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U.S. first lady Melania Trump, U.S. President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife, Akie Abe, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in May 2019
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2024

Widow of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hopes to meet with Trump

Akie Abe's late husband was once dubbed the “Trump Whisperer” for his close ties with the former U.S. president.
The Lower House Budget Committee clears the 2024 supplementary budget on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2024

Lower House passes ¥13.9 trillion supplementary budget

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s minority government made concessions to the opposition to secure support for the budget, which includes an economic stimulus package.
Former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will coach North Carolina next season, the school announced on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Dec 12, 2024

Bill Belichick announced as head coach of North Carolina

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the Athletic reported that the five-year contract could be worth up to $30 million.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2024

Approval rate of Ishiba's Cabinet dips to 26.8%, poll shows

The Cabinet's approval rate has remained under 30% for months, including under Ishiba's predecessor, Fumio Kishida.
The yen slumped to its weakest in level in more than two weeks on Wednesday as traders reacted to a report that BOJ officials saw little cost to waiting before raising rates.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 12, 2024

Danger for yen emerges with speculation BOJ may stand pat longer

A small taste of the dangers ahead came Wednesday, when the yen slumped to its weakest in level in more than two weeks.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks before ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in lower Manhattan on Thursday morning.
WORLD
Dec 13, 2024

Time Magazine names Donald Trump person of the year for second time

This year saw Donald Trump convicted on charges of business fraud and nearly assassinated twice — and will end with him preparing to return to the White House.
Chinese President Xi Jinping
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 13, 2024

China vows bigger fiscal spending to boost consumption next year

For only the second time in at least a decade, Chinese officials made "lifting consumption vigorously” and stimulating overall domestic demand their top priority.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s factory (left) in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Feb. 23, the day before it was officially opened
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 22, 2024

Chip cities rise in Japan’s fields of dreams

Injections of cash are transforming once-sleepy areas, lifting stagnant house prices and triggering construction booms.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-U.S. President Donald Trump attend a welcoming ceremony in Beijing in November 2017.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 13, 2024

Trump inviting China's Xi to inauguration is 'diplomatic theater'

China experts said it was highly unlikely that Chinese President Xi Jinping would come to Washington for the inauguration.
Mitsubishi Electric CEO Kei Uruma
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 13, 2024

Mitsubishi Electric explores forming power chip alliances in Japan

A sense of urgency is growing in the power chip industry as Japanese companies fall further behind German market leader Infineon Technologies.
Investors' expectations for corporate governance reform triggered by the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s campaign have been a major driver of the rally in Japanese stocks over the last two years, but the market’s historic crash in early August has changed the dynamics.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 13, 2024

Cheap valuations are out as investors like new metric for Japan stocks

Investors are now trying to identify companies that have strong fundamentals but have a lot to gain by improving capital allocation, one portfolio manager said.
Carlos Sainz finished second for Ferrari at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Dec 12, 2024

Carlos Sainz motivated by new challenge with Williams

Sainz jumped in his Williams car for end-of-season testing on Tuesday, and posted the second-fastest time behind Charles Leclerc.
Akihisa Nagashima, national security adviser to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 13, 2024

Japan must brace and prepare for Trump tariffs, top adviser says

"Japan must be prepared for Trump following through on his plans,” says Prime Minister Ishiba's national security adviser Akihisa Nagashima.
Gucci’s newest boutique bar is moody, chic and delightfully louche.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Dec 15, 2024

From Florence to Osaka, Gucci’s newest concept bar oozes style

Gucci Giardino Osaka carves out its own identity through a fusion of Italian and Japanese influences set against the backdrop of the city’s fast-paced, urban landscape.
President-elect Donald Trump plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on climate change and increase domestic fossil fuel production, putting international efforts to cut global carbon emissions in peril.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2024

Trump's election sets stage for new climate leaders to emerge

As Trump plans to put "America first," including before the planet, other countries must seize the opportunity to keep alive efforts to limit global temperature rise.
Syrian President Bashar Assad's downfall stemmed from his failure to reform the country's corrupt, sectarian regime and an economy ravaged by war, leaving his government unable to withstand the recent rebel offensive.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2024

Syria’s kleptocratic rule and a house of cards

Like the fictional mafia family, Assad’s regime relied on kickbacks from wealthy business owners and shaking down foreigners.
A Taiwanese coast guard ship (left) monitors a Chinese coast guard ship a few nautical miles from Taiwan's northeastern coast on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Dec 13, 2024

China's 'drills that dare not speak their name' put Taiwan on alert

Analysts say that Beijing's activities, conducted in near silence and followed by an opaque statement, are meant to create confusion.
Yutaka Mataebara (second from left) dines with his managerial colleagues at an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of The Japan Times.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 13, 2024

Here's to Yutaka Mataebara, the 'iron man' of The Japan Times

Mataebara was a pillar of the JT: During his 44 years at the paper until he retired in 2006, he worked in a variety of departments, including as the editor in chief.
Francois Bayrou and French President Emmanuel Macron in Pau, France, in July 2023. On Friday, Macron named Bayrou as prime minister.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 13, 2024

Macron names veteran centrist ally Francois Bayrou as France's prime minister

Bayrou, 73, is expected to put forward his list of ministers in the coming days, but will likely face the same existential difficulties as his predecessor.
Tokyo Union Church volunteers prepare food for unhoused individuals. The church helps people regardless of religion, race or sexuality.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Dec 16, 2024

From the stage to the streets, make a difference this holiday season

Discover the joy of giving back through a variety of charitable efforts. Helping others helps you, too.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers an address to the nation at his official residence in Seoul on Saturday after the National Assembly voted to impeach him earlier in the day.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 15, 2024

South Korean president impeached over martial law decree

The 204-85 vote means Yoon Suk Yeol's ultimate fate now rests with the Constitutional Court, which can either decide to formally oust him or return him to office.
The failed launch of a small rocket by Tokyo-based startup Space One is seen at the Spaceport Kii site in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, in this screenshot taken from an online broadcast on March 13.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 14, 2024

Japanese firm delays bid to be first to put a satellite into orbit

This delay comes after the failure of its first rocket, which erupted into flames just seconds after liftoff earlier this spring.
A satellite image shows an An-124 heavy transport aircraft with its nose cone lifted, at Russia's Khmeimim airbase, near Latakia, Syria, on Friday.
WORLD
Dec 14, 2024

Russian military appears to be packing up equipment in Syria, satellite imagery shows

The moves could be a prelude to Moscow’s military withdrawal from the country in the wake of President Bashar Assad’s fall.
World chess champion Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest undisputed world chess champion on Thursday, beating China's Ding Liren in the final match of their series in Singapore.
MORE SPORTS / Chess
Dec 14, 2024

Gukesh Dommaraju's championship win fuels chess dreams in India

Gukesh stunned China's Ding Liren on Thursday when he seized upon an unfortunate blunder to win the last game of the World Chess Championship.
Tour guides wait to collect tour groups from Hong Kong outside the Shenzhen Bay border crossing in Shenzhen, China
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2024

Educated young Chinese turn to tour guiding as job market wavers

Tour guiding is becoming an increasingly popular fallback option in a China rife with employment instability as the economy slows.
Girls hold banners urging passersby to stop and pay their respects during a minute of silence honoring the victims of Russia's invasion at 9 a.m. in front of Golden Gates metro station in central Kyiv.
WORLD / Society
Dec 14, 2024

Observing a minute of silence for Ukraine's fallen soldiers

As fewer people stop to pay their respects during a 9:00 am ritual for victims of the war, a small activist group is pushing for a change.
Police seek information from the public on a high-profile murder case, in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, on Saturday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 14, 2024

Tokyo police seek public's help on Setagaya family murder 24 years ago

In the high-profile homicide case, a couple and their two children were killed at their home in the ward's Kamisoshigaya district in December 2000.
U.K. Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom holds a news conference on Friday in Tokyo ahead of Britain's entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2024

Britain joins trans-Pacific pact in biggest post-Brexit trade deal

The accession means Britain will be able to apply CPTPP trade rules and lower tariffs with eight of the 11 existing members.
 Lindsey Vonn after racing as a forerunner prior to a World Cup downhill in Beaver Creek, Colorado, on Saturday
MORE SPORTS / Alpine skiing
Dec 15, 2024

Lindsey Vonn hopes comeback gets her to 2026 Olympics

The 40-year-old American had retired in February 2019 citing the physical toll the sport had taken on her body but announced last month she was making a comeback.
The U.S. Air Force's CV-22 Osprey displayed during Japanese-American Friendship Festival at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo on May 18
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2024

U.S. and Japanese Ospreys grounded this month after precautionary landing

While the details about the precautionary landing are not known, the incident has raised concerns over the vulnerability in Osprey components.

Longform

Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.
The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo