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Orix Buffaloes players pose for a commemorative photo after securing the PL pennant with their victory against Chiba Lotte Marines at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Sep 21, 2023

Buffaloes' fans finally get to experience team's resurgence

Fans packed Kyocera Dome Osaka for the sellout game in hopes of finally seeing a clinching victory with their own eyes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin watches a test launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile at Plesetsk cosmodrome via video link in Moscow on April 20.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 9, 2023

Russian nuclear test would prompt others to follow suit

Only North Korea has conducted a test involving a nuclear explosion during this century.
U.S. President Joe Biden gives a thumbs-up as he walks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at Filoli estate on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15. Their meeting attempted to calm the waters and tried to convey a sense that the U.S. and China could effectively manage their differences.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 11, 2024

In 2024, U.S.-China ties likely to get worse before they get better

The trajectory of Washington and Beijing's relationship this year will have profound effects on Japan's own policies going forward.
Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan friar and a professor at the Gregorian, the Harvard of Rome's pontifical universities, in his office at the university in Rome on Jan. 29. Benanti advises the Vatican and the Italian government on navigating the tricky questions — moral and otherwise — raised by artificial intelligence.
WORLD / Society
Feb 14, 2024

The friar who became the Vatican’s go-to guy on AI

Father Paolo Benanti, an ethics professor and self-proclaimed geek, spends his days thinking about the Holy Ghost and the ghosts in the machines.
Intuitive Machines' Odysseus spacecraft passes over the near side of the moon following lunar orbit insertion on Wednesday.
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Feb 23, 2024

Why it took the U.S. 51 years to get back on the moon

Intuitive Machines has landed a robotic spacecraft on the moon, becoming the first private firm to place a vehicle intact on the lunar surface.
Australia's Flynn Southam (left) and Elijah Winnington celebrate after winning gold in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay final at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, on Aug. 1, 2022.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Apr 29, 2024

Australian swimmers to use China doping scandal as 'fuel' for Paris Olympics

Flynn Southam added to his voice to a chorus of leading swimmers who find the Chinese case hard to swallow.
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2024

Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it

Stakeholders are pulling out all the stops to restore the creative energy of the Tokyo district known for setting fashion trends in its heyday.
Nintendo tends to innovate and take unconventional product development routes, producing both great successes, like its Switch console, and spectacular failures.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 10, 2024

Nintendo needs to 'switch' its next console up

The Kyoto firm has been coy about what will come after the highly successful Switch console, but it needs to step up its game and learn from past mistakes.
As mind-numbingly big as the clean-energy price tag may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024

$215 trillion to save the planet is a bargain

And as mind-numbingly big as $215 trillion may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
Wyndham Clark lines up a putt on the 11th green during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 17.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jun 11, 2024

Defending champ Wyndham Clark hopes to reclaim form at U.S. Open

Clark said he's been in a bit of a rut lately and tempered his expectations.
Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands celebrates as she wins gold in the women's 10,000 meters at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
OLYMPICS
Jul 7, 2024

Sifan Hassan: From 'shy' refugee to Olympic champion

At the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Hassan became the first athlete ever to win medals in the 1,500, 5,000, and 10,000.
New Zealand's Ngarohi McGarvey-Black tackles Japan's Kippei Ishida during their rugby sevens match at the Paris Olympics in Saint-Denis, France, on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS / Rugby
Jul 25, 2024

Japan falls to New Zealand on first day of rugby sevens tournament at Paris Olympics

Japan lost in a blowout in its opening game at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Mauricio Pochettino was officially announced as the new United States manager on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Sep 12, 2024

Christian Pulisic urges new U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino to change team culture

Pulisic wants to be part of a team willing to fight and take risks.
Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill runs against the Jaguars during the first quarter in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Sep 12, 2024

Tyreek Hill calls for officer involved in detainment to be fired

Hill admitted Wednesday that he could have handled himself "a bit differently" during the traffic stop.
Aoi Suzuki’s son runs past a home in Taketomi on Iriomote Island (not to be confused with Taketomi Island, which lies to the east of Iriomote). The Suzukis run the Takemori Inn, one of the few hotels on Iriomote.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Aug 14, 2023

My annual pilgrimage to Okinawa

Navigating between different ferries can open up whole new worlds in Japan's southernmost islands.
Giants manager Tatsunori Hara (left) waves to fans following his final game at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday. Shinnosuke Abe (right) will manage the team next season.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Oct 5, 2023

