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At a waste center in Kamikatsu, Tokushima Prefecture, residents separate trash into 45 different categories as the town aims to become "zero waste."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 22, 2024

How circular economy initiatives are changing the world

From Asia to Europe to Africa, public and private entities are finding new ways to revolutionize the economic paradigm from a linear to a circular model. In Japan, too.
Artificial intelligence is transforming various business sectors and the economy. But concerns about humanoid robots replacing all jobs are unfounded, as human dexterity will remain essential for the foreseeable future.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2024

AI is making robots smarter. They’ll need boundaries.

Where AI meets the physical world — and creates the potential for conflicts — is in manufacturing and logistics.
Men inspect an electric car at a showroom in Riyadh in June. Although the EV market in Saudi Arabia remains small compared with the United States and China, it tripled last year to nearly 800 cars.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 25, 2024

EV adoption gathers steam in fossil fuel-rich Saudi Arabia

The kingdom's EV market tripled last year to nearly 800 cars, according to Saudi business news outlet Al-Iqtisadiyah.
Railway workers and French police officers inspect the scene of an attack on the country's high-speed railway network on Friday.
WORLD
Jul 28, 2024

More trains, but few answers, after railway sabotage in France

While rail workers are claiming success, a key question still remains: Who did this and why?
Technicians assemble a component of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the CERN nuclear research facility in Cessy, France, in March 2007. International cooperation in science is essential for solving global challenges and maintaining innovation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2024

Geopolitics threatens science and societal progress

In this world, the prospect of greater controls or reduced international cooperation can only be damaging.
Children use a mobile shower, provided by the local government, amid extreme heat in metro Manila on May 2.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 6, 2024

From the Philippines to Mali, countries fail to count deaths from extreme heat

A lack of reliable data is undermining efforts to mitigate the risk of extreme heat and provide better protection for the most vulnerable.
The introduction of a two-tier pricing system which charges foreign tourists more than local residents is being considered at Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2024

More Japan tourist hot spots consider two-tier pricing system

However, experts have warned that the system may lead to discrimination if it is not carefully thought out.
Remnants of the first Moji station complex are located near the current Mojiko Station in the city of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 27, 2024

Kitakyushu clashes with academics over Meiji Era remains

The city wants to proceed with plans to build a five-story complex to house several aging public facilities on the site of the original Moji railway station.
The Kursk nuclear power plant. A typical containment dome could resist an impact as powerful as that of a falling aircraft, but the Kursk design was "completely different," said Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
WORLD
Aug 28, 2024

U.N. watchdog says Russian nuclear plant 'extremely exposed' if attacked

The design of the Kursk nuclear power plant is "completely different" to that of a typical containment dome capable of withstanding heavy impacts.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Aegis destroyer Chokai
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2024

Japan to add Tomahawk launch function to Aegis destroyer Chokai

Deployed at the MSDF's Sasebo base in Nagasaki Prefecture, the Chokai will be the first Japanese Aegis destroyer equipped with a counterstrike capability.
Cows graze in a field near the Green Bank Telescope, a 100-meter fully steerable radio telescope, at the Green Bank Observatory in the U.S. National Radio Quiet Zone in Green Bank, West Virginia, on May 20.
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 2, 2024

Inside the 'golden age' of alien hunting at the Green Bank Telescope

If intelligent life exists out there, there's a good chance the teams at the world's largest fully steerable radio astronomy facility will be the first to know.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan greet the press before welcoming leaders from African countries in Beijing on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 5, 2024

Debt woes and funding needs in focus as China hosts African leaders

Africa and its ample mineral and oil resources have become the focus of intense geopolitical competition in recent years.
A ride-hailing service vehicle in Sendai. In times of disasters, such services will be available more widely.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2024

Japan to allow use of ride-hailing services in disasters

Demand for transportation tends to increase during disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons, as well as in the recovery and reconstruction process.
Warships and fighter jets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy take part in a military display in the South China Sea in April 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Sep 21, 2024

U.S. leans on shipbuilding prowess of allies to compete with China

America’s shipbuilding industry has virtually collapsed over the last generation, raising concerns amid its rivalry with China.
A woman passes an "akichi" (vacant lot) in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. The capital is littered with such small lots in part because of Japan's aging and shrinking population.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Sep 21, 2024

Dealing with rising land vacancies as Japan shrinks

"Akichi," or vacant plots of land, are nothing new to the urban landscape. As the population decreases, however, the challenge is how to handle their steady increase.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during the Summit of the Future on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 23, 2024

Kishida seeks 'concrete actions' for U.N. Security Council reform

As next year marks the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the U.N., Kishida stated that "concrete actions" should be taken on Security Council reform.
Rescuers work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian airstrike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 27, 2024

Biden announces $8 billion in military aid for Ukraine

The funds will provide Ukraine with additional air defense, unmanned aerial systems and air-to-ground munitions.
Myanmar's then-state counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi, meets with Fumio Kishida, Japan's then-foreign minister, for talks in Tokyo in November 2016.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 27, 2024

Kishida’s failure to support democracy in Myanmar

Kishida's lack of engagement with Myanmar's pro-democracy movement shows he prioritized economic relations over democratic values.
United Nations peacekeepers stand watch over the Lebanese-Israeli border from the roof of a watch tower ‏in the town of Marwahin, in southern Lebanon, in October 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2024

Understanding the mandate of U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon

Any unauthorized crossing of the zone maintained by the peacekeepers by land or by air from any side constitutes a violation of a related Security Council resolution.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers march in the Victory Day Parade in Moscow in 2020. China and Russia are working together to undermine the liberal international order through military means.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 2, 2024

Tackling an international order in disarray

The liberal international order is fraying at the edges. A more assertive stance against leaders trying to undermine the status quo, Putin and Xi most notably, is needed.
A network camera installed at a nursery school in the city of Chiba monitors children.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 3, 2024

Network cameras offer better views in Japan

Cameras with built-in computing functions are gaining popularity as they allow users to easily check video feeds via the internet.
An Israeli aerial assault on Iran’s nuclear sites and other targets would be a very complex operation, involving dozens of F-15s, in-flight refueling and the targeting of numerous known and undisclosed facilities.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 6, 2024

An Israel-Iran war could turn into a deadly nightmare

Israel is fully justified in wanting to hit back at Iran. Yet hating your enemies too much can cloud your judgment.
The Tokaido Shinkansen platforms at Nagoya Station are packed with passengers on Aug. 9, when the operator ran a record 483 trains in a single day.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Chubu
Oct 21, 2024

Timetable planners form backbone of Tokaido Shinkansen's 60-year journey

Timetables based on precise demand predictions and the efforts of staffers on the ground have been integral to the evolution of bullet trains.
Japanese firm Space Entertainment Laboratory is showcasing a model of its fully autonomous, battery-powered Hamadori 3000 amphibious drone at this week's Japan International Aerospace Exhibition in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 18, 2024

Drone solutions take center stage in Tokyo aerospace show

A flurry of dual-use unmanned aerial vehicles are being showcased, a testament to their growing popularity and the Defense Ministry’s increasing demand for them.
A man looks at campaign posters for the House of Representatives election in Tokyo on Tuesday. Japan faces important challenges, but there is little reason to believe this election will bring about real change.
EDITORIALS
Oct 18, 2024

Japan goes to vote, but it’s not clear why

To smooth over those tensions, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has begun to recast his positions on many policies, moving closer to the LDP mainstream.
An F-35B stealth fighter jet lands on the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kaga helicopter carrier during a test on Sunday of the southern coast of California.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2024

F-35B fighter makes first landing on de facto aircraft carrier Kaga

The Maritime Self-Defense Force is conducting tests to determine if there are issues with such aircraft taking off from the vessel while verifying other procedures.
JR Central is believed to have been involved in a bid-rigging case as a coordinator.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 22, 2024

JFTC inspects JR Central and others for suspected bid-rigging

They are suspected of conspiring to decide in advance which company would win contracts for land bridge inspection work on 10 of JR Central's lines.
General Motors CEO Mary Barrabefore an investor meeting in Spring Hill, Tennessee, on Oct. 8. Barra said that the company had fixed battery-manufacturing problems and that its electric vehicles would soon be profitable.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 24, 2024

Electric vehicles may be struggling. GM’s leader is still a believer.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra says the company is still committed to doing away with combustion engine cars in the United States by 2035.
The Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant's No. 2 reactor was set to restart Tuesday after more than 13 years of suspension.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2024

Japan restarts nuclear power plant closest to 2011 earthquake

Nuclear power used to account for around a quarter of Japan’s electricity mix prior to the disaster, but it was at just 6% as of March 2023.
NATO and the so-called Indo-Pacific Four nations of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand have largely focused on security matters in Europe.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 29, 2024

Why the security of Asia and Europe are inseparable

Cooperation between Europe and the Indo-Pacific, including Japan, has never been more important as their defense depends not only on the U.S., but on each other.

Longform

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