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The front entrance gate leading to the former Ashigakubo Elementary School in Yokose, Saitama Prefecture. The school, which was more than a century old, was forced to close in 2009.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 5, 2023

School's out forever in aging Japan

As the number of children in Japan decreases, public money has been made available to help municipalities repurpose old schools.
Petr Aven in Moscow to attend Russia Business week in in 2018
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 1, 2023

Squeezed by sanctions, some oligarchs head home to Putin's Russia

The penalties have destroyed the standing of many wealthy Russians abroad who remained silent or avoided direct criticism of Putin over the war.
Motosaburo Saito at the headquarters of Oji Holdings, a building that won the Wood Design Award
ESG CONSORTIUM
Nov 6, 2023

Old-growth paper company Oji renews forests, products, vision

Oji Holdings, Japan’s leading paper manufacturer, is also its largest corporate forest owner. It studies and develops paper products and related materials and is committed to the maintenance of healthy forests. In a recent interview with The Japan Times, the general manager of Oji’s department on...
Zero carbon energy accounts for 28% of Japan's grid, falling short of countries like Germany, whose share of clean energy generation reached 58% last year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 6, 2023

How Japan became the land the energy transition forgot

Its symbol may be the rising sun, but a wholesale adoption of renewables by Japan is light years away, mired in bureaucratic and technical hurdles.
Bigmotor's registration as an insurance agent will be revoked later this month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2023

FSA to revoke Bigmotor's registration as insurance agent

The planned penalty follows an investigation into widespread acts at Bigmotor of deliberately damaging customers' vehicles to pad insurance claims.
Professional groups may lobby for regulations to control artificial intelligence and steer it toward labor-augmenting uses rather than labor-replacing ones.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2023

Managing the AI backlash: Lessons from the past

The history of professional guilds in Europe provides clues as to how workers may react to AI-caused disruptions.
U.S. military Ospreys and helicopters are lined up on a runway at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Dec. 1
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 7, 2023

U.S. military grounds all Osprey aircraft after Japan crash

A preliminary investigation into the crash last week indicated that problems with the aircraft — not a mistake by the crew — had led to the deaths.
Remains of a Yayoi Period building found on the former British Embassy property in Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Dec 7, 2023

Yayoi Period village remains found on former British Embassy grounds

Despite the discovery, construction on the site is set to continue after the excavation of the area concludes in March.
Ground Self-Defense Force personnel take part in a military drill involving a V-22 Osprey aircraft in June 2022.
EDITORIALS
Dec 8, 2023

The Osprey crash has lessons for the U.S.-Japan alliance

The U.S. and Japan bungled the initial response to the crash of an Osprey aircraft in Japan. Both must learn to improve communication in the future.
A United Nations Security Council meeting to debate a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza at U.N. headquarters in New York on Friday
WORLD
Dec 9, 2023

U.S. vetoes Security Council move calling for Gaza cease-fire

Washington dashed a growing clamor for an immediate cease-fire that had been led by U.N. chief Antonio Guterres and Arab nations.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 11, 2023

U.N. General Assembly to meet Tuesday on ongoing Gaza conflict

On Friday the United States vetoed a cease-fire resolution proposed at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
FACTEV shows that a Nissan Leaf electric car driven in Hokkaido will get between 106 kilometers and 212 kilometers per charge in its first year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2023

Using big data to speed up Japan’s slow electric car transition

Gaming company DeNA has developed an EV simulation tool that can assess the lifespan and cruising range per charge of battery cars over time.
Japanese civil engineering group Infroneer said it would buy Japan Wind Development from Bain Capital for about $1.4 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2023

Japan's Infroneer to buy Japan Wind Development from Bain Capital

The $1.4 billion acquisition will expand the Japanese civil engineering group's renewable energy business.
Prime Minster Fumio Kishida joins ASEAN leaders for a family photo before the start of the ASEAN-Japan summit in Jakarta in September.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 14, 2023

With eye on China, Japan and ASEAN to unveil ‘new vision’ for ties

The three-day summit will see the two sides launch a wide range of cooperation initiatives.
Scientists announced on Wednesday that they have identified genetic variations associated with human bisexual behavior.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 4, 2024

Scientists discover genetic underpinnings of bisexuality

Data has revealed the proportion of people reporting both bisexual and homosexual behavior has been rising for decades.
The burned wreckage of a Japan Airlines passenger plane lies on the tarmac at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Wednesday. AFP-JIJI
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 4, 2024

One of aviation’s biggest challenges played out on a Tokyo runway

Authorities across the globe are aware of the need to prevent runway incursions — lessons from the Haneda crash may bring us a step closer to eliminating them.
Yasuhiko Ushikubo
ESG CONSORTIUM
Jan 8, 2024

Mizuho aims to hasten renewable energy technology

With global attention being paid to increasing renewable energy to mitigate global warming, Japan should put its technological advancements in offshore wind farms, hydrogen power and carbon recycling to best use to enhance its global competitiveness, Mizuho Financial Group Inc. said in a recent report....
Boeing's 737 Max 9 under construction at the company's production facility in Renton, Washington, in 2017.
WORLD
Jan 6, 2024

Alaska Air grounds Boeing 737 Max 9 fleet after fuselage blowout

The airline is taking the "precautionary step” to temporarily ground the fleet of 65 planes until completion of full maintenance and inspection.
A victim of an explosion at a nickel smelter furnace owned by Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel lies inside an ambulance at a hospital in Morowali, Indonesia, on Dec. 26.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 7, 2024

Indonesia blast puts battery ambitions in spotlight ahead of vote

Just weeks ahead of a presidential election, the deadly explosion triggered angry protests and demands for action in Jakarta and Beijing.
An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 is grounded at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Saturday.
WORLD
Jan 7, 2024

U.S. regulator orders temporary grounding of some 737 Max jets after mishap

The move affects about 171 planes worldwide, according to a statement by the U.S. regulator.
Taiwanese flags at the Ministry of National Defense in Taipei in December 2022
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 8, 2024

U.S. policy unlikely to shift after Taiwan poll, ex-de facto envoy says

Any differences in Washington's reaction would be "nuanced," and rather involve "adjustments in degree than in type,” said former AIT chief Douglas H. Paal.
The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 Max, which was forced to make an emergency landing with a gap in the fuselage, is seen during its investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2024

United finds loose bolts on planes, raising pressure on Boeing

U.S. regulators grounded 171 Max 9 planes after a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines-operated flight not long after taking off from a Portland, Oregon, airport
Self-Defense Force personnel taking part in the earthquake-relief efforts help residents in an isolated village in Ishikawa Prefecture on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 9, 2024

The U.S. role in Japan's domestic disaster relief

The U.S. pledge for support offers another example of how the U.S.-Japan alliance contributes to Japan's domestic disaster relief.
A China Railway employee works at the construction site for the Xiongan station of a new railway connecting Beijing to the area in Hebei province, China, in March 2019. In his annual new year speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping trumpeted the city’s progress saying it was "growing fast” and helping to revitalize northeastern China.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jan 10, 2024

Xi Jinping’s empty dream city shows limits of his power, even in China

The meticulously planned metropolis' slow start underscores the flaws in the Chinese president's plan to tempt people from the capital.
A drone soccer match is demonstrated at CES in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
SPORTS
Jan 12, 2024

Buzz, bump, goal! Drone soccer aims high at CES

There was a loud whirring sound at CES in Las Vegas this week. It wasn't a swarm of insects, but instead a demonstration of drone soccer.
After a fuselage panel ripped off during an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5, all Boeing 737 Max 9 planes were grounded in the United States.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2024

We're stuck with the 737 Max, like it or not

The most recent incident involving a Boeing 737 Max won't stop airlines from using the craft. There simply aren't that many other options.
Construction work is underway on Wednesday in Oura Bay in Okinawa Prefecture, the site of the coastal airfield that will replace Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2024

Futenma moves forward, but local concerns must be addressed

Originally planned to have been finished by now, the base project is now anticipated to take over nine years to complete.
Locals in the Cook Islands are cynical about the growing attention fixed on their small country, with many saying they don't necessarily trust either superpower to do the right thing by them.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 19, 2024

U.S.-China fight for one Pacific nation mirrors a regional battle

The success of Beijing’s strategy in the Pacific was reinforced just this week when Nauru became the latest island nation to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
The Tsukuba Geo Museum is a hands-on exhibition facility.
ESG CONSORTIUM
Jan 22, 2024

New geopark museum, cycle park showcase Tsukuba’s attractions

The Ibaraki city of Tsukuba in November launched a new facility, Mt. Tsukuba Gate Park, that focuses on promoting the charms of the Mt. Tsukuba Area Geopark and supporting Japan’s cycling culture. City officials stationed there explained what the facility offers and how they aim to nurture the civic...
Ellie Harrell launched her dog seitai practice in late 2023 after seeing first hand how the therapy helped her own injured dog.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jan 27, 2024

‘My job is to provide dogs with relief from even the smallest amount of pain’

Does your dog need a back adjustment? Ellie Harrell’s salon is waiting to provide treatment.

Longform

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