Giants prepare to start new era as manager Tatsunori Hara walks away

Manager Tatsunori Hara's departure closes the book on an eventful chapter in the storied history of the Giants.
Vissel midfielder Haruya Ide (left) celebrates after scoring the team's second goal against Kashima at the National Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday.
SOCCER / J. League
Oct 21, 2023

Vissel thrashes Antlers with Daiju Sasaki brace to maintain J1 lead

Kobe stayed four games ahead of defending champion F. Marinos as the J. League moves into its final stretch.
Yoshiko Koide sits in a classroom at Nagoya College where she teaches a Japanese-language observation seminar.
LIFE / Language / Longform
Nov 27, 2023

How a dictionary came to spark outrage among the web’s otaku

A project to create a reference book categorizing subcultures didn't seem to cause offense until it was packaged and sold as a dictionary.
The Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance headquarters in Tokyo. The insurer isn't interested in buying Japan’s superlong sovereign bonds until yields start rising.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 16, 2024

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance to avoid Japan sovereign bonds for now

Japanese life insurers are the main buyer of bonds due in more than 10 years and typically increase purchases toward the end of the fiscal year.
Iga Swiatek of Poland celebrates after winning against Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the final of the Qatar Open in Doha on Saturday.
TENNIS
Feb 18, 2024

Swiatek holds off Rybakina to capture third straight Qatar Open crown

The Pole became the first player to capture a title at an event in three successive years since Serena Williams triumphed in Miami from 2013 to 2015.
Firefighters tackle a blaze near the village of Piedrafita in northern Spain's Asturias region on March 31.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 12, 2024

Europe must do more against 'catastrophic' climate risks, EU says

The risks are plenty and varied, including fires, water shortages, flooding, erosion and saltwater intrusion.
Few in Japan may be more passionate about the 'onigiri' (rice ball) than Yumiko Ukon, owner of an onigiri specialty shop in Tokyo's Otsuka neighborhood.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 8, 2024

‘When I die, I would like to come back as a rice ball’

There’s no denying the cultural significance of the ‘onigiri’ (rice ball). But there comes a point where an onigiri is surely just an onigiri.
Qatar forward Akram Afif speaks during a news conference after being named the Asian Football Confederation's Player of the Year in Seoul on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Oct 30, 2024

Akram Afif driven to make history after securing second Asian crown

Afif joined Japan's Hidetoshi Nakata and Server Djeparov of Uzbekistan as the only players to win the Asian Football Confederation's top accolade twice.
Positioned as Google's answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Gemini aims to tap into Apple's vast user base to expand its footprint in a rapidly evolving artificial intelligence landscape.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 15, 2024

Google launches Gemini app — with Japanese support — on iOS App Store

The app gives iOS users direct access to Gemini, which was previously accessible only by navigating through the main Google app or a web browser.
Diane Hawley Nagatomo at her home office in Chiba. Born in the U.K., Diane has called Japan “home” for more than 40 years.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 23, 2023

Diane Hawley Nagatomo: ‘The only way to improve writing is to write’

After retiring from her position as a professor in 2022, Diane Hawley Nagatomo has just released her first novel, “The Butterfly Cafe.”
Kokusai Electric CEO Fumiyuki Kanai foresees sustained investment in China and plans to increase staff there.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 18, 2023

Japan’s Kokusai aims to build on 66% rally as China demand booms

The producer of chip fabrication equipment will enlarge its Chinese footprint to tap the growing market, according to CEO Fumiyuki Kanai.
The U.S. head office of TikTok in Culver City, California
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2023

Whoever designed TikTok Shop should get coal for Christmas

With TikTok Shop's debut holiday season, is sees a mixed bag of success and struggles.
Daniel Ricciardo speaks during Formula One preseason testing at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, on Feb. 21.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 26, 2024

Daniel Ricciardo happy to embrace Visa Cash App RB's new identity

Ricciardo will not be cutting any corners in saying his Formula One team's lengthy new name.
In the new Disney+ series “House of the Owl,” Min Tanaka (left) plays a powerful political fixer, or “kuromaku,” who has a troubled relationship with his adult children, particularly his idealistic son, played by Mackenyu.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 18, 2024

'House of the Owl' brings Hollywood values to Japanese TV

Min Tanaka plays a powerful political fixer in the 10-episode show, which centers on the behind-the-scenes machinations of "kuromaku."
Atlanta Falcons first round draft pick Michael Penix Jr. speaks to the media at a news conference on Friday in Flowery Branch, Georgia.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Apr 28, 2024

Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. confident and eager to start career

"A dream came true," Penix said. "It's a dream I've had since I was a little kid. ... It's a special moment and something I will forever remember."

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat