author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 21, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Karin Kaneko
A screen grab from video footage taken by an eyewitness shows three masked suspects fleeing a Rolex specialty store in Tokyo's Ginza district in May.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 25, 2023
18-year-old Ginza robbery suspect gets 4½ years in prison
It was ruled that Shoma Torii bears serious criminal responsibility, since he went ahead with the heist even after he was informed it was a robbery.
Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki (right) visits a refrigeration facility in Monbetsu, Hokkaido, where returned stocks of scallops are piling up, on Sept. 14.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2023
Hokkaido seafood piles up in freezers following China ban
Scallops and other products are amassing in freezers at processing facilities in the prefecture, costing businesses more for storage.
Visitors climb the slopes of Mount Fuji on Aug. 31. The mountain has long been a popular destination for both domestic and international travelers.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 17, 2023
Tourists have returned to Mount Fuji. Is that sustainable?
A spike in visitors has created various challenges, including overcrowding, littering, strained infrastructure and a shortage of guides and rescue teams.
The incoming and outgoing presidents of Johnny & Associates, Noriyuki Higashiyama and Julie Keiko Fujishima, bow at a press conference on Sept. 7.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 14, 2023
Johnny’s talent agency has admitted to a past of abuse. What next?
Karin Kaneko joins the show to update us on how the story is unfolding.
The headquarters of Johnny & Associates in Tokyo's Minato Ward
JAPAN / Society
Sep 14, 2023
Johnny's says it will work for free as firms cut ties over scandal
The talent agency says it will not receive management fees for advertisements and television appearances by performers for a year.
Former Johnny & Associates performer Kauan Okamoto, who publicly accused Johnny Kitagawa of sexually abusing him after a BBC documentary on the Johnny & Associates founder in March, sheds tears during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 8, 2023
Kauan Okamoto finds some closure after recognition of Kitagawa abuse
“I felt a bit better. There’s nothing more I want to say to Johnny & Associates,” Okamoto said.
Julie Keiko Fujishima (right), who stepped down as Johnny & Associates president on Tuesday, and new President Noriyuki Higashiyama give a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 7, 2023
Johnny's replaces president as it admits to abuse by late founder
The replacement comes on the heels of a scathing third-party report, which recommended that Julie Keiko Fujishima resign as president.
Visitors at the Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo on Aug. 25
JAPAN / Society
Sep 1, 2023
China banned seafood from Japan. Some tourists are eating it in Tokyo.
Travelers from China seem largely unfazed despite the ban, with many local seafood restaurants seeing little impact so far.
A monitor displays a news report about the death of Johnny Kitagawa in July 2019.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 30, 2023
Media respond to report on sexual abuse at Johnny and Associates
The committee said Japan's mainstream media chose to ignore Kitagawa’s sexual abuse in order to maintain access to Johnny & Associates' talent pool.
Former Prosecutor-General Makoto Hayashi (center) and two other experts speak about their investigation into Johnny Kitagawa's sexual abuse allegations, in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 29, 2023
Expert team reports on decades of sexual abuse by Johnny Kitagawa
The team urged Johnny & Associates President Julie Keiko Fujishima to step down after the family-run business left the issue unaddressed for decades.
Runa Tamura is taken from the Hokkaido Prefectural Police headquarters in the city to be referred to prosecutors on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 16, 2023
Woman and parents sent to prosecutors over Sapporo hotel murder
Authorities believe that Runa Tamura was the only one present at the crime scene, while her parents are suspected of being accomplices.
Officials of the Meteorological Agency ask people to be vigilant about Typhoon Lan, during a news conference at the agency in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN
Aug 14, 2023
Japan braces for another typhoon as trains and flights canceled
Typhoon Lan is poised to make landfall in central Japan on Tuesday, with the storm set to bring a month’s worth of rain in just a few days.
The streets of Kagoshima city on Wednesday amid strong winds from Typhoon Khanun.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 9, 2023
Japan prefectures drift away from posting disaster warnings on X
A growing number of prefectures have stopped posting disaster warnings on the platform due to limits on the number of free posts allowed.
Two members of the five-member U.N. Working Group on Business and Human Rights speak with reporters Friday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 4, 2023
U.N. experts criticize Johnny’s sex abuse investigation
The experts called on the government to do more to investigate decades of suspected abuse against male idols by Johnny Kitagawa.
A conveyor belt sushi restaurant chain uses a light emitting ultraviolet rays to kill the coronavirus in 2020.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 2, 2023
Sushi chain drops suit against teen over prank video
“The customer has admitted his responsibility and we have reached a settlement with reasonable details that are acceptable to us,” a spokesperson said.
Throughout July, temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius, classified as “extremely hot days,” were recorded at 2,435 locations, making it the second-highest count for the month since the Meteorological Agency began keeping such records in 2012.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2023
July in Japan saw second-highest number of days over 35 C for the month
Temperatures above 35 C were recorded at 2,435 locations, with climate change and El Nino contributing to scorching heat.
Pedestrians outside a Seibu department store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district in April
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 31, 2023
Seven & I struggles to sell slumping Sogo & Seibu department stores
The holdup is centered around the flagship Seibu department store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, with the local government expressing rare opposition.
The population of Japanese nationals fell 801,000 in 2022 from a year earlier to 122,423,038, marking the largest drop since the survey began in 1968, government data showed Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2023
Number of Japanese drops in all 47 prefectures for first time as foreign population surges
As of Jan. 1, Japan's population, including foreign residents, stood at 125,416,877, down around 511,000 from a year earlier.
A group of individuals that allege sexual abuse by Johnny Kitagawa was first established on June 26.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2023
U.N. experts to probe Johnny Kitagawa's alleged abuse in Japan
The group will gather its findings and present a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in June next year.
Officials in the municipality of Daito, in Osaka, speak at a news conference on Wednesday regarding a case in which a mother is suspected of starving her daughter, hospitalizing her and claiming insurance payments.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 20, 2023
Mother in Osaka arrested for starving daughter and claiming insurance money
Investigators believe Kasumi Nawata regularly starved her daughter, hospitalizing her 43 times for a total of 332 days since spring 2018.
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

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’
SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER