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A helmet jellyfish recorded at depth in the Lurefjord, Norway. The creatures experience acute physical effects from short-term exposure to suspended sediment, which could be caused by deep-sea mining.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Apr 7, 2024

The weird deep-sea world, and how mining threatens it

Demand for metals such as lithium and nickel has driven a rush to take a stake in the seabed, with Japan being a major advocate of deep-sea mining.
With the resignation of Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu, a major hurdle may have been removed in the construction of the maglev high-speed train, which is expected to connect Tokyo to Osaka in just over 60 minutes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 5, 2024

Maglev train is back on track after Shizuoka governor's derailing

Shizuoka's governor was blocking the construction of Japan's maglev bullet train. Now that he has resigned, the project can finally move at full speed.
Get the rubber gloves and cleaning supplies out. This is the time of year when we should clean our homes and prepare them for the upcoming rainy season.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 11, 2024

Dust off your tidying vocabulary with a refreshing spring clean

While most Japanese households take part in a big clean at the end of the year, it doesn't hurt to tidy a little as the weather changes.
Machida supporters wave giant flags during the team's game against Vissel Kobe at National Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 18, 2024

Upstart Zelvia shows that, in the J. League, it’s anyone’s game

The fast start by Go Kuroda’s men has highlighted the remarkable parity in the Japanese game when compared with top competitions in Europe.
Takuya Matsunaga reads a reply from Kozo Iizuka, imprisoned for killing Matsunaga's wife and daughter in 2019 in a high-profile accident in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, at his home in Tokyo earlier this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 19, 2024

Five years after fatal Ikebukuro crash, bereaved man works to prevent repeat

A man plans to meet with the driver who accidentally killed his wife and young daughter, hoping to learn what went through the driver's mind.
U.S. President Joe Biden disembarks from Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2024

Inflation overshadows U.S. economic resilience, hurting Biden

The U.S. economy being resilient generated one major setback for President Joe Biden on his road to reelection: inflation.
Ryo Wakabayashi, a distal myopathy patient, lives alone in the city of Fukushima.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Tohoku
May 20, 2024

Persistence pays off with approval of distal myopathy drug

The disease is estimated to affect only 300 to 400 people in Japan.
A slogan reads "Accelerate Industrial Transformation With AI" at the Microsoft booth at the Hannover Messe 2024 trade fair in Hannover, Germany, on April 22.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2024

Microsoft’s AI push imperils climate goal as carbon emissions jump

The company’s total planet-warming impact is about 30% higher today than it was in 2020.
Japan Times contributor Laura Pollacco (front right) was offered the role of one of her all-time favorite heroines, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bennet, in the Tokyo International Players’ production of “Pride and Prejudice.”
CULTURE / Stage
May 18, 2024

Local theater in Japan is more than a hobby — it’s a community

For contributor Laura Pollacco, companies such as Tokyo International Players and Sheepdog Theatre offer a home away from home.
Josef Newgarden celebrates after winning the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
May 27, 2024

Newgarden wins second straight Indianapolis 500

Newgarden became the race's first back-to-back winner in 22 years.
Renho speaks to reporters on Wednesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 13, 2024

Renho, the liberal politician who might dethrone Tokyo's Koike

Her candidacy in July's gubernatorial race presents voters in the capital with two choices: Change or stability.
Digital crime in Sweden has doubled since 2021 and become a growing risk for the Nordic economy.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 22, 2024

Ditching paper money makes Sweden a haven for digital criminals

Digital crime in Sweden has doubled since 2021 and become a growing risk for the Nordic economy.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer (center), shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (left) and shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Paris in 2023
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

Labour's Brexit red lines set to limit shift in U.K.'s ties with EU

Officials believe the party will struggle to deliver a significantly different trading relationship unless it U-turns on certain issues.
Tour guide and history buff Rory Dent left his job at a U.K.-based tour operator to move to Japan and start his own business.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Jun 30, 2024

Guiding Japan through the challenges of overtourism

With the number of overseas tourists breaking records, guides and tour operators are seeing their businesses flourish.
The yen’s depreciation is largely down to the gap in interest rates between the U.S. and Japan. Therefore, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is, to all intents and purposes, “Mr. Yen.”
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 1, 2024

There’s a new 'Mr. Yen' in town

No matter what the Bank of Japan or the Finance Ministry do, ultimate control over the yen's value lies in the hands of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The Defense Ministry holds a lecture for military and police officials from Pacific island countries at the ministry on Friday as part of its security-related capacity-building support.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 3, 2024

Japan Defense Ministry boosting aid to Pacific island nations

Only three out of 14 Pacific island nations — Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga — have armed forces.
With the vegan lifestyle becoming more popular in recent years, Japanese restaurants and inns have begun to offer more vegetarian options.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 4, 2024

Asking for food substitutions at a Japanese restaurant

If you're vegetarian, vegan or have some kind of allergy, then knowing how to ask about what you're eating is an essential skill to have.
When it is in season, 'maguro' (tuna) from the Sea of Japan is one of the mainstay menu items at Tokiwa Sushi.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jul 21, 2024

Tokiwa Sushi: Niigata sushi master with a hometown, locavore focus

"Tuna from Niigata Prefecture is the mainstay of our menu, but it’s only available three months a year," chef Kosuke Kobayashi explains.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro spoke last week following the presidential elections, saying that Mara Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzlez should go to prison.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 5, 2024

Humiliated and furious, Maduro arrests 2,000 Venezuelans over protests

Pressure to share election results has mounted from even Nicolás Maduro’s closest allies abroad.
Many market followers believe the pillars that had underpinned gains for years — a series of key assumptions that investors across the world were banking on — have been shaken.
BUSINESS
Aug 6, 2024

$6.4 trillion stock wipeout has traders fearing ‘great unwind’ is just starting

Many market followers believe the pillars that had underpinned gains for years have been shaken.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company facility in Phoenix. The tech giant modeled its facility in Phoenix on one at home. But bringing the company's highly complex manufacturing process to America has been a bigger challenge than it expected.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 10, 2024

What works in Taiwan doesn’t always work in Arizona, a chipmaking giant learns

Bringing TSMC's highly complex manufacturing process to America has been a bigger challenge than it expected.
Ami competes in the women's breaking competition at the Paris Olympics on Friday.
OLYMPICS / Breaking
Aug 11, 2024

Is breaking a sport? Even among competitors, the answer depends on who you ask.

There was not even consensus from the B-girls — though all agreed that it belongs in the Olympics.
The parliament building in Tokyo. With concerns about summer heat rising and many elections taking place in summertime, it may not be tenable to conduct campaigns as in the past given health risks to candidates, their staff and voters.
JAPAN / Politics / Boiling Point
Aug 17, 2024

Hotter summers pose a threat to Japan's tradition of stump speeches

Balancing health concerns with legal restrictions as well as candidates' desire to be as publicly visible as possible, even in super hot weather, might be tricky.
Masako Egawa forged a successful career in business and academia in the United States and Japan.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Sep 1, 2024

A quiet triumph of excellence in the worlds of banking and academia

Masako Egawa navigated a changing business world with her arms open to any opportunities that came along.
An ambulance is parked at the entrance of the emergency room of Saitama Hospital in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, on July 24.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Boiling Point
Aug 20, 2024

How Japan's health care system is gearing up for more heatstroke cases

Rising heatstroke cases are weighing on the nation’s health care system, which is already wrestling with the growing burden of a rapidly aging population.
Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at Enmarket Arena during a two-day campaign bus tour in Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 30, 2024

Seven takeaways from Harris’ first major interview

The vice president answered questions in the CNN interview without causing herself political harm or providing herself a significant boost.
Coco Gauff during her match against Emma Navarro on Day 7 of the 2024 U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing, New York, on Sunday
TENNIS
Sep 2, 2024

Holder Gauff ousted by Navarro in U.S. Open fourth round

Navarro's victory moved her into a second Grand Slam quarterfinal where she will play Spain's 26th seed Paula Badosa.
A Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system drives past an honor guard during a military parade on Victory Day in Red Square in central Moscow on May 9.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 27, 2024

Putin draws a nuclear red line for the West

Experts are debating how seriously to take Putin's new nuclear doctrine.
An Israeli soldier holds a weapon amid the an ongoing ground operation against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Sept. 13.
WORLD
Sep 28, 2024

Israel likely to have enough weapons for multiple conflicts

Experts believe Israel could outlast adversaries in offensives on at least two fronts simultaneously.
While Shigeru Ishiba’s victory suggests a shift within the Liberal Democratic Party, he still faces challenges from those who remain loyal to the old party guard. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 29, 2024

Japan’s perennial political underdog finally gets a win

Ishiba margin of victory was slim, meaning that there is still a sizable portion of the party who will be resistant to his initiatives.

Longform

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