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JAPAN

Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito answers questions from reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2025
Ruling parties agree to discuss dual surname system
Party leaders stopped short of deciding when to begin discussions on the issue.
Fuji Media Holdings' headquarters in Tokyo's Minato Ward. The company will hold an extraordinary board meeting on Thursday over the firestorm sparked by TV host Masahiro Nakai's alleged sexual misconduct.
JAPAN / Media
Jan 22, 2025
Fuji TV scandal sparks probes on exploitation within TV industry
The sexual misconduct allegations against TV host and former SMAP member Masahiro Nakai have thrown a spotlight on the TV industry's culture and ethics.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2025
Top diplomats agree to take U.S.-Japan alliance to 'new heights'
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and new U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also agreed on the importance of trilateral cooperation with South Korea and others.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and Princess Aiko take part in the New Year's poetry reading ceremony at the Imperial Palace on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2025
Princess Aiko attends New Year poetry event for first time
Poems written by imperial family members and guests were recited in a traditional style at the ceremony in the palace's Matsu-no-Ma state room.
A 17-year-old student from Kanagawa Prefecture has been arrested for allegedly creating a program that purported to verify the validity of credit cards and using it to illegally obtain their details.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 22, 2025
Kanagawa high school student arrested for credit card data theft
The 17-year-old male student is accused of creating a program that purported to verify the validity of credit cards and using it to illegally obtain their details.
The National Personnel Authority in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2025
Fall in 911±¬ÁÏÍø bureaucrat aspirants shows signs of stabilizing
The number of applicants in fiscal 2023 rose by 36.0% from the previous year, and in fiscal 2024, it increased by 17.9%, reaching a record high of 4,734.
Staff members of the Kyoto-based company Mitsufuji stand near a small-scale model of a prototype hangar tent for electromagnetic shielding and wearable gadgets at the Vietnam Defense Expo 2024 in Hanoi on Dec. 19.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2025
Japan hunts for dual-use goods makers to aid military expansion
Cultivating a homegrown defense industry was a key plank of 911±¬ÁÏÍø ?43 trillion military build-up strategy launched in 2022.
A student takes unified university entrance examinations in Tokyo on Saturday. According to a survey on struggling households with children of high school age or older, 87% responded that they strongly feel their economic situations will affect their children's university applications and education choices.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2025
98% say poverty will impact their child's education path, survey finds
Many survey respondents called for subsidies or exemptions for examination fees, as well as financial aid for out-of-school lesson tuition.
The Gifu Prefectural Police Headquarters. A man living in the city of Seki's Oze district called the police on Tuesday after noticing animal remains loosely buried in his garden, according to the Gifu Shimbun.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 22, 2025
Animal remains again found buried in Gifu Prefecture flower bed
Investigators suspect a connection between the two incidents, believing that the remains have been buried deliberately.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone shake hands in the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2025
Japan and Laos agree to arrange vice ministerial security talks
The two countries also issued a joint statement calling for upgrading their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Items produced under agriculture-welfare partnerships are displayed at an event in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Dec. 2.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2025
Farm-welfare links for disabled employment expand in Japan
Such partnership initiatives, launched by agricultural corporations and employment facilities, reached about 7,100 by fiscal 2023.
The arrest warrant alleges that in the early hours of Sep. 5 last year, the suspects conspired to wrap the child¡¯s mouth, arms and legs with tape before placing him inside a cardboard box at their apartment.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 22, 2025
Mother and grandfather arrested for alleged abuse of 3-year-old boy
The boy is currently hospitalized in a coma. While he has no visible external injuries, police are investigating whether the pair subjected him to repeated abuse.
Sakie Yokota speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Jan. 10 after meeting with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2025
Abductee families seek pressure on North Korea as Trump returns
A leader of a group of North Korean abductee families called on the government to deepen the bond between their leaders.

ASIA PACIFIC

Chinese actor Wang Xing shakes hands with a Thai police officer after being assisted in his return to the country, after being kidnapped into one of the telecom fraud centers, at a police station in Thailand-Myanmar border's Mae Sot district, Tak province, Thailand, on Jan. 7.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 22, 2025
China families appeal to free relatives held by scam gangs in Myanmar
Chinese law does not consider men as potential victims of human trafficking.
Top "Quad" diplomats ¡ª Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi (left to right), Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong ¡ª walk to their meeting at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 22, 2025
'Quad' diplomats meet in signal of Trump commitment to grouping
Coming just a day after Trump¡¯s inauguration, the meeting was seen as a veiled warning to Beijing, which has lambasted the Quad as a tool for containing China.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a video conference meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 22, 2025
Xi and Putin discuss relations with Trump, Ukraine and Taiwan
In a video call, Xi and Putin proposed a further deepening of the strategic partnership between their countries that worries the West.

WORLD

A charred chimney is all that remains at a fire-ravaged ocean front home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Jan. 16.
WORLD
Jan 22, 2025
After the fire, should some parts of Los Angeles never rebuild?
Researchers warn that wildfires pose very different risks from more predictable events like sea-level rise and riverbank flooding.
Israeli tanks near the border with Gaza, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as seen from Israel, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 22, 2025
Hamas' tight grip on Gaza complicates plan for lasting peace
Hamas remains deeply entrenched in Gaza and its hold on power represents a challenge to implementing a permanent ceasefire.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York and U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 22, 2025
Trump sees 'great promise' in U.N., his pick for ambassador says
Rep. Elise Stefanik pledges to ensure that the U.S. mission to the world body represents Trump's "America First peace-through-strength foreign policy."
An Israeli military vehicle uses a laser, on the day of an Israeli raid in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jan 22, 2025
Israel launches 'significant' military operation in West Bank
The move into Jenin, where the Israeli army has carried out multiple raids and large-scale incursions in recent years, comes two days after the start of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi announced his resignation on Tuesday to take responsibility for the security lapse that allowed Palestinian militant group Hamas to launch a cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 22, 2025
Israeli army chief to resign over security breach in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack
Herzi Halevi said on Tuesday he would resign on March 6 to take responsibility for the massive security lapse.
In this long exposure photo, a helicopter surveys the scene during the Lilac fire in unincorporated San Diego County, California, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jan 22, 2025
Fire-scarred Los Angeles to face dry winds with promise of weekend rain
This weekend could bring much-needed rain, with up to 1.3 centimeters forecast for the drought-stricken Los Angeles area.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he attends the Commander in Chief Ball in honor of his inauguration in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 22, 2025
Aiming to weaken U.S. foes, Trump faces an 'unholy alliance'
Russia, China, North Korea and Iran have drawn closer following Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Members of the far-right Proud Boys gather on the day of the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 22, 2025
Trump's pardons will embolden far-right groups, experts say
In a few pen strokes, Donald Trump reversed the largest U.S. Justice Department investigation and prosecution in history.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jan 22, 2025
Zelenskyy says security guarantee would need 200,000 peacekeepers
"From all the Europeans? 200,000, it's a minimum. It's a minimum, otherwise it's nothing," Zelenskyy said when asked about the idea of a peacekeeping contingent.

BUSINESS

Takashimaya is doubling its range of baked goods with chocolate for Valentine's Day, with treats on offer including madeleines.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2025
911±¬ÁÏÍø department stores look to unorthodox Valentine's Day treats
According to a pastry shop owner, the total costs for chocolate products, including those for packing materials, "have doubled."
A street in Chitose, Hokkaido. Annual power demand for Hokkaido is expected to increase by 1.2% on average into fiscal 2034, according to a report from the Organization for Cross-Regional Coordination of Transmission Operators.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2025
Japan sees data center-driven power boom in Hokkaido
Annual power demand for Hokkaido is expected to increase by 1.2% on average into fiscal 2034, a report has said.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on Stargate, as Oracle Executive Chairman Larry Ellison, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman look on in the Roosevelt room at the White House.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2025
SoftBank to help fund and lead Trump-backed Stargate AI project, a $500 billion venture
The president said it will be the largest AI infrastructure ever built and that it will help counter technology threats from China and other countries.
A message welcoming users back and thanking U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on the TikTok app
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2025
A beauty industry hooked on TikTok braces for an uncertain future
Last year, TikTok was one of the top 10 largest beauty e-commerce platforms in the U.S.
People walk in front of billboards in a subway station in Shanghai on Jan. 16.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 22, 2025
China's frugal young adults accelerate saving, raising economic risks
Some economists warn entrenched saving could hollow out demand just as policymakers are counting on domestic consumption to bolster China's GDP.
Analysts see the benefits of increased tourism in Japan, already felt in some areas, spreading to more domestic stocks this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2025
Luxury and hotel stocks are all the rage as tourists flock to Japan
Japan welcomed almost 37 million inbound visitors in 2024.
Tokyo Gas President Shinichi Sasayama speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Jan. 16.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2025
Tokyo Gas focusing on more U.S. investment opportunities
"Among our overseas businesses, North America is an especially important growth market for us,¡± said President Shinichi Sasayama.
A Donald Trump 2024 campaign hat on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 22, 2025
Markets braced for uncertainty as Trump holds back from pledged tariffs
Chinese markets were relieved after Beijing avoided an instant blizzard of executive orders, but Mexico's peso and Canada's dollar weren't so lucky.
Masakazu Tokura (second from left), head of Keidanren, holds talks with Rengo leader Tomoko Yoshino (second from right) in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 22, 2025
Japan business lobby cites positive price trend ahead of BOJ decision
Keidanren head Tokura¡¯s comments create a positive backdrop for the BOJ as its board prepares to deliver its policy decision on Friday.
Poor weather conditions have led to a surge in cabbage prices.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 22, 2025
Cabbage prices triple in Japan after unfavorable weather
"Cabbage prices are expected to remain high for a while," an agriculture ministry official said.

Opinion

In 2024, child mortality for children before the age of 5 reached a record low of 3.6%, down from over 25% in 1950. For most of history, about half of all newborns died as children.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2025
Even this year is the best time ever to be alive
Another way of looking at it: Every day over the past couple of years, roughly 30,000 people moved out of extreme poverty worldwide.
Instead of the Bank of Japan's actions strengthening the yen as once hoped, recent steps have only caused further weakening.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 22, 2025
Ueda¡¯s doctrine for the BOJ is finally emerging
Instead of the Bank of 911±¬ÁÏÍø actions strengthening the yen as once hoped, recent steps have only caused further weakening.
Asia is home to several sustainable investment taxonomies. Among them, the Singapore-Asia taxonomy is a regional framework for classifying sustainable investments across eight sectors that represent 90% of the continent's greenhouse gas emissions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2025
Sustainable finance taxonomies light up Asia¡¯s net-zero path
With its burgeoning economies and population, Asia is key to decarbonizing the planet. The continent's sustainable taxonomies are helping direct finance toward climate solutions.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses medical staff and media during a visit to a hospital in Epsom, England, on on Jan. 6.
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2025
There's a target on the back of Britain's NHS
The scale of the improvement Starmer is targeting has been achieved before, under a previous Labour government in 2007.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew (center) and Donald Trump's nominee to be the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard (right), attend the presidential inauguration in Washington on Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2025
How Trump's TikTok ban reprieve could work
While a U.S. president can't legally suspend a law aimed at banning TikTok, Trump can use prosecutorial discretion, following a long line of past executives.
Donald Trump pardoned Jan. 6 participants, while Joe Biden granted clemency to family members and officials to avoid potential prosecutions, highlighting the personalization and politicization of U.S. presidential pardon power.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2025
Trump seriously abused his pardon power. Biden also indulged.
A torrent of U.S. reprieves signals democratic decline and the rise of a monarchical presidency.

Sports

Yokozuna Terunofuji enters the ring at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo earlier this month during what would be his final tournament.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 22, 2025
Terunofuji¡¯s career was unique ¡ª and great
Most yokozuna are evaluated based on wins and Emperor's Cup titles. But Terunofuji's great career wasn't quantifiable by numbers alone.
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (left) and Harvey Elliott celebrate after the club's second goal against Lille on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Jan 22, 2025
Liverpool's magnificent seven secures Champions League progress
Harvey Elliott's deflected strike secured a seventh consecutive Champions League victory for Arne Slot's men.
Last week, Shotaro Morii signed a minor league deal worth $1.5 million with the Athletics that defies 30 years of cultural norms holding that 911±¬ÁÏÍø players should first compete in NPB before going to Major League Baseball.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 22, 2025
By signing with A¡¯s, a two-way prospect charts a rare path out of Japan
Shotaro Morii opted to bypass NPB in order to sign a minor league deal worth $1.5 million with the Athletics.
Ichiro Suzuki finished his career with 3,089 MLB hits and is one of 33 players in the 3,000-hit club.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 22, 2025
Iconic 911±¬ÁÏÍø outfielder Ichiro Suzuki elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
Ichiro, who rose to global superstardom with the Mariners, was elected in his first year on the ballot, but fell one vote short of becoming the second player voted in unanimously.
Italy's Jannik Sinner hits a backhand during his quarterfinal win over Alex de Minaur on Wednesday at the Australian Open.
TENNIS
Jan 22, 2025
Sinner demolishes De Minaur to set up Melbourne semi with Shelton
The Italian world No. 1 showed no signs of the health issues that hampered him in his last match.
Iga Swiatek pumps her first after a point against Emma Navarro during their Australian Open quarterfinal on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Jan 22, 2025
Swiatek sweeps into Australian Open semifinal with Keys
The Polish second seed was phenomenal on a gusty day at Rod Laver Arena, powering past the eighth-seeded American 6-1, 6-2.
Naoya Inoue at a news conference in Yokohama on Wednesday ahead of his world super bantamweight title bout against Kim Ye-joon, scheduled for Friday in Tokyo.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jan 22, 2025
Inoue believes unusual leadup to Kim fight could be 'big plus'
Inoue was supposed to face Sam Goodman last month. Instead, he will defend his belts on Friday against Kim Ye-joon, who stepped in after Goodman was injured in training.
Ayumu Hirano competes at the X Games Oslo in 2016.
MORE SPORTS / Snowboarding
Jan 22, 2025
Was that a 900 or 1080 on the halfpipe? X Games can now ask AI.
During the snowboard SuperPipe competitions, video cameras will capture the moves of each athlete, and AI will provide an unofficial score for the routine.
Haas mechanics prepare for the U.S. Grand Prix last October.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Jan 22, 2025
Haas makes Laura Mueller F1's first female race engineer
Mueller will serve as the race engineer for driver Esteban Ocon, who will debut with the U.S. team this year.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokud¨­ in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan¡¯s ¡®children¡¯s cafeterias¡¯ are booming ¡ª but is that a good thing?

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN