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Palestinians watch as an Israeli strike hits near houses in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2023

War and chaos are what Hamas and Iran really want

Israel must be stopped from expelling the Palestinians from Gaza as that would radicalize and destabilize the entire region.
Bottled and canned cocktails are predicted to be worth $21.1 billion (about ¥3 trillion) in the U.S. alone by 2027.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 31, 2023

Are canned cocktails poised for a meteoric U.S. rise?

The bottled and canned cocktail market is predicted to be worth $21.1 billion (about ¥3 trillion) in the U.S. alone by 2027.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign town hall in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on Dec. 14.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 26, 2023

Nikki Haley works to broaden reach as bid to beat Trump gains pace

Support for the Republican presidential contender has risen in opinion polls, but falls short among rural voters and those without college degrees.
The iconic structure with its shell-shaped roof at Bennelong Point in Sydney is a source of immense pride for many Australians.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 27, 2023

Yuzo Mikami: The unsung hero behind the Sydney Opera House

On the building's 50th anniversary, those with memories and knowledge of the Japanese architect say recognition of his achievements is long-overdue.
Tokyo prosecutors raid lawmaker Yoshitaka Ikeda's office in Nagoya on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2023

Prosecutors raid LDP lawmaker's home and offices over unreported funds

Prosecutors entered Yoshitaka Ikeda's Tokyo and Nagoya offices on suspicion that he violated the Political Funds Control Law.
Onosato (left) and Nishonoseki stablemaster display the rankings list on Monday for the upcoming New Year's Grand Sumo Tournament, during which the highly touted Onosato will make his top-division debut.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Dec 28, 2023

Who will grab the spotlight at sumo's first tourney of 2024?

Ozeki Kirishima has his sights set on the ultimate promotion, while debutant Onosato is looking to impress in his highly anticipated debut.
Public scrutiny is key to defending internet privacy amid growing calls by governments for more surveillance.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2023

Time to curb government internet surveillance

Democracies are often leading the internet surveillance charge, inadvertently paving the way for the world’s autocrats.
A woman points at a Glock handgun during the annual National Rifle Association convention in Dallas in 2018.
WORLD / Society
Dec 28, 2023

Gaston Glock, inventor of cult guns, dies at 94

His gun, wielded by police and outlaws alike, certainly made its mark worldwide, matched by few other weapons.
Reporters gather in front of the Upper House parliamentary building on Thursday in Tokyo. Prosecutors raided LDP lawmaker Yasutada Ono's office, which is located in the building, the same day.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 28, 2023

Second LDP member’s office raided over political funds scandal

Upper House member Yasutada Ono became the second lawmaker to have his offices searched by prosecutors in connection with the scandal.
Princess Kako speaks with Japanese Peruvians in Lima on Nov. 3 during an official visit to Peru.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2023

Japan's Princess Kako turns 29

The princess attended more events in the past year than before, reflecting the removal of COVID-19 pandemic-linked restrictions.
Salesforce headquarters in San Francisco.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 29, 2023

Software companies finally had to care about profit in 2023

The pressure was acute for money-losing companies.
As Japan's productivity declines due to the shrinking working-age population, policies that allow for everyone’s full participation in the labor force, especially women, are needed more than ever.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 29, 2023

A look back at Japan’s gender laws and fairness in 2023

Gender equality needs to improve to boost Japan’s prospects. What hits and missed opportunities will we remember from 2023?
Members meet for a United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine on July 17. Between the carnage in the Middle East and a permanent member of the Security Council waging a war of aggression against its neighbor, there is ample reason to doubt that a consensus on U.N. reform is reachable.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 31, 2023

The outlook for multilateralism in 2024

What matters most in the coming year is whether global issues can still be addressed simultaneously and in unison.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a meeting in Hanoi earlier this month.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 30, 2023

China plans strategy to challenge America’s global leadership

President Xi Jinping and other senior leaders pledged during a conference this week to raise China’s influence on world events "to a new level."
The Olympics Aquatics Centre under construction in Saint-Denis, near Paris, on Thursday
SPORTS
Dec 31, 2023

All roads lead to Paris in 2024 in world of sports

The first post-COVID Olympic Games loom large on the horizon, but the two-week extravaganza will merely be the centerpiece for another 12 months of compelling theater.
A colorful coral reef made out of wool to raise awareness about climate change, at a museum in Baden-Baden, Germany, in January 2022
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Dec 31, 2023

The art world's big planetary problem

Over the last five years, it’s become increasingly clear to major art institutions in Japan and around the world that the sector has a sustainability issue.
Visitors strike a giant bell to mark the new year as a Buddhist monk looks on, at Zojoji temple in Tokyo on Jan. 1, 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 31, 2023

Ring in the new year on your phone: Apps offer alternate to Japan temple tradition

Smartphone apps are aiming to offer alternative ways to enjoy a noisy New Year's tradition.
The first sunset of 2024, seen over Chiba's Boso Peninsula from a chartered Solaseed Air flight on the morning of Jan. 1.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2023

The outlook for 2024 appears grim — but nothing is preordained

Given the complex landscape of 2024, we can expect to navigate uncertainty, geopolitical shifts and a myriad of pivotal elections.
South Korea's opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung, in Busan, South Korea, on Tuesday before he was attacked
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

South Korea opposition chief attacked during visit to Busan

Lee was stabbed in the neck as he spoke with reporters, and his attacker was captured at the scene.
Former LDP Secretary-General and Defense Minister Secretary Shigeru Ishiba has been a top choice to replace Kishida in a number of recent media polls.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

Who might succeed Fumio Kishida in 2024?

Several names have emerged as potential candidates for prime minister in the wake of a political funds scandal enveloping the LDP.
Books published by Tuttle Publishing on a bookshelf in Infinity Books in Tokyo's Sumida Ward on Saturday
CULTURE / Books
Jan 3, 2024

Asia publishing mainstay Tuttle rides new wave of interest in Japan

The back catalog of Tuttle, which traces its history in Japan to 1948, is in high demand, and it has even branched out to graphic novel versions of classic Asian literature.
Claudine Gay, former president of Harvard University
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2024

Harvard chief’s abrupt exit exposes decade-spanning rifts

The school’s first Black leader resigned after just six months due to plagiarism allegations and anger over her handling of antisemitism on campus.
Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand, the first openly transgender female Olympian, competes at the Tokyo Games in August 2021.
SPORTS
Jan 4, 2024

Pendulum swings toward tighter measures against transgender athletes

There has been a seismic shift recently in the sporting landscape for trans athletes, with tighter measures coming into force on a divisive issue.
A damaged sake store in the town of Himi, Toyama Prefecture, following a major earthquake on Monday
JAPAN / First person
Jan 4, 2024

How Japan's violent New Year's quake felt in Toyama

What it feels like to be near a quake that shifts a house left and right, forward and backward.
Oscar Pistorius, a South African Olympic and Paralympic sprinter, arrives at a courthouse in Pretoria in October 2014.
SPORTS
Jan 5, 2024

Oscar Pistorius, Olympian convicted of murder, set for release

Pistorius was granted parole in November on the basis that he had served half of a 15-year sentence for murder.
The Sapporo Snow Festival offers outdoor dining, markets, sports, ice sculptures and more across three event sites.
LIFE / Travel
Jan 6, 2024

Asia's winter festivals: Snow, fire and spectacle galore

The ancient city of Nara wards off the wintertime darkness with an unusual tradition: lighting a local mountain on fire.
The remains of a shopping district that caught fire in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, due to the New Year's Day earthquake
EDITORIALS
Jan 5, 2024

Japan ushers in a bruising beginning for 2024

Japan has learned from past disasters and mistakes and must continue to do so.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a speech to mark the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol at a campaign event at Montgomery County Community College, in Blue Bell, near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 6, 2024

Biden says democracy on ballot as he makes case against Trump

Biden’s remarks Friday offered some of his sharpest warnings yet about the threat he says Trump poses to the country’s institutions.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a New Year’s event hosted by Rengo, the nation’s biggest trade union federation, in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 6, 2024

Kishida and Rengo chief amplify push for strong wage growth

Wage gains feeding into demand-led price gains are a condition for any move to normalize monetary policy.
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama dunks during a game against the Grizzlies on Tuesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jan 6, 2024

Victor Wembanyama sets course to become a basketball billionaire unlike any other

Known to fans as "Wemby,” Victor Wembanyama entered the NBA with a level of buzz unlike any player since LeBron James.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat