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Nemo representing Switzerland appears on stage after winning the Grand Final of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, on Saturday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 12, 2024

Switzerland's Nemo wins Eurovision Song Contest

Twenty-four-year-old Nemo's "The Code" won the highest score from nations' juries, and enough of the popular votes to get 591 points.
Over 70% of respondents in a survey do not support Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's handling of the high-profile slush fund scandal involving factions of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
JAPAN / Politics
May 16, 2024

Kishida Cabinet's support rate edges up, poll shows

The poll found that 72.9% of respondents do not support Kishida's handling of a high-profile slush fund scandal.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on May 1.
WORLD / Politics
May 21, 2024

Trump leads Biden in monthly campaign fundraising for first time

The U.S. president’s campaign, however, still holds a wide financial edge over his Republican rival.
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
PODCAST / deep dive
May 23, 2024

What does climate change sound like in Okinawa?

This week, Japan Times climate editor Chris Russell joins us to discuss what researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology are listening to.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures as he arrives back at Trump Tower after being convicted in his criminal trial, in New York City on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 31, 2024

Trump found guilty on all counts in hush money case

Prosecutors said Trump led a broader scheme to influence the election by concealing stories of his alleged sexual encounters with women.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump after the verdict was read at Manhattan criminal court in New York City, on Thursday
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 31, 2024

For Trump's false records conviction, prison is not unprecedented

Prison time is rare for people convicted in New York state of felony falsification of business records — the charge Donald Trump faced at his six-week trial.
Ukrainian servicemen operate an armoured military vehicle on a road near the border with Russia, in the Sumy region of Ukraine, on Tuesday. The Ukrainian army entered Russia's Kursk region on Aug. 6, capturing dozens of settlements in the biggest offensive by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 15, 2024

Ukraine says advance into Russia ‘going well,’ creating strategic buffer

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his nightly address on Wednesday, said Kyiv’s strategic goal has been achieved.
BASKETBALL
Aug 19, 2024

Caitlin Clark sets rookie record as Fever top Storm

Clark finished with 23 points, and her nine assists gave her 231 for the season.
Students sit under a misting system during recess at Hikarigaoka Haru no Kaze Elementary School in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, on Sept. 6.
JAPAN / Society / Boiling Point
Sep 16, 2024

Japan’s schools battle to keep kids cool, with or without AC

With extreme heat affecting both health and study, schools are racing to plug AC gaps while experimenting with creative, cheaper solutions.
Kei Nishikori hits a return against Jordan Thompson during their second-round match at the Japan Open in Tokyo on Saturday.
TENNIS
Sep 28, 2024

Kei Nishikori advances to quarters at a Japan Open full of upsets

In other action, fifth seed Tommy Paul became the latest top player to make an early exit as he lost to Tomas Machac in the second round on Saturday.
FamilyMart's net profit nearly doubled to ¥65.4 billion in the first six months of its fiscal year, though its operating revenue fell 1.4% to ¥257.5 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 12, 2024

Lawson and FamilyMart post higher first-half profits

FamilyMart's net profit nearly doubled to ¥65.4 billion in the first six months of its fiscal year, though its operating revenue fell 1.4% to ¥257.5 billion.
Voters listen to a stump speech in Tokyo's Toshima Ward on Tuesday as campaigning for the Oct. 27 Lower House election kicked off.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 16, 2024

Japan's opposition parties to clash in 80% of constituencies

The situation may help the ruling bloc as votes from those critical of the LDP-led government could be dispersed among opposition candidates.
The Hong Kong skyline on Jan. 3, 2022. In 2018, Hong Kong received a record 65 million tourists. In 2023, it welcomed a little more than half that.
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2024

Tourism has rebounded worldwide but not in Hong Kong.

The rebound of international travel to the city continues to lag far behind the tourist activity reported at most other Asian destinations.
A digital camera found near the tip of the Shiretoko Peninsula in August was identified as belonging to Yu Nudeshima, a passenger of the Kazu I tour boat that sank on April 23, 2022, with 26 people on board.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 28, 2024

Passenger's photos from Hokkaido boat accident retrieved 2½ years on

The images offer a glimpse of April 23, 2022 — the day the Kazu I tour boat sank off Hokkaido's Shiretoko Peninsula with 26 people on board.
Toyota's worldwide production fell for an eighth straight month in September, as both sales and output declined in its two biggest markets, the United States and China.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2024

Toyota sales fall in Japan and China, as hybrid demand grows in U.S.

