
BUSINESS
Japan’s go-slow approach to selling high-speed rail globally
By Kazuaki Nagata
At 60, the shinkansen has been mostly stuck in Japan, with only one system ever sold overseas.

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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WHAT’S TRENDING

ASIA PACIFIC
The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
By Claire Lee
Riot police march in front of the main building of Ssangyong Motor in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on Aug. 6, 2009.
LIFE
Japan’s ‘quiet revolution’ of luxury travel nears fruition
By Tan Pin Yen
Scheduled to welcome its first guests in early 2025, the Waldorf Astoria Osaka is just one of many luxury hotel openings Japan has seen in recent months.
BUSINESS
Japanese chip industry poised for a comeback
An attendee looks at a prototype of a 2-nanometer gate-all-around wafer produced by Rapidus and International Business Machines Corp. at the Semicon Japan exhibition in Tokyo in December.
JAPAN
Three people found dead in Kobe home
Two people who were found Thursday in their relative's home in the city of Kobe had sustained wounds like they had been beaten.
BUSINESS
Nippon Steel rejection shows national security means whatever you want
By Eric Martin
An entrance sign for Nippon Steel's East Nippon Works Kashima Area facility is pictured in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, last month.