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Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Zibqin, in southern Lebanon, on Sunday. AFP-JIJI
EDITORIALS
Aug 30, 2024

The Middle East remains on a precipice

Israel's retaliations in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran have not led to a wider conflict. But neither Iran nor its proxies seem eager to expand the fighting either.
Hiroshi Sunairi’s documentary “From Okinawa with Love” follows the unwavering Okinawan photographer Mao Ishikawa, who made her name documenting the relationships between Japanese bar girls and African American servicemen.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 30, 2024

‘From Okinawa with Love’: A revealing documentary about a true original

Hiroshi Sunairi takes a fly-on-the-wall approach to explore the life of Mao Ishikawa, who photographed Okinawans and the effects of the U.S. military.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito (center) attends a session before a prefectural assembly investigative panel on Friday in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 30, 2024

Hyogo governor sidesteps accusations of workplace bullying

In the wake of the deaths of two prefectural officials, Gov. Motohiko Saito told an investigative panel that he may have been a "strict boss."
X owner Elon Musk speaks at the 27th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles in May.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 31, 2024

Brazil judge bans X as Elon Musk challenges top court’s orders

The platform's ban caps a monthslong feud between Musk and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is spearheading efforts to combat fake news.
People walk in front of closed ticket gates for the Tokaido Shinkansen in Tokyo Station as train operations between Tokyo and Nagoya remain suspended due to Tropical Storm Shanshan on Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2024

Tropical Storm Shanshan soaks Japan as flood and landslide risks rise

Shanshan was moving slowly south-southwest of Wakayama Prefecture on Saturday afternoon, bringing widespread torrential rain to much of the country.
A 7-Eleven convenience store, operated by Seven & i Holdings Co., at the company's headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 31, 2024

Couche-Tard seeks pension fund backing for Seven & I bid

The retailer is reaching out to some of Canada’s largest pension funds to gauge their interest in providing equity, sources said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during the 33rd Independence Day ceremony at Saint Sophia Square, in Kyiv on Aug. 24
WORLD / FOCUS
Aug 31, 2024

In war-fatigued east Ukraine, Zelenskyy loses his shine

While the Ukrainian leader initially had close to a 90% approval rate after Russia invaded, his rating now stands at a mere 55%.
People watch the male giant panda Ri Ri at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in June 2017.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2024

Panda pair in Tokyo to return to China

The elderly pandas Ri Ri and Shin Shin will be returned to China next month for medical care.
A construction worker in Tokyo's Akasaka district on Aug. 21. With 886 cases, 54 of them fatal, during the period from 2019 to 2023, the construction industry leads Japan’s tally for occupational heatstroke.
BUSINESS / Boiling Point
Sep 1, 2024

Clocking off: Japan’s hotter summers put limit on outdoor work

Climate change is forcing businesses to sacrifice productivity in the name of safety in industries ranging from construction to transportation.
Local miners collect small rocks as they mine for gold in Benguet province in the northern Philippines.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 1, 2024

Toxic, deadly, cheap: Life for women gold miners in the Philippines

One in three of the illegal mining workforce is female — and women are 90 times more at risk of dying on the job than men.
A shelf for emergency goods is seen almost empty at a hardware store in the city of Shizuoka on Aug. 9.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 1, 2024

20% take no action over Nankai Trough quake warning

The emergency information was lifted on Aug. 15 as there was no particular change in the state of the plate boundaries near where the quake is expected to occur.
Makoto Asai (right) works at his restaurant in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 1, 2024

Reconstruction demand aiding business recovery eight months after Noto quake

There is a long way to go before full-scale postdisaster reconstruction, with many businesses operating for shorter hours or at makeshift facilities.
People at bubble tea chain Mixue Bingcheng in Beijing on Thursday. Bubble tea is wildly popular in China, where people sipping through straws from large plastic cups is a common sight across the country.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 1, 2024

Penny-pinching youth transforming China's bubble tea craze

Bubble tea is wildly popular in China and a common sight on high streets and in shopping malls across the country.
The front page of The Japan Times on Sept. 15, 1974, reports news of a terrorism incident in Europe.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Sep 1, 2024

Japan Times 1974: 'Red Army' trio seizes embassy

Fifty years ago, a terrorism incident plays out in Europe. Meanwhile, editions of The Japan Times look back on significant anniversaries.
Kemi Badenoch is the bookmakers’ favorite to win the U.K. Conservative Party leadership contest.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 1, 2024

U.K.’s most Tory district uninspired even as leadership race heats up

Even in the Britain's most Conservative constituency, the former governing party’s contest to choose a new leader is failing to set pulses racing.
Air conditioners are assembled at a unit of Daikin Industries at a plant in Shiga Prefecture in August 2017.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2024

Japan air conditioner sales booming amid scorching heat

Households are rushing to buy energy-saving products as replacements to curb soaring electricity bills. Demand in cold regions is also rising.
Israelis demand hostages be released and protest against the government during a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
WORLD
Sep 2, 2024

Protests grip Israel after six hostages are killed in Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces growing calls to end nearly 11 months of war with a deal for a cease-fire and the release of the remaining hostages.
An elevator at the Stade de France commuter train station in Saint-Denis, near Paris, France. Paris built highly accessible accommodation for competitors in the 2024 Paralympic Games, but overall, the city remains difficult to navigate for people with disabilities.
PARALYMPICS
Sep 2, 2024

Paris is utopia for Paralympians until they leave the athletes village

It will be decades before the city's streets, sidewalks and parks achieve even a semblance of the Paralympic Village’s accessibility.
Students participate in a mock lay judge trial session with a lawyer serving as a lecturer at Tokyo Metropolitan Mitaka Secondary School in March.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Sep 2, 2024

15 years on, Japan's lay judge system faces low participation

Fifteen years after its launch, Japan's lay judge system continues to grapple with a high refusal rate among candidates.
Job seekers crowd a job fair at Liberation Square in Shijiazhuang, China, in 2018.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Sep 2, 2024

New unproductive forces: the Chinese youth owning their unemployment

Urban youth unemployment for the roughly 100 million Chinese aged 16-24 spiked to 17.1% in July, a figure analysts say masks millions of rural unemployed.
A Ukrainian firefighter works to extinguish a burning car after what Ukrainian officials said was a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Sunday.
WORLD
Sep 2, 2024

Russia strikes Kharkiv following Ukraine's mass drone attack

Russia said Kyiv had launched one of the biggest drone attacks against it since the full-scale war began.
An abandoned house in Urayama, Saitama Prefecture. Buying an <i>akiya</i>, which means empty house in Japanese, can be a rewarding experience that yields a unique space and a livable home, competitively priced. Or it could turn out to be a money pit.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2024

First lesson of Japan’s akiya gold rush: No such thing as a free house.

Renovations are usually the most expensive part of the journey and the laundry list of what needs to be done is long and tends to get longer after the process starts.
The X account of Elon Musk in seen blocked on a mobile screen on Saturday after Brazil's telecommunications regulator suspended access to the X social network in the country to comply with an order from a judge who has been locked in a monthslong feud with the billionaire.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 2, 2024

Musk’s Starlink defies order to block X in Brazil

The move illustrates the sheer power of the billionaire and his business empire and how he leverages it to confront authorities and challenge laws he does not like.
The U.S. has been pressuring Japan to impose additional restrictions on the ability of firms to sell advanced chipmaking tools to China, as part of a long-running campaign to curtail China’s semiconductor progress.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2024

China warns Japan of retaliation over potential new chip curbs

One major concern is that Beijing could cut off Japan’s access to critical minerals that are essential for automotive production.
People at the Sensoji temple in Tokyo in July. The three months between June and August were 1.76 degrees Celsius hotter than average in Japan.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Sep 2, 2024

Japan sees joint hottest summer on record

The three months between June and August were 1.76 degrees Celsius hotter than average, matching the record set only last year.
Myanmar Prime Minister and State Administrative Council Chairman Min Aung Hlaing said the census data collected from Oct. 1 to 15 will be used to hold a general election next year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 2, 2024

Myanmar junta announces census for promised 2025 election

Opponents say the census in the first half of October is a ploy by the junta to collect information from the people that they will use to terrorize them.
Uruguay soccer star Luis Suarez addresses the media in Montevideo on Monday. The player announced his international retirement the same day.
SOCCER
Sep 3, 2024

Uruguay striker Suarez announces international retirement

The 37-year-old, who has 142 caps for his country, made his international debut in 2007.
A visually impaired runner (left) and an accompanying runner participate in a training session for guide runners held in Tokyo in July.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 3, 2024

Japan working to train guides for visually impaired runners

Guide runners are essential when visually impaired individuals participate in marathon events.
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrives to attend a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on Aug. 6. Lammy said the decision to suspend the licenses did not amount to a blanket ban or an arms embargo, but only involved those that could be used in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 3, 2024

U.K. suspends 30 of its 350 arms export licenses to Israel

The suspension is due to the risk such equipment might be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law, its foreign minister David Lammy says.
Cars are assembled at a Maruti Suzuki manufacturing plant in Manesar, India, in September 2023. Suzuki is one of the success stories for Japanese manufacturers trying to establish joint ventures in India, having become a household name in the country.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2024

For Japanese companies in India, local staff are an invaluable resource

The roots of Japanese investment in India go far back, to 1958, when the latter became the first country to receive official development assistance from Japan.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake