Search - 2020

 
 
The Kazu I tour boat is lifted from the surface of the sea off the coast of Shari, Hokkaido, in May 2022.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2023

Hokkaido tour boat sinking caused by safety gaps, report says

The operator of the Kazu I sightseeing tour boat, which sank off Hokkaido last year, had no safety management system, according to a government report
Part of the deserted Legend of Sea project developed by Country Garden
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 7, 2023

China’s credit wreck exposes governance failings to the world

"Foreign money managers still have willingness to invest in China, but how much we invest is in flux.”
People make their way through Tokyo's Ameyoko shopping district. In a sign rising inflation is already taking a toll on consumption, Japan's household spending suffered its biggest drop in nearly 2½ years in July.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Sep 7, 2023

China's economic gloom hangs over Japan's long-awaited recovery

If Beijing fails to shore up demand with meaningful stimulus, that could potentially delay an exit from the Bank of Japan's ultraloose monetary policy.
World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz plays a shot against Alexander Zverev during their quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open in New York on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Sep 7, 2023

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev win to set up semifinal clash

Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev are the last two U.S. Open champions.
Kohei Saito, a philosophy professor at the University of Tokyo who appears regularly in Japanese media to discuss his ideas, at home in Tokyo on March 16.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 7, 2023

Can shrinking be good for Japan? A Marxist bestseller makes the case.

Saito has tapped into what he describes as a growing disillusionment in Japan with capitalism’s ability to solve the problems people see around them.
A Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing plant under construction in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2023

Taiwan’s ‘silicon shield’ against China is an illusion

China may be reliant on Taiwanese semiconductors, but that doesn't stop Beijing from harboring a military takeover.
An activist in Seoul protests Japan’s plan to release treated wastewater from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 7, 2023

Anger at Fukushima’s wastewater; hope in its renewables

Good news and bad news out of Fukushima.
Naomi Osaka participates in a forum on mental health during the U.S. Open in New York on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Sep 7, 2023

Naomi Osaka makes U.S. Open return. But not for tennis.

Naomi Osaka returned to the U.S. Open to participate in a forum on mental health and sports alongside former Olympian Michael Phelps.
Lawmaker Masatoshi Akimoto makes a speech advocating for renewable energy, in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture in March 2021.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2023

Ex-LDP member and offshore wind advocate arrested over bribery

Masatoshi Akimoto is suspected of receiving ¥60 million from Masayuki Tsukawaki, then-president of Japan Wind Development.
An Apple store in the Huangpu district in Shanghai
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 8, 2023

Apple grapples with turmoil in China days before iPhone 15 launch

The bans may just be part of a longstanding trend.
More cooks are pursuing careers in cooking for wealthy clients, but the glitz that makes it into viral TikTok videos isn’t always the whole picture.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 10, 2023

Private chefs toe the line between occupation and isolation

A new chapter in the age of food celebrity is unfolding online as more cooks take up careers as private chefs and go public with the perks of the job.
Johnny & Associates President Julie Keiko Fujishima (second from right) acknowledged that company founder Johnny Kitagawa had sexually abused agency employees for decades during a press conference in Tokyo on Sept. 7.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Sep 9, 2023

What’s in a name? A lot of baggage and trauma, unfortunately.

Johnny and Associates' recognition of abuse is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to move forward.
Residents watch the McDougall Creek wildfire in West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, last month.
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Sep 9, 2023

Conspiracy theories falsely link wildfires to 'smart cities'

Disinformation about deadly wildfires in the United States and Canada has run rampant across social media.
China's exports fell by 14.5% year on year in July, a stark contrast from the robust 17.2% export growth recorded in July 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2023

Why hasn’t China rushed to bail out its economy?

China's reluctance to unveil a massive stimulus package despite the ongoing economic slowdown has puzzled foreign observers and the Chinese public alike.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a government meeting on his concept of "new capitalism" in Tokyo on Aug. 31.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 11, 2023

Economists question the wisdom of Kishida's new minimum wage target

Japan aims to lift the minimum wage to ¥1,500 by the mid-2030s, but macroeconomic factors could undermine that target.
Masanobu Ogura, minister in charge of policies related to children, speaks at a government meeting on measures to prevent suicides among children, in April.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 12, 2023

Japan steps up efforts to prevent suicides among children

The number of suicides among elementary, junior high and senior high school students has been on the rise, reaching 514 in 2022.
"Football Leaks" whistleblower Rui Pinto had been extradited to Portugal following his January 2019 arrest by Hungarian police in Budapest.
SOCCER
Sep 12, 2023

Portuguese court convicts 'Football Leaks' hacker

The biggest information leak in sports history sparked criminal investigations in Belgium, Britain, France, Spain and Switzerland.
Gold prices in Japan are hovering around a record high of ¥10,000 per gram — up around 18% since January.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 12, 2023

Gold bugs in Japan reaping rewards as yen weakness persists

Domestic prices for the precious metal are now hovering around a record high of ¥10,000 per gram — up around 18% since January.
Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki speaks during an interview in his Tokyo office on September 7
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 12, 2023

Japan's opposition struggles to move beyond political fragmentation

The leadership race for the DPP has reignited debate over the state of the opposition, with calls for a united front clashing with divisions over policy.
Nadia Umana, a Colombian environmental leader threatened by criminal gangs, poses for a picture during an interview in Bogota on Aug. 30.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 13, 2023

Colombia deadliest country for green activists in 2022: report

Many of those targeted were Indigenous people, members of Afro-descendant communities, small-scale farmers and environmental activists.
According to Justice Ministry statistics, about 20% of the inmates who ended up in prisons and other correctional facilities nationwide in 2021 were suspected of having intellectual disabilities.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2023

'Osaka Model' for aiding disabled lawbreakers reaches crossroads

The "Osaka Model" for aiding lawbreakers with disabilities has reached a crossroads due to challenges with securing welfare and personnel.
Yuko Obuchi (left), picked as the Liberal Democratic Party's new election campaign chief, poses for a photo with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other LDP executives at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / Notebook
Sep 13, 2023

What Kishida’s reshuffle says about female participation in politics

Political family ties of most of the female appointees speaks to the difficulty women face in entering the political arena.
Advertisements for the Dholera Smart City project, which is in the early stages of development, in Dholera, India, on Aug. 25. India’s government, seizing on the world’s desire to reduce reliance on China, is offering billions to build an entire semiconductor ecosystem on vast empty plots.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 13, 2023

Modi wants to make India a chipmaking superpower. Can he succeed?

The prime minister betting he can lure private companies to a future semiconductor city from not only across India but also the world.
New Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa is seen in formal attire to attend an attestation ceremony after a Cabinet reshuffle in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 13, 2023

In Kishida's Cabinet reshuffle, two changes stand out

It will be the first time in 20 years that a woman has been foreign minister, while the new defense chief arrives amid dramatic shifts in defense posture.
The sudden resignation of BP CEO Bernard Looney may mark a crossroads clean energy, as Looney was seen as pushing for a transition more aggressively than his industry peers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2023

BP chief’s surprise exit leaves questions over green strategy

BP said Tuesday that the 53-year-old CEO was departing after failing to fully disclose to the company board past relationships with colleagues.
Arata Oshima follows the events of Sept. 27, 2022 — the day of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s funeral — to capture the state of the nation in the documentary, “The Day of the State Funeral.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 14, 2023

‘The Day of the State Funeral’ bears witness to the end of the Abe era

Arata Oshima’s documentary about the official send-off for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a portrait of a nation adrift.
To the chagrin of many U.S. voters, the 2024 presidential election is likely to be a rematch between President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2023

America faces a critical moment in its history

To the chagrin of most voters, the 2024 U.S. presidential election is likely to be a rematch between Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump.
Passengers wait to board a shinkansen at Kyoto Station.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 14, 2023

Nozomi shinkansen to halt nonreserved seats during peak periods

The restriction will apply between Dec. 28 this year and Jan. 4 as well as the Golden Week and Bon holiday periods.
The rubble of a home in Lahaina, on the Hawaiian island of Maui, on Aug. 16
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 14, 2023

China sows disinformation about Hawaii fires using new techniques

False posts carrying images apparently made using artificial intelligence put China among the first to have used these tools in such a campaign.
The incoming and outgoing presidents of Johnny & Associates, Noriyuki Higashiyama and Julie Keiko Fujishima, bow at a press conference on Sept. 7.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 14, 2023

Johnny’s talent agency has admitted to a past of abuse. What next?

Karin Kaneko joins the show to update us on how the story is unfolding.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?