author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 21, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Kathleen Benoza
A vehicle crashes into a barricade in front of the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 22, 2024
Police drew guns at man who set minivan on fire at Prime Minister's Office
The 49-year-old suspect also threw Molotov cocktails at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters on Saturday before driving to the Prime Minister's Office.
Claudio Worm, a German university student who came to Japan on a sightseeing trip on Sept. 21, has gone missing in Wakayama Prefecture.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2024
German tourist goes missing in Wakayama
Claudio Worm, 21, was last seen in Tokyo before heading to Wakayama on Sept. 30. His family last heard from him on Oct. 10.
About 82% of all toilets in Japan have electric bidet toilet seats, with nearly all homes with flushing toilets having them installed.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 21, 2024
78% of electric bidet toilet accidents involve older models, report finds
Japan's product safety watchdog emphasizes the ubiquitous appliance's limited lifespan and advises users to regularly conduct safety checks to prevent mishaps.
Police officers remove a vehicle that crashed into a barricade outside the Prime Minister's Office in central Tokyo on Saturday after a man threw Molotov cocktail-like objects outside the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters and later drove into the barricade.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 20, 2024
More details emerge about suspect in attack at LDP headquarters
The suspect was sent to prosecutors on Sunday, although his motives for the attack remain unclear.
Empress Emerita Michiko and her husband, Emperor Emeritus Akihito, stroll around the Akasaka Imperial Palace grounds in Tokyo this month.
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2024
Japan's Empress Emerita Michiko turns 90
The former empress sustained a fractured right femur after a fall at the palace on Oct. 6 and later underwent surgery at the University of Tokyo Hospital.
Police discovered the body of a 75-year-old man in his home in Aoba Ward, Yokohama, on Wednesday and are investigating the case for any connections to a string of robberies in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 17, 2024
Robberies in Kanto region may be linked to 'dark' part-time jobs
Because similar methods were used in the break-ins, police are probing whether the cases are connected.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency is responsible for most of Japan's overseas aid known as official development assistance.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 16, 2024
JICA staffer suspected of leaking info on Philippines railway project
The employee is thought to have intended to secure a contractor in advance to prevent delays to the ¥38.1 billion project.
Over the past 10 years, the athletic performance of women in their 40s showed a decline in the total score as well as in individual categories, according to the Japan Sports Agency.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 15, 2024
40% of Japanese women in their 30s and early 40s don't exercise at all
The trend reflects the fact that women in this age group tend to be busy with child rearing or work, according to the Japan Sports Agency.
A U.S. military helicopter made an emergency landing on a beach in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2024
U.S. helicopter makes emergency landing on Chigasaki beach
Around noon, a report was received through the fire department that a U.S. helicopter made a “precautionary landing” on a beach in the city.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (center) ahead of an extraordinary Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2024
Ishiba dissolves Lower House for snap election
The new prime minister has stressed the importance of winning a mandate from the public following his LDP leadership victory late last month.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has floated an idea of creating an Asian version of the NATO security framework.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 8, 2024
Ishiba's 'Asian NATO' dead on arrival as new PM set for diplomatic debut
Many Asian countries maintain delicate ties with China, making the creation of any defense group aimed at countering Beijing's influence difficult.
A damaged road in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 6, after a major earthquake struck the area on New Year's Day
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / OUR PLANET
Oct 6, 2024
Important tool or alarmism? Japan experts split on megaquake advisories.
Supporters say the advisories are about reducing risk, but critics see a system that isn’t based on science and one in which the cons outweigh the pros.
Newly appointed Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya speaks during his first news conference as Japan's top diplomat at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 3, 2024
Japan's new top diplomat calls 'Asian NATO' an idea for the future
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya hinted that such a grouping would be open to all countries and partners in the region — including rivals such as China.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, 66, has experience as the onetime head of Japan’s former Defense Agency before it became a full-fledged ministry and is seen as a pair of steady hands.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 2, 2024
Ishiba looks to 'defense tribe' to fill key Cabinet positions
The new prime minister has named four former defense ministers to key posts — most notably, the defense and foreign affairs portfolios.
The deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu is docked at the Port of Shimizu on Sept. 5 ahead of a 106-day expedition by researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 2, 2024
Japan's deep-sea vessel digs for answers to 2011 earthquake
In a hundred-day expedition, scientists aboard the Chikyu aim to piece together the earthquake's story and assess the potential for another temblor to be triggered.
Shigeru Ishiba, newly elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, speaks at a news conference after winning the party's leadership election in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2024
Ishiba's foreign policy vision to face immediate tests as he takes helm
The new Japanese leader will be greeted immediately with the challenge of reining in escalating regional tensions and building up the U.S. alliance.
Troops from the Ground Self-Defense Force take part in the 05JX military exercises on the island of Tokunoshima in Kagoshima Prefecture last November. While Japan's overall ranking in the 2024 Asia Power Index dropped, it scored improvements in the defense and security sphere.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2024
Japan falls behind India to No. 4 in new Asia power survey
The 2024 Asia Power Index highlights shifting power dynamics in the region, with the U.S. still dominant but facing rising military pressure from China.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden meet at Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 22, 2024
Biden and Kishida affirm strong ties ahead of leadership transition in both nations
The leaders agreed to "advance cooperation" on a range of security, economic and diplomatic issues as both leaders prepare to leave office.
A stranded car is seen on a mud-covered road following heavy rain in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2024
Six dead and six more missing after 'unprecedented' rains in quake-hit Ishikawa
Authorities called for continued vigilance due to the risk of landslides and flooding in rivers and low-lying areas.
The street where a 10-year-old boy is said to have been stabbed with a knife, on Thursday in Shenzhen in southern China.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2024
Japanese school student stabbed in Shenzhen dies
The assault echoes an earlier incident of violence in June, when a man attacked a bus used by a Japanese school in Suzhou, China.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER