Search - 2019

 
 
A sign warns of a nearby bear sighting in Takikawa, Hokkaido, on Oct. 17.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Dec 30, 2024

Hokkaido 2024: Looking back on Rapidus, bears and shinkansen

The key topics are expected to continue making headlines in 2025.
The defense lawyer of Kentaro Kitagawa, former head of the osaka District Public Prosecutors Office, speaks at a news conference on Tuesday in Osaka City.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 10, 2024

Former chief prosecutor of Osaka to plead not guilty over rape in shift

During his first trial hearing in October, Kentaro Kitagawa said he would not contest the rape allegation, expressing deep remorse.
“Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron" provides an in-depth look into the octogenarian auteur’s creative process and personal reflections.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 11, 2024

‘Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron’ documentary meditates on auteur's creativity and legacy

Filmed with unparalleled access to Studio Ghibli, director Kaku Arakawa captures the vulnerability and genius behind master animator Hayao Miyazaki’s latest feature.
A firefighter sprays water as the Franklin Fire burns in Malibu, California, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Dec 11, 2024

Malibu fire explodes in size and forces thousands to evacuate

The Franklin fire has swelled to more than 2,700 acres and remained completely out of control as of Tuesday afternoon.
In 2024, Scottie Scheffler won seven PGA Tour events, including the Masters, and took home the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Dec 11, 2024

Scheffler voted PGA Tour Player of the Year for third straight time

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are the only players beside Scheffler to win the award three or more times.
The United Steelworkers union claims that Nippon Steel's latest offer is tantamount to bribery.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2024

Union blasts Nippon Steel’s $5,000 per worker bonus in U.S. Steel deal

The United Steelworkers called Nippon Steel's move “a classic union-busting tactic” and a “desperate attempt to win over support for its doomed acquisition.”
People in the U.S. live with illness for 12.4 years on average — up from 10.9 years in 2000, according to a study published by the American Medical Association.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 12, 2024

Americans spend more years sick than rest of world, study finds

Mental and substance-use disorders are the biggest factors to blame in the U.S., along with musculoskeletal diseases.
Fans in Saudi Arabia celebrate after the nation was confirmed as host of the 2034 FIFA World Cup
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 12, 2024

Saudi Arabia awarded 2034 FIFA World Cup despite human rights concerns

FIFA also confirmed that Morocco, Spain and Portugal will be joint hosts of the 2030 World Cup, in which three games will also be played in South America.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands ahead of their bilateral meeting during the Group of 20 leaders summit in Osaka in June 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 12, 2024

Trump invites Xi to attend inauguration, report says

The invitation signals an effort by Trump to court his Chinese counterpart on the heels of threats of fresh tariffs against China.
A protester wears a mask depicting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during a rally calling for his impeachment, in Seoul, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / ANALYSIS
Dec 12, 2024

South Korea's soft power gains at risk from extended political crisis

How the country — a top global destination for medical and plastic surgery tourism — gets through the period of uncertainty will impact foreign visitor numbers.
A projection mapping display illuminates the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building during a tourism promotion event in April.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 13, 2024

20 LDP Tokyo assembly members underreported fundraising party sales

A similar scandal involving slush funds from unreported fundraising party revenues has plagued LDP parliament members.
A man checks a tunnel found under a mosque in Tadamon district, which is littered with bones, in Damascus, Syria, on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 13, 2024

At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors and seek answers

After Bashar Assad's ouster, residents hope the site in Damascus' Tadamon district can be cordoned off for those responsible to be held accountable.
The Mets' Juan Soto poses for photos at Citi Field in New York on Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 13, 2024

Juan Soto hoping to build dynasty with Mets

Mets fans are eager to see their team end a World Series championship drought that stretches back to 1986.
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.
Numbered evidence markers indicate where bullet casings were located at the crime scene outside the New York Hilton Midtown, where Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot, Dec. 4.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 13, 2024

Suspect in UnitedHealthcare shooting visited Japan, then vanished

New details are emerging about Luigi Mangione’s growing impatience with "a capitalist society” and his search for refuge in the mountains of Japan.
People watch a TV screen, broadcasting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivering an address to the nation, at a railway station in Seoul, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 14, 2024

Yoon Suk Yeol: from rising star to impeachment

He rose from public prosecutor to South Korea's highest office in just a few years, but as president, Yoon staggered from scandal to scandal.
 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.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew leave after Prince Philip's Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey in March 2022. Revelations that a suspected Chinese spy became a confidant of Britain's Prince Andrew is renewing scrutiny of King Charles' disgraced brother.
WORLD
Dec 15, 2024

Latest scandal raises fresh questions about U.K.'s Prince Andrew

The latest scandal erupted on Thursday after judges upheld a government ban on the Chinese businessman, identified only as H6, from entering Britain.
Israeli military vehicles ride through Syria close to the cease-fire line between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, as seen from Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 16, 2024

Israel plans to double its population on the occupied Golan Heights

Israel captured most of the strategic plateau from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War, annexing it in 1981.
Customers queue at a bank ATM in Lagos. Roughly 93% of total currency in circulation sits outside of banks.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 16, 2024

Nigeria’s dying ATMs leave a cash-shaped hole filled by agents

Roughly 93% of total currency in circulation — or 4 trillion naira ($2.6 billion) — sits outside of banks as of September.
Disney and Oriental Land executives pose with Disney characters at the unveiling of an expanded cruise line, in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, earlier this year.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Dec 16, 2024

Tokyo Disney Resort operator eyes cruises for new growth

The company plans to invest approximately ¥330 billion in the project, hoping to launch services in fiscal 2028.
The flight deck of the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier during a stop at Changi Naval Base in Singapore in May 2019
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2024

With rare Asia carrier deployment, France seeks greater interoperability

“The Indo-Pacific is the world’s new center of gravity," Rear Adm. Guillaume Pinget told The Japan Times during a visit to Tokyo.
Environmental activist Paul Watson waves after getting released from prison in Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2024

Japan 'regrets' release of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson

The 74-year-old Canadian-American activist was released after Copenhagen turned down Tokyo's request to bring him to Japan.
RB's Liam Lawson ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix on Dec. 1
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Dec 18, 2024

Red Bull set to replace Sergio Perez with Liam Lawson, not Yuki Tsunoda

The move comes after Red Bull saw its run of consecutive constructors' championships come to an end in 2024, McLaren finishing on top.
Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger hits a home run during a game at Dodger Stadium in September. Bellinger was traded to the Yankees on Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 18, 2024

Yankees acquire outfielder Cody Bellinger from Cubs

The Yankees will take on the bulk of Bellinger's $27.5 million salary, but Chicago kicked in $5 million to New York in the deal, according to reports.
Foreign tourists visit Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo in June.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2024

Japan breaks annual visitor record with 33.4 million in just 11 months

November saw 3.19 million foreign visitors for business and leisure, according to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinea leader James Marape address a news conference in Sydney on Dec. 12.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2024

Australia shows how smart diplomacy is done

Recent deals reflect the laser focus the Australian government is devoting to its closest neighbors and a bureaucratic reorganization that translates into action.
The entrance of the Sodegaura LNG Terminal, operated by Tokyo Gas, in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 18, 2024

Japan's draft climate strategy spurs calls for bolder cuts in carbon emissions

The government last month presented a draft plan to aim for a 60% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 from 2013 levels.
Nomura Holdings and other major brokerages in Japan are raising compensation and benefits for senior employees age 60 or over.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2024

At Japan's brokerages, skills shortage improves conditions for older staff

Employees age 60 and above are increasingly getting paid for performance and given heavier responsibilities in line with their experience.
When chef Yoshihiro Kitagawa returned to his hometown of Matsusaka to open Shibousai Kitagawa in 2015, he chose a tranquil location on the rural fringe of the city.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Dec 22, 2024

Shibousai Kitagawa: Creative Chinese in the home of Matsusaka wagyu

Alongside the superlative array of vegetable appetizers, a focal point at Shibousai Kitagawa is the revered local Matsusaka wagyu.

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.