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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.
A woman clear debris from the kitchen of her house after a Russian strike in Odesa, Ukraine, on Friday.
WORLD
Nov 11, 2024

Russia and Ukraine launch biggest drone attacks of conflict

The attacks came as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, urging him not to escalate the conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands before attending a joint press conference after a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki on July 16, 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 11, 2024

Trump and Putin speak as Biden set to ask president-elect to back Ukraine

Donald Trump has criticized the scale of U.S. military and financial support for Kyiv, vowing to end the war quickly, without saying how.
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in action during his men's singles group stage match against Norway's Casper Ruud at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, on Monday
TENNIS
Nov 12, 2024

Alcaraz given Ruud awakening with defeat in ATP Finals opener

The round-robin format of the eight-man event means Alcaraz could still crown a standout year in style.
An infrastructure project in the city of Mumbai. The International Monetary Fund forecasts 7.0% growth for India in 2024 and 6.5% in 2025, compared with 0.3% growth for Japan this year and 1.1% next year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 12, 2024

India set to overtake Japan in GDP rankings

Economic stagnation and a weak yen could take Japan's economy to fifth place globally as early as next year.
A bear sighting warning sign in a park at a residential area in the city of Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture. Hanamaki has deployed along riverbanks artificial intelligence-equipped cameras that identify bears and alert city officials.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 13, 2024

Municipalities in Japan turn to AI and digital maps to prevent bear encounters

Akita Prefecture's online map consolidates reports of sightings and incidents while the city of Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture has deployed cameras that identify bears.
A Chinese foreign national was arrested Tuesday for allegedly swindling an elderly woman through a fake investment scam.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2024

Chinese national held over swindling of Ibaraki woman who lost ¥809 million

Wan Cheuklun allegedly conspired with others to impersonate economist Takuro Morinaga on LINE, offering false investment opportunities.
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Nov 18, 2024

In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation

The latest edition of the Japan Writers Conference was a friendly forum for anglophone writers to connect and converse.
Japanese companies lack the agility needed for the digital transformation, a new report says.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 15, 2024

Japan ranked 31st in digital competitiveness, 92nd for English skills

In the 2024 EF English Proficiency Index, Japan was ranked 92nd, down from 87 the previous year. It was its worst showing yet.
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 18, 2024

For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action

Always trying to solve the problems of modern life, the perennial candidate refuses to bow to societal expectations of age.
A national flag of Saudi Arabia at their pavilion at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 14
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 18, 2024

Saudi Arabia executes more than 100 foreigners in 2024

Saudi Arabia has faced persistent criticism over its use of the death penalty, which human rights groups have condemned as excessive.
Since inmates with mental disabilities often repeat similar offenses after a short period of time — partly due to a lack of necessary support — increased help from staffers with specialized knowledge is becoming crucial.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 18, 2024

Ministry ramps up support for prisoners with mental disabilities in Japan

One of the main targets is to reduce the recidivism rate, which tends to be higher for prisoners with mental and developmental disabilities.
Farmer Hla Han, 52, who lost his leg after stepping on a mine, peels garlic outside his house in Demoso township, eastern Kayah state, Myanmar.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 20, 2024

Myanmar led world in landmine victims in 2023, monitor says

Decades of sporadic conflict between the military and ethnic rebel groups have left Myanmar littered with deadly landmines and munitions.

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it