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A man poses for pictures at a booth showing off a book by Chinese leader Xi Jinping during the China International Import Expo at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai in November 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 31, 2023

Survey finds historically high negative views of China

In the survey, only about 28% of respondents had a favorable opinion of China despite Beijing’s diplomatic initiatives over the past year.
Former sumo wrestler Daisuke Yanagihara discusses his lawsuit against the Japan Sumo Association during a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan on Monday.
SUMO
Aug 1, 2023

Former wrestler sues sumo association for alleged mistreatment

The former fourth-division rikishi said he was told to fight or quit as coronavirus cases rose in Tokyo ahead of the 2021 New Year Basho.
A woman takes a picture of the poster for the new Hayao Miyazaki film, “The Boy and the Heron.”
PODCAST / deep dive
Aug 2, 2023

Hayao Miyazaki’s confusing new masterpiece

Our critics Thu-Huong Ha and Matt Schley discuss what they thought of the new Hayao Miyazaki film, “The Boy and the Heron.”
Masae Yamanaka joins colleagues from Panasonic Connect to take part in the Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade in April.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Aug 3, 2023

How one woman's career in sales flourished across four companies

As she rose through sales in various companies, Masae Yamanaka stuck to her mother’s teachings: keep working, commit to actions.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police investigators search the dormitory of Nihon University's American football team in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 4, 2023

Illegal stimulants found in Nihon University football player dorm

Police are planning to conduct a further investigation into the 21-year-old male football player who is suspected of possessing them.
Yuzuru Hanyu attends a photo session in Tokyo in September 2022.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Aug 5, 2023

Figure skating icon Yuzuru Hanyu announces marriage

Hanyu, who did not reveal the identity of his partner, said he will continue to skate to show the best version of himself.
Ater Jimmie Husen
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 6, 2023

On plates, Sweden and Japan are a natural pair

Swedish and Japanese cuisine are not natural allies, but diners in Japan don’t seem to care when they taste this unique fusion for themselves.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends the joint news conference of the China-Central Asia Summit in Xian, China, in May.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 5, 2023

Xi spent two days outside China in 2023 as problems mount

Mounting domestic problems from a faltering economy to rare political scandals have demanded the Chinese leader's attention at home.
Hiroshi Mikitani, co-chief executive officer of Rakuten Medical, speaks at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's meeting in Yokohama on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2023

Rakuten’s Mikitani spends a fifth of his time on biotech startup

Rakuten Medical, based in San Diego, employs about 200 people and specializes in a therapy that uses light and immunotherapy drugs to fight cancer.
A participant operates the "Flappy Bird," a self-made flying machine, during an event in Hong Kong in May 2014. Vietnam first caught the attention of global gamers in 2013 after Hanoi developer Dong Nguyen created, Flappy Bird, a simple but addictive game app.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 7, 2023

A decade after Flappy Bird, Vietnam becomes gaming powerhouse

Moving beyond outsourced software and sneaker factories, Hanoi views mobile games as a crucial part of its emerging tech sector.
Masatoshi Akimoto at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Thursday
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 7, 2023

Scandal-hit ex-LDP member a major backer of renewable energy

Masatoshi Akimoto opposes building new nuclear reactors or replacing current ones, and has said that wind power in particular has much potential.
Taiwanese singer Chang Hui-mei — also known as "A-Mei" — poses with her mother (second from left) on the red carpet in Taipei in 2016.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 8, 2023

Chinese fans barred from wearing rainbows at gay-friendly show

Being gay, bisexual or transgender is increasingly seen by some in China as a concept imported from the West.
Some strategists think that foreign investors, who had helped drive one of the world’s biggest rallies so far this year, may pose risks for Japan’s stock market in the second half.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 9, 2023

Global funds that drove Topix rally may now threaten Japan gains

A lack of bold policy measures by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and China's economic slowdown are also seen as curbing the bullish trend.
Indian border security force soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint along a highway leading to Ladakh in Kashmir's Ganderbal district in June 2020.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 6, 2023

China-India border conflict holds lessons for Japan, too

India has learned that bilateral ties and economic interdependence do not constrain China's territorial ambitions. That is a lesson Japan should heed.
Paul Cezanne’s “Mont Saint-Victoire and Chateau Noir” (Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation)
CULTURE / Art
Aug 10, 2023

Artizon Museum considers the diverse legacy of abstract art

The Artizon’s overview showcases the huge diversity that non-figurative painting can encompass while illustrating how divisive a genre it can be.
Treated water stored in massive tanks at the Fukushima No. 1 plant
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2023

Japan to conduct quick tritium tests on Fukushima wastewater

The rapid analysis system will enable test results to come out as early as the following day.
Al Hilal's new signing Neymar (left) holds the club's shirt as he poses with President Fahd bin Saad Al-Nafel during a signing event in Paris on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Aug 16, 2023

Neymar joins Saudi club Al Hilal from PSG in two-year deal

French newspaper L'Equipe said the deal could net the Brazil star almost $175 million.
A farmer harvests jasmine flowers on the outskirts of Madurai, India. Jasmine has been used for millennia in India to honor the gods, and the valuable scent is now being snapped up as an essential ingredient for global perfumes.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 16, 2023

Scent of luxury: India's jasmine infuses global perfume

Jasmine's fragrant flowers have been used for millennia in India to honor the gods, and the scent is a key part of world-famous perfumes.
Chinese leaders seem to believe the country has a narrow window of opportunity to achieve global preeminence before unfavorable demographic and geopolitical trends catch up with it.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2023

China’s dangerous secrets

China's secretive approach to projects and activities, including its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, should be a significant concern.
Destroyed buildings and cars along Front Street in Lahaina, Hawaii, two days after the historic town on Maui was devastated by wildfire on Aug. 11.
WORLD
Aug 16, 2023

How fire turned Lahaina into a death trap

A week has passed since an inferno swept through West Maui. More than 100 people are confirmed dead, with the toll expected to rise substantially.
At the inaugural World Lambrusco Day held this June, the sparkling wine took center stage beneath the Eiffel Tower.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 20, 2023

Passe or sparkling, Lambrusco can get you through a Tokyo summer

Fizzy, fruity and tantalizingly affordable, the sparkling red wine from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region is a convivial antidote to the summertime blues.
The color of a red torii gate in Bushidaira, Saitama Prefecture, still stands out against a vibrant green backdrop.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Aug 18, 2023

Exploring the eerie beauty of Japan's abandoned villages

Depopulation and an aging society have turned parts of the countryside into tourist attractions for those eager to explore a forgotten era.
“Days at the Morisaki Bookshop” centers on a woman who overcomes past difficulties by finding comfort and human connection at her uncle's charming bookstore.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 19, 2023

Satoshi Yagisawa’s novel has all the charm of a Jimbocho bookshop

“Days at the Morisaki Bookshop" is a heartwarming coming-of-age tale that will delight fans of Japanese literature.
Surging populations of plant-eating insects are disrupting farms and the food supply chain, causing problems far more serious than sticky windshields from bug excrement.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2023

The insect apocalypse is coming to your neighborhood

Polar bears and sea turtles get most of the attention as victims of climate change, but when the bugs invade we're all going to feel it personally.
An area congested with wooden houses in Tokyo's Higashi-Ikebukuro district
JAPAN / Society
Aug 20, 2023

Tokyo aiming to eliminate areas congested with wooden houses

As of 2020, Tokyo had some 8,600 hectares of such areas that are expected to suffer particularly severe damage in the event of a large quake.
Staff from the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium release a juvenile loggerhead sea turtle with a transmitter attached in the central North Pacific Ocean in July.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 20, 2023

Japanese aquarium begins study on sea turtle migration

Little is known about the exact route and mechanism of the loggerhead's migration from the coast of Japan to the west coast of North America.
U.S. and Japanese authorities are concerned that purchases of farmland near military bases and other critical facilities will allow China and other governments to spy on or interfere with their operations.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2023

For the best espionage, it’s location, location, location

Efforts by Chinese companies to purchase land — often, but not exclusively, agricultural — has authorities in Japan and the United States up in arms.
Kenya Koshimizu, senior executive at Mizuho Financial Group, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2023

Mizuho deferring JGB purchases as BOJ mulls policy exit: official

Banks face a looming inflection point as Japan's economy approaches policy normalization after years of little growth, weak spending and massive easing.
A couple that supports a system allowing the use of separate surnames, in Tokyo in October 2021
JAPAN / Society
Aug 23, 2023

61% in Japan back separate surnames for married couples

A think tank sent forms to 16,470 households in July last year and analyzed responses from 5,518 women with spouses.
Nomura Securities International has agreed to pay $35 million over securities trading fraud which took place from 2009 to 2013 and primarily from the company’s trading floor in New York.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2023

Nomura fined $35 million in U.S. over mortgage-backed securities

Nomura Securities International will also pay almost $808,000 in restitution to victims of the scheme.

Longform

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