Search - announcements

 
 
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a meeting of a government panel on information related to economic security last month as economic security minister Sanae Takaichi looks on.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jul 9, 2024

New security clearance system to bring Japan in line with other G7 nations

Individuals qualified to handle classified information will receive certification from the government, facilitating easier participation in global research and business.
A large screen in the Dubai Metro is out of service on Friday amid a massive global IT outage.
WORLD
Jul 20, 2024

From ATMs to flights, epic IT crash leaves trail of destruction

In what will go down as the most spectacular IT failure the world has ever seen, a botched software update from a cybersecurity firm caused a global systems outage.
U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama attend a campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 15.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 20, 2024

Secluded at beach house, Biden stews at allies’ pressure to drop out

He considers former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the main instigator but is irritated at ex-President Barack Obama, seeing him as a puppet master behind the scenes.
The People's Bank of China building in Beijing on May 29
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 22, 2024

China cuts key rate after Xi’s big meeting disappoints investors

The People’s Bank of China cut the seven-day reverse repo rate, a key short-term policy rate, in the first reduction in almost a year.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the media after his meeting with President Droupadi Murmu, to stake claim to form the new government at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi on June 7.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 24, 2024

India's budget reflects new power realities of Modi's fickle coalition

Modi has been forced to rely on allies to run a government for the first time in his career.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (left to right), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara prior their "two-plus-two" talks at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on Sunday
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 28, 2024

In historic move, U.S. to upgrade military command structure in Japan

The move — one of the most significant in the alliance's history — comes as Washington and Tokyo overhaul military ties in the face of an increasingly assertive China.
Taro Kono, Japan's digital transformation minister, during a Bloomberg Television interview in Tokyo, during which he mentioned that the Bank of Japan to needs to introduce a rate hike to stop the weak yen trend.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 29, 2024

Doves in ascendancy ahead of big Bank of Japan meeting this week

The central bank will likely hold rates where they are when it meets this week, according to analysts.
A public safety officer wipes away sweat in Times Square during high temperatures in New York on June 20.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 31, 2024

This is how we know when the world has its hottest day

These conclusions rely on a near real-time picture of the Earth’s climate for roughly every 30-square-kilometer chunk of the planet’s surface.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shakes hands with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2024

China lodges protest with Japan over 'irresponsible remarks' in talks with U.S.

China's director-general of Asian affairs at the Foreign Ministry lodged a complaint with the Japanese Embassy, in the latest row between the Asian giants.
A bulletin board shows the day's highest temperature in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, on July 29.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Aug 8, 2024

From Naha to Nemuro, how Japan’s cities are responding to more heat

Municipalities are reaching for everything from automated misting systems to anime to help cool residents and educate them about the risks of heat.
A solar farm in Dunhuang, northwest of Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China. Last year, China broke records in adding new wind turbines and solar panels. This year, it’s set on making sure people use them.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 9, 2024

China’s policy blitz shows fresh resolve to support clean energy

China's latest moves signal a change in priorities taking place in Beijing to move to cleaner energy.
Disney resorts division head Josh D’Amaro
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 12, 2024

Disney plots villains-themed land and new cruise ships in resorts push

Disney is providing details after announcing plans for its parks and resorts unit last year that included doubling capital investment to $60 billion over 10 years.
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 13, 2024

Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert

Concerns over a potential disaster have prompted many visitors to cancel their plans and city's to cancel events.
The parliament building in Tokyo. With concerns about summer heat rising and many elections taking place in summertime, it may not be tenable to conduct campaigns as in the past given health risks to candidates, their staff and voters.
JAPAN / Politics / Boiling Point
Aug 17, 2024

Hotter summers pose a threat to Japan's tradition of stump speeches

Balancing health concerns with legal restrictions as well as candidates' desire to be as publicly visible as possible, even in super hot weather, might be tricky.
Earthquakes are a fact of life in Japan, but there are strategies to keep yourself from spiraling into stress and despair over future catastrophes.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 17, 2024

Dreading the Big One? How to manage pre-disaster anxiety.

