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Union workers of Sogo & Seibu hold banners which read 'on strike' in front of the company's flagship Seibu Ikebukuro store in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 31, 2023

Sogo & Seibu labor union begins strike at flagship Ikebukuro store

While the labor union made a strong effort to prevent Seven & I from proceeding with the deal, a decision was made to sell the department store unit.
Police and security personnel stand outside the entrance of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday. Japan said that harassment being faced by its citizens in China after the Fukushima water release was "extremely regrettable," confirming that a brick was thrown at the country's embassy in Beijing.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 31, 2023

Fukushima water release dampens chances of Japan-China detente

Japan is now bracing for a new period of wide-ranging tensions with its neighbor as the strained ties look likely to continue into the months ahead.
A growing array of media companies say they are blocking OpenAI's webpage-scanning tool.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 31, 2023

Fearing digital 'pillaging,' news outlets block OpenAI web bot

The New York Times, CNN, Australian broadcaster ABC and news agencies Reuters and Bloomberg have taken steps to thwart the GPTBot web crawler.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2023

Century since Kanto quake, expert warns of 'blind faith' in disaster resilience

For many, grasping the potential devastation of a future major quake remains as elusive as it was 100 years ago.
Veteran broadcaster and DJ Peter Barakan has been a fixture in Japanese music media for decades. He is now in his third year as curator and namesake of Peter Barakan’s Music Film Festival, which kicks off in Tokyo today.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 1, 2023

Peter Barakan's Music Film Festival celebrates cinema and song

The three-week event kicks off its third edition with 31 films including documentaries, concert films and narrative films centered on music.
Pictured in his Kyoto kitchen, Alain Ducasse has the largest collection of Michelin stars of any chef alive — not that he puts much stock in such accolades.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 3, 2023

Alain Ducasse: ‘The Kyoto customer wants refinement’

The world’s most Michelin-starred chef sees those stars as a “reward” instead of an “objective.”
Semiconductors are expected to be a focal point when U.S. President Joe Biden visits Hanoi later this month with the goal of formally elevating ties between the two countries.
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
Sep 1, 2023

Vietnam's engineer shortage stalls U.S. chip hub plans

An engineer gap in Vietnam is becoming a major obstacle to the growth of its semiconductor industry and U.S. supply chain strategies.
An Airbus A350 XWB passenger aircraft on the final assembly line at the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 1, 2023

Fake spare parts were supplied to fix top-selling jet engine

The spread of undocumented or potentially faked parts into the engine supply chain is rare and treated with utmost urgency in the industry.
Load and haul operations at Thungela's thermal coal mining operation, Isibonelo Colliery (formerly Anglo American), in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, in March 2019
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 1, 2023

Coal miners forced to insure themselves amid climate concerns

Dozens of insurers have announced restrictions on their cover for the coal industry, particularly for new projects
Investors in Japan have filed a lawsuit against Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s joint venture brokerage with Morgan Stanley, seeking to recover losses from Credit Suisse's riskiest debt.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 1, 2023

MUFG joint-venture brokerage sued over Credit Suisse AT1 sales

Investors are demanding ¥5.2 billion ($36 million) in compensation from Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
Environmental activist Yakov Demidov inspects a landfill on the outskirts of Penza, Russia.
WORLD / Society
Sep 1, 2023

Russian teen eco-activists fight for future as risks mount

Environmental groups in Russia not linked to the government have long faced pressure from authorities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 1, 2023

Rapidus breaks ground on key Hokkaido chip factory

Rapidus aims to position itself as a prominent worldwide supplier of cutting-edge 2-nanometer-wide semiconductors.
Chinese tech giant Baidu's ERNIE Bot is seen on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Sep 2, 2023

'Talk about something else': Chinese AI chatbot toes party line

Chinese tech giant Baidu's ERNIE Bot is highly censored, offering state-approved answers to taboo questions.
Susan Barber, an AP English teacher at Atlanta's Midtown High School, in class Tuesday. Barber said using AI chatbots could make students' college essays too generic.
WORLD / Society
Sep 2, 2023

Ban or embrace? Colleges wrestle with AI-generated admissions essays.

