Search - 2019

 
 
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 10, 2023

Shohei Ohtani to join Dodgers on record-breaking deal

Ohtani reached an agreement on a record-breaking deal worth $700 million with the Dodgers.
Shakhtar Donetsk players celebrate defender Mykola Matviyenko scoring the opening goal against Antwerp during a UEFA Champion's League Group H match in Hamburg on Nov. 28.
SOCCER
Dec 11, 2023

War-torn Shakhtar Donetsk looks to Saudi Arabia for financial boost

Deals with clubs in the Saudi Pro League may lead to lucrative player transfers and exhibition matches in the Gulf nation next season.
Split over the leadership of Sam Altman, board members and executives at OpenAI turned on one another. Their brawl exposed the cracks at the heart of the artificial intelligence movement.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 11, 2023

Inside OpenAI’s crisis over the future of artificial intelligence

From the moment it was created in 2015, OpenAI was primed to combust.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 11, 2023

Kishida likely to shake up Cabinet in wake of political funds scandal

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is reportedly considering removing all members of the faction once led by his late predecessor Shinzo Abe.
Nio workers inspect a vehicle on an assembly line at the automaker’s factory in Hefei, China. China misjudged the rapid expansion of its electric vehicle sector, leaving a shortfall of skilled technicians as young people shun manufacturing careers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2023

China’s electric car factories can’t hire fast enough

A frenzy of construction and expansion of factories has made electricians and robotics specialists a hot commodity.
Parents take their children for infusion treatment at a hospital in Shenyang, Liaoning province, on Friday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 12, 2023

China’s battle with child pneumonia shows risks of drug resistance

In China nearly 80% of child cases of mycoplasma pneumoniae are resistant to macrolides, compared with under 10% elsewhere.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng meet for talks in Beijing on Aug. 29.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2023

The Washington-Beijing tech war is just getting started

U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo emphasizes the need to prevent China from accessing cutting-edge technology, citing national defense concerns.
Japanese civil engineering group Infroneer said it would buy Japan Wind Development from Bain Capital for about $1.4 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2023

Japan's Infroneer to buy Japan Wind Development from Bain Capital

The $1.4 billion acquisition will expand the Japanese civil engineering group's renewable energy business.
The reading of the key index measuring confidence among major Japanese manufacturers, such as those in the auto and electronics sectors, rose for the third straight quarter, according to the Bank of Japan's tankan survey.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 13, 2023

Firms more confident ahead of BOJ policy meeting, tankan shows

Evidence of robust corporate sentiment boosts the odds of large wage hikes, paving the way for the normalization of monetary policy.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Dec 13, 2023

Sumo's big ticketing problem

Securing tickets for sumo's biggest matches can be a headache, particularly for sumo's many foreign fans, partially due to outdated information online.
Hamas leader Yehia Sinwar addresses an anti-Israel rally in Gaza City in May 2021.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2023

Can the governments that grew Hamas destroy it?

This is a war in which Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and E.U., need only survive to win.
Eddie Jones is set to become the head coach of the Brave Blossoms six weeks after the Australian quit the Wallabies following their dismal showing at the World Cup.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 13, 2023

Eddie Jones named as Japan head coach, ending weeks of speculation

Jones will officially commence his duties from Jan. 1, the Japan Rugby Football Union said on its website.
Japan head coach Eddie Jones before a game against Scotland at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Jones will be returning to the post, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 14, 2023

Wounded Eddie Jones has plenty to prove on Japan return

The 63-year-old is revered in Japan for masterminding their "Miracle of Brighton" win over South Africa at the 2015 World Cup.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2023

It’s time to kick our addiction to fossil fuels

The COP28 deal is historic in that it calls for a transition away from fossil fuels for the first time, but it's too weak to tackle the climate emergency.
Eddie Jones at a news conference after being named as Japan rugby head coach in Tokyo on Thursday
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 14, 2023

No guilt for Eddie Jones after taking Japan job

Jones quit his native Australia after leading them to a dismal showing at the Rugby World Cup.
While Hayao Miyazaki’s return to filmmaking, “The Boy and the Heron,” did not attain the ¥10 billion milestone that the beloved animator’s movies had once routinely surpassed, it debuted at the top of the North American box office and became the first original anime film to lead the box office in the United States and Canada.
CULTURE / Film / 2023 in Review
Dec 15, 2023

Japan’s auteurs and anime triumphed in 2023

From Hayao Miyazaki's “The Boy and the Heron” to Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster,” the box-office hits kept coming.
Firefighters tackle a fire in a field in San Buenaventura in the Bolivian Amazon in November.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 15, 2023

Despite COP28 deal on fossil fuels, 1.5 C goal likely out of reach

The "UAE Consensus" does not commit the world to phasing out oil and gas, nor to near-term timelines for transitioning away from fossil fuels.
Fujifilm has added the Instax Pal, a new palm-sized model, to its Instax instant camera lineup known as Cheki in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 15, 2023

Japanese camera-makers focusing on Gen-Z

Offerings tout unique features to appeal to those wanting something beyond smartphone photography.
Toyota dealer Hiroshima Toyopet has installed air conditioners at all 30 of its maintenance facilities in Hiroshima Prefecture to ensure mechanics can work comfortably during the summer.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Dec 25, 2023

Hiroshima car dealers seek ways to attract mechanics

Since many people use their cars as a daily means of transportation, it is essential to secure a stable pool of mechanics.
Visitors in the last gallery of “Yves Saint Laurent, Across the Style” at the National Art Center, Tokyo, view designs inspired by fine art.
CULTURE / Art / 2023 in Review
Dec 16, 2023

Eager crowds congested Tokyo’s biggest art museums in 2023

Art fans came with wallets ready for a lineup of blockbuster exhibitions, creating bottlenecks at photo-friendly masterpieces and gift shops.
The Dodgers officially introduced two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani during a news conference on Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2023

Another extraordinary milestone for Shohei Ohtani

Dodgers secure baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani with record-breaking $700 million contract.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 15, 2023

Why should any city want to host a world expo?

The projected budget for the 2025 Osaka Expo has nearly doubled and netizens and opposition politicians are calling for a cancellation.
A New South Wales firetruck at a hazard reduction burn site in Sydney in September
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 16, 2023

Australia swelters through heat wave amid 'extreme' fire danger

Heat wave alerts were in place for parts of Western Australia, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2023

Henoko base relocation project enters new phase in Okinawa

The project to relocate a U.S. military base to the Henoko coastal area is entering a new phase five years after land reclamation began there.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2018
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Dec 17, 2023

A made-in-Japan solution for space junk that goes against the grain

As space junk clogs Earth's orbit, a Kyoto University team has a new solution: wooden satellites.
Nobuko, younger sister of Kotaro Nishizawa, who died at his clinic in Osaka during an arson attack, hugs one of the audience members following a memorial concert for the victims held in the city on Dec. 3.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 17, 2023

Deadly arson attack in Osaka remembered two years on

A piano concert was organized as an opportunity for bereaved relatives to connect and heal.
A contingency in the event that China invades Taiwan is emerging as a key focus in Japan’s new defense policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 17, 2023

Will Japan intervene in a Taiwan contingency? It depends.

If Taiwan puts up a fight against a Chinese invasion, it would likely engender a U.S. intervention that would not be possible without Japan’s assistance.
Los Angeles Angels' Shohei Ohtani during a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, on Aug. 23.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 18, 2023

Ohtani becomes first Japanese player to win Hank Aaron award

The award is given to the hitter with the most outstanding performance in each of the American League and the National League.
Packages of tofu on the production line at the Yamami factory in Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 18, 2023

Tofu-maker Yamami sees shares surge after automating ancient craft

At its newest factory at the foot of Mount Fuji, the company, one of the few that’s listed, can produce 15,000 units of the bean curd each hour.
A woman who is against the proposed new constitution holds up a banner as she reacts to results of the referendum on a new Chilean constitution, in Santiago on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 18, 2023

Weary Chileans reject second proposed constitution

With 99% of votes counted in the referendum, 56% rejected the text while 44% backed the document.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.