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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.
A screen displays the Nikkei 225 Stock Average figure on the trading floor at the Nomura Securities headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 13, 2024

Tokyo stocks find their mojo as bubble-era highs draw nearer

The roaring start to 2024 looks to be on far more solid ground than last time stocks reached these levels as investors bet the country is escaping deflation.
Three plaintiffs are set to file a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday, seeking compensation over claims of racial profiling by police.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2024

Foreign residents to file landmark suit alleging racial profiling by police

Three men are to file a lawsuit over claims that they have been repeatedly questioned by police because of their ethnicity or appearance.
Pop superstar Taylor Swift delighted fans at her sold-out Tokyo Dome show on Wednesday by confidently telling the audience, “Eras Tour e yokōso!” (“Welcome to The Eras Tour!”)
CULTURE / Music
Feb 9, 2024

Taylor Swift slays her Tokyo era

Pop's reigning queen gets sold-out crowd singing along to her hits for the Japan leg of the global Eras Tour.
A Ukrainian serviceman with the call sign "Skorpion" prepares to fire a multiple launch rocket system toward Russian troops near a front-line, at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Feb. 4.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 22, 2024

Ukraine outnumbered, outgunned and ground down by Russia

Heavy casualties at the hands of Russian forces have been compounded by dreadful conditions on the eastern front.
American rapper and noted anime fan Megan Thee Stallion presented the award for anime of the year to director Shota Goshozono for “Jujutsu Kaisen: Hidden Inventory/Premature Death” at the Anime Awards on March 2
CULTURE / Film
Mar 8, 2024

Crunchyroll's Anime Awards build on star power

The streamer's event upped the glamor with celebrity attendees such as Megan Thee Stallion and Rashmika Mandanna, and "Jujutsu Kaisen" won 11 prizes.
French President Emmanuel Macron on International Women's Day in Paris on March 8
WORLD / Politics
Mar 14, 2024

France faces centrist vacuum as far right builds momentum for presidency

A far-right presidency would be a transformational moment for France, Europe’s second largest economy.
Masaaki Okawara (center) and other plaintiffs celebrate in December after the Tokyo District Court ruled that police and prosecutors had falsely accused them of illegally exporting spray dryers. But the civil suit continues as both sides have appealed the ruling.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Mar 19, 2024

Japan's 'hostage justice system' faces renewed scrutiny

The long-criticized system has come under the spotlight as executives wrongly accused of a crime continue their legal battle.
People gather near lit candles outside the Crocus City Hall concert venue on Sunday, declared a day of mourning declared following a deadly shooting, in the Moscow Region, Russia.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 25, 2024

Concert hall attack revives terrorism fears for Russians in Moscow

A series of terror attacks that began in the late 1990s spread a climate of fear across the country as Putin was rising to power.
Demand for infertility treatment is high in Japan, where the number of live births fell for eight straight years to another record low last year.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 30, 2024

Fertility startups in Japan step in as treatment demand soars

In Japan, shortages of treatment options plague patients as the country grapples with one of the world’s lowest birthrates.
Shohei Ohtani's response, or lack thereof, to the gambling scandal sheds light on the cultural differences in crisis management between Japan and the West.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 2, 2024

Ohtani swings and misses at PR, but he’s not Japan’s first

Shohei Ohtani's response, or lack thereof, to a gambling scandal sheds light on the cultural differences in crisis management between Japan and the West.
Advanced Micro Devices' processors and memory chips
BUSINESS / Tech
May 2, 2024

AI hardware stocks get pummeled even as big tech keeps spending

Hardware makers have seen their shares rally this year amid an arms race for artificial intelligence computing power that’s lifting sales and profits.
A demonstration condemning the killing of three Chinese teachers from the University of Karachi's Confucius Institute in April 2022. Terrorist groups in Pakistan are targeting Chinese nationals and threatening Beijing's Belt and Road initiative projects in the country.
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2024

Should we stay or should we go? China's dilemma in Pakistan

Beijing is pouring billions into Pakistan to complete a key Belt and Road initiative artery. But this is threatened by terrorist groups targeting Chinese nationals and interests.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. While some view artificial intelligence’s increasing integration into journalism as necessary, there are concerns about the ethics of such arrangements.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2024

OpenAI is making journalism an offer it can’t refuse

While some view AI’s increasing integration into journalism as necessary, there are concerns about the ethics and transparency of such arrangements.
Muslim pilgrims use umbrellas to shade themselves during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, on Saturday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 21, 2024

Deadly heat waves mark Northern Hemisphere's first day of summer

Record temperatures in recent days are suspected to have caused hundreds, possibly thousands, of deaths across Asia and Europe.
Japan's men's and women's gymnastics teams pose for photos during a news conference to announce the team's uniforms for the 2024 Games.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jun 24, 2024

Leotard vs. unitard debate in gymnastics still raging ahead of Paris Olympics

The German gymnastics team took a stand against sexualization in the sport in 2021, but heading into Paris, the leotard is still very much in vogue in Japan and abroad.
An image of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange released on social media on Tuesday. Assange pleaded guilty to a single charge of disseminating classified documents in a plea bargain that leaves him a free man.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2024

Julian Assange’s saga will forever exist in a legal gray area

WikiLeaks founder Assange’s case lies on the boundary between espionage and protected speech. Its outcome has done nothing to shed light on this gray zone.
Horror artist Junji Ito adds just a dash of comedy to his work, though he aims for it to be understated. “If it’s truly a horror story, the humor must be restrained and more veiled,” he says.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 29, 2024

Fear still matters to Junji Ito

Currently on view at Tokyo's Setagaya Literary Museum is an extensive collection of the horror master's work, the first large-scale exhibition of it's kind in Japan.
Polls suggest Labour leader Keir Starmer will emerge victorious from Thursday’s U.K. general election despite often being perceived as stiff and acting holier-than-thou.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2024

Keir Starmer's character remains as elusive as his policies

Despite his rags-to-ruling-class backstory, Labour leader Keir Starmer isn't that popular or well understood. But he'll win Thursday's election in the U.K. anyway.
In addition to standup comedy, Anthony Jeselnik co-hosts the podcast “The Jeselnik and Rosenthal Vanity Project” with NFL analyst Gregg Rosenthal.
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 11, 2024

Standup comic Anthony Jeselnik, known for fierce roasts, to play first Japan show

The comedian will hit Tokyo as part of the Asia stretch of his worldwide “Bones and All” tour.
U.S. President Joe Biden reacts to the audience during a campaign stop in Detroit on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 13, 2024

'I'm not going anywhere,' Biden says as campaign struggles

The 81-year-old president is trying to shift the conversation from his mental sharpness to the impact of another Donald Trump presidency.
The dark side of artificial intelligence is that it could make deadly and low-cost bioweapons more accessible to nonstate actors.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2024

AI may save us, or may construct viruses to kill us

One reason biological weapons haven’t been much used is that they can boomerang. If Russia released a virus in Ukraine, it could spread to Russia.
Ukrainian servicemen drive an infantry vehicle near the Russian border in the Sumy region on Saturday.
WORLD
Aug 11, 2024

Russia pushes back at Ukraine’s cross-border assault, but Kyiv presses on

The assault surprised both Moscow and Washington, as well as other Western partners and analysts who follow the war’s troop movements.
Palestinians survey the damage after an Israeli strike on a school where people were sheltering on Saturday in Gaza City.
WORLD
Aug 11, 2024

Israeli strikes on schools pose a life-or-death choice for civilians

Missile attacks on school grounds appear to reflect a shift in the Israeli military's strategy for driving Hamas out of Gaza.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, speaks on the first night of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 20, 2024

Democratic Party platform emphasizes Asia, but muted on Harris

The platform laid out a familiar list of priorities and also criticized Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump over his shaky history with regional allies.
A Japanese Self-Defense Force jet was forced to fire flares recently as a warning to Russian aircraft that violated the country's airspace, highlighting how both China and Russia tried to test Japan’s leadership during a period of political transition.
EDITORIALS
Sep 27, 2024

China tests Japan. Are its new leaders ready?

Most of China's moves require considerable planning. That means that the signals they sent were anticipated and approved by political decision-makers.
© TELL
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Oct 1, 2024

TELLing the story: Emotional wellness and integral wellbeing for those living in Japan

Stadium workers paint the World Series logo on the field at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, a day ahead of the start of the Fall Classic.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 25, 2024

Baseball’s biggest stars and biggest markets align for MLB broadcaster

As much as the history of the two franchises, the teams’ star players and league-leading records this season should help attract more casual baseball fans.
Nomura Holdings CEO Kentaro Okuda. In addition to the financial penalties for market manipulation, Nomura is suffering a fresh blow to its reputation following various scandals over recent years including several data leaks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2024

Trader's $10,000 spoofing profit haunts Nomura as the fallout widens

The firm’s problems are deepening as Nomura's rivals double down on efforts to poach clients.
Operators respond to telephone directory inquiries from Tokyo at a call center in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, in October 1997.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Nov 11, 2024

As NTT ends its Dial 104 service, Okinawa's call centers look elsewhere

Naha and Nago were home to Japan's biggest call center operations, receiving around 125,000 calls a day at their peak in 1999.

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