A.I. chatbots could facilitate plagiarism on college applications or democratize student access to writing help. Or maybe both.
When night comes around, Lovely is more likely to let you give her a cuddle.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Sep 3, 2023

Lovely the cat lives up to her name

A cat named Lovely and a dog named Tillo would both make fantastic additions to the family.
Twitter owner Elon Musk attends the Viva Technology conference in Paris in June.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 3, 2023

X community notes: Weapon against fake news or free speech?

Despite being touted by Elon Musk as the way to police Twitter, experts remain unimpressed, citing opportunities for abuse.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 3, 2023

Tokyo lacks places for stranded people just after quake

With transportation networks severely disrupted, experts ponder how to care for those who wouldn't be able to go home.
A woman stands under surveillance cameras on a riverside, during the National People's Congress in Shanghai on March 7.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 3, 2023

China to its people: Spies are everywhere, help us catch them

China’s ruling Communist Party is enlisting ordinary people to guard against perceived threats to the country.
A schoolgirl wears a padded hood for protection from falling debris during an earthquake simulation exercise at an elementary school in Tokyo. The government estimates a 70% chance of a magnitude 7 event striking directly underneath the capital in the next 30 years.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2023

Tokyo has lived on the brink of the ‘Big One’ — for a century

The Great Kanto Earthquake demolished the nascent Japanese capital, killing more than 100,000 people — some 3% of the city’s population at the time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during their meeting in Vladivostok, Russia, in April 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 5, 2023

U.S. says North Korea's Kim expects to meet Putin for arms deal

The two pariah states are reportedly looking to reach a deal on weapons in exchange for food and satellite and submarine technological support.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2023

Suspect in 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack admits setting blaze

The focus of the trial will now shift to the defendant’s motive and whether he can be held criminally responsible for the attack.
A fisherman rows his boat ashore in Cochin, Kerala, India.
ENVIRONMENT / Oceans
Sep 6, 2023

India bets on seaweed's future as food industry appetite grows

Grains are the backbone of food security in India, but seaweed advocates trumpet its dietary benefits, diverse uses in processed foods and sustainability.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2023

Japan to test use of My Number cards for alcohol and ticket sales

The agency will work with private business operators to examining whether use of My Number cards will help improve the efficiency of identity checks.
Packs of raw fish at a Japanese food store in Beijing prior to China's ban on Japan's seafood products
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 6, 2023

China takes its anti-science disinformation campaign to a new level

Japan can counter China's disinformation on the safety of the Fukushima water release, and gain people's trust, by sharing the data.
Journalists tour the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and the tanks that contain contaminated water on Aug. 27
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 6, 2023

We need to put low-dose radiation into perspective

Public fear of the effects of low-dose radiation isn’t backed by science. The Fukushima water release shows, once again, that better education is needed.
Actor Nahana says she considers her role as a punk rocker who falls in love with an avenging hero in Takahisa Zeze’s four-hour epic “Heaven’s Story” a turning point in her career.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 6, 2023

Indie film royalty Nahana looks back on 22 years

The Cinema Novecento theater in Yokohama is set to screen 12 of the versatile actor's films as a tribute to her long career.
Part of the deserted Legend of Sea project developed by Country Garden
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 7, 2023

China’s credit wreck exposes governance failings to the world

"Foreign money managers still have willingness to invest in China, but how much we invest is in flux.”
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2023

Ex-LDP member and offshore wind advocate arrested over bribery

Masatoshi Akimoto is suspected of receiving ¥60 million from Masayuki Tsukawaki, then-president of Japan Wind Development.
Students walk past a classroom building on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
WORLD / Society
Sep 7, 2023

Generation AI: Education reluctantly embraces the bots

Some educators have expressed concern that students might rely on AI to produce work and effectively cheat.
Aziz Umerov looks at a portrait of his sister Leniye Umerova, a Ukrainian from Russian-annexed Crimea arrested in Russia, on August 11.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 7, 2023

Arrest, detain, repeat: Russian war critics in jail 'carousel'

Consecutive jailings aren't illegal, as Russian law allows judges to order "administrative" detentions of up to 30 days for minor infractions.

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go