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Japan Airlines launched a new project in March 2021 in which about 1,000 flight attendants engage in promoting tourist resources in Japan's 47 prefectures.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 22, 2024

Regional business creators system picks up steam in Japan

The system allows local governments to leverage private-sector know-how in areas including tourism promotion and digitalization.
Takahiro Taya, the 10th-generation representative of lacquerware shop Taya Shikkiten in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, holds a lacquerware bowl discovered from a workshop destroyed by a quake on New Year's Day.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 22, 2024

Wajima-nuri shop resolved to protect craft after quake

When the shop started a crowdfunding campaign, donations — and many encouraging messages — came quickly from all over the country.
The rupture of one of the world's busiest shipping routes has exposed the vulnerability of China's export-reliant economy to supply snarls and external demand shocks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2024

Red Sea crisis pressures China's exporters as shipping delays mount

Further Red Sea disruptions would pile pressure on a struggling economy already contending with a property crisis and weak consumer demand.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce had two touchdown catches against the Bills during Kansas City's 27-24 playoff win in Orchard Park, New York, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 22, 2024

Chiefs hold off Bills to reach sixth straight AFC title game

The Chiefs are headed to the AFC championship game for the sixth straight year.
Coco Gauff of the United States celebrates the match point against Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Jan 23, 2024

Gauff survives Kostyuk test to reach Australian Open semis

"I'm really proud of the fight I showed today, Marta's a tough opponent, every time we play it's a tough match," Gauff said.
Kochikai, formerly led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, meets in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 23, 2024

LDP agrees to reshape factions and toughen rules on political funding

It remains unclear, however, whether this move will lead to a substantial reform of the party's faction-oriented politics.
Israeli soldiers fire a mortar toward Gaza on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 24, 2024

Unmoved by Gaza carnage, Israel remains committed to war at any cost

There is an intensifying sense within Israel that the world is more focused on the response to Oct. 7 than on the original act of savagery itself.
A law making its way through the U.S. Congress would authorize the confiscation of billions of dollars in frozen assets owned by the Russian central bank, that would then be handed over to Ukraine as compensation for the war.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2024

Seizing Russia's central bank funds is illegal and unwise

A big question about giving Ukraine seized Russian funds is would such an asset grab break international law?
In the 2022 fiscal year, which ended in March 2023, Hokkaido's Niseko resort area saw a cumulative total of more than 1.4 million visitors, including day-trippers and those who spent at least one night.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jan 29, 2024

Ski season surge tests limits of Niseko’s infrastructure

The return of tourists to the Hokkaido resort area is putting pressure on food retailers and transportation.
A courtroom sketch shows Shinji Aoba at the Kyoto District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 25, 2024

Kyoto Animation arsonist given death penalty over 2019 mass murder

A Kyoto court found Shinji Aoba guilty of setting a studio on fire because of a grudge he held against Kyoto Animation, in one of Japan's deadliest mass murders.
Anindya Shabrina Prasetiyo (center), a Labour Party legislative candidate in the upcoming general election, attends a rally on Jan. 19 in front of City Hall in Surabaya. Indonesia's presidential and legislative elections next month will see more than 200 million people eligible to vote, with slightly more than half of them women according to the country's election commission, yet with much fewer women representing them.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 25, 2024

Indonesian women hope election breaks them into boys' club

More than 200 million people are eligible to vote in the Feb. 14 election, yet only a handful of women represent them in parliament.
Photographer Robert Beck took the famous photo of Brandi Chastain celebrating the United States' victory in the Women's World Cup final in 1999 that appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
SPORTS
Jan 25, 2024

The Sports Illustrated cover, a faded canvas that once defined sports

Sports Illustrated's power to define sports discourse been steadily eroding, but it is hard to overstate the power it once had.
A nationwide poll of 1,250 U.S. adults showed former U.S. President Donald Trump leading incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden 40% to 34%, with the rest unsure or planning to vote for someone else or no one.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 26, 2024

Trump gains lead over Biden in rematch many Americans don't want

Slightly more than half of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the U.S. two-party system, with just one in four satisfied by it.
'Oden' may not be an iconic dish outside Japan, but during winter, there's nothing Japanese diners love more.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Washoku Essentials
Jan 28, 2024

In a Japanese winter, homemade ‘oden’ warms the body and soul

In poll after poll, this warming assortment of slowly simmered foods is the top-ranking comfort food for blustery winter nights.
Some 5 million people globally die of causes related to air pollution from fossil fuels each year and climate change has a huge impact on people's health and psychological well-being.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2024

We’re finally recognizing climate change’s mental health toll

Climate change's impact on health, including psychological well-being, is overwhelming. COP28 took stock of this and put youth at the center of discussions like never before.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures to his supporters, as he departs for his second civil trial after E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her decades ago, outside Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Friday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Jan 27, 2024

Big money fails to stop Trump, again, prompting a donor reckoning

Donors have learned a hard lesson: Big money cannot win the GOP presidential nomination, at least not against Trump.
Aryna Sabalenka celebrates with the trophy after winning her second-straight Australian Open women's singles title on Saturday in Melbourne.
TENNIS
Jan 27, 2024

Sabalenka overpowers Zheng to retain Australian Open crown

Aryna Sabalenka continued to be an irrepressible force at the Australian Open as she powered to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Chinese 12th seed Zheng Qinwen.
A courtroom sketch shows Shinji Aoba (center) listening to a ruling handed down at the Kyoto District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 28, 2024

Kyoto Animation arsonist sentenced to death says he 'accepts' verdict

But Shinji Aoba said he had appealed the ruling because "there are a few more things that I want to leave behind as lessons for others."
Mesut Hancer holds the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak, who died in a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, the day after the quake struck the country's southeast, on Feb. 7, 2023.
WORLD
Jan 29, 2024

'Time has stopped': Grieving father relives Turkish quake

An image of Mesut Hancer's daughter Irmak, lying dead among debris, was picked up by world media.
The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, even faster than the shinkansen. However, demand for the new railway service remains lacking.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 29, 2024

Linking 17,000 islands in Indonesia tests a nation on the rise

President Joko Widodo's grand vision for the world’s largest archipelago is colliding with financial realities.
Ilia Malinin performs his free skate during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Jan 29, 2024

'Quad God' Ilia Malinin captures men's title at U.S. Figure Skating Championships

The 19-year-old dubbed the "Quad God" took a nearly 19-point lead into Sunday's decisive free skate in Columbus.
Ireland's Johnny Sexton retired after the team's loss against New Zealand at the Rugby World Cup in Oct. 2023.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jan 29, 2024

Former Irish player Hugo MacNeill says it will be tough to replace Johnny Sexton

The Irish have big shoes to fill as they attempt to defend the Six Nations title.
Masanao Saito harvests his mikan tangerines with his grandson, Akihito Oyama, at his farm in Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture, on Dec. 8. Behind them are apple trees full of fruit.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Feb 5, 2024

How fruit farmers in Tohoku are coping with climate change

Last year, extreme heat dubbed the "boiling Earth" phenomenon hit the region’s agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries hard.
Noboru Ito (left) uses well water for a makeshift shower at his Real Hair Cutting You beauty salon in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 24.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 30, 2024

Businesses in quake-hit Japanese city tap well water to reopen

Their return to operations helps restore a sense of normalcy among residents.
South Korean forward Cho Gue-sung (right) celebrates scoring his team's first goal during an Asian Cup match against Saudi Arabia in al-Rayyan, Qatar, on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Jan 31, 2024

South Korea sets up Australia clash as Uzbeks plot Asian Cup 'surprise'

Klinsmann's men dominated both periods of extra time but were guilty of over-elaborating.
Elon Musk
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024

Musk’s $55 billion Tesla pay package struck down, threatening status

Worth some $51.1 billion, Musk's Tesla options were one of his most valuable assets. Without them his net worth would drop to $154.3 billion.
Volunteers work at the site of a soy sauce-maker in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Explainer
Jan 31, 2024

Quake-hit Noto faces a long road to recovery. Here's how you can help.

After initially asking people to refrain from coming as volunteers, municipalities in Ishikawa are now open to outside help.
Takuo Komori, parliamentary vice minister for internal affairs, bows after speaking to reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2024

Two Abe faction members resign as vice ministers over funds scandal

The latest development in the scandal currently enveloping the LDP comes as the opposition is expected to gear up its criticism of the ruling party.
Valentine's Day in Japan is one way when it comes to chocolate, but the sweets are reciprocated on White Day in March.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 2, 2024

Prepare for date night by practicing reservations in Japanese

Whether its chocolates or a full-course meal, food is the language for Valentine's Day.
Mitsuko Tottori (right), incoming president of Japan Airlines, and Yuji Akasaka, outgoing president, during a news conference in Tokyo on Jan. 17
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024

Japan opens door to more women directors, but managers still rare

Women account for only 13.4% of directors and executive officers at the 1,836 firms listed on the TSE's Prime market, and of these 13% are internal hires.

Longform

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