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Inside TSMC’s plant in Taiwan. Chip plants, with rows of advanced equipment, require massive amounts of electricity.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Aug 5, 2024

TSMC’s Kumamoto plant pledges to use 100% renewables despite high costs

The move is not just an exercise of corporate responsibility but also a response to demands from the chipmaker's large customers.
Tadanobu Kanno, the vice principal of Shoin Gakuen Fukushima High School in the city of Fukushima, goes through the itinerary of the school's trip to the Kansai region this year.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Aug 5, 2024

Fukushima schools hesitate to resume overseas trips

The yen's weakness and inflation have resulted in the cost of such excursions to surge — in some cases, more than double what it was prepandemic.
Hungary, which has increased its birth rate since 2010, has adopted policies that support those who want or have children, including financial incentives, housing subsidies and better work-life balance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2024

Why do young people in Hungary want kids more than in Japan?

Marriage and birth rates are plummeting in Japan, while many young people in Hungary want families thanks to measures that support their choices in life and at work.
Members of the Romanian Olympic women's gymnastics team check their smartphones during a training session early last month.
OLYMPICS
Aug 2, 2024

Social media trolls beware: Olympic athletes have had enough

Online abuse has become such an issue that the Japanese Olympic Committee released a statement asking fans to mind their manners on the internet.
Women with children interact in a lounge at a postpartum care facility in Ikoma, Nara Prefecture.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2024

Private companies increasingly expanding into postpartum care

Companies such as Nestle Japan and Mitsubishi Estate have launched initiatives aimed at mothers and children
Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 9, 2024

Trump offers three September debates against surging Harris

Donald Trump has found himself on unfamiliar ground as something of a bystander, eclipsed by Kamala Harris' rise as he has scaled back his own campaigning.
A meeting of the Lao-Lao liquor cooperative held in the village of Xai in Attapeu Province in June.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 19, 2024

Co-op Okinawa nurtures Laos farmers' cooperatives to encourage growth

By setting up cooperatives, farmers can prevent unfavorable price negotiations by sharing information with one another.
A tourist picks up an aloha shirt at the Samurai Aloha store at Narita Airport in June.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Aug 12, 2024

Aloha shirts made from recycled kimono in Tohoku prove to be huge hit

The shirts, called Samurai Aloha, were launched in the hopes of helping the area recover from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Officials of the transport ministry speak to a driver suspected of engaging in illegal taxi operations at a tourist spot in Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Aug 12, 2024

Gifu struggles to crack down on illegal cabs at tourist hot spots

Cashless payments make it hard to catch such drivers in the act and some are worried they may be mistaken for a legal ride-hailing service.
Bales of hard-to-recycle plastic waste piled up at Renewlogy Technologies in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 17, 2021.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Aug 15, 2024

In shift, U.S. backs global target to reduce plastic production, source says

The change away from earlier calls to leave such decisions up to each country puts the U.S. in direct opposition to countries like Saudi Arabia and China.
Participants of Shomeikai’s Type B employment support workshop take part in a training session at a rental meeting room in the city of Fukuoka in May.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Aug 26, 2024

Welfare workshop helps people with disabilities become IT engineers

Shomeikai leverages on a cutting-edge software development methodology that lets users work in a team and support one another.
If there is one person who can tell you all about the building that used to be the Bank of Japan's Hiroshima branch, which survived the atomic bombing, it's Yasuhiro Nanba.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Aug 19, 2024

A building that survived the A-bomb, and the man who tells its story

A security guard's fascination with the Bank of Japan's Hiroshima branch led him to compile personal accounts of people who were there when the bomb was dropped.
Masako Egawa forged a successful career in business and academia in the United States and Japan.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Sep 1, 2024

A quiet triumph of excellence in the worlds of banking and academia

Masako Egawa navigated a changing business world with her arms open to any opportunities that came along.
Akamon Gate at the University of Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Aug 21, 2024

Japan's low birthrate sparks talks of university consolidation

An education ministry official has expressed concern that some areas may be left without universities
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan attends a plenary session during the summit on peace in Ukraine, in Stansstad near Lucerne, Switzerland, in June.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 24, 2024

With election approaching, U.S. national security chief to visit China

During three days of talks starting Tuesday in Beijing, Jake Sullivan will discuss issues ranging from Taiwan to bilateral military talks.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and other officials attended a joint news conference at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2024

TICAD ministerial meeting adopts first joint statement

TICAD attendees agreed that reforming the U.N. Security Council is "indispensable for redressing historical injustices against Africa."
Used cars are sold at high prices at a dealership in Nagoya as a surge in export demand has reduced supply on the domestic market.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Sep 2, 2024

Japanese businesses grapple with exchange rate swings

For the used car sector, the weaker yen has resulted in buyers being forced to pay higher prices due to increased export demand.
Boxes of Joban-mono marine produce such as flounder are lined up at the Hisanohama fishing port in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Sep 2, 2024

Fukushima fishermen not in the clear yet

Challenges remain for the prefecture's fisheries industry a year after the release of treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant began.
Maestro Seiji Ozawa (center) lays flowers at the cenotaph for atomic bomb victims at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in October 2005.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Sep 9, 2024

Maestro Seiji Ozawa’s prayer for peace lives on in Hiroshima

His musical roots — and passion — can be traced back to the city where the first atomic bomb was detonated.
Alimentation Couche-Tard’s bid to acquire Japan’s Seven & I Holdings has sparked discussions about Japan’s approach to foreign investment and whether rejecting or accepting the bid reflects an openness to international business.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2024

7-Eleven deserves more than shareholder supremacy

While Japan should consider investor interests, it should not forsake the broader social and community benefits that its businesses provide.
A factory operated by metal processing company Iwanuma Seiko, which has been entrusted with work involving the space industry for the first time
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Sep 17, 2024

Small firms in Tohoku showcase technologies in growing space sector

The government plans to boost the space technology market, leading to hopes of a space industry ecosystem in the region.
Supporters of Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attend a campaign event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday. Authorities have accused two RT employees of working with two foreign nationals in the U.S. who set up a company that recruited prominent conservative commentators to post regular videos on topics such as immigration and U.S. politics.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2024

U.S. charges employees of Russia's RT network over polls influence scheme

Officials accuse them of hiring a company in Tennessee to produce online videos aimed at amplifying political divisions ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
Four members of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan who filed their candidacies for the main opposition party's Sept. 23 leadership election —  Lower House lawmaker Harumi Yoshida (left), current chief Kenta Izumi (second left), former party leader Yukio Edano (second right) and former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda — attend a joint news conference in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2024

Main opposition CDP kicks off leadership race

The candidates are former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, ex-party leader Yukio Edano, current chief Kenta Izumi and Lower House lawmaker Harumi Yoshida.
Attorney General Merrick Garland sits between Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and FBI Director Christopher Wray during a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, in Washington on Sept. 4. Federal prosecutors say Russia secretly paid the American company Tenet Media to push pro-Kremlin messages from social media influencers including Benny Johnson, Tim Pool and Dave Rubin.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

Russia secretly worms its way into America’s conservative media

The latest indictment reflects the growing sophistication of the Kremlin’s long-standing efforts to shape American public opinion and advance its geopolitical goals.
Fukuoka Prefecture Medical Association executive director Takeshi Inamitsu said schools should take the initiative in deciding the methods used and things to be checked during their students' health exams.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Sep 16, 2024

Students' clothing at school health checkups comes into focus

Doctors worry signs of illnesses or abuse may be overlooked if examinations are performed in gym clothes or other clothing as urged by the education ministry.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (center) and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy meet in Kyiv on Wednesday.
WORLD
Sep 12, 2024

U.S. and U.K. envoys mull Ukraine’s push for deep strikes into Russia

The visit to Ukraine came as the Biden administration struggles to curtail aid to Russia from Iran, North Korea and China.
An event to support Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures is held in Sendai in March, with booths offering local specialties.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Sep 30, 2024

Nearly 40% of Fukushima municipalities want hometown tax system revised

Some want the central government to implement measures to establish a system that narrows disparities among municipalities.
(From left) Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, digital minister Taro Kono, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi pose for photographs at the ruling party's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 13, 2024

LDP presidential candidates field questions on political reform and economy

At their first joint news conference after the start of campaigning, they gave their views on party and political reform and argued for a strong economic strategy.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 15, 2024

North Korean weapons sales to Russia called Ukraine’s biggest worry

Once a cargo carrying the weapons docks at a Russian port, military activity typically intensifies within eight to nine days, Ukrainian officials said.
An online seminar held in late July by Norihiro Nishimura, a professor at Mie University’s Graduate School of Regional Innovation Studies, involved deep discussions that provided participants with direction in the fine-tuning of their research.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Sep 30, 2024

Chubu universities train corporate execs through graduate programs

The programs teach company presidents and executives how to look within their organizations — for issues, challenges and data — to grow their businesses.

Longform

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