Anxiety about potential natural disasters can take its toll, but mental health experts say there are practical solutions.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Aug 16, 2024

Japan Times revamps iOS mobile app

This week we released a major upgrade of our mobile app.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Aug 16, 2024

Japan Times revamps Android mobile app

This week we released a major upgrade of our mobile app.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi holds a news conference Tuesday. The party has decided to hold its leadership election on Sept. 27.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 20, 2024

Is factional support still key for aspiring LDP presidential candidates?

Despite persistent claims the groups won't play any role in the September vote, factional ties remain strong to this day.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to the Livingston County Sheriff's Office in Howell, Michigan, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2024

Trump pushes agenda in town with historic links to white extremism

Donald Trump did not speak out against hate during his 45-minute remarks in a Michigan town with historic ties to white supremacy.
Japan is facing a pilot shortage, but hiring foreign pilots is not easy due to opposition from unions. Japanese carriers also typically pay less than airlines elsewhere.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 28, 2024

Pilot shortage threatens Japan’s goal for 60 million tourists

Falling short may mean missing out on lucrative tourism money as carriers simply can’t find the crew to fly the necessary number of planes.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda "predictably unpredictable" actions and policy shifts highlight the need for improved communication, reflecting modern central banking practices.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 28, 2024

How long can the BOJ get away with rate shocks?

The BOJ’s shifting policies and Kazuo Ueda’s unpredictable approach reflect the need for better alignment with modern central banking practices.
Employees work on an electric car production line near Ningbo, China, in April 2021. In new measures announced Friday, the Biden administration is moving to block off a popular tariff-free path for Chinese apparel coming into the United States, and added stiff levies on electric vehicles, solar panels and other products.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 14, 2024

U.S. locks in steep China tariff hikes, as some industries warn of disruptions

The tariffs include a 100% duty on Chinese EVs, 50% on solar cells and 25% on steel, aluminum, EV batteries and key minerals.
Solar panels and wind turbines at a power plant in Hami in China's Xinjiang region. The U.S. and other countries have described China’s actions against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region, a key cog in the cleantech supply chain, as a genocidal campaign aimed at erasing an entire culture.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Sep 16, 2024

How China’s dominance of solar and batteries is impacting Japan’s energy transition

China has thrown its industrial might behind cleantech, putting Japan in a tough spot as it weighs human rights concerns against its climate targets.
The flags of the U.S. and China sit in a room where U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China's Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, in Beijing on April 26.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

The challenges posed by China exceed those of the Cold War, U.S. says

Analysts and members of the U.S. Congress have said escalating global competition between China and the U.S. resemble a different but new style of cold war.
Chinese military vehicles carrying DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles travel past Beijing's Tiananmen Square during a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, on Oct. 1, 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 25, 2024

China fires long-range missile into Pacific Ocean in rare test

Tokyo said it had not received advance notification from the Chinese side of the launch, which Beijing said was part of annual military training.
A photo of Chinese leader Xi Jinping is displayed at the National Security Exhibition Gallery in Hong Kong on Monday. The 24-man Politburo led by Xi has recently unveiled a series of pro-growth goodies to help the country's economy.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Sep 28, 2024

Xi’s big stimulus week aims to draw a line under China slowdown

A recent barrage of policy announcements marked a sea change in Xi’s approach to managing China’s $18 trillion economy.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, speaks during a rare public appearance in July 2014.
WORLD
Sep 28, 2024

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah killed in Israeli strike on Beirut

The death deals a seismic blow to the Iran-backed group, which has been engaged in a year of cross-border hostilities with Israel.
At least four Japanese firms removed Nomura Holdings as bond manager after market rule violations were found.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2024

Nomura excluded from several yen bond deals on rule breach

The securities watchdog said it had investigated Nomura for suspected market manipulation in government bond futures and found violations.
© TELL
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Oct 1, 2024

TELLing the story: Emotional wellness and integral wellbeing for those living in Japan

A screen shows the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, U.S. physicist John J. Hopfield and Canadian-British computer scientist and cognitive psychologist Geoffrey E. Hinton, during the announcement at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on Tuesday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 8, 2024

Pair win physics Nobel for machine learning breakthroughs

The two used tools from physics to develop methods that became the foundation of today’s powerful machine learning, the Nobel Foundation said.

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?