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Ramen shop Menya Taisei's owner Taisei Hikage cooks ramen at his shop in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024

Japan's rising ramen prices give election voters food for thought

The problems facing ramen shop owners reflect a cost-of-living crunch that has become a top issue for voters in the general election on Sunday.
Located in the Otemachi neighborhood, the 'skull mound' of Taira no Masakado is said to be the source of ills and misfortunes of any who would disturb the site.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 26, 2024

Take a Halloween stroll through Tokyo’s dark history

Tokyo has no shortage of creepy places to check out this Halloween, and the good news is that many are conveniently accessible.
BayStars slugger Tyler Austin hit two homers against the Giants during the final stage of the Central League Climax Series.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 26, 2024

BayStars aim to complete Cinderella run against Hawks in the Japan Series

To say the Yokohama DeNA BayStars are underdogs against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the Japan Series would be putting it mildly, but titles are not decided on paper.
Family members carry the body of Widman Alexander Tax Chinic on June 19 in Yepocapa, Guatemala. He drowned months earlier while trying to cross into the U.S.
WORLD / Society
Oct 26, 2024

In Guatemala, families mourn the migrants who never reached the U.S.

For the families in mourning, the U.S. election campaigning about immigration and the salvos about who is doing what to secure the border are far away.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a welcoming ceremony upon his arrival to participate in the BRICS summit, at Kazan Airport, Russia, on Oct. 22. Sisi has proposed a truce in the Gaza Strip aimed at securing a complete cease-fire in the territory.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 28, 2024

Egypt proposes two-day Gaza truce in hope of full cease-fire

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi did not say whether the plan involving a limited hostage exchange had been formally presented to either Israel or Hamas.
Koichi Hagiuda thanks his supporters early Monday in Tokyo after his victory in Sunday's general election became certain.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2024

60% of 'slush fund' candidates lose in Japan Lower House poll

The severe outcome reflected renewed criticism against the LDP that arose in the final stage of the election campaign.
Hawks infielder Hotaka Yamakawa celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the BayStars in Game 2 of the Japan Series in Yokohama on Sunday.
BASEBALL
Oct 28, 2024

Hawks halfway to third straight Japan Series sweep as series heads to Fukuoka

The Hawks have won 14 straight Japan Series games.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hits a fly ball against the Yankees in the first inning for Game 2 of the 2024 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 29, 2024

World Series setting viewership records in Japan

Fewer people have been watching "America's Pastime" in the U.S. than in Japan.
A Palestinian girl looks through the rubble of a building after an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Oct 30, 2024

Deadly Israeli strike in Gaza comes amid anger over U.N. agency ban

Israel's military has been conducting a sweeping air and ground assault in northern Gaza since Oct. 6.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a news conference at the Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 30, 2024

Ishiba Cabinet's approval rating sinks to around 30%

Public support for the LDP and its ruling coalition partner Komeito dropped significantly after they lost their Lower House majority on Oct. 27.
The number of female directors among firms in the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s prime market will need to more than double in the next six years to meet the government target of having women make up 30% of board members at major firms by 2030.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2024

Rush for female directors stumbles on weak pipeline in Japan

With almost no women rising to become internal directors, companies will have no choice but to recruit them from outside.
A recovering drug addict from Myanmar gets a therapeutic massage during a rehabilitation program run by the nongovernmental organization Drug and Alcohol Recovery and Education Network at an undisclosed location in Mae Sot along the Thai-Myanmar border.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Oct 31, 2024

As Myanmar conflict rages on, drug escape leads thousands to addiction

The civil war in Myanmar since 2021 has killed thousands, displaced nearly 3 million people and triggered a boom in drug production.
Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 1, 2024

Harris struggles to secure men's support in labor unions

Any drop in support for Kamala Harris could be a decisive factor in the neck-and-neck race.
Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki’s personal YouTube channel has more than 326,000 subscribers, by far the highest number among party leaders.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 1, 2024

How Japan’s new kingmaker party won over young voters

The Democratic Party for the People's election gains can be traced to two different factors: its youth-oriented policies and skillful use of social media platforms.
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole pitches against the Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Oct. 25.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 3, 2024

