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February 28, 2025
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February 28, 2025
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Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida concludes a news conference at the company's headquarters in Yokohama in February.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nissan management shake-up plans reported as sharks circle  
By Kazuaki Nagata
Nissan is considering a change in leadership following poor results and the failure of a proposed merger with Honda, according to a report citing unnamed sources.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida concludes a news conference at the company's headquarters in Yokohama in February.
A wildfire spreads in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Wednesday, prompting authorities to order more than 2,000 people to be evacuated.
JAPAN
At least one dead, 84 homes destroyed in Iwate Prefecture wildfire
By Yukana Inoue
This is the third wildfire in Iwate Prefecture in the past week, as dry weather continues.
The number of newborns in 2024 fell 5% from the previous year to 720,988, extending a nine-year streak of declines, according to preliminary population data released Thursday by the health ministry.
JAPAN
Japan records fewest births on record, deepening demographic crisis
By Erica Yokoyama
The number of newborns in 2024 fell 5% from the previous year to 720,988, extending a nine-year streak of declines.
Itochu dropping its Seven & I Holdings buyout plan would place Alimentation Couche-Tard’s offer back in the limelight.
BUSINESS / Companies
Itochu drops Seven & I buyout, putting Couche-Tard back in limelight
By Elizabeth Beattie
An individual with an understanding of the deal said Itochu and Seven & I lacked synergy to justify the deal.
A Chinese H-6 bomber flies between Okinawa’s main island and Miyako Island in October 2013. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that Japan must strengthen its defenses in case of a Taiwan contingency.
COMMENTARY / Japan
As Ukraine endgame intensifies, don’t forget Taiwan
Edo Naito
The scale of China’s air and naval exercises around Taiwan has grown from fewer than a dozen planes and ships a few years ago to over 250 in the December exercise alone.
A Chinese H-6 bomber flies between Okinawa’s main island and Miyako Island in October 2013. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that Japan must strengthen its defenses in case of a Taiwan contingency.

JAPAN

A rendering of a next-generation, high-speed landing craft for the Self-Defense Forces to be built by Japan Marine United and British-based maritime design and consultancy firm BMT
In rare move, Japan to jointly develop and design SDF landing craft with U.K.
By Gabriel Dominguez
Japan Marine United and Britain's BMT have secured a multimillion-dollar contract to build the next-generation, high-speed vessels for the SDF.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski urges U.S. partners and allied nations to follow his country's example and increase military expenditure and preparedness.
Poland’s top diplomat calls on U.S. allies to spend more on defense
By Gabriel Dominguez
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski touts the example of Warsaw whose defense spending is set to rise to 4.7% of gross domestic product this year.
Prince Hisahito's Coming of Age ceremony set for Sept. 6
Imprisoned man arrested over dismembered body in Shiga Prefecture
Mizuho Bank confirms ¥66 million stolen from safe deposit boxes
Settlement reached in female pro-wrestler sexual harassment case
By Karin Kaneko

BUSINESS

Global sales, including that of subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors, rose 2% from a year ago to 846,744 units, a record for the month of January, Toyota Motor said Thursday.
Toyota’s domestic sales rebound as it recovers from scandals
By Nicholas Takahashi
Despite unease in major markets and a dip in quarterly profit, Toyota raised its annual profit guidance for the fiscal year ending in March.
Japanese nominal wages rose at the fastest pace in nearly three decades according to data out this month, and GDP figures showed Japan’s economy outperformed forecasts.
Yen traders raise focus on Japanese data as economy shifts gears
By Mia Glass and Masaki Kondo
The news marks a mindset change since the Bank of Japan ended its negative-rates policy last March.
Japan Post plans sale of $4.2 billion stake in banking unit
By Yasutaka Tamura
Japan's metal worker unions demand record pay hike
By Erica Yokoyama
Eyeglass company Jins' new device lets people use a PC via head movements
Father-son feud plunges Singapore’s richest clan into crisis
By Low De Wei, Yoojung Lee and Bernadette Toh

WORLD

U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Trump declines to say if U.S. would protect Taiwan from Chinese invasion
By Jesse Johnson
Trump's refusal to comment stood in stark contrast to his predecessor, Joe Biden, who repeatedly hinted that Washington would come to Taipei’s aid.
Tech mogul Elon Musk speaks during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first Cabinet meeting in the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Musk’s Cabinet cameo: The elephant in the room wore black
By Shawn McCreesh
The billionaire tech mogul spoke far more than anyone else, other than the U.S. president, attempting to manage both up and down at the same time.
'Contemplated suicide': Ethiopians recount horror of Southeast Asia scam centers
By Rose TROUP BUCHANAN
The 'new silent ones': Opponents lie low in Russia
North Korea has deployed more troops to Russia: Seoul
By Kang Jin-kyu
Starmer tries to buy Ukraine time with Trump security pitch
By Alex Wickham and Ellen Milligan

Sports

Nadeshiko Japan captain Saki Kumagai celebrates after a goal against the United States during the SheBelieves Cup final in San Diego on Wednesday.
Nadeshiko Japan defeats United States to capture first SheBelieves Cup title
Japan won the title for the first time after goals by Toko Koga and Yuka Momiki.
Six-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA great Diana Taurasi retires
McLaren's Lando Norris sets tone on first day of F1 testing
World Boxing looks toward Olympics after provisional recognition from IOC
Packers GM supports effort to ban tush push

Opinion

French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump meet at the White House on Monday. The French leader has been forced to appease Trump knowing Europe is unprepared to defend itself without U.S. support.
America is turning its alliances into a protection racket
Marc Champion
Trump has no compunction in using his leverage as a global security provider for extortion of allies.
American democracy will weather the Trumpist storm
By Satoshi Machidori
Without America, ‘the West’ will splinter, wither and die
By Andreas Kluth and James Gibney
Far right lurks in the shadow of Germany's coalition dilemma
By Thomas O. Falk
Something is rotten in Canada
By Robert Burgess

ENVIRONMENT

U.S. government scientists participating in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were issued a stop-work order from the Trump administration, according to media reports.
Trump creates uncertainty for world’s most cited climate report
By Eric Roston and Sheryl Tian Tong Lee
The U.S. absence comes amid broader cuts to research funding and a retreat from climate diplomacy under the Trump administration.
Japan adopts bill obliging firms' participation in emissions trading
Nations at odds over major U.N. climate science report
By Kelly Macnamara
Japan looks to save seafood and seaweed farming from warming oceans
By Joel Tansey
'What would you have us do?': The plastic credits problem
By Sara Hussein

CULTURE

Journalist and filmmaker Shiori Ito made the documentary “Black Box Diaries” about her years-long battle to find justice following her sexual assault.
Oscar-nominated documentaries put Japan under the microscope
By Mark Schilling
Shiori Ito’s “Black Box Diaries” and Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s “Instruments of a Beating Heart” both mark firsts in their respective categories.
Actor Gene Hackman and wife found dead alongside dog at home
When anime meets drag: The manga-inspired world of Rock M. Sakura
By Kat Joplin
Vatican thriller 'Conclave' wins top prize in SAG Awards upset
By Andrew Marszal
Japanese movies win accolades at Berlin International Film Festival

LIFE

These larger than life meatballs are inspired by the stuffed meatballs found in Iran's Tabriz Bazaar.
Cold with a chance of kimchi meatballs
By Simon Daly
Warm up with a comforting hot pot of ground meat stuffed with the Korean fermented vegetable.
Japan struggles to fend off a world without enough matcha
By Cat Kerr
Bear skulls and pit dwellings: Hokkaido aims to sell ancient history
By Justin Randall
Shimane and Tottori to bewitch tourists with supernatural charms
By Zoria Petkoska
Attempting the classics: Deciphering impermanence in ‘Hojoki’
By Eric Margolis

COMMUNITY

David Moreton, a former professor at Tokushima University, originally came to Japan as a missionary in 1988. He is now one of the world’s foremost experts on the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage.
How a Canadian missionary found spiritual transformation in Shikoku
By Suzanne Kamata
David Moreton has devoted decades to researching southern Japan’s famed 88-temple pilgrimage, established by influential monk Kobo Daishi.
Mike Sunda: ‘Creative production comes with a bigger responsibility than ever before’
By Mike Fu
Black History Month in 2025: The boundaries between 'us' and 'them'
By Baye McNeil
John Davis: ‘At its core, indie is about creative freedom’
By Gendel Gento
Home away from home: My first time at a Tet festival in Japan
By Nguyen Bao Anh

Editors' Picks

CULTURE
Oscar-nominated documentaries put Japan under the microscope
By Mark Schilling
Journalist and filmmaker Shiori Ito made the documentary “Black Box Diaries” about her years-long battle to find justice following her sexual assault.
CULTURE
Jose Ando's rapid rise from first pages to the Akutagawa Prize
By Eric Margolis
Jose Ando purposefully wrote his Akutagawa Prize-winning novel “Dtopia” to be accessible to an audience beyond Japan and to spark conversations about race, gender and the effects of modern entertainment.
ASIA PACIFIC
Standoff in the skies: Witnessing an unsafe intercept over the South China Sea
By Gabriel Dominguez
A Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy helicopter is seen from aboard a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) aircraft in the skies above Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Feb. 18.
JAPAN
About 70% of foreign nationals questioned by police on the streets: survey
By Karin Kaneko
Lawyers advising in a racial profiling case speak during a news conference on Wednesday in Tokyo.
SUMO
Latest sumo ranking sheet has plenty to catch the eye
By John Gunning
Hoshoryu holds up the latest "banzuke" sumo ranking chart in Osaka on Tuesday.

Podcast

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

Longform

The building of new high-rise residential buildings has some alarmed that they could empty and fall into disrepair as Japan's population shrinks.
The high cost of letting Japan's condos crumble
By Tomoko Otake

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WHAT’S TRENDING

JAPAN
Government partly responsible for 2015 river flooding, court finds
A man wades through a shopping area flooded by the Kinugawa river in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sept. 10, 2015.
BUSINESS
Apple to keep DEI efforts, though some adjustments possible
By Mark Gurman
An Apple store in Walnut Creek, California, on Monday. Apple Inc. Apple investors rejected a proposal to end the iPhone maker’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, but CEO Tim Cook some some adjustments may occur.
SUMO
Latest sumo ranking sheet has plenty to catch the eye
By John Gunning
Hoshoryu holds up the latest "banzuke" sumo ranking chart in Osaka on Tuesday.
JAPAN
About 70% of foreign nationals questioned by police on the streets: survey
By Karin Kaneko
Lawyers advising in a racial profiling case speak during a news conference on Wednesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Osaka University develops new method for pancreatic cancer testing
Researchers from Osaka University (center) have developed a new method to test for pancreatic cancer.