Toyota’s sales in Japan shrank nearly 17% this year between January and September.
A village school bus drives along an empty street in the village of Tenei, Fukushima Prefecture, in March 2023. In rural areas, more single-member households will emerge from an aging population and the eventual death of spouses in two-person households, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 12, 2024

1 in 5 people in Japan age 65 and older will be living alone in 2050

The trend resulting from rapid depopulation will affect both metropolitan and rural areas, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research says.
Reliever Shintaro Fujinami was traded from the A's to the Orioles on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 20, 2023

A's trade pitcher Shintaro Fujinami to Orioles

Fujinami, 29, is in his first major league season after playing for the Hanshin Tigers in NPB from 2013 to 2022.
Officials in the municipality of Daito, in Osaka, speak at a news conference on Wednesday regarding a case in which a mother is suspected of starving her daughter, hospitalizing her and claiming insurance payments.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 20, 2023

Mother in Osaka arrested for starving daughter and claiming insurance money

Investigators believe Kasumi Nawata regularly starved her daughter, hospitalizing her 43 times for a total of 332 days since spring 2018.
Employees of a fishing net manufacturer, including Ainu Indigenous people, work at a facility in Urahoro, Hokkaido, in June.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Jul 23, 2023

In Hokkaido, an Ainu group's lawsuit and climate change converge on salmon fishing

The Raporo Ainu Nation in Hokkaido is fighting for its Indigenous rights to fish for salmon. But warming waters are raising questions about future fish stocks.
An accommodation center for refugees from Ukraine in Berlin in May
WORLD / Society
Jul 21, 2023

Europe struggles to convert Ukraine migration into labor boon

Obstacles ranging from lack of child care facilities to reluctance to recognize non-European academic and vocational qualifications has left vacancies unfilled.
Brazil midfielder Ary Borges celebrates her hat trick during the team's 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup opener against Panama in Adelaide, Australia, on Monday.
SOCCER / Women's World cup
Jul 25, 2023

Brazil's Ary Borges outdoes Pele with emotional World Cup hat trick

The 23-year-old is the first Brazilian, man or woman, to score a hat trick in their World Cup debut, according to governing body FIFA.
A man sits on his own at a taco stand on Kokusai Street in Naha.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jul 2, 2023

Peacemaking of a different sort in Okinawa

Through therapy and community outreach, counseling service TELL draws on the personal experiences of its clinicians and support workers to help various communities in Okinawa.
U.S. forward Alex Morgan (left) is one of several mothers competing during this year's Women's World Cup.
SOCCER / Women's World cup
Jul 27, 2023

Women's World Cup players balance motherhood with athletic ambitions

Germany forward Laura Freigang agrees that having children around can be a welcome distraction from the pressures of World Cup soccer.
Migrants are seen on a metal boat as members of the Tunisian coastguard try to stop them at sea during their attempt to cross to Italy, off Sfax, Tunisia, on April 27.
WORLD
Jul 28, 2023

Tunisia says 900 migrants drowned off its coast this year

Tunisia has become a major gateway for irregular migrants and asylum-seekers attempting the perilous sea voyages in often rickety boats in the hopes of a better life in Europe.
Transport ministry officials enter a Bigmotor dealership in Sapporo on Friday for an on-site inspection.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 28, 2023

Transport ministry conducts on-site probe of Bigmotor amid scandal

The surprise inspection, which covered dealerships in 24 prefectures, came after the ministry interviewed Bigmotor executives including newly appointed President Shinji Izumi on Wednesday.
An elderly couple at a shrine in Tokyo in 2020
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 28, 2023

Japan's average life expectancy continued to fall in 2022

The decline for both men and women were "largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic," a ministry official said.
Transport ministry officials leave a Bigmotor dealership in Nagoya on Friday after conducting on-site inspections.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 31, 2023

Bigmotor suspected of fabricating insurance contracts

The news came on top of an investigation report that showed employees padded maintenance fee claims to insurance firms by deliberately damaging cars.
The Giants' Naoki Yoshikawa (left) records an out at first base during his team's win over the Dragons at Tokyo Dome on Sunday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Jul 31, 2023

Naoki Yoshikawa and Makoto Kadowaki play starring roles for Giants in field

The Yomiuri infielders are turning heads with their play.
Toyota Motor Corp.’s quarterly profit exceeded estimates as improvements in the supply of semiconductors and a cheap yen helped the carmaker capitalize on a global rebound in demand for new vehicles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2023

Toyota profit tops estimates, sticks to full-year forecasts

A post-pandemic surge allowed the automaker to boost production and sell a record number of vehicles in June.
Damage to buildings in Naha, Okinawa, seen on Aug. 3, after Typhoon Khanun passed through the area
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2023

Typhoon Khanun kills one, cuts power to a third of Okinawa homes

High winds hit power lines in Okinawa Prefecture and knocked out electricity to more than 200,000 households on Wednesday morning.

Longform

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