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Digital transformation minister Taro Kono has described Japan's current fiscal state as an "emergency situation," saying the nation has to regain fiscal discipline.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2024

Japan's budget demands hit record as leadership race steps up

The race could complicate Tokyo's efforts to restore fiscal discipline.
A cold and self-centered 21-year-old (Yuumi Kawai) drifts through life in Yoko Yamanaka's “Desert of Namibia.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 5, 2024

'Desert of Namibia' makes its difficult protagonist hard to hate

Yoko Yamanaka's enigmatically titled drama is true to the messy complexity of human beings and their relationships in its own quirky and sharply observant way.
Pasocom Music Club’s “Love Flutter” marks an important moment for Japan’s electronic community as project members Aoi Shibata (left) and Masato Nishiyama step into a role other artists once held for them — scene veterans who are inspiring the next generation.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 5, 2024

Pasocom Music Club returns to the pure pleasures of the dance floor

For the Kansai-born duo, new album “Love Flutter” isn’t just an evolution of its sound — it’s the next step in pushing the boundaries of electronic music.
Real cash earnings for workers in Japan climbed 0.4% in July from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2024

Japan real wages unexpectedly rise, keeping BOJ on hike path

Real cash earnings for workers climbed 0.4% in July from a year earlier, the labor ministry has reported.
A factory operated by metal processing company Iwanuma Seiko, which has been entrusted with work involving the space industry for the first time
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Sep 17, 2024

Small firms in Tohoku showcase technologies in growing space sector

The government plans to boost the space technology market, leading to hopes of a space industry ecosystem in the region.
Get your dark blue suit out of the closet, job hunting season is once again upon us.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 6, 2024

Those looking for jobs in Japan get another shot at it in September

Hiring for new recruits usually takes place in time for an April start, but Japanese companies are increasingly looking to hire in the autumn.
A voter casts a mail-in ballot at a drop box outside the Maricopa County Recorder and Elections Department's southeast Mesa office during the Arizona state primary election in Mesa, Arizona, on July 30.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 6, 2024

U.S. election prompts cities to get a grip on fake news

Local officials are increasingly forced to address false information about public health, migration, and urban planning strategies, which intensify during polls.
A new deal may mark a big step in China’s yearslong ambition to create an "aircraft carrier-sized" brokerage to take on Wall Street banks.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 6, 2024

China creates its largest brokerage to take on Wall Street

The deal would mark a big step in China’s yearslong ambition to create an "aircraft carrier-sized” brokerage.
A polygraph machine sits on a table in an office of AO Eurasian Bank in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in 2013.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 6, 2024

AI-powered lie detectors can help tell if you’re lying on a Zoom call

CyberQ is just one of a crop of new companies looking to build AI-powered lie detectors that could be used during work-related online meetings.
American Jessica Pegula celebrates after defeating the Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova in the women's semifinals at the U.S. Open on Thursday.
TENNIS
Sep 6, 2024

Comeback queen Pegula sets up U.S. Open title clash with Sabalenka

Pegula battled back from a set and a break down to record a gutsy 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over her 52nd-ranked opponent from the Czech Republic.
By 2018, the number of children registered for adoption had dropped to around 15,000, down from about 44,000 in 2009, according to official statistics.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 6, 2024

China stops foreign adoptions, ending a complicated chapter

The ban raises questions for many of the hundreds of families in the United States who were in the process of adopting children from China.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, Yuko, are welcomed upon their arrival at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea, on Friday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 6, 2024

Never take Japan-South Korea relations for granted

The two leader’s final meeting is both an opportunity to review recent achievements and to underscore the centrality of the Japan-South Korean partnership.
Predicting the winner of the 2024 presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris remains exceptionally challenging as the the current landscape is highly fluid.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 6, 2024

Election predictions are too noisy to tell if Trump or Harris will win

There’s a lot of campaigning to go, a lot of events that could turn the election into a landslide for either candidate.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol during a meeting at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 6, 2024

Kishida and Yoon reaffirm importance of sustained cooperation

Kishida highlighted the need to continue efforts to advance bilateral ties, once again expressing sympathy for Koreans who suffered during Japanese colonial rule.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he addresses the Fraternal Order of Police at their meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 7, 2024

Trump hush money sentencing delayed until after election

Trump will be sentenced Nov. 26 instead of Sept. 18 as originally planned, with the judge conceding that going forward could have had an impact on the election.
U.s. President Joe Biden speaks to members of the U.A. Local 190 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 7, 2024

Biden aides working on proposal for U.S. sovereign wealth fund

The fund would allow the U.S. to invest in national security interests including technology, energy, and critical links in the supply chain.
The agreement follows more than six months of talks between Baghdad and Washington, initiated by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (center) in January amid attacks by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups on U.S. forces stationed at Iraqi bases.
WORLD
Sep 7, 2024

U.S.-Iraq deal would see hundreds of troops withdraw in first year

The plan has been broadly agreed but requires a final go-ahead from both capitals and an announcement date.
An investor sits in front of a board showing stock information at a brokerage office in Beijing.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 7, 2024

China bulls getting tired of waiting for elusive stock recovery

Weakness in Chinese equities is eroding the confidence of some of Wall Street’s staunchest supporters, with hopes for a turnaround fading in the world’s No. 2 economy.
Supporters cheer as U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event at the Throwback Brewery, in North Hampton, New Hampshire, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 7, 2024

How the fight to define Harris will shape her debate with Trump

The debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday will be, by far, the longest unscripted setting for the U.S. vice president of her candidacy — a high-risk encounter.
Four members of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan who filed their candidacies for the main opposition party's Sept. 23 leadership election —  Lower House lawmaker Harumi Yoshida (left), current chief Kenta Izumi (second left), former party leader Yukio Edano (second right) and former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda — attend a joint news conference in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2024

Main opposition CDP kicks off leadership race

The candidates are former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, ex-party leader Yukio Edano, current chief Kenta Izumi and Lower House lawmaker Harumi Yoshida.
Taylor Fritz in action during his U.S. Open semifinal match against Frances Tiafoe on Friday in New York.
TENNIS
Sep 7, 2024

Fritz tops Tiafoe to set up U.S. Open final with Sinner

Fritz, the world No. 12, twice fought back to defeat compatriot Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in his semifinal.
The Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race is expected to have a record number of candidates.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Perspectives
Sep 8, 2024

Unpacking Japan’s messy leadership election

With so many candidates and old rules gone, brace for the most unpredictable LDP race in ages
Jessica Pegula hits a return during her U.S. Open women’s final against Aryna Sabalenka, at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens on Saturday.
TENNIS
Sep 8, 2024

Sabalenka downs Pegula to win U.S. Open thriller

The 26-year-old from Belarus clubbed 40 winners to become the first woman since Angelique Kerber in 2016 to capture both hardcourt majors in the same season.
Flags of the Vatican and East Timor wave at the Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport ahead of Pope Francis' visit in Dili on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 8, 2024

Pope Francis visit keenly awaited in deeply Catholic East Timor

When Pope Francis touches down in the East Timorese capital of Dili this week he will be landing in a totally different nation to the one visited by his predecessor.
A Palestinian girl is vaccinated against polio in Khan Younis on Thursday.
WORLD
Sep 8, 2024

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 61 in 48 hours as U.N. pursues vaccinations

Airstrikes on two former schools that were housing displaced people, one in Gaza City and one in Jabalia, killed at least 12 people, Palestinian medics said.
Jannik Sinner celebrates after defeating Taylor Fritz in the U.S. Open final in New York on Sunday.
TENNIS
Sep 9, 2024

Jannik Sinner rolls past Taylor Fritz in U.S. Open final

For 23-year-old Sinner, it was his 55th match win of the season and sixth title.
An aircraft operated by Qantas Airways outside a maintenance facility at Sydney Airport on Aug. 27
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 9, 2024

Australian airports face the worst climate-change risks

The findings of climate change impacting Australia's airports are a warning to aviation infrastructure owners worldwide.
Elementary school student Yugo Hirata, who uses a wheelchair, swims with the assistance of Edogawa-ku General Gymnasium staff member Michiyo Tominaga at a dedicated facility for people with disabilities in Tokyo on June 22.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 15, 2024

Projects eye better sports facility access for people with disabilities

Efforts are being made to create a network linking specialized sports facilities for people with disabilities with general public facilities.
Alimentation Couche-Tard said it is willing to engage in confidential discussions with 7-Eleven operator Seven & I Holdings and is keen on still pursuing an acquisition.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 9, 2024

Couche-Tard pushes for Seven & I deal talks after rejection

A potential deal would create a global convenience store behemoth with more than 100,000 stores.
Komeito Secretary-General Keiichi Ishii
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

Keiichi Ishii set to replace Natsuo Yamaguchi as Komeito chief

The move would mark the first change in party leadership since 2009.

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly