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JAPAN
Jan 11, 2023

Tokyo police's Twitter account for disaster info turns 10 years old

Tokyo police created the account after it became aware of the need to send out accurate information following the March 2011 major earthquake and tsunami.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 9, 2023

Second coming of once-banned conspiracy theorists after Twitter amnesty

Twitter has turned into what campaigners call a cesspool of misinformation, hate-filled conspiracies and racial slurs.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jan 2, 2023

Recruitment issues undermining Japan’s military buildup

The SDF faces an uphill battle as it struggles with a falling birthrate and increased competition with the private sector over a shrinking pool of applicants.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 31, 2022

COVID mutation risk drives rush to test travelers from China

The scenario echoes the pandemic's early days, when China was criticized for not releasing key genetic data on the virus until weeks after news of the new illness became public.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 29, 2022

Rising online crackdowns across Asia target citizens and Big Tech

During the COVID-19 lockdowns in Vietnam last year, blogger Bui Van Thuan took to Facebook to criticize a government's response. Days later, he was arrested.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Dec 26, 2022

Child care facilities struggle amid worker shortage and high staff turnover

In some cases, distressed child care centers have turned to private placement agencies, and have to pay high fees to secure workers.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 14, 2022

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University lets international students shape their world

Established in 2000, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, popularly known as APU, is a higher education facility in Beppu, Oita Prefecture. It boasts an enrollment of over 5,500, split closely between domestic and international students, the latter of whom have come from more than 103 countries and regions...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 13, 2022

Civil engineering with an unwavering philosophy

“Our company is 100 years old, but our corporate philosophy of ‘Sincerity, Positivity, Harmony’ can be traced back some 400 years as a precept of a samurai family,” Ohba & Co. President Shigeru Tsujimoto said in a recent interview with The Japan Times.
Japan Times
ESG CONSORTIUM
Dec 13, 2022

Suntory restores healthy forests to recharge clean natural water

“Today Birds, Tomorrow Humans.” This is the slogan created by Japanese beverage giant Suntory Holdings when it started bird conservation activities in 1973. It indicates that various environmental risks affecting wildlife will come to hurt people as well. The company initially established a bird...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 5, 2022

World’s biggest political party revs up unstoppable campaign machine for Narendra Modi

A local election has highlighted how India's BJP has morphed from a fringe group into the world's largest party with more than 180 million members.
The Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture. Brennon Washington was stationed at the base when he abducted a minor on Dec. 24, 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 13, 2024

U.S. serviceman sentenced over sexual assault of underage girl in Okinawa

Brennon Washington persuaded the girl to get into his car under the pretense of cooking and watching a movie together at his home. Once there, he assaulted her.
A McDonald's outlet in Kitakyushu where two teens were stabbed, one fatally, on Saturday. Police arrested a 43-year-old suspect on Thursday morning.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 19, 2024

43-year-old man arrested over Kitakyushu McDonald's stabbings

Two junior high school students were stabbed in the weekend attack, with one dying from her injuries.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda holds a news conference after a BOJ policy meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 19, 2024

Bank of Japan opts for caution as Trump factor and wage concerns weigh

Ueda said that it might take quite a while to fully assess Japan’s wage-growth trend and the impact of the economic policies of the Trump administration.
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Dec 21, 2024

The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem

Flowing more than 4,300 kilometers from the Tibetan Plateau to Vietnam, the Mekong River is the lifeblood of the region. It also faces a spiraling problem with plastic.
The rise of TikTok has drawn intense scrutiny, particularly over its links to China.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2024

One billion users, but controversies mount up for TikTok

In Washington, the platform has been accused of espionage, while the EU suspects it was used to sway Romania's presidential election in favor of a far-right candidate.
Workers retrieves tsunami buoy Thai 23461 in the Andaman Sea on Nov. 28.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 25, 2024

The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand

They form part of a warning system intended to ensure no disaster is as deadly as a huge December 2004 tsunami caused by an earthquake under the Indian Ocean.
Google new quantum computing chip Willow. Though the technology isn’t yet ready for widespread use, the competition to build error-free quantum computers is heating up, promising significant breakthroughs in the near future.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024

Google is pushing quantum computing closer to reality

The Willow chip should focus investor attention on an industry that has been quietly making great strides toward developing quantum machines with practical uses.
The danger of overreaction and misinformation in the digital age is real, and authorities must provide clear explanations to prevent tragedies while also addressing legitimate concerns about drones.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2024

How to make America's drone panic so very much worse

The weak and ineffective response of government authorities should serve as a lesson in exactly how not to handle such incidents in the digital age.
Katsumi Arase (left), head of the Central Council for Education, receives from State Minister of Education Arata Takebe a consultation document asking the panel to consider ways to give schools more discretion in setting their curriculum, at the education ministry on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 25, 2024

Japan eyes more discretion for schools in upcoming curriculum revision

A government panel has been tasked with considering ways to give schools more flexibility in determining class hours and content as part of the next curriculum revamp.
OnlyFans CEO Keily Blair gestures during the Axios BFD event in New York on Oct. 12, 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 30, 2024

How OnlyFans turned into a global empire bent on redefining porn

For all its ambition and influence, the inner workings of OnlyFans remain opaque.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks to Brendan Carr, his intended pick for Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as he attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 31, 2024

Social media companies face global tug-of-war over free speech

Trump’s return to the White House is expected to widen the free speech divide that has long existed between the United States and Europe.
DOPS Director Dr. Jim Tucker (back row, from left), David Acunzo, Marina Weiler, Philip Cozzolino (front row, from left) Marieta Pehlivanova and Elliot Gish, pose for a photo on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, on July 15. Is reincarnation real? Is communication from the "beyond” possible? A small set of academics are trying to find out, case by case.
WORLD / Society
Jan 4, 2025

Do you believe in life after death? These scientists study it.

Is reincarnation real? Is communication from the “beyond” possible? A small set of academics are trying to find out, case by case.
Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally near his official residence in Seoul on Friday morning. Right-wing YouTube​rs helped Yoon win his election. They are now his allies in the wake of his botched imposition of martial law.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 5, 2025

How fear and conspiracy theories fuel South Korea’s political crisis

Right-wing YouTube​rs helped President Yoon Suk Yeol​ win his election. They are now his allies in the wake of his botched imposition of martial law.
Alice Guo, a fugitive former mayor of Bamban, Philippines, arrives at a regional trial court in Valenzuela City, Metro Manila, in September.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2025

China takes aim at Philippine democracy

China has been stepping up its information operations globally, using the Philippines as a testing ground for tactics designed to propagate anti-American narratives.
Apollo Global Management is discussing a commitment of as much as ¥1.5 trillion for an equity stake in a bid by Seven & I’s founding Ito family to take the convenience store operator private.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 10, 2025

Apollo weighs $9.5 billion stake in Seven & I management buyout

Under the current proposal, Apollo would join the Ito family and Itochu, the operator of FamilyMart in Japan, as key investors.

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?