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An attendee tries out the XR Catch game at the Sony Group booth at CEATEC in Chiba on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 17, 2023

Major Japan tech show opens with focus on sustainability

The major trade show kicked off on Tuesday, with firms keen to showcase how their latest technologies could contribute to creating a sustainable society.
Ayuko Kato, minister in charge of child policies, talks to children in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 17, 2023

Japan resumes babysitter discount coupon program amid high demand

The babysitter coupon system was implemented in 2016 as part of the government’s efforts to offer financial aid to working families with children.
Cooling towers and reactors at a nuclear power plant in Cattenom, France
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 17, 2023

Nukefluencers are on a quest to push clean power from reactors

Influencers are tapping into a generation that’s increasingly anxious about climate change by focusing on how nuclear energy is carbon-free.
Hamas fighters take part in a military parade in Gaza on July 19 to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2023

What pushed Hamas to launch its boldest attack ever?

Nothing justifies Hamas' brutality, but analyzing its motivations and goals is the first step to unpacking the present crisis.
A landscape covered with ice in northern Greenland
ENVIRONMENT
Oct 19, 2023

Reversing warming may stop Greenland ice sheet collapse, study says

The melting of Greenland's vast ice sheet is estimated to have contributed more than 20% to observed sea level rise since 2002.
While there should be a balance between entrepreneurial innovation and environmental responsibility, pollution should be the primary concern, not economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2023

Embracing the green growth mindset

Some high-carbon economic activities need to shrink while low-carbon, high-efficiency sectors need to grow.
Jobseekers attend a Business and IT Career Fair at Cape Fear Community College in Castle Hayne, North Carolina, on Sept. 20.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 19, 2023

Biased bots? U.S. lawmakers take on 'Wild West' of AI recruitment

Around 85% of large U.S. employers now use some form of automated tool or AI to screen or rank candidates for hire, according to recent surveys.
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe (left) and Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt shake hands in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 19, 2023

Self-driving taxi service set to be launched in Tokyo in 2026

Honda, GM and the American automaker’s autonomous driving unit, Cruise, will establish a joint venture next year to prepare for the robotaxi service.
Xi Jinping speaks during the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 19, 2023

Xi says green projects will anchor China’s overseas spending

Beijing is in a unique position to help mitigate climate change as the world’s largest producer of everything from solar panels to batteries.
Arctic climate scientists tend to be a close-knit community, but the war in Ukraine upended that status quo.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 19, 2023

Climate science in Arctic ‘broken’ as U.S. and Europe isolate Russia

Arctic climate scientists tend to be a close-knit community, but the war in Ukraine has upended that status quo.
An employee installs solar panels in a satellite dish at the Leuk Teleport and Data Center in Leuk, Switzerland
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 20, 2023

The world has already crossed a ‘tipping point’ on solar power

As wind power costs rise, solar power is vital for meeting emissions reduction goals.
Samples of The Japan Times winning news coverage, recognized by the World Association of News Publishers Asian Media Awards.
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2023

Japan Times wins awards for breaking news and feature reporting

The Japan Times receives gold awards for breaking news coverage and feature writing at the World Association of News Publishers Asian Media Awards.
Delegates arrive for the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum to mark the initiatives 10th anniversary in Beijing on Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 2023

China aims to remake the world with its Belt and Road initiative

Infrastructure is key to the success of the developing world and the failure to help emerging economies meet this vital need will rightly tar the West.
Daiichi Sankyo is aiming for at least ¥900 billion of revenue from its oncology business in the fiscal year ending in March 2026.
BUSINESS
Oct 20, 2023

Merck signs $5.5 billion deal with Daiichi for cancer therapy development

Daiichi Sankyo is aiming for at least ¥900 billion of revenue from its oncology business in the fiscal year ending in March 2026.
PFAS substances can be found in firefighter foam, outdoor gear, artificial turf, medical equipment and countless other products.
WORLD
Oct 21, 2023

‘Forever chemical’ bans face hard truth: Many can’t be replaced

As lawmakers around the world weigh bans of "forever chemicals,” many manufacturers are pushing back, saying there often is no substitute.
An aid distribution point for Palestinian citizens in southern Gaza on Saturday
WORLD
Oct 22, 2023

