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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2023

Why America doesn’t know how to stop school shootings

After a ban of more than two decades, the U.S. government is finally funding studies on how to prevent death and injury from firearms.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Jan 7, 2023

Is today’s China yesterday’s Soviet Union?

When Soviet-style totalitarianism ultimately collapsed under the weight of its economic failures, China decided to stay the course. But can China's totalitarian experiment last?
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 30, 2022

Vivienne Westwood, icon of provocative fashion, dead at 81

Vivienne Westwood was synonymous with 1970s punk rock, a rebelliousness that remained the hallmark of one of British fashion's biggest names.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 25, 2022

Putin wants fealty, and he’s found it in Africa

With his invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin of Russia unleashed a new disorder on the world. And in the Central African Republic, Moscow already has its way.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2022

Tokyo's solar panel mandate a major shift in a country where fossil fuels reign

The capital is moving to break away from a longtime reliance on other regions — and planet-warming fossil fuels — to meet its massive energy demand.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 12, 2022

Lockerbie plane bombing suspect taken into U.S. custody

Court documents described Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi as an expert bombmaker who joined Libya's External Security Organization intelligence service in the 1970s.
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 4, 2022

How Japanese soccer evolved to produce world-beating warriors

The Samurai Blue's upset wins over Germany and Spain at the 2022 FIFA World Cup are a result of decades of effort to expand the sport's footprint across the country.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 2, 2022

In Peru's hills, an artisanal miner boom frustrates Big Copper's plans

The rise of artisanal copper mining — driven by high global metal prices and sustained by a messy government permitting system — is threatening billions in new investments.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 23, 2022

Who's on the Chinese Communist Party's new Politburo Standing Committee?

The new seven-member body headed by leader Xi Jinping represents the apex of political power in China. Here are the men who will rule Beijing for the next five years, in order of seniority.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 20, 2022

For women in China’s Communist Party, it’s lonely at the top

The Communist Party congress this week is once again a typical scene of suits and ties, with less than a third of the delegates being women.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 18, 2022

For China's women, this week's congress is unlikely to mean progress

Xi's decade in power has seen the number of women in politics and elite government roles decline and gender gaps in the workforce widen, academics and activists say.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Oct 16, 2022

Claressa Shields claims GWOAT status on big night for women’s boxing

The two fighters spent the past few weeks trading shots on social media, and had to be separated by security after almost coming to blows at the weigh-in ceremony.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 11, 2022

China's shot at overtaking the U.S. economy is at stake in Xi's next term

If the property downturn is deeper than expected and 'COVID zero' restrictions remain beyond 2023, GDP growth may average below 4% over the next decade.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 11, 2022

'Watched the whole time': China's surveillance state grows under Xi

Social controls have been turned against dissidents, activists and religious minorities, as well as ordinary people judged to have crossed the line.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 27, 2022

Friends, leaders, dignitaries gather for PM’s final farewell

On Sept. 27, dignitaries from across Japan and the world will gather at the Nippon Budokan Hall to pay their final respects to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose sudden demise on July 8 sent shockwaves through the country. Notable guests include U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former French...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2022

Taiwan clouds mood ahead of China-Japan anniversary

Although various events have been held so far this year, a senior official of a group promoting friendly bilateral ties has pointed to the lack of excitement among Chinese people.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2022

Why young Japanese are more likely to back Abe’s state funeral

For many voters in their 20s, Abe's name is synonymous with a soaring Nikkei stock average and almost full employment under his Abenomics program.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2022

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority marks 10 years since launch

The NRA has been criticized by those seeking to end the country's reliance on nuclear energy for power generation.
Volunteers place eelgrass seeds on slabs of agar gel with tweezers during an event in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, on Nov. 9.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024

Seagrass bed restoration work spreads in Miyagi Prefecture

Seagrass and seaweed beds are capturing global attention as they absorb carbon dioxide.
Death row inmate Chisako Kakehi, who was convicted of murdering three elderly men between 2012 and 2013 with the intent of inheriting their assets, has died, local media reported Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 26, 2024

Chisako Kakehi, sentenced to death for cyanide murders, dies in custody

The 78-year-old death row inmate was convicted of murdering three men — her husband and two common-law spouses — to inherit their assets.
Manmohan Singh, who died on Thursday at the age of 92, was arguably one of India's most successful leaders.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 27, 2024

Manmohan Singh, India's reluctant prime minister, dies age 92

He is credited with steering India to unprecedented economic growth and lifting hundreds of millions out of dire poverty.
A Japan Coast Guard vessel sails in front of Uotsuri island, one of the disputed Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by Beijing as the and Diaoyu, in the East China Sea in August 2013.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2024

Chinese government vessels seen near Senkakus for record 353 days in 2024

The record comes as Beijing continues to ramp up its activities near the tiny islets that it also claims in the East China Sea.
Midori Kato has been voice acting the character Sazae Fuguta in the TV animation series "Sazae-san" since it started in 1969.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 30, 2024

Still sounding young at 85, Midori Kato is the voice of old Japan

The voice actor is the last original member of the cast of “Sazae-san,” a cartoon series that premiered in 1969 and never quite joined the modern world.
Although meat consumption has been dropping, it's not happening quickly enough to meet climate targets, something to keep in mind over the holidays.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024

Why are my vegan friends going back to meat?

Helping people eat healthier diets with more fruit, vegetables and fiber would have enormous benefits for human well-being and the planet.
Hillary Rodham Clinton receives the Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Joe Biden during a ceremony at the White House in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 5, 2025

Biden awards Hillary Clinton, George Soros and others Medal of Freedom

First awarded by President John F. Kennedy, the medal is considered the highest civilian honor a president can bestow.
Children at a traditional festival in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday. A forecast made by Tohoku University professor Hiroshi Yoshida estimates that Japan will be left with just one child on Jan. 5, 2720, based on current birthrate trends.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 6, 2025

2720 — the year when Japan is left with just one child

An expert on the graying of society has warned that the nation will be left with just one child age 14 and below in 695 years if its birthrate continues to decline.
Many Japanese dating apps have ways to detail specific interests that can be as narrow as one particular TV show, game or an artist.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 7, 2025

Swiping in Japan: How Gen Z is changing the dating app game

The once-stigmatized apps are flourishing as a new normal for dating among Gen Z in Japan, albeit with a different approach to before.
Migrants queue to board a bus that will take them to a shelter after turning themselves in to agents of Mexico's National Institute of Migration to look for a permit which would allow them to cross the country and reach the northern border with the U.S., in Tapachula, Mexico, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 9, 2025

Anxious but undeterred, migrants brace for Trump presidency

Trump has pledged tougher border controls and immigration enforcement and to launch a mass deportation operation.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake