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With the aim of bolstering its customer base, SBI Holdings introduced a commission-free service starting Saturday amid growing interest in investing thanks to government efforts to persuade people to shift household assets from cash and savings to investments.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 2, 2023

Zero-commission services intensify brokerage competition in Japan

SBI Holding's decision to scrap commission fees for domestic stock trading threatens to undercut the brokerage industry's profitability.
North Korea's Kim Il Gyong competes in the women's weightlifting 59-kg division at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, on Monday.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 3, 2023

North Korean weightlifters continue Asian Games domination

The performances of the North Koreans on Monday, which included another world record and two golds, shocked some of their competitors in Hangzhou.
The World Trade Organization logo in Geneva
WORLD / Politics
Oct 3, 2023

At WTO, disregard for trade rules shows world is fragmenting

The WTO has warned a "polycrisis" of pandemic, war in Ukraine and inflation is sapping faith in globalization.
Central to China’s global media campaign is the aggressive use of new technologies to target and spread messages, silence critics and create a digital infrastructure that is more easily controlled.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2023

Pushing back against China’s media offensive

China is using propaganda, disinformation, censorship and covert tactics to promote its preferred narrative and suppress critical reporting.
LeanIn.Org founder Sheryl Sandberg
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 5, 2023

Women are asking for promotions, but men keep getting them

Women want to be leaders in the workplace, but employers are still passing them by in favor of their male counterparts.
Buildings in Xiamen, China, seen from Kinmen, Taiwan
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 6, 2023

Even China's closest supporters in Taiwan are turning wary

The shifting attitudes reflect a generational change, with younger people wanting to protect freedom and democracy.
The Safran logo outside the company's headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 6, 2023

Hunt for suspect jet engine parts spurs call for regulation

False documentation could allow the sale of old or unsafe aircraft parts as new, raising safety concerns
Fumiyuki Kinsu (left) and Shun Sato are the driving forces behind Censu's wine-loving approach to Japanese cuisine.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 8, 2023

Censu: An izakaya where wine outshines beer and sake

Censu’s eclectic cuisine is rooted in Japanese culinary vernacular but takes in the breadth of chef Shun Sato’s diverse experiences abroad.
Over four days in September, Japan Soca Weekend brought together the Tokyo area's Caribbean community for dance parties, outdoor blowouts and a crowning Carnival festival on a racetrack in Chiba.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Oct 10, 2023

‘Peak happiness’ at the first Japan Caribbean Carnival

For Japan’s Caribbean community, Carnival provides a deep sense of community and offers a cure for homesickness.
Images of French scientist Jean-Michel Claverie and work by his research team from Information Genomique et Structurale at Aix-Marseille University, France
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 10, 2023

Probing the permafrost that could release 50,000-year-old viruses

Discoveries by virologist Jean-Michel Claverie shine a light on a little-known risk of global warming as it thaws ground frozen for millenniums
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi has worked to make sure all the Springboks have a voice on the pitch.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 13, 2023

South Africa benefiting from Siya Kolisi's leadership at World Cup

"I think what sets Siya aside from other leaders is how he includes everyone's opinions in the team," center Jesse Kriel explained.
Various aspects of Japan’s Sado Island — noh, taiko drumming, business investment and cultural regeneration projects — weave their way into “L’ile d’Or Kanemu-Jima,” with characters and cultures coming together in a melting pot of real-world political problems, theater styles and dark humor.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 20, 2023

Cultures collide in Ariane Mnouchkine's Sado Island-inspired play

The Kyoto Prize-winning French theater director's latest production, "L’ile d’Or Kanemu-Jima," draws from her experiences in Japan, both old and new.
Tourists enjoy the sunset at Bali's Canggu beach in 2021.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 19, 2023

In Bali, 'sea-sun-sand' tourists threaten ancient rainforest

The island seeks to limit visitors without scaring off too many job-creating visitors with exorbitant taxes.
Kanata Kimoto had his womb and ovaries removed in Thailand when he was 24, so he could have his legal gender status changed. Now he questions whether such an invasive and costly procedure was necessary.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 22, 2023

Calls grow to abolish Japan's surgery requirement for gender change

Between 2004 and 2022, a total of 11,919 people had their gender changed through the law in Japan.
The Tokyo District Court
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 20, 2023

American man found not guilty over killing of wife at Tokyo courthouse

The ruling said the man couldn’t be held accountable because he was suffering from schizophrenia when he killed his wife in 2019.
Swiss People's Party (SVP) leader Marco Chiesa (left) smiles next to the president of The Center (Die Mitte) Swiss political party Gerhard Pfister prior to a TV interview in Bern on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 23, 2023

Switzerland’s right-wing party soars on immigration concerns

The SVP — as the People's Party is known by its German acronym — won 28.6% of votes, up from 25.6% four years ago.
A photo of Henry Li and his husband, Edgar Ng, hangs on a wall in their apartment at Ma On Shan in Hong Kong.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Oct 25, 2023

Hope and heartbreak after Hong Kong court decision on LGBTQ partnerships

The LGBTQ community has seen incremental legal victories, but same-sex marriage remains out of reach.
A symposium to promote organ transplants is held in Sapporo in October 2022.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 25, 2023

Total transplants from brain-dead donors near 1,000 after 26 years

Less than 3% of patients waiting for organ transplants have received transplants, as Japan still faces a serious shortage of organ donors.
Lawyers Kazuyuki Minami (left) and Masafumi Yoshida (right) representing a transgender woman show off signs that say "unconstitutional" and "sent back" to a lower court, during a news conference Wednesday in Tokyo after a Supreme Court decision.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 25, 2023

Supreme Court hands down landmark decision on transgender rights

A law requiring sterilization surgery to change a person's legal gender has been declared “unconstitutional."
Two Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter jets (bottom) fly in formation with a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber as part of a joint exercise with the United States and South Korea in airspace near Kyushu on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 25, 2023

U.S., Japan and South Korea cooperation reaches new heights with aerial drill

While some view the move as signaling a "new era" in security ties, questions remain as to how long the current political momentum will hold
Nomura's majority-owned joint venture in China has struggled to grow since its launch in 2019.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 26, 2023

Nomura reviews business plan for mainland China as losses rise

The move comes as a further blow to the top Japanese investment bank's global expansion strategy.
Hawks pitcher Joe Stanka (left) and Tigers pitcher Gene Bacque meet at the Kobe Oriental Hotel on Oct. 7,1964.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Oct 26, 2023

All-Kansai Japan Series offers new chance to remember foreign aces

The 1964 Japan Series featured two of the best foreign pitchers in Japanese baseball history.
The simplest option for many Japanese industries facing labor shortages might be to do what the taxi sector is doing — keep people in the workforce longer.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 26, 2023

Octogenarian taxi drivers to the labor-crunch rescue

An option for many Japanese industries facing labor shortages might be to do what the taxi sector is doing — keep people in the workforce longer.
A banner at the entrance to Shibuya’s Center Street makes it clear this is no place for a party.
PODCAST / deep dive
Oct 26, 2023

The specter of Itaewon has Shibuya spooked

One year on, Elizabeth Beattie joins us to discuss where Itaewon stands after its Halloween disaster, and what its legacy means for celebrations in Japan.
The Kyoto District Court, where hearings are being held in a 2019 arson case that left 36 Kyoto Animation employees dead.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 27, 2023

Delusion led suspect to attack KyoAni studio, doctor tells court

The assessment contrast with that of another doctor, who said the suspect's delusion had almost no influence in the attack.
South African rugby supporters celebrate the team's World Cup triumph, in Johannesburg on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 29, 2023

Ecstatic South Africans celebrate Rugby World Cup glory

Supporters of the national rugby team drank beers, waved flags and partied until the early hours in a wave of jubilation that swept the country.
A judge has decided to evict former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn from his residence in the Lebanese capital, a judicial source has said, about four years after an investment firm accused him of "trespassing."
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2023

Lebanon court orders Carlos Ghosn out of Beirut home

Phoinos Investment, to which the home in the Lebanese capital is registered, has accused the former Nissan boss of "trespassing."
Japan Coast Guard Commandant Shohei Ishii (on screen) makes a speech at the opening ceremony of the Coast Guard Global Summit in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 31, 2023

Coast guard leaders from over 100 nations gather at Tokyo summit

The two-day talks from Tuesday are set to focus on building a framework for international cooperation in maritime security.
A crowded crossing near Shibuya Station in Tokyo on Tuesday
JAPAN / Society
Nov 1, 2023

Shibuya Halloween passes without fuss following ‘don’t come’ message

Shibuya's mayor has expressed satisfaction with the reduction in crowds and public drinking this year.
The civil case centers on whether a foreign national in a same-sex partnership with a Japanese citizen should be granted “long-term resident status,” which allows residency for up to five years in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 2, 2023

Tokyo High Court rejects same-sex couple's residence status lawsuit

The civil case centers on whether a foreign national in a same-sex partnership with a Japanese citizen should be granted “long-term resident status.”

Longform

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