Gaza receives aid for first time since Israel-Hamas war began

Around 20 trucks carrying medicines and limited amounts of food began crossing the Rafah border point on Saturday morning.
An iceberg melting in Greenland. A crucial meeting on climate "loss and damages" ahead of COP28 ended in failure Saturday, with rich and developing countries unable to reach an agreement, according to sources involved in the talks.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 21, 2023

Climate 'loss and damage' talks end in failure

A crucial meeting on climate "loss and damages" ahead of COP28 ended in failure Saturday, with rich and developing countries unable to reach an agreement, according to sources involved in the talks.
The land ministry plans to resume a subsidy program to help families with small children and young married couples build energy-efficient houses.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2023

Japan looks to resume aid to help build energy-saving houses

The land ministry aims to incorporate the program in the government's upcoming economic package.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a public rally in Mashhad, Iran, in March.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 22, 2023

Iran's quandary: How to stay out of Israel's war on Hamas

Standing on the sidelines in the face of an all-out Israeli invasion of Gaza would significantly set back an Iranian strategy for regional ascendancy.
A water company employee fills bottles with potable water in Pozoblanco, Spain, in September 2023. The struggle for drinking water in this village of 18,000 has become a glimpse of what may lie ahead for parts of Europe where drought and extreme heat are on the rise.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 23, 2023

A peek into Spain's future: water by truck, not tap

Tanker trucks have been deployed to deliver 180,000 liters of potable water a day
PRESS
Oct 23, 2023

The Japan Times wins two gold at WAN-IFRA Asia Media Awards 2023

The Japan Times, Ltd. (Chairperson, Publisher and President: Minako Suematsu) is a double Gold award winner (small-medium company category) in the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) Asia Media Awards 2023.
Samples of The Japan Times winning news coverage, recognized by the World Association of News Publishers Asian Media Awards.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Oct 23, 2023

The Japan Times wins two gold at WAN-IFRA Asia Media Awards 2023

The Japan Times, Ltd. (Chairperson, Publisher and President: Minako Suematsu) is a double Gold award winner (small-medium company category) in the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) Asia Media Awards 2023.
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force disembark from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a live fire exercise in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 23, 2023

Kishida's proposed tax cuts put higher defense spending on hold

The plan to raise defense spending partly through tax hikes has been put on ice. In fact, it was never likely to deliver fast results.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during an opening ceremony of a diplomatic symposium at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 24, 2023

China's top diplomat to visit U.S. ahead of possible Xi trip

Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be the highest-ranking Chinese official to travel to Washington in about five years.
JR Kyushu is investigating four foreign YouTubers who seemingly took free rides on trains around the country.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 24, 2023

Railway operator investigates free-riding foreign YouTubers

A YouTuber known as Fidias posted a video of the four riding trains around Japan, apparently without paying for tickets.
Environmental activists on the sidelines of the New Global Financial Pact Summit in Paris on June 23
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 24, 2023

Countries deadlocked on 'loss and damage' as climate summit nears

Developing and developed countries at odds over fund's eligibility and who will oversee it.
The city of Lyon after sunrise from the Fourviere esplanade as France issued a "red alert" for four southern regions amid a spell of excessively hot weather in August.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 25, 2023

Record-breaking weather in 2023 shows impact of climate change

July was not only the hottest month in over 170 years of record-keeping, but likely the hottest month in over 100,000 years.
Turbines at Orsted's offshore wind farm near Nysted, Denmark, in September
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 25, 2023

Japan and Denmark to tie up on floating offshore wind technology

The nascent floating offshore wind industry is poised for explosive growth in the coming decade as countries strive to cut carbon emissions.
Two Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter jets (bottom) fly in formation with a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber as part of a joint exercise with the United States and South Korea in airspace near Kyushu on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 25, 2023

U.S., Japan and South Korea cooperation reaches new heights with aerial drill

While some view the move as signaling a "new era" in security ties, questions remain as to how long the current political momentum will hold
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda meets with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole economic symposium in Moran, Wyoming, on Aug. 25.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2023

As geopolitical risks grow, businesses are slow to respond

Businesses need to integrate geopolitical risk into their decision-making in an ever-transforming world.

Longform

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