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The hidden power of cultural exchanges in countering propaganda and fostering international goodwill

At a time when China is believed to spend about $8 billion annually sending its ideas and culture around the world, President Donald Trump has...

latest 20

Japan Today

Japan Today

Scrolling for truth: News for the swipe generation

In Japan, the media once shaped how the nation saw itself — through the nightly news, the front page of the morning paper or trusted commentators on...

previous day 50

Japan Today

Japan Today

Elon Musk came to Washington wielding a chain saw. He leaves behind upheaval and unmet expectations

Elon Musk arrived in the nation's capital with the chain saw-wielding swagger of a tech titan who had never met a problem he couldn’t solve with...

03.06.2025 50

Japan Today

Japan Today

How a Gen Z gender divide is reshaping democracy

South Korea's young women are expected to lead a broad political backlash against the main conservative party at presidential elections on June 3,...

02.06.2025 50

Japan Today

Japan Today

Macron navigates rocky path to recognizing Palestinian state

French President Emmanuel Macron is leaning towards recognizing a Palestinian state, but diplomats and experts say such a move may prove a premature...

01.06.2025 60

Japan Today

Japan Today

U.S. and EU are in a showdown over trade. What does Trump want and what can Europe offer?

Top officials at the European Union's executive commission says they're pushing hard for a trade deal with the Trump administration to avoid a 50%...

30.05.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

Hate groups in U.S. decline but their influence grows

The number of white nationalist, hate and anti-government groups around the U.S. dropped slightly in 2024, not because of any shrinking influence but...

28.05.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

U.S. aid cuts leave food for millions moldering in storage

Food rations that could supply 3.5 million people for a month are moldering in warehouses around the world because of U.S. aid cuts and risk becoming...

26.05.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

What or where is the Indo-Pacific? How a foreign policy pivot redefined the global map

Open a book of maps and look for the “Indo-Pacific” region – it likely won’t be there. Yet the Indo-Pacific is now central to how many...

25.05.2025 40

Japan Today

Japan Today

Second Oval Office ambush by Trump could make foreign leaders think twice

U.S. President Donald Trump turned down the lights in the Oval Office on Wednesday and made South African President Cyril Ramaphosa the target of his...

24.05.2025 50

Japan Today

Japan Today

With U.S. and EU deals, Britain embarks on high-risk balancing act

Britain's pursuit of trade deals with the European Union and United States, while courting China, has made it a test case for navigating U.S....

23.05.2025 40

Japan Today

Japan Today

The future of history: Trump could leave less documentation behind than any previous US president

For generations, official American documents have been meticulously preserved and protected — from the era of quills and parchment to boxes of paper...

22.05.2025 40

Japan Today

Japan Today

Always at fault? Challenging Japan’s insurance blame game

The Hommachi United Law Firm in Tokyo explains on their website that if you were in a vehicle-on-vehicle accident in Japan and both cars were moving,...

17.05.2025 70

Japan Today

Japan Today

Tax the rich? Slash spending? Republicans wrestle with economic priorities in the Trump era

What, exactly, the Republican Party stands for in terms of economic policy in the second Trump administration is a question reaching an inflection...

14.05.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

India-Pakistan conflict offers rich intelligence opportunity for China

The conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir offers a potentially rich intelligence harvest for China in its own rivalry with India as it...

12.05.2025 40

Japan Today

Japan Today

The more Trump talks about making trade deals, the more confusing the tariff picture gets

The more President Donald Trump talks about his efforts to reach deals with America's trading partners, the more confusing the tariff picture gets....

11.05.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

Being honest about using AI at work makes people trust you less, research finds

Whether you’re using AI to write cover letters, grade papers or draft ad campaigns, you might want to think twice about telling others. That simple...

10.05.2025 40

Japan Today

Japan Today

Is China the new cool? How Beijing is using pop culture to win the soft power war

IShowSpeed, a 20-year-old American YouTuber and internet star, recently livestreamed hourslong tours of Chinese cities including Beijing and...

05.05.2025 40

Japan Today

Japan Today

Loss of FEMA program spells disaster for hundreds of communities and their projects

The textile mills that once served as the backbone of Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, have long been shuttered, and officials believed federal money...

04.05.2025 50

Japan Today

Japan Today

The Vietnam War ended 50 years ago, but the battle with Agent Orange continues

The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, when the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces. But millions of people still face daily...

02.05.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

International students infuse tens of millions of dollars into local economies across U.S. What happens if they stay home?

The Trump administration has recently revoked the visas of more than 1,300 foreign college students – detaining some – and launched immigration...

01.05.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

Scientists sound alarm as Trump reshapes U.S. research landscape

From cancer cures to climate change, President Donald Trump's administration has upended the American research landscape, threatening the United...

30.04.2025 30

Japan Today

Japan Today

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...

26.04.2025 40

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...

24.04.2025 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...

23.04.2025 30

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 40

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 30

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