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Iran holds its National Army Day parade in Tehran in April 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2023

U.S. must press its advantages over Iran or war will spread

The Hamas attack on Israel was a geopolitical earthquake. The aftershocks will reverberate for years to come.
SkyDrive displays its eVTOL flying car at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2023

Japan’s largest auto show returns with focus on mobility

The organizer has renamed the event for the first time since 1964, with the Japan Mobility Show replacing the Tokyo Motor Show.
Members of the United Auto Workers outside Ford's Michigan Parts Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, on Sept. 26. The U.S. auto workers union announced a tentative agreement with the firm late on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 26, 2023

Ford and UAW reach tentative deal to end strike by auto workers

Including compounding and cost of living, worker pay will rise about 33% to over $40 an hour over the life of the contract.
An increasing number of middle-aged men are using currency trading apps to buy and sell the yen to get short-term profits.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 26, 2023

Middle-aged salarymen exploit volatile yen with smartphone trades

Smartphone traders amplify volatility in currency markets by seizing on intraday moves, departing from a previous focus on interest rate differentials.
Newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson takes his oath of office after he was elected to be the new Speaker, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 26, 2023

Untested new U.S. House speaker faces daunting first days

Republican Mike Johnson, a conservative with little leadership experience, was elected as speaker on Wednesday.
The armed suspect in a shooting in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday. At least 22 people have been reported killed and dozens injured in the city, U.S. media has reported, citing police.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 26, 2023

At least 22 killed and dozens wounded in Maine shootings

If the death toll of 22 is confirmed, the massacre would be the deadliest in the United States since at least August 2019.
Nomura's majority-owned joint venture in China has struggled to grow since its launch in 2019.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 26, 2023

Nomura reviews business plan for mainland China as losses rise

The move comes as a further blow to the top Japanese investment bank's global expansion strategy.
Takakeisho celebrates with the trophy after winning the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Sept. 24.
SUMO
Oct 26, 2023

Takakeisho heads to Kyushu Basho with yokozuna promotion in sight

The 27-year-old has put himself in line for elevation to the sport’s highest rank following the upcoming Kyushu meet.
Li Keqiang, former Chinese premier and head of China's Cabinet, served under President Xi Jinping for a decade from 2013, retiring in March.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 27, 2023

Li Keqiang, the former No. 2 to Xi Jinping, dies at 68

The former Chinese premier had found himself overshadowed by Xi's expanding grip on power.
Cardboard hearts with messages are hung in the downtown area in Lewiston, Maine, on Thursday, in the aftermath of a mass shooting.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 27, 2023

Maine's second largest city faces aftermath of mass shooting

Maine Gov. Janet Mills said the shooting had undermined Maine’s reputation as one of the safest states in the country.
A soldier installs an Israeli flag on a tank during a military drill near Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
Oct 27, 2023

U.S. strikes Syrian facilities after attacks by Iran-backed militia

U.S. President Joe Biden ordered strikes on two facilities in Syria following attacks on U.S. troops in the past week, the Pentagon said, warning the U.S. will take additional measures if attacks by Iran's proxies continue.
A U.S. Air Force B-52 strategic bomber is escorted by South Korean F-35s during a joint military exercise over the Korean Peninsula that also involved Japan's Air-Self Defense Force.
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2023

Japan, U.S. and South Korea patrol the skies together

The three countries have historically engaged in bilateral exercises with the United States, but this trilateral exercise in the air is a notable first.
Takuya Matsunaga (right), who lost his wife and daughter in a 2019 crash in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, attends a news conference on Friday along with his father-in-law, Yoshinori Uehara.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 27, 2023

Ex-Japan bureaucrat ordered to pay damages over fatal 2019 crash

Kozo Iizuka had already been sentenced to five years in prison, after the car he was driving crashed into Mana Matsunaga, 31, and her daughter Riko, 3.
Nippon Life Insurance will focus purchases on 30-year JGBs, with the current yield of above 1.8% "good in terms of absolute level," a representative for the insurer said at a recent briefing.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 27, 2023

Japan's life insurers to boost JGB buying but wary of policy shift

Nippon Life, Dai-Ichi Life and Meiji Yasuda Life were among those who said they aimed to buy the longest-dated JGBs amid the highest yields in a decade.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa has called for a halt in the fighting in Gaza for humanitarian purposes.
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2023

Japan's top envoy calls for halt to Gaza conflict

"The priority is to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza," Kamikawa said.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, on Nov. 14, 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 29, 2023

U.S. and China agree to work toward Biden-Xi meeting next month

U.S. President Joe Biden emphasized the need to manage the U.S.-China rivalry "responsibly” during a rare meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei  speaks before an audience in Tehran on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 28, 2023

U.S. airstrikes send twin messages to Iran, American officials say

The airstrikes were the latest gamble by the United States to modify Iran’s behavior, few of which have worked in the past.
A member of the Chinese military holds a microphone emblazoned with the symbol of the Beijing Xiangshan Forum in Beijing on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 29, 2023

China kick-starts Xiangshan Forum in absence of defense minister

China's biggest annual show of military diplomacy started Sunday, as Beijing looks to draw developing countries closer in its rivalry with the U.S.
A health care worker administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a child in Rio de Janeiro in January 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2023

How we got COVID’s risk right but the response wrong

It was not the initial consensus on the fatality rate that drove the response but rather the way the risks of COVID-19 were balanced with the costs.
A fishing boat sails near the North Korean Special Economic Zone of Rason City, northeast of Pyongyang, in September 2011.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 29, 2023

South Korean military says assisted stranded North Korean vessel

The crew on the North Korean vessel said they had been stranded for 10 days and expressed a wish to return home.
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has resigned after their dismal showing at the World Cup, but says he has no other job offer as yet.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 30, 2023

Jones resigns as Wallabies coach, say Australian media reports

Jones has been linked with the head coach role of Japan, which he has denied.
A mob looking for Israelis and Jews overran an airport in Russia's Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Sunday, after rumors spread that a flight was arriving from Israel in this image taken from video posted to Telegram.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 30, 2023

Mob storms Russian airport looking for Israelis

A mob looking for Israelis and Jews overran a Dagestan airport, after rumors spread that a flight was arriving from Israel.
China's powerful vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, Zhang Youxian (left), and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrive for the Beijing Xiangshan Forum in the Chinese capital on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 30, 2023

Chinese military No. 2 slams U.S. but signals defense channel reopening

While criticizing the U.S., China's Gen. Zhang Youxia also indicated an openness to resuming high-level military talks with the Pentagon.
Trendy buzzwords tend to be most at risk of dying out as they often reflect ideas and trends that are fleeting.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 31, 2023

A foray into the realm of Japanese ‘dead words’

Old slang and problematic terms are prime candidates when it comes to slipping out of usage and disappearing from the Japanese lexicon.
Bungie, the Sony-owned game studio behind Destiny 2, has cut an undisclosed number of staffers amid restructuring of Sony's video game operations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2023

Sony’s Bungie game unit cuts staff following delayed titles

Sony, which purchased Bungie in early 2022 for $3.6 billion, has been cutting staff across its PlayStation division this year, in part due to delays.
At the time ofElon Musk's takeover, Twitter was valued at $44 billion. Now called X, the company is now valued at $19 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2023

Elon Musk’s X is worth less than half of price he paid for Twitter

In the past, Musk has hinted that he’d like to take X public, but the company’s steep drop in value could make that difficult.
Japan's industrial output increased a smaller-than-expected 0.2% in September.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 31, 2023

Japan's September industrial production growth misses consensus

Factory output increased 0.2% from a month earlier, missing economist expectations of a 2.5% gain.
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference on Tuesday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 31, 2023

Bank of Japan to allow 10-year yields to top 1%

The development is significant as the central bank has long maintained its strategy of buying up government bonds to control interest rates.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida answers questions during an Upper House Budget Committee session on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2023

State justice minister resigns over link to illegal campaigning

Mito Kakizawa, state minister of justice, resigned Tuesday after admitting to being involved in election campaign misconduct in the spring.
A crowded crossing near Shibuya Station in Tokyo on Tuesday
JAPAN / Society
Nov 1, 2023

Shibuya Halloween passes without fuss following ‘don’t come’ message

Shibuya's mayor has expressed satisfaction with the reduction in crowds and public drinking this year.

Longform

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Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat