Search - 2023

 
 
Masayo Ishimaru, the head of volunteer group Tanpopo no Sato, cuddles cats rescued from a pet hoarder, in the city of Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, in September.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 4, 2024

Local governments tighten rules on pet ownership as hoarding persists

Municipalities are introducing mandatory reporting requirements for owners of large numbers of pets as well as fines for non-compliance.
A line of police officers stand guard as protesters gather at the edge of Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul on Wednesday after President Yoon Suk Yeol formally lifted martial law earlier, six hours after having declared it.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 4, 2024

Yoon fights for political life as martial law repercussions reverberate

A coalition of lawmakers from six opposition parties on Wednesday submitted a motion to impeach the South Korean president, with a vote set for Friday or Saturday.
Tsutomu Hotta
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2024

Ex-prosecutor Hotta, who probed Lockheed scandal, dies at 90

He also helped decide how to distribute donations made to the Japanese Red Cross Society and the Central Community Chest of Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The Bank of Japan regularly sells government bonds with repurchase agreements to boost liquidity.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 4, 2024

BOJ sells 10-year cash bonds to ease shortage tied to futures

The BOJ owned ¥8.03 trillion of the bonds due in March 2032 as of Nov. 29, down from ¥8.23 trillion on Nov. 20.
Donna Nelson (fourth from left) with her family members. Nelson was found guilty of smuggling drugs to Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 4, 2024

Australian woman given six-year sentence over Japan drug smuggling

Donna Nelson has said that she was a victim of an online romance scam and that she was not aware she was carrying luggage containing illegal drugs.
Japanese creatives, athletes and activists saw their efforts recognized on the world stage in various ways this year. At the Oscars (left) Takashi Yamazaki and his team took a prize for “Godzilla Minus One,” while later in the year Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada (center) took Emmys for their work in “Shogun.” Shohei Ohtani (right) was arguably the biggest Japanese star of the year.
CULTURE / 2024 in Review
Dec 4, 2024

Japan's soft power soared to new heights in 2024

From Oscars and Emmys to a Nobel Peace Prize, it was a year of awards and triumphs in key cultural fields.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. greet each other at a campaign event in Duluth, Georgia, in October. Kennedy, Trump’s choice for health and human services secretary, wants to purge the agency of corporate influence.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 4, 2024

Trump taps team geared toward retribution and remaking of U.S. government

Trump's pick of Kash Patel to lead the FBI brought into sharper focus the president-elect's seriousness about striking back at those he believes have wronged him.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 5, 2024

Amnesty says Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza

The human rights group said the legal threshold for the crime had been met, in its first such determination during an active armed conflict.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the CHIPS act in Syracuse, New York, in October 2022. America is still struggling with chip self-sufficiency despite limiting China’s access to key technology.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2024

The chip war turns two

The U.S. struggles with chip self-sufficiency despite limiting China’s access to technology, while China makes strides in NAND and HBM chips despite significant barriers.
A screenshot taken from video footage posted on the Metropolitan Expressway's X account shows an electric scooter entering the highway on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 5, 2024

Electric scooter seen unlawfully entering Tokyo expressway

Officials released video footage of the incident on social media to warn riders of the extreme danger.
A navy serviceman is reflected on a radar screen aboard the BRP Tarlac landing ship off the shore of Calayan Island, the Philippines, on June 30, 2023. Japan is providing another tranche of military aid to the Philippines that will include a grant for additional coastal surveillance radar systems, boats and other equipment.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2024

Manila to get more radars and boats from Tokyo under new military aid tranche

The grant is intended to help strengthen the capabilities of the Philippines' navy and air force, the Foreign Ministry says.
Satoko Shisai
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Dec 15, 2024

Forging a career through digital transformation and mindset change

Backed by a strong belief in career ownership, Satoko Shisai built her own success at IBM Japan and Chugai.
Amber Glenn of the U.S. performs during the women's short program at the ISU Grand Prix in Grenoble, France, on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Dec 6, 2024

American skater Amber Glenn tops Japanese rivals at ISU Grand Prix final

Glenn took a narrow lead over Japan's Mone Chiba in the short program.
The Epsilon S rocket exploded during a combustion test at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Nov. 26.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2024

JAXA says first Epsilon rocket unlikely to launch by March

JAXA Vice President Masashi Okada said he thinks it "technically difficult to a large degree" for the small satellite launch vehicle to lift off by the end of March.
The United States was Japan’s biggest export destination in 2023 with cars and auto parts making up a third of shipments.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 6, 2024

Japan eyes talks with Trump that include cutting auto tariffs

Analysts say close personal ties between Trump and late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe played a role in smoothing out trade and diplomatic relations.
Choi Sang-mok, South Korea's finance minister, during an interview in Seoul on Thursday
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Dec 6, 2024

In South Korea's crisis playbook, currency stability is paramount

In the four decades since South Korea was last under martial law, the nation has significantly evolved its systems to focus on ensuring economic stability.
Yuta Takahashi (back center) with Sunao Tsuboi, former co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo (front, center), in December 2017
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2024

Japanese youth carries on message of prominent atomic bomb survivor

In giving Nihon Hidankyo the Nobel Peace Prize, the committee noted that "new generations in Japan are carrying forward the experience and the message of the witnesses."
Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko pose for a commemorative photo with Turkish government officials and performers after watching performances at the Ataturk Cultural Center in Istanbul on Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2024

Crown prince and crown princess mark Japan-Turkey diplomatic ties

The pair attended a ceremony in Istanbul on Thursday to mark the 100th anniversary of diplomatic ties.
“Shogun,” created by American channel FX and made by a joint American-Japanese team, utilized the strengths of both Japan and Hollywood to create a bona fide smash that critics adored. 
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / 2024 in Review
Dec 7, 2024

2024 was the year Japanese TV found its prestige

The triumph of “Shogun” at the Emmys served as an exclamation point for an industry taking big swings and opening up to trans-Pacific partnerships.
A year-old film on Netflix titled "12.12: The Day" saw a spike in viewers after the political turmoil that hit South Korea this week.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 6, 2024

Korean coup movie hits No. 1 on Netflix after martial law chaos

The film depicts the events surrounding a Dec. 12, 1979, coup in South Korea, a theme also tackled in Han Kang's novel "Human Acts."
Alexandre Pantoja at a news conference in Rio de Janeiro in May
MORE SPORTS
Dec 6, 2024

Newcomer Kai Asakura aims to dethrone Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 310

Asakura, a 31-year-old from Japan, is a two-time Rizin bantamweight champion.
The decision significantly raises the prospects of an unprecedented ban in just six weeks on a social media app used by 170 million Americans.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 7, 2024

U.S. appeals court upholds TikTok law forcing its sale

The decision is a major win for the Justice Department and opponents of the Chinese-owned app and a devastating blow to TikTok parent ByteDance.
No new turbines have been ordered in Sweden since the first quarter, according to the latest data from industry group Svensk Vindenergi, the longest such stretch in two years.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 7, 2024

Free green power in Sweden is crippling its wind industry

The country has one of the greenest grids in the world. But even more is needed to electrify the rest of its economy.
A low pressure storm system known as a "bomb cyclone" moves off the coast of the U.S. Pacific Northwest and western Canada in a composite satellite image on Nov. 20.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 7, 2024

Google introduces AI agent that aces 15-day weather forecasts

They report that their new model can, among other things, outperform the world’s best forecasts meant to track deadly storms and save lives.
Employees at large Tokyo companies who travel to the office daily to work fell to 47.4% in 2024 from 53.1% in the previous year, a survey shows.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 8, 2024

Hybrid work on the rise for Tokyo’s office employees: NRI Survey

For the July 2024 Nomura Research Institute survey, the firm polled 3,091 people from ages 20-69 who work for large companies in Tokyo.
 Alexandre Pantoja (left) battles Kai Asakura at UFC 310 on Saturday in Las Vegas.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 8, 2024

Alexandre Pantoja forces Kai Asakura to submit at UFC 310

Asakura (21-5), a native of Aichi Prefecture, was a two-time Rizin bantamweight champion before vacating the belt in June to join UFC.
Filipino housekeepers undergo training to work for a Japanese staffing company. By applying the same criteria when hiring overseas and local workers, Japanese firms tend to underutilize the unique skills that foreign nationals can bring.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 8, 2024

Firms should quit turning foreign workers into Japanese ones

Many foreign nationals struggle with the idiosyncrasies of Japan's employment system. Firms tend to assimilate overseas personnel rather than utilize their unique skills.
A variety of rice cookers at a home appliance store
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Dec 16, 2024

Companies rush to high-end rice cookers as consumer tastes change

Appliance-makers are working with rice growers to boost demand, as well as debuting products that focus on flavor and features.
An employee holds a chocolate bar at Chocovi, in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, on May 10.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 9, 2024

Could dark chocolate reduce your risk of diabetes?

While a new study links the food to a possible reduced risk, one researcher cautions that it is not a "magic bullet."
Police officers reinvestigate a Tobu Tojo Line railroad crossing in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward on Dec. 27, 2023, after a man was fatally hit by a train weeks earlier.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 9, 2024

Tokyo police arrest four men on suspicion of staging colleague’s suicide

They allegedly coerced the 56-year-old victim into standing on railway tracks where he went on to be fatally struck by a train.

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition