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Over 300 companies went out of business in fiscal 2023 due to labor shortages, according to Teikoku Databank.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 6, 2024

Japan's labor crunch persists despite slight improvement

Companies involved in IT engineering fared the worst, with more than 7 in 10 saying they didn't have enough workers and had to resort to forgoing projects.
The Kioke Summit on Shodoshima has seen a steady rise in participants from dozens in its early days 12 years ago and about 100 in 2019 to more than 600 this past February.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 8, 2024

On Japan’s island of olives, age-old shoyu secrets survive

Each Kioke Summit features many activities including a "kioke" auction — shoyu fermentation barrels that fetch anywhere from ¥60,000 to ¥450,000.
Supporters of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the city of Ayodhya, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2024

In election videos, India's BJP depicts opposition favoring Muslim minority

The videos reflect a shift in BJP campaign focus, accusing Congress of plans to redistribute Hindu wealth among "infiltrators" who have "more children."
A news conference is held following a settlement being reached in a labor tribunal proceeding in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
May 7, 2024

Nondisclosure issue a lingering problem in Japan labor cases

One worker in Osaka Prefecture is contesting a nondisclosure clause that was added to her labor tribunal case's resolution against her will.
Justin Trudeau
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2024

Alleged Chinese meddling spurs foreign agent registry in Canada

The move comes after allegations China attempted to meddle in the last two Canadian elections.
A vehicle carrying Seiha Sekine, the 32-year-old common-law husband of the deceased Tokyo couple's first daughter, leaves a police station in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 7, 2024

Two more arrested over brutal murder of couple in Tochigi

Police suspect the Tokyo couple's murder was orchestrated by their daughter's common-law husband, who managed some of the restaurants they operated.
Interpreters of the European Parliament in Brussels on April 11
WORLD / Politics
May 8, 2024

Babel in Brussels: The shadow army of EU interpreters

Humming with different languages like a modern-day Tower of Babel, the European Union's institutions are the world's largest employer of interpreters.
Head of North Korean propaganda Kim Ki Nam has died at 94.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 8, 2024

North Korea propaganda boss who shaped image of leaders dies at 94

He played an essential role in shaping the country’s messaging as leadership transferred to Kim Jong Il, and helped in the succession of Kim Jong Un.
A member of staff at Momuri responds to a request for assistance in submitting a resignation in Tokyo on April 18.
JAPAN / Society
May 8, 2024

Japan's workers turning to agencies that help them quit jobs

One firm that provides such a service saw the highest-ever number of requests following the long Golden Week holiday.
Andy Summers’  exhibition “A Series of Glances,” currently on view in Tokyo and Kyoto simultaneously, features photographs taken in a wide range of locations around the world, including “Centaur,” which was snapped in Montserrat in July 1981.
CULTURE / Art
May 9, 2024

Andy Summers captures life on and off stage in moody monochrome

The guitarist for The Police, who cites Akira Kurosawa as an important influence, puts his passion for photography on display in Japan.
Antigovernment protesters sing the protest anthem "Glory to Hong Kong" on May 13, 2020.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 9, 2024

Hong Kong court bans protest anthem, saying it can be used as weapon

The ruling to ban the anthem "Glory to Hong Kong" comes amid what critics say is an erosion in Hong Kong's rule of law and individual rights.
Cambodia's then-Prime Minister Hun Sen and Aung San Suu Kyi walk past the honor guard during her visit to Phnom Penh on April 30, 2019. Myanmar's junta said on Wednesday that it would not permit Hun Sen to meet with Suu Kyi, who has been detained since a 2021 coup.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 9, 2024

Myanmar junta rebuffs Hun Sen's request to meet Suu Kyi

Cambodia's former leader said he had requested a meeting with the Nobel laureate, detained since 2021, during talks with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.
Rice is responsible for about 10% of global methane emissions, due to the way it’s grown.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
May 9, 2024

Rice has a methane problem that a startup is promising to fix

Rice is responsible for about 10% of global methane emissions, due to the way it’s grown.
Pete Reynolds (front row, right) has trained for 38 years with the Bujinkan, an organization that teaches skills used by ninja. The American moved to Japan in 2000 and is now a senior instructor at the organization’s dojo in the Nezu neighborhood in Tokyo.
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 10, 2024

The unexpected acolytes helping to keep ninja heritage alive

What may have started as youthful fantasy has led to a deeper passion in an area of Japanese history by non-Japanese martial arts practitioners.
A host promotes lipstick on TikTok Shop
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
May 10, 2024

Livestream shopping foils high-tech tools from stopping counterfeits

The sheer volume of violations means e-commerce infringement enforcement can feel like a game of "whack-a-mole" for those who monitor the internet.
Ryo Wakabayashi, a distal myopathy patient, lives alone in the city of Fukushima.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Tohoku
May 20, 2024

Persistence pays off with approval of distal myopathy drug

The disease is estimated to affect only 300 to 400 people in Japan.
Israeli soldiers walk amid military vehicles near the Israel-Gaza Border, in southern Israel, on Thursday. Washington has long urged the Israeli government not to invade Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip without safeguards for civilians.
WORLD / Politics
May 10, 2024

Israel due to get more U.S. weapons despite Biden pause

A range of military equipment worth billions of dollars, some in the works since December, remain in the pipeline as a result of a slow approval process.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Izumo helicopter carrier is docked in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in April.
JAPAN
May 10, 2024

Japan says viral video of MSDF ship likely real, not fabricated

The Defense Ministry said it has determined that the footage was not AI-generated because details matched that of the actual Izumo helicopter carrier.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Hiroshima in May 2023. Yoon's focus on mending ties with Japan since he took office has seen relations recover from what officials and experts said was the worst since the two countries normalized diplomatic relations in 1965.
JAPAN / Politics
May 10, 2024

Japan-South Korea ties remain on rocky ground over history

The possibility of disagreements over wartime labor in particular poses a constant threat to the dramatically improved relations built up in recent years.
Flowers are laid on the bank of a river in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, where the charred bodies of a Tokyo couple were found last month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / EXPLAINER
May 10, 2024

What we know so far about the case of the burned couple in Tochigi

Details of what happened are starting to become clearer following the arrest of their daughter’s common-law husband, the suspected mastermind.
The Liberal Democratic Party faction once led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holds a fundrasing party in Tokyo in May 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
May 10, 2024

Abe faction's ex-treasurer pleads guilty to underreporting political funds

Junichiro Matsumoto admitted to underreporting political funds totaling ¥670 million ($4.3 million) in the period from 2018 to 2022.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 11, 2024

Israel may have violated international law, U.S. report says

The Biden administration said Israel may have violated international law, but it won’t stop the flow of weapons and bombs to a key ally.
Attendees arrive for Microsoft's event on AI technologies in Jakarta on April 30.
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
May 11, 2024

Tech giants start to treat Southeast Asia like the next big thing

After decades of playing second fiddle to China and Japan, the region of about 675 million people is drawing more tech investment than ever.
A woman speaks of her experience of being sent to Macau by an overseas prostitution broker during an interview in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on April 8.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 12, 2024

Three men rearrested over brokering of overseas prostitution

The men sent between 200 and 300 Japanese women to brothels in the United States, Canada and Australia over three years, bringing in roughly ¥200 million.
Military paramedics treat a wounded Ukrainian service member, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region of Ukraine on Sunday.
WORLD
May 12, 2024

Ukraine's military chief warns of difficult situation in Kharkiv region

Ukraine is currently on the defensive against Russia, which has a significant advantage in manpower and munitions.
The eighth edition of the Yokohama Triennale, held at the Yokohama Museum of Art, opened in March this year with the theme “Wild Grass: Our Lives."
CULTURE / Art
May 14, 2024

Yokohama Triennale's eighth edition makes room for context

Curators Liu Ding and Carol Yinghua Lu's dynamic and vital show positions art at the vanguard of social change.
East Japan Railway has set out a strict policy of not yielding to unreasonable demands from customers. The government and ruling parties are considering a labor law revision to strengthen measures against "customer harassment."
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2024

Japan mulls legislation against customer harassment

46.8% of union members said they had experienced customer harassment in the past two years, according to a survey this year by UA Zensen.
An image provided by I.J. Glasspool shows a microscopic view of 200-million-year-old charcoal from Greenland. By digging into the geologic record, scientists are learning how wildfires shaped — and were shaped by — climate change long ago.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 14, 2024

From ancient charcoal, hints of wildfires to come

For more than 90% of the Earth's history, the planet’s atmosphere and continents lacked the oxygen and kindling required to sustain a flame.
Tokyo-based artist Jumadiba says he forgoes the label of simply “rap” for his music because the Japanese rap scene isn’t confined to a particular sound.
CULTURE / Music
May 16, 2024

Japanese rap creates its mecca in Pop Yours

The two-day music festival showcases Japan's growing and diversifying hip-hop scene through local acts such as Awich and Jumadiba.
Work is underway to restore water supply pipes in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, in February.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 16, 2024

Japan centralizes water supply and sewage administration

The infrastructure ministry aims to advance integrated initiatives covering both water supply and sewage systems in addressing aging infrastructure.

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