Yankees' Gerrit Cole opts out of contract

Cole, 34, opted out less than a week after losing the World Series-clinching Game 5 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
A U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber (front) flies in formation with South Korean, Japanese and U.S. fighter jets during a joint air drill in South Korean airspace south of Jeju Island on Sunday.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2024

U.S. bomber joins air drill with South Korea and Japan

The exercise took place three days after Pyongyang launched one of its most powerful and advanced solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Ondrej Huserka, a member of the Slovak national mountaineering team who had climbed in the Alps, Patagonia, Pamir Mountains and Himalayas, fell into a crevasse on Langtang Lirung peak in Nepal on Thursday.
WORLD
Nov 3, 2024

Top Slovak mountaineer dies in Nepal after historic ascent

Ondrej Huserka, a member of the Slovak national mountaineering team, fell into a crevasse on Thursday.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a live interview with U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson in the finale of the Tucker Carlson Live Tour at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Election falsehoods take off on Youtube as it looks the other way

The largest video platform has become a home for election conspiracy theories, half-truths and lies, which provide it with revenue.
In a group interview at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Thursday, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya declined to make predictions about the Liberal Democratic Party’s approach to any revisions to the Status of Forces Agreement, but said he believes “some wisdom will probably come about” from planned talks within the party.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Top diplomat says Foreign Ministry will ‘quietly examine’ revising SOFA pact

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya says finding a "mutually acceptable" solution to issues in the pact governing the U.S. military presence in Japan is key.
People line up outside an Apple store in Beijing on Sept. 20.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 4, 2024

Buffett keeps cutting Apple stake, with value down 60% this year

Berkshire cut its Apple holdings by roughly 25% in the period, after cutting it by almost half in the second quarter.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Horse-trading continues ahead of next week's prime minister vote

In the absence of a majority by any single party or coalition, every lawmaker's vote will count in a widely expected runoff election when parliament reconvenes.
Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki (left) and his counterpart in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda, meet in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 5, 2024

Opposition parties band together to shape Lower House agenda

Four main opposition parties have agreed to jointly request the opening of a session of the budget committee and a special committee on political reform.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Warren, Michigan, on Nov. 1.
WORLD
Nov 6, 2024

White House win gives Trump a legal reprieve

As U.S. president, the 78-year-old Trump can make the federal criminal cases facing him vanish and see the state cases put on hold.
Gabriel Bortoleto signs autographs for fans at Interlagos in Sao Paulo on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Nov 7, 2024

Gabriel Bortoleto joins Sauber as Formula One undergoes generational shift

Bortoleto, 20, will be lining up against fellow rookies Kimi Antonelli (18), Oliver Bearman (19) and Jack Doohan (21).
Nissan sees its operating income plunging to just ¥150 billion in the fiscal year ending in March, down 70% from its previous forecast.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2024

Nissan cuts outlook and announces restructuring with 9,000 job cuts

The firm sees its operating income plunging to ¥150 billion in the fiscal year ending in March, down 70% from its previous forecast.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, speaks during a party meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

LDP lawmakers urge Ishiba to step down after budget passage next year

But neither the prime minister, nor LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama, said they would step down.
Sanwa Koutsu's Kuroko Taxi service has drivers dressed in traditional stagehand garb communicate with passengers only through gestures and written messages.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 9, 2024

The sound of silence: Japan's no-conversation services

“Constant social interaction can feel like torture for us introverts,” one customer says. "I think it’s a pretty smart business move."
For some Americans, physical distance between them and their country in the immediate post-election period is the best thing they can do for their mental health.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 9, 2024

Americans are traveling abroad as a post-election salve

One woman who temporarily relocated to Mexico City wishes she had traveled even further to a place like Japan for even more distance from domestic politcal news.
Beyonce accepts the Innovator award during the iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theater in Los Angeles in April.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 9, 2024

Beyonce leads Grammy nods after trailblazing country album

This year's awards ceremony, held in February 2025, is shaping up to be a battle of pop titans including Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan.
A pedestrian on a bridge walks past buildings in Pudong's Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai on Jan. 9.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 10, 2024

Foreign firms pull more money from China’s slowing economy

Should the decline continue for the rest of the year, it would be the first annual net outflow in FDI since at least 1990, when comparable data begins.

Longform

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