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The slow fade of Japan's once-powerful daily newspapers

When Tsuneo Watanabe died in December 2024 at the age of 98, it wasn’t just the passing of a powerful media executive — it marked the end of...

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Japan Today

Japan Today

Analysts warn U.S. could be handing chip market to China

As the Trump administration attempts to choke off exports of strategically important computer chips to China, experts say the effort might well...

previous day 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

With pope's death, Trump loses top moral critic

The death of Pope Francis silences arguably the most powerful moral voice on the world stage critical of Donald Trump, with the pontiff taking the...

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Japan Today

Japan Today

Porn may be commonplace, but research shows it causes lasting harm to the brain and relationships

While pornography has been present throughout human history in various forms, such as ancient erotic art to more modernized motion pictures, research...

20.04.2025 9

Japan Today

Japan Today

Pikachu protesters, Studio Ghibli memes and the subversive power of cuteness

In Antalya, Turkey, in the early hours of March 27, Pikachu was spotted fleeing the police, making a getaway as fast as his short yellow legs could...

16.04.2025 40

Japan Today

Japan Today

Europeans sidelined in U.S.-Iran nuclear talks despite holding key card

Washington's decision not to coordinate with European nations about its negotiations with Iran on Saturday will reduce its leverage and make U.S. and...

13.04.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

Universities in Nazi Germany, Soviet Union thought giving in to government demands would save their independence

Many American universities, widely seen globally as beacons of academic integrity and free speech, are giving in to demands from the Trump...

12.04.2025 850

Japan Today

Japan Today

As judges stymie Trump with nationwide orders, pressure builds on U.S. Supreme Court

Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden may not agree on much, but there is one issue on which they have been...

10.04.2025 50

Japan Today

Japan Today

Trump tariffs offer opportunity for China

In unleashing global tariffs, President Donald Trump has vowed to remake the world to benefit U.S. workers. One beneficiary could be the country he...

09.04.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

Trump is ignoring power of nationalism at his own peril

U.S. President Donald Trump has exploited American nationalism as effectively as anyone in living memory. What sets him apart is his use...

08.04.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

Can Donald Trump serve a third term as U.S. president?

President Donald Trump said on March 30 he was not joking about seeking a third term but did not explain how he would get around the U.S....

06.04.2025 40

Japan Today

Japan Today

Trump roars down multiple paths of retribution as he vowed. Some targets yield while others fight

The executive order against one of the country's most prestigious law firms followed a well-worn template as President Donald Trump roared down the...

05.04.2025 40

Japan Today

Japan Today

Is Musk's political career descending to Earth?

Elon Musk's rise as President Donald Trump's all-powerful wingman was as rapid and unstoppable as one of his SpaceX rockets. But reports Wednesday are...

03.04.2025 20

Japan Today

Japan Today

Japan's media giants falling behind in the digital age

In Japan, change tends to move at its own pace — especially when it comes to long-standing institutions. Nowhere is that more visible than in the...

02.04.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

U.S. swings toward autocracy but swinging back to democracy requires vigilance, stamina and elections

The United States is no longer a democracy. At least, that’s the verdict of one nonprofit, the Center for Systemic Peace, which measures regime...

01.04.2025 40

Japan Today

Japan Today

Avoiding your neighbor because of how they voted? Democracy needs you to talk to them instead

Are you angry about politics right now? Seething? You’re not alone. According to the Mood of the Nation Poll by researchers at Penn State, 9 in 10...

31.03.2025 20

Japan Today

Japan Today

How Japanese anime draws on religious traditions to explore themes of destiny, sacrifice and the struggle between desire and duty

I have spent years studying and teaching Japanese anime, exploring how its narratives intertwine with cultural, philosophical and religious...

30.03.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

Spurred by Trump turnabout, European nations debate conscription

Frightened by the prospect of U.S. security disengagement and three years of Moscow's war against Ukraine, European countries are debating reinstating...

21.03.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

As Trump thaws ties, Russia has a new public enemy number one: Britain

Two British diplomats expelled in a spying row. A blistering statement from Russia's foreign intelligence service calling Britain "a warmonger." And a...

19.03.2025 20

Japan Today

Japan Today

Trump loves Gilded Age and its tariffs. It was a great time for the rich but not for the many

In President Donald Trump's idealized framing, the United States was at its zenith in the 1890s, when top hats and shirtwaists were fashionable and...

17.03.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

For Trump the peace negotiator, might makes right. History offers different lessons

As President Donald Trump seeks to end wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, his approach to both seems to boil down to giving the stronger party what...

15.03.2025 1500

Japan Today

Japan Today

Japan can advance both defense and health through alternative approaches to HTPs taxation

Amid the delicate balance of Zen gardens and bullet trains, Japan stands on the verge of a historic misstep. As heated tobacco products (HTPs) are...

14.03.2025 20

Japan Today

Japan Today

How safe is Tokyo for women & families?

Is Tokyo really a safe city? The answer isn’t as straightforward as you might think. In 2024, the World Population Review named Tokyo the...

13.03.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

DOGE threat: How government data would give an AI company extraordinary power

The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has secured unprecedented access to at least seven sensitive federal databases, including those of...

11.03.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

U.S.-Hamas talks complicate Gaza truce efforts: analysts

Unprecedented direct talks between the U.S. and Hamas are a sign of dysfunction in fraught negotiations to prolong a truce in Gaza, analysts say....

10.03.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

Why should America worry about Trump? Try the price of eggs, say some Democrats

As their party struggles to navigate the early days of Donald Trump's second presidency, some Democrats are convinced that their road to recovery lies...

09.03.2025 20

Japan Today

Japan Today

Constitutional crisis looms as Trump administration flirts with defying the courts

U.S. President Andrew Jackson famously reacted to an unfavorable ruling by the Supreme Court chief justice with the defiant rejoinder: "John Marshall...

05.03.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

In siding with Russia over Ukraine, Trump is not putting America first. He is hastening its decline

Has any nation squandered its diplomatic capital, plundered its own political system, attacked its partners and supplicated itself before its far...

04.03.2025 20

Japan Today

Japan Today

Generative AI is most useful for things we care about the least

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney can produce text, images and videos far more quickly than any one person can accomplish by hand....

03.03.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

Using smart technologies and artificial intelligence in food packaging can reduce food waste

Food insecurity is one of humanity’s most pressing challenges, impacting more than two billion people worldwide. Paradoxically, as so many suffer...

01.03.2025 20

Japan Today

Japan Today

After three years of war, Trump hands Russian economy a lifeline

Russia's overheating economy is on the cusp of serious cooling, as huge fiscal stimulus, soaring interest rates, stubbornly high inflation and Western...

27.02.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

Are animals smart? From dolphin language to toolmaking crows, lots of species have obvious intelligence

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to...

24.02.2025 20

Japan Today

Japan Today

Mike Pence emerges as one of the few Republicans willing to challenge Trump 2.0

His group spent nearly $1 million on ads opposing Robert F Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump's pick to lead the nation's health agencies. He's delivering...

22.02.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

Trump has purged Kennedy Center board, making himself its chair – why does that matter?

President Donald Trump dismissed half the appointed trustees of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ board on Feb 12. The remaining...

20.02.2025 20

Japan Today

Japan Today

The EU was built for another age – here’s how it must adapt to survive

To European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Europe is like a Volkswagen Beetle – an iconic car produced by a once-mighty German...

17.02.2025 40

Japan Today

Japan Today

Trump team makes confused start to Ukraine diplomacy

This was a disorienting week for those anxious over how the new Trump administration will fulfill Donald Trump's vow to end the Ukraine war. As the...

17.02.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

Is DOGE a cybersecurity threat?

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), President Donald Trump’s special commission tasked with slashing federal spending, continues...

13.02.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

What would happen if Japan is attacked?

Japan has not engaged in war since World War II, maintaining a pacifist stance under its post-war constitution. However, rising tensions in East Asia...

12.02.2025 70

Japan Today

Japan Today

Silencing science: How Trump is reshaping U.S. health

Medical researchers left to compile national data by hand, contraceptive guidelines deemed essential by doctors erased, and the nation's largest...

09.02.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

Trump unleashes a supercharged MAGA agenda and Republicans come aboard

President Donald Trump is testing how far Republicans are willing to go in supporting his supercharged “Make America Great Again” agenda, tearing...

08.02.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

Trump fills his government with billionaires after running on a working-class message

President Donald Trump’s brash populism has always involved incongruence: the billionaire businessman-politician stirring the passions of millions...

04.02.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

Human use of fire has produced an era of uncontrolled burning

In recent years, fires have blasted through cities in California, Colorado, the southern Appalachians and the island of Maui, along with Canada,...

03.02.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

Donald Trump: Air crash investigator-in-chief?

Faced with the first big test of his new administration, Donald Trump wanted to show he was in control. Not just as America's consoler-in-chief, but...

02.02.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

Soaring wealth inequality has remade map of American prosperity

One need only glance at headlines about Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and other super-wealthy individuals to understand that wealth in America is...

25.01.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

Banning cell phones in schools gains popularity in red and blue U.S. states

Arkansas' Republican Gov Sarah Huckabee Sanders and California's Democratic Gov Gavin Newsom have little in common ideologically, but the two have...

22.01.2025 10

Japan Today

Japan Today

Some U.S. lawmakers want more Christianity in the classroom. Trump could embolden their plans

Conservative lawmakers across the U.S. are pushing to introduce more Christianity to public school classrooms, testing the separation of church and...

17.01.2025 7

Japan Today

Japan Today

Canada as a 51st state? Republicans would never win another general election

Since his re-election, Donald Trump has drawn plenty of attention for neo-annexationist propositions made on social media about the Panama Canal,...

15.01.2025 20

Japan Today

Japan Today

Elon Musk helped Trump win. Now he's looking at Europe, and many politicians are alarmed

Fresh from pouring his money and energies into helping Donald Trump win re-election, Elon Musk has trained his sights on Europe, setting off alarm...

13.01.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

Meta's 'Musk playbook' fans misinformation concerns

Meta's decision to swap professional U.S. fact-checkers with crowd-sourced moderation has raised fears that Facebook and Instagram could become...

13.01.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

Can science be both open and secure? Nations grapple with tightening research security as China’s dominance grows

Amid heightened tensions between the United States and China, the two countries signed a bilateral science and technology agreement on Dec. 13, 2024....

13.01.2025 40

Japan Today

Japan Today