Japan gave bottle to former secretary of state two years ago ‘Ongoing inquiry’ underway into what happened to the boozeThe state department has said it is looking into the apparent disappearance of a nearly $6,000 bottle of whisky given more than two y…
Japanese startup ispace raises $46M to support planned moon missions
Japanese startup ispace has raised $46 million in a fresh round of Series C funding as it looks to complete three lunar lander missions in three years. The funding will go toward the second and third of the planned missions, scheduled for 2023 and 2024. The first mission, which ispace aims to conduct in the […]
Edtech startup bina raises $1.4M to teach 4- to 12-year-olds, launch School-as-a-Service
With the pandemic wreaking havoc amongst early years education amid school lockdowns, it’s no wonder edtech startups have piled into the space. But it has also served to highlight the abysmal nature of early years teaching: Some 40 million teachers across the globe are leaving the sector, according to the World Bank. Of the 1.5 […]
Coronavirus live news: England and Wales deaths reach three-month high; Indonesia struggles with surge in cases
Latest updates: Covid deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 23 July up 50%; Indonesia’s health workers struggle under weight of new casesUS reaches Biden’s 70% first-shot goal as threat to unvaccinated people growsHundreds of health…
Macaques at Japan reserve get first alpha female in 70-year history
Yakei took top spot after roughing up Sanchu, the alpha male who had been leader of ‘troop B’ on the island of Kyushu for five yearsIn a rarely seen phenomenon in the simian world, a nine-year-old female known as Yakei has become the boss of a 677-stro…
Belarus athlete who refused to fly home is granted Polish visa
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya filmed arriving at Polish embassy in Tokyo, as husband flees to UkraineThe Belarus Olympic athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has received a humanitarian visa from Poland upon seeking asylum after she was threatened with being bund…
Japanese sneaker platform SODA raises $56.4M, accquires rival Monokabu
Just half a year after leading SODA’s Series B, SoftBank Ventures Asia is raising its bet on the Tokyo-based sneaker resell platform. The early-stage venture capital arm of SoftBank Group announced today it has returned to lead SODA’s Series C, which currently totals $56.4 million. Other investors include South Korean sneaker reselling platform KREAM (another […]
The Guardian view on women and the Olympics: the athletes caught up – now the IOC must
Female competitors come very close to equality at the games. But Tokyo still highlights ongoing sexism and discriminationStrength, resilience and determination make sportswomen champions in the field. The same qualities are ensuring that more of them g…
Daiki Hashimoto is hosts’ gymnastics hero as GB’s Joe Fraser falls short
Japanese teenager follows in Kohei Uchimura’s footstepsSixth- and ninth-place finishes for Britain’s all-around finalistsOne of the great hopes of a home Olympics for Japan was the opportunity for the greatest male gymnast of all time, Kohei Uchimura, …
Japan Pitches ‘Society 5.0’ To Keep Its Edge In Tech and Science
The Cabinet Office of Japan is co-hosting an event dedicated to “Society 5.0,” a future society the government believes Japan should aspire to. Defined by the Cabinet Office as “a human-centered society [helped] by a system that highly integrates cyber…