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Russian Communist Party supporters attend a ceremony in Red Square on March 5, 2021, marking the 68th anniversary of Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s death.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2023

In Russia and Israel, national derangement runs wild

How can a priest bless a statue of Stalin and rabbis praise Nazism? In societies that are coming undone, absurd claims take root.
Atsuyoshi Koike (second from left), president of Rapidus, and IBM Senior Vice President Dario Gil (second from right) during a news conference in Tokyo in December.
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.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the training command post of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army at an undisclosed location in North Korea in this photo released Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 2, 2023

North Korea fires several cruise missiles toward Yellow Sea

Saturday’s launches come after South Korea and the U.S. wrapped up their 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield summer military exercises on Thursday.
Sen. Mitch McConnell appears to freeze up for more than 30 seconds during a public appearance before he was escorted away, the second such incident in a little more than a month, after an event with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in Covington, Kentucky, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 2, 2023

Mitch McConnell may be experiencing small seizures, doctors say

Two episodes, where the Republican senator froze and did not respond to some questions, may be symptoms of a serious illness.
A simulated North Korean "tactical nuclear attack" drill is seen at an undisclosed location in the country in this picture released Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 3, 2023

North Korea stages 'tactical nuclear attack' drill

Meanwhile, Kim Jong Un inspected munitions and shipbuilding factories to stress the importance of strengthening Pyongyang's naval forces.
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.
Dmitry Medvedev
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 3, 2023

Russia's Medvedev: Japan's 'militarization' complicates Asia-Pacific

Relations between Russia and Japan have been marked by a territorial disputes over a handful of small islands off Hokkaido.
A painting in the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2023

China marks WWII victory day on high alert

China marked the 78th anniversary of its World War II victory over Japan on Sunday.
Sept. 7, 1998
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Sep 4, 2023

Japan Times 1923: Foreigners leave; destroyers are here

When a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit Kanto on Sept. 1 a century ago, The Japan Times resorted to daily bulletins before returning to normal on the 17th.
Since taking power in 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has used highly personalized campaigns to win elections — a winning strategy so far.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 5, 2023

Modi's G20 marketing blitz won't harm his 2024 election campaign

In hosting the G20, the prime minister is showcasing his efforts to bolster India’s international influence along with symbolism with a clear message.
Employees work on the assembly line at an electric vehicle plant in Shanghai. Cutting salaries is illegal in China, but complex pay structures offer loopholes.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 5, 2023

China's auto workers bear brunt of price war as fallout widens

Cutting salaries is illegal in China, but complex pay structures offer ways around this.
Tohoku University in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture
JAPAN / Society
Sep 5, 2023

Why Tohoku University was picked as first beneficiary of new university fund

The fact it was picked as the sole recipient, and over two prestigious universities seen as front-runners, has shocked Japan's academic community.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel talks to local fishermen on Thursday to show his support for the water discharge from the nearby Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 5, 2023

Fukushima water disposal is leadership opportunity for Japan

Some 1,000 storage tanks that hold the water are almost full and more tanks can’t be installed as they would interfere with the plant’s decommissioning.
Masanobu Ogura (right), minister in charge of policies for children, speaks during a meeting of an experts' panel held Tuesday in Tokyo to discuss a planned system to require people seeking jobs related to children to submit certificates proving that they have no record of sex crimes.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2023

Planned sex-offense barring system drafted for child-related jobs

The Children and Families Agency plans to submit a bill to establish the system during this autumn's extraordinary Diet session.
Digital transformation minister Taro Kono (right) speaks during a news conference at the Digital Agency in Tokyo on Tuesday.
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.
Daieisho (left) and Kirishima take part in a practice session at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Saturday.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Sep 6, 2023

Power of ozeki trio on display in muted return of open practice session

The first Yokozuna Deliberation Council sōken training session open to the public in four years has taken place at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
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.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 7, 2023

China sending officials to North Korea before Kim’s Russia trip

The Chinese group led by Liu Guozhong will travel to North Korea for celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the country’s founding on Saturday.
Naomi Osaka participates in a forum on mental health during the U.S. Open in New York on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Sep 7, 2023

Naomi Osaka makes U.S. Open return. But not for tennis.

Naomi Osaka returned to the U.S. Open to participate in a forum on mental health and sports alongside former Olympian Michael Phelps.
Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan's minister of economy, trade and industry, attends a bilateral ministerial meeting with his British counterpart on economic security in London on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2023

Japan and Britain confirm close economic security partnership

Japan and Britain adopted a joint statement aimed at strengthening supply chains for critical mineral resources.
An Apple store in the Huangpu district in Shanghai
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 8, 2023

Apple grapples with turmoil in China days before iPhone 15 launch

The bans may just be part of a longstanding trend.
Flavorless (?) Candy spurred debate over what the "taste of nothingness" tastes like, if anything.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 10, 2023

Sucking on Japan's flavorless candy for a 'state of nothingness'

The candy was developed for people who wanted to moisten mouths that had gone dry from all-day mask wearing but without a sugar rush.
The beach at Brighton, on the south coast of England on Thursday, as the late summer heat wave continues.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 8, 2023

How climate change influenced the hottest summer on record

A growing body of attribution science seeks to analyze if or how climate change is making extreme weather worse.
Tokyo's Ginza district. On Thursday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said one person tested positive for BA.2.86 on Aug. 24.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 8, 2023

New COVID variant detected in Japan amid wave of infections

While there’s no evidence so far that it causes more severe illness, experts say it may be more capable of infecting people who have been infected before.
Johnny & Associates President Julie Keiko Fujishima (second from right) acknowledged that company founder Johnny Kitagawa had sexually abused agency employees for decades during a press conference in Tokyo on Sept. 7.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Sep 9, 2023

What’s in a name? A lot of baggage and trauma, unfortunately.

Johnny and Associates' recognition of abuse is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to move forward.
Residents watch the McDougall Creek wildfire in West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, last month.
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Sep 9, 2023

Conspiracy theories falsely link wildfires to 'smart cities'

Disinformation about deadly wildfires in the United States and Canada has run rampant across social media.
A paramilitary parade is held in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square to mark the 75th founding anniversary of North Korea in this photo released Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 9, 2023

North Korea stages paramilitary parade on founding anniversary

The 75th anniversary parade was attended by leader Kim Jong Un and a slew of high-ranking Chinese and Russian officials.
A ceremony is held in March 2016 in Markowa, Poland, at the grave of the Ulma family who were killed by the Nazis for hiding Jews during WWII.
WORLD
Sep 10, 2023

Polish family killed by Nazis to be beatified in Catholic first

The Ulma family will be the first ever to be beatified, a key step on a possible path to sainthood in the Catholic Church.
A screen shows an image of Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers in Beijing in August last year. The PLA's newspaper recently explained to its readers how ChatGPT can be used for military purposes.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Sep 12, 2023

Will generative AI hold power in international relations?

The technology has the ability to create influential text and imagery, giving it power to potentially sway public opinion.

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