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The future of 133-year-old remains, which lay buried beneath Kitakyushu for a century, is unclear amid the city's redevelopment plans.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2024

Global conservation body calls on Kitakyushu to halt redevelopment plans

The city said the project will proceed as planned as there are no alternative sites and further delays could threaten the provision of public services.
A young woman visiting a rural backwater from Tokyo (An Ogawa) finds an unlikely playmate in Tatsunari Ota’s “There Is a Stone.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 5, 2024

‘There Is a Stone’ finds beauty in the inconsequential

While very little happens, Tatsunari Ota’s slow-moving debut feature offers stirring moments of simplicity.
The U.S. dollar has fallen 5% from its 2024 highs, close to its lowest level in about a year against a basket of peers following a sharp drop last month.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 6, 2024

Market sentiment mixed on pace of dollar's weakening ahead of Fed rate cuts

The currency has declined rapidly against peers as anticipated interest rate cuts threaten to end the greenback's yearslong period of strength.
Onosato will have his sights set on sumo's second-highest rank as the Autumn Basho gets underway Sunday.
SUMO
Sep 6, 2024

Onosato poised to shine at Autumn Basho with ozeki rank in sight

The fact that nine wins in Onosato's sekiwake debut in July was seen by some as disappointing tells you all you need to know about sumo’s hottest wrestler.
Bangladeshi military personnel stand guard at an empty police station in Dhaka on Aug. 9. The U.S. and Western nations have sacrificed democracy for geopolitics, evident in Bangladesh’s chaos and violence after the prime minister was recently forced from power.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 6, 2024

The Western world's stealthy assault on democracy

Elections alone — even if competitive — do not guarantee popular empowerment or adherence to constitutional rules, especially when the military holds decisive power.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol during a meeting at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 6, 2024

Kishida and Yoon reaffirm importance of sustained cooperation

Kishida highlighted the need to continue efforts to advance bilateral ties, once again expressing sympathy for Koreans who suffered during Japanese colonial rule.
The agreement follows more than six months of talks between Baghdad and Washington, initiated by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (center) in January amid attacks by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups on U.S. forces stationed at Iraqi bases.
WORLD
Sep 7, 2024

U.S.-Iraq deal would see hundreds of troops withdraw in first year

The plan has been broadly agreed but requires a final go-ahead from both capitals and an announcement date.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 7, 2024

U.S. opposition to Nippon Steel deal 'very unsettling,' PM hopeful Ishiba says

Some experts say blocking the deal could undermine U.S.-Japan cooperation on national security, and put the lie to the notion of "ally shoring."
Firefighters extinguish a car after recent shelling by Ukrainian forces in Belgorod, Russia. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that talks are impossible, Ukraine’s ability to impose costs on Russia could eventually push him toward negotiations. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 9, 2024

How to make the most of the Kursk gambit

Both nations are unlikely to achieve total military victory, and the conflict will likely be resolved through negotiations.
A screen displays a message urging supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump to make a plan to vote early or in-person during a campaign rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 30.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 10, 2024

Trump hunts for elusive 2024 election prize — infrequent voters

Trump, more than in previous cycles, sees infrequent voters as critical.
While there are similarities between the geopolitical competition involving the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, such as global rivalry and ideological divisions, key differences suggest the situation with China does not constitute a new Cold War.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2024

A new ‘Cold War’ with China might be the best hope for the future

The current situation is often described as "a new great game," a world in which our time and challenges result from the stirring of old empires.
In a survey conducted by rental housing operator Daito Trust Construction, residents praised the tranquility and safety of Daikanyama, a neighborhood in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, as well as its accessibility to public transportation.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 12, 2024

Daikanyama tops list of Tokyo neighborhoods in livability survey

Residents score the neighborhood highest in terms of how happy they are to live in the area and how much they wanted to continue living there.
Hong Kong’s property tycoons are eagerly awaiting interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve due to their struggles with slow home sales, vacant office buildings and tenants pushing for lease renegotiations.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2024

The Fed is making Hong Kong's billionaire landlords anxious

Many Hong Kong property companies have significant amounts of debt at floating interest rates tied to Hibor, which tracks the Fed's rate changes.
Historical examples show that technological advances often lead to significant but gradual changes, sometimes accompanied by social and economic disruptions.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2024

Will the AI revolution lead to greater prosperity?

Historical examples show that technological advances often lead to significant but gradual changes, sometimes accompanied by social and economic disruptions.
A vendor attends to a customer at the secondhand books section of Panjiayuan antiques market in Beijing
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 13, 2024

China wants academic exchanges, but censorship could stand in the way

The Chinese Communist Party has exerted control over all publications since establishing the People's Republic of China in 1949.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Some 53% of economists surveyed by Bloomberg said the earliest timing for a rate change would be in October.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 13, 2024

Over half of BOJ watchers see next rate hike coming in December

The survey results show most analysts believe the market ructions after the July 31 rate hike didn't derail the BOJ from the normalization path.
Takanori Takebe (behind the lectern) speaks after his team of researchers and he were awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in physiology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 13, 2024

Scientists win Ig Nobel for discovering anal breathing in mammals

The research team of Japanese and American scientists hope the discovery will help treat people with COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases.
The deepening rift and growing geopolitical divide between the United States and Europe threatens the trans-Atlantic alliance.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2024

The U.S. will abandon Europe. But when and how?

The deepening rift and growing geopolitical divide between the United States and Europe threatens the trans-Atlantic alliance.
Candidates for Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party presidential election stand together onstage at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 15, 2024

LDP presidential hopefuls outline approach to U.S. and China concerns

The nine candidates jostled over the best way to resolve Nippon Steel's contentious bid for U.S. Steel, while also grappling with the Chinese military challenge.
The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani goes through his throwing routine before a game against the Rays at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Aug. 23.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 15, 2024

Dodgers manager leaves door slightly open for Shohei Ohtani to pitch in playoffs

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday that there is a slight possibility the 30-year-old star could be able to return in October from elbow surgery.
While short-term disruptions like inflation are easing, the European Union faces long-term challenges including rising security risks, a widening productivity gap with the U.S. and an innovation deficit.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2024

Europe needs a new economic vision

The global economic shocks of the past few years have left Europe particularly vulnerable.
Then yen strengthened on Monday beyond ¥140 per dollar ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting this week that is widely expected to see officials cut interest rates.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 16, 2024

Yen strengthens beyond ¥140 per dollar for first time since 2023

The currency appreciated as much as 0.6% versus the dollar to ¥139.96 on Monday, its strongest level since July last year.
The lapse of the historic U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement, coupled with escalating tariffs and trade restrictions, has exacerbated economic tensions between the two countries and impacted global stability.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2024

Resetting U.S.-China economic relations

To address global challenges, active cooperation between the two economic powers is indispensable.
The scariest aspect of America’s recent debate is that Trump’s over-the-top comments revealed a serious risk that needs global attention, not just in the U.S.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2024

Trump is right about WWIII, wrong on the analysis

The risks of nuclear war go beyond campaign hyperbole. What, though, should the U.S. do? Prepare for World War III? If it’s coming anyway, that would seem prudent.
Former tennis player Andre Agassi (right) presents the U.S. Open trophy to Jannik Sinner in Flushing Meadows, New York, on Sept. 8.
TENNIS
Sep 17, 2024

The key to Agassi’s reentry: Don’t be too busy, and don’t be too bored

One minute, the former player was in the tennis wilderness in Nevada. The next, he was at the Australian Open.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shake hands at a news conference in Rome on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 17, 2024

Starmer courts Meloni in Rome with eye on risk from U.K. right

The British prime minister said he’s looking to his Italian counterpart for lessons on tackling what is known as irregular migration.
French President Emmanuel Macron
WORLD
Sep 18, 2024

EU commissioner retreat shows Macron's waning clout in Europe

Thierry Breton abruptly quit on Monday in an unexpected twist in the highly political power transition that follows June's European elections.
Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a debate with other candidates in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2024

Takaichi's policy documents spark controversy in LDP leadership race

She argues that the materials are unrelated to the election and were mailed out before a ban was imposed, but some in the party describe them as "unfair."
The Liberal Democratic Party's suspected ties with the Unification Church have been little discussed in the ongoing leadership race campaign.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2024

Unification Church issue continues to haunt LDP amid leadership race

The Asahi Shimbun daily has published a photo purporting to show a meeting between then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a senior official of the religious group in 2013.
French Ambassador Philippe Setton says that, despite previous differences over whether Japan should host a NATO liaison office, Paris aims to deepen ties with Tokyo "in all security areas."
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2024

France-Japan military pact expected by year-end, envoy to Tokyo says

Concerns over the worsening security situation in the Indo-Pacific are speeding up negotiations on a visiting-forces pact between France and Japan.

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