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French President Emmanuel Macron warns of existential threats to Europe from Russia, China and the U.S.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2024

Is this Macron's moment to shine?

Underlying all the problems that Europe faces in a new age of geopolitical, economic and climate insecurity is a crisis in leadership.
Cars pass Chinese flags on a highway ahead of Chinese leader Xi Jinping's visit in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 6, 2024

China’s billions help Xi make useful friends in Eastern Europe

China's ties with Serbia and Hungary highlight how it's helping transform a corner of Europe when much of the continent views Beijing as a strategic rival.
A screencap of a performance of Hiroto Nagai's “String Quartet No. 1 ‘Polar Energy Budget’” by the PRT Quartet
CULTURE / Music / OUR PLANET
May 7, 2024

How a Japanese scientist is turning the climate crisis into music

Hiroto Nagai has sonified polar climate data, resulting in a string quartet piece that he thinks can get people to care more about what the data expresses.
The Kioke Summit on Shodoshima has seen a steady rise in participants from dozens in its early days 12 years ago and about 100 in 2019 to more than 600 this past February.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 8, 2024

On Japan’s island of olives, age-old shoyu secrets survive

Each Kioke Summit features many activities including a "kioke" auction — shoyu fermentation barrels that fetch anywhere from ¥60,000 to ¥450,000.
Rafael Nadal takes part in a training session on Monday before the start of the Italian Open at the Foro Italico in Rome.
TENNIS
May 7, 2024

Nadal to make Rome return against qualifier

The 37-year-old last won in Rome in 2021 and dropped out last year with injury ahead of the tournament.
Enamored with Japanese cuisine, Xander Soren sought to create the perfect Pinot Noir to suit the country's most common flavors.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
May 7, 2024

A Californian Pinot Noir bred for the Japanese table

In November, a former Apple employee launched Xander Soren Wines and its Pinot vintages exclusively in Japan.
Inter Miami’s signing of Lionel Messi has served to highlight the demand for top talent among U.S. soccer fans, said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
SOCCER
May 7, 2024

MLS must attract best players to grow, says Infantino

Major League Soccer salary and roster restrictions mean that teams are unable to spend freely when it comes to signing top players.
Naoya Inoue celebrates his victory over Luis Nery in their IBF-WBA-WBC-WBO super bantamweight title boxing match at Tokyo Dome on Monday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
May 7, 2024

After blockbuster boxing victory, what next for ‘Monster’ Inoue?

Some want the boxer to take on more fights outside of Japan.
The United Kingdom's Tom Daley takes part in an interview after winning the men's 10m platform final at the FINA Diving World Cup in Tokyo in May 2021.
OLYMPICS / Diving
May 7, 2024

British diver Daley to compete at record fifth Games

The 29-year-old is set to defend his gold medal in the men's 10m synchronized platform event.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Kaga destroyer has undergone the first stage of modifications to turn it into a de facto aircraft carrier for F-35B stealth fighter jets.
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
May 13, 2024

MSDF’s Kure base expanding mission as it marks 70th anniversary

The unit has increased its activities not only in national defense, but also in disaster relief operations and overseas missions.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen walk after their meeting in Paris on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 7, 2024

Xi bristles as Macron and von der Leyen urge China to do more on Ukraine

The Chinese president also rejected what he described as attempts to use the Ukraine conflict to smear a third country or stoke a new Cold War.
Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge (center) among his pacers during a training session in Kaptagat, Kenya, on Saturday.
OLYMPICS / Athletics
May 8, 2024

Kipchoge's road to third Olympic gold starts in Kenya's Rift Valley

"I'm feeling good. But I think the next months will be more interesting," the athlete said after a training session.
Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer (left), defender Ian Maatsen (center) and forward Donyell Malen celebrate their team's victory over Paris Saint-Germain in Paris on Tuesday.
SOCCER
May 8, 2024

Borussia Dortmund overcome the odds to return to Wembley

In the June 1 Champions League final, Dortmund will face either Bayern Munich or 14-time champions Real Madrid.
Workers on the production line at a cotton textile factory in Korla, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, on April 1, 2021
BUSINESS
May 8, 2024

Banned Chinese cotton found in 19% of U.S. and global retailers' merchandise, study shows

The U.S. enacted a law in 2021 to safeguard its market from products potentially tainted by human rights abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer.
Cleaning worker Hu Dexi, 67, at a shopping mall in Beijing on April 10
BUSINESS / Economy
May 8, 2024

In rapidly aging China, millions can't afford to retire

With a low retirement age, meager pension benefits and no family to support them, many in China feel they simply can't ever stop working.
Toyota said its group net profit in the fiscal year that ended in March nearly doubled from the previous year to hit a record high, due to robust sales of hybrid vehicles.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 8, 2024

Toyota posts record net profit on weak yen and strong hybrid sales

The carmaker saw a 31% jump in sales of hybrid vehicles, bringing the total to 3.7 million, while sales of purely electric cars were 116,500.
An ambitious high school freshman recruits three girls from her region to create an “idol” group from scratch in “Trapezium.”
CULTURE / Film
May 9, 2024

‘Trapezium’: Being an idol isn’t always a dream come true

The anime adaptation of a book by Kazumi Takayama, a former member of Nogizaka46, offers an authentic look at the pressures of show business.
Andy Summers’  exhibition “A Series of Glances,” currently on view in Tokyo and Kyoto simultaneously, features photographs taken in a wide range of locations around the world, including “Centaur,” which was snapped in Montserrat in July 1981.
CULTURE / Art
May 9, 2024

Andy Summers captures life on and off stage in moody monochrome

The guitarist for The Police, who cites Akira Kurosawa as an important influence, puts his passion for photography on display in Japan.
Orangutans at Malaysia's National Zoo in Kuala Lumpur in 2021. The orangutan is critically endangered, with a population of less than 105,000 on the island of Borneo, according to conservation group WWF.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 9, 2024

Malaysia eyes 'orangutan diplomacy' with nations that import palm oil

But concerned wildlife advocates are calling for alternative measures to protect the ape's habitat and improve the sustainable production of the commodity.
The growing divide between U.S.-led and China-aligned blocs is taking a toll on the global economy as trade and investment flows are redirected along geopolitical lines in ways not seen since the Cold War.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 9, 2024

Cold War-type divide puts trade and investment at risk, top IMF official warns

After years of shocks, countries are reevaluating their trading partners, an IMF official has said.
Futures of robusta coffee beans have hit their highest price in over 40 years, while cocoa prices have more than doubled this year.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 9, 2024

Cocoa’s dizzying volatility is spilling into the coffee market

Many major traders deal in both commodities, so soaring cocoa prices are squeezing market players for cash and forcing them out of coffee trading.
Novak Djokovic has not played since competing at the Monte Carlo Masters in April.
TENNIS
May 9, 2024

Novak Djokovic hoping to reach peak form in time for French Open

The world No. 1 skipped last month's Madrid Masters and is in Rome to continue his preparations for this month's French Open in Paris.
Urawa Reds Ladies celebrate with their fans after winning the league championship at Urawa Komaba Stadium on June 3, 2023.
SOCCER
May 9, 2024

Urawa Reds Ladies to vie for Asian supremacy amid controversy over AFC's actions

Final to go ahead after backlash forced AFC to reverse earlier decision to cancel match.
Archaeologists say a 1,600-year-old wooden coffin at the Tomio Maruyama tumulus in the city of Nara was kept in good condition probably because it was protected by a layer of clay and copper ions that had seeped out of the mirrors that were buried together.
JAPAN / History / FOCUS
May 9, 2024

How the discovery of a giant sword in Nara offers clues into ancient Japan

Experts say a series of surprise finds at the burial mound could help untangle the many mysteries surrounding the rulers of fourth-century Japan.
Pete Reynolds (front row, right) has trained for 38 years with the Bujinkan, an organization that teaches skills used by ninja. The American moved to Japan in 2000 and is now a senior instructor at the organization’s dojo in the Nezu neighborhood in Tokyo.
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 10, 2024

The unexpected acolytes helping to keep ninja heritage alive

What may have started as youthful fantasy has led to a deeper passion in an area of Japanese history by non-Japanese martial arts practitioners.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Hiroshima in May 2023. Yoon's focus on mending ties with Japan since he took office has seen relations recover from what officials and experts said was the worst since the two countries normalized diplomatic relations in 1965.
JAPAN / Politics
May 10, 2024

Japan-South Korea ties remain on rocky ground over history

The possibility of disagreements over wartime labor in particular poses a constant threat to the dramatically improved relations built up in recent years.
Rafael Nadal celebrates after his win over Zizou Bergs at the Italian Open in Rome on Thursday.
TENNIS
May 10, 2024

Rafael Nadal hopes to shed 'fear' before French Open

Nadal bounced back from a set down to beat qualifier Zizou Bergs 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Steelmakers' concerns about BHP's coking coal market power could derail a deal between BHP and Anglo American.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2024

BHP-Anglo American deal raises alarm in Japan's steel industry

Australia is the world's biggest exporter of coking coal and top supplier to Japan, making up around 60% of its imports.
Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 11, 2024

How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan

Five years into the Reiwa Era and the challenges Japan's moms face are unique, though the qualities that help them persevere haven't changed a bit.
Ippei Mizuhara interprets for Shohei Ohtani during the baseball star's introductory news conference with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Dec. 14.
BASEBALL
May 10, 2024

Gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani's interpreter being turned into TV series

The shocking gambling scandal surrounding Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, which made headlines across the world earlier this year, is already heading to television.

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?