Search - 2022

 
 
A person takes a photo of the Google Cloud logo during the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on Tuesday. The administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden in November had called for Google to sell its Chrome web browser and make other changes to its business.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 5, 2025

Google urges DOJ to reverse course on breaking up company

Representatives argue that the Alphabet unit’s critical importance to the U.S. economy and national security requires a softer touch.
Elbridge Colby appears at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee to be undersecretary of defense for policy at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

Trump Pentagon policy pick pushes Japan and Taiwan to boost defense spending

Tokyo should boost its defense budget to 3% of GDP "as soon as possible,” said Elbridge Colby, Trump's pick for the top policy job at the Pentagon.
Military delegates arrive for the opening session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

China says it will boost defense spending by 7.2% this year

The 1.78 trillion yuan ($246 billion) budget was revealed at the annual session of China’s National People’s Congress on Wednesday.
An M777 howitzer crew firing at Russian targets near the front lines of the Dnipro region, Ukraine, on Feb. 12
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2025

U.S. cuts intelligence for Ukraine, adding pressure for peace deal

The move underscores Trump's willingness to play hardball with an ally as he pivots to a more conciliatory approach to Moscow.
A dry rice field in Subang, West Java, Indonesia, on July 29, 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 6, 2025

Europe’s defense budget rips through its climate-crisis buffer

Spending cuts here and now mean future climate costs may rise, said the head of a climate nonprofit.
Naomi Osaka hits a shot during her match against Camila Osorio in Indian Wells, California, on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Mar 6, 2025

Naomi Osaka falls in first round at Indian Wells

The four-time Grand Slam champion never looked comfortable against Osorio's dynamic game and piled up unforced errors on a cool evening in the California desert.
Chinese teacher Shuaib Ma (right) gives a Mandarin language lesson at a school in Riyadh.
WORLD
Mar 7, 2025

Mandarin lessons in Saudi schools show growing ties with China

Mandarin's entry into public schools is the latest sign of growing ties between Saudi Arabia and China.
While Google may be the restaurant review medium of choice in other countries, Japan largely prefers Tabelog, where five-star reviews are rare and three-star reviews aren't what they seem.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 9, 2025

On Japan's top foodie site, imperfection is gold

Cultural expectations may influence ratings on Tabelog, but reading between the lines might help you find the next hidden gem.
Forbidden from seeing friends and forced to devote herself to housework, Reina (whose name has been changed), a 37-year-old Filipino national living in the city of Nagoya, became socially isolated.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2025

Foreign single mothers struggle with language barriers and visas

Experts are urging the government to create a safer environment where these women can continue living in Japan without fear.
“May You Have Delicious Meals” focuses on a trio of young office workers at the same workplace who have mixed feelings for food and each other.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 8, 2025

‘May You Have Delicious Meals’: The ugly taste of office and gender politics

The English-language debut of Junko Takase’s Akutagawa Prize-winning novel serves complex prose in translation by Morgan Giles.
A welfare caseworker (Takumi Kitamura) heads down a dangerous path despite trying to do the right thing in “A Bad Summer.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2025

‘A Bad Summer’: A scorching drama of simmering rage and its consequences

Hideo Jojo pushes into forbidden territory and navigates the darker currents of his latest film with assurance.
The Nagasaki Prefectural Police headquarters in the city of Nagasaki. Nagasaki police have arrested a 54-year-old woman for allegedly locking her naked partner out on their balcony for the night three years ago, which led to the man's death from extreme cold.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025

Woman held over death of partner after locking him out naked on balcony

The temperature had fallen to a low of 3.7 degrees Celsius on the night of the incident in February 2022.
IPC President Andrew Parsons poses for photos before a news conference at the Milano Cortina 2026 Organising Committee headquarters in Milan, Italy.
PARALYMPICS
Mar 7, 2025

IPC chief tasks sports with setting own rules for transgender athletes

The Olympic Games and the Paralympics currently allow transgender athletes to compete.
Globally, women are severely underrepresented among leading roles in cinema, with female directors accounting for just over 10% of the industry in Japan. Achieving gender equality on-set would have far-reaching consequences for the whole of society.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2025

Without women behind the camera, equality stays out of the frame

Cinema isn't only about what stories are told, but who tells them. Overcoming severe underrepresentation, women are reshaping the film industry and cultural narratives.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the ongoing National People's Congress in Beijing on Friday. Wang said major powers should assume international obligations and not be profit-driven.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 7, 2025

Major powers should not bully the weak, China's top diplomat says

They should assume international obligations and not be profit-driven, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says.
US President Donald Trump listens to a reporter as he speaks from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025

Trump threatens Russia with sanctions until Ukraine peace reached

Trump's threat of banking curbs and tariffs followed a report Monday that the White House was preparing to give Russia possible sanctions relief as part of the push to end the war.
Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Akio Isomata (left) and secretary to Sri Lanka's Finance Ministry, Mahinda Siriwardana, attend a joint news conference after the signing of debt restructuring agreements between the two countries in Colombo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025

Sri Lanka signs $2.5 billion debt deal with Japan

Japan said it was granting concessions on a ¥369.45 billion ($2.5 billion) loan under a comprehensive debt treatment plan.
A demonstration by the Polish army at the Bemowo Piskie Land Forces Training Center in Poland in September 2023. As U.S. President Donald Trump casts doubt on his country's alliances, Poland needs to double its military manpower and consider more destructive weapons, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025

Alarmed by Trump, Poland must look at nuclear options, premier says

Poland needs to double its military manpower and consider more destructive weapons, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
Former Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said Japan must fix "any misunderstanding" held by U.S. President Donald Trump that its central bank was intentionally weakening the yen with monetary policy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025

Japan must fix 'misunderstanding' it is manipulating yen, says ex-BOJ chief Kuroda

Trump said he had told Japan and China they could not continue to reduce the value of their currencies, as doing so would be unfair to the United States.
A makeshift memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers on Independence Square in Kyiv.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025

Ten days that shook Ukraine’s world reverberate in defiant Kyiv

The U.S. shift is as calamitous for Ukraine as it is shocking for European allies. But the mood remains defiant in Kyiv.
Aizawa Concrete employees work in the Namie factory in Fukushima Prefecture in January.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Mar 11, 2025

14 years after 3/11 disasters, Fukushima vies to become a startup hub

Part of the goal is to attract a more permanent workforce to Fukushima to support the development of the prefecture as a whole.
Base pay rose by 3.1% in January from a year earlier, the largest advance since October 1992, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 10, 2025

Japan records fastest gains in base pay since 1992, supporting BOJ moves

Data has also highlighted the impact of price growth, with real cash earnings falling 1.8%.
A worker collects palm oil fruit in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur, in 2014.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 10, 2025

The end of cheap palm oil? Output stalls as biodiesel demand surges

Aging plantations and slow replanting have led to lower yields even as demand for palm oil rises from various sectors.
Russell Henley puts on the signature Arnold Palmer cardigan after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida on May 9.
SPORTS / Golf
Mar 10, 2025

Henley snatches Arnold Palmer win after Morikawa stumble

Henley's closing 70 left him on 11 under for the tournament, with Morikawa's final-round 72 putting him on 10 under.
Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (left) catches a pass for a touchdown over Vikings cornerback Stephon Gilmore during the first half at Lumen Field on Dec. 22, 2024.
SPORTS / Football
Mar 10, 2025

Steelers obtain wide receiver DK Metcalf from Seahawks

Metcalf reportedly will sign a five-year, $150 million deal with the Steelers.
A town hall meeting with residents of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, one of the municipalities evacuated in the aftermath of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant. More dialogue is needed to foster truly participatory energy democracy in Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 10, 2025

Japan needs collective public support to reach its nuclear goals

Over a decade after 3/11, Japan has the chance to foster truly participatory energy democracy by engaging its civic environmental organizations in nuclear policymaking processes.
Members of a Liberal Democratic Party panel discuss proposals about allowing spouses to retain their respective surnames, in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 10, 2025

Eternal debate over surname law comes to fore again

Since last October’s general election, momentum has picked up for a legislative change to allow married couples to retain different surnames.
A heron flies over the bustling Ver-o-Peso market, in Belem, Para state, Brazil, near the site of the COP30 Summit, which will be held in November.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 10, 2025

BRICS' climate leadership aims hang on healing deep divides

Diverging national interests among BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — may also prove sticking points.
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the opening bell in New York on Monday, when stocks plummeted as investors fretted that uncertainty over President Donald Trump's tariff policy could tip the world's biggest economy into a recession.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 11, 2025

Markets rocked by Trump show economic fear across Wall Street

What had been a steady pullback from the U.S. stock market accelerated sharply Monday as investors retreated from virtually every type of risk.
Elon Musk, head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, wears a shirt that says "Tech Support" as he speaks during a Cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Feb. 26.
WORLD
Mar 11, 2025

Elon Musk says X hit by major cyberattack

The attack raises questions as to whether the politically divisive billionaire — and top adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump — is being targeted.

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