China has halted most foreign adoptions, ending a decades-long era tied to its one-child policy, as it shifts its focus to domestic adoptions. | via The New York Times jtim.es/4dOhUiU

The big question heading into the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament is whether fast-rising talent Onosato can make a run at a second Emperor’s Cup and earn promotion to the sport’s second highest rank of "ozeki." jtim.es/4dbwVdL

Editorial: Kishida's visit is seen as an opportunity to solidify the Japan-South Korea relationship, which has significantly improved since Yoon became president in 2022. jtim.es/4e9GzhG

Seven & I said that Alimentation Couche-Tard had “grossly” undervalued the target company and that the takeover attempt was timed “opportunistically.” jtim.es/3Tiy4sS

China's Hainan province has evacuated over 400,000 people ahead of Super Typhoon Yagi's landfall. jtim.es/3Xh3mBf

Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito, accused of workplace bullying, has said he still doesn’t believe that a whistleblower in the prefectural office who made the accusations of workplace bullying against him should have been protected under the law. jtim.es/3Tkzd2P

Commentary: Recent torrential downpours have switched this source of power back on. The future will be tougher. jtim.es/4dbCWqR

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s presidential election campaign will be contested by three veterans who mostly agree on broad policy goals but have differences over who to partner with in a potential ruling coalition. jtim.es/3Z9sqNi

In tomorrow's edition of The Japan Times Weekend: Making sense of the upcoming LDP leadership vote

Hiromi Kawakami's novel draws from “The Tales of Ise" and “Takaoka’s Travels” to immerse readers in an intertextual exploration of who we are in and out of love. jtim.es/3XyNFqK

Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has promised to call a snap election as soon as possible if he is chosen as the Liberal Democratic Party’s next leader. jtim.es/4dThs2S

Commentary: Expert forecasters and betting markets offer useful information, but have too many well-known systematic errors to be taken at face value. jtim.es/3MxJ9lI

Commentary: Western powers have often supported coups and takeovers – regardless of the new regime's democratic credentials – in order to advance their own geopolitical and economic interests. jtim.es/47hJliL

Japan will hand out more subsidies for electric-vehicle battery production, pledging as much as $2.4 billion in support for related projects by Toyota and other major companies, as it seeks to strengthen its battery supply chain. jtim.es/4gbEGTB

Former Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has signaled that the central bank has a lot of room to raise borrowing costs in its policy normalization process by offering a rough idea of the nation’s neutral interest rate — less than 2%. jtim.es/4cXQypc

Tokyo District Court's Tachikawa branch on Friday sentenced a former university student to 23 years in prison over a robbery-murder in the city of Komae, western Tokyo, last year. jtim.es/3AQp9br

Kishida promised Yoon that the importance of bilateral ties would not change regardless of who succeeded him and pledged to help maintain the momentum. jtim.es/3MyXnmw

Japanese oceanographic research vessel Mirai entered the Arctic Ocean in the small hours of Thursday after passing through the Diomede Islands. japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/09/0…

Amid an ongoing shortage of domestic rice, Japanese consumers are turning to cheaper California rice, a medium-grain variety with a similar taste. jtim.es/3Xil8Ea

Polish off your honorifics just in time for an autumn round of hiring at many Japanese firms. #Japanese #日本語 jtim.es/47kBb9d