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October 03, 2025
 

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Jesse Johnson
U.S. President Donald Trump departs after addressing senior military officers gathered at the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 1, 2025
Trump speech to military brass hints at looming Pentagon shift to focus on homeland
Amid a litany of talking points were Trump’s hints at an increasingly inward-looking foreign policy stance.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung before their meeting in Busan, South Korea, on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 1, 2025
Japan and South Korea tout stable ties, but concerns rise over Ishiba’s replacement
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung looked to regularize “shuttle diplomacy,” but much may hinge on Japan’s next leader.
Kim Son Gyong, North Korea's vice minister for foreign affairs, speaks during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 30, 2025
With U.N. speech and China visit, North Korea ramps up diplomatic moves
Pyongyang sent a senior official to the U.N. on Monday for a speech for the first time since 2018, while its foreign minister was in China for talks with top officials.
The Liberal Democratic Party presidential election candidates in Nagoya on Friday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 28, 2025
On defense and foreign policy, LDP candidates largely align — except where they don’t
From nuanced differences in how to bolster Japan’s defenses to the importance of relations with the U.S., each candidate’s views could result in significantly different policies.
A parody Mount Rushmore sculpture depicts the faces of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (second from right) and U.S. President Donald Trump (right), as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a shopping mall in Bangkok on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 27, 2025
Seoul says it can’t rule out Kim-Trump meeting during APEC summit
A report quoting a South Korean official appeared to reverse Seoul’s earlier position that North Korea’s participation in the summit was unlikely.
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 24, 2025
Trump switches gears on Ukraine war, but fears of disengagement rise
Ukraine and its supporters are concerned the U.S. president could be pivoting to distance himself from the war that he had vowed to end in days.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio shakes hands with Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (left) and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (right) at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 23, 2025
Japan, U.S. and South Korea reaffirm commitment to ridding North Korea of nukes
The countries’ top diplomats poured cold water on the chances of the U.S. ditching its denuclearization policy, after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hinted he is open to talks.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang in this photo released Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 22, 2025
North Korea’s Kim open to talks with Trump, as South’s Lee backs nuke freeze
Kim said talks could reopen if the U.S. drops its denuclearization demand, remarks that came as South Korea's leader said he'd back a deal to freeze Pyongyang's nuke program.
Visitors look at a model of the China's Fujian aircraft carrier at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, China, last November.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 16, 2025
China offers latest hint that newest aircraft carrier could soon enter service
Observers say that a commissioning ceremony could come as early as next month, though training for carrier-based aircraft must still be conducted.
A China Coast Guard ship navigates near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea in August.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 16, 2025
China says Philippine ship ‘deliberately rammed’ coast guard vessel in South China Sea
The clash near the flash point Scarborough Shoal, which is also claimed by Manila, came just days after Beijing approved plans to turn the area into a national nature reserve.
Sailors aboard the U.S. Navy's guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn conduct a small boat operation during a "Maritime Cooperative Activity" with the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Osumi tank-landing ship and the Philippine Navy's Jose Rizal frigate in the South China Sea on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 14, 2025
Beijing denounces joint U.S.-Japan-Philippines patrol of South China Sea
China criticized the joint trilateral exercises, alleging that Manila has “frequently colluded with non-regional countries” to organize the patrols.
Former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen speaks at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit in the Danish capital in May.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2025
China complains as former Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen visits Japan
The visit to Japan, which does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, was the first known trip to the country by Tsai since she left office in May 2024.
The 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force conducts the first Typhon midrange missile system live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States on July 16, successfully sinking a maritime target during the Talisman Sabre exercises in Australia's Northern Territory.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 10, 2025
High-tech U.S. missile systems come to Japan amid policy shifts and China concerns
Long wary of such a move, Tokyo’s acquiescence — and its own planned missile deployments — highlights a gradual but monumental shift in defense policy.
Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (left) and South Korean defense chief Ahn Gyu-back inspect an honor guard before their meeting in Seoul on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 8, 2025
Japan and South Korea defense chiefs agree to regular visits and tech cooperation
The agreement emerged during a visit by Defense Minister Gen Nakatani to South Korea, the first by a Japanese defense chief in a decade.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 5, 2025
Kim and Xi offer mutual support ‘no matter how international situation changes’
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first in-person talks in six years on Thursday, with the two vowing to build up ties.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping walks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 3, 2025
Xi — joined by Kim and Putin — delivers stark warning at military parade
Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned in a speech that the world is facing a choice of war or peace, as his country marked 80 years since Japan’s defeat in World War II.
YJ-19 hypersonic anti-ship missiles are displayed in Beijing on Wednesday during a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Sep 3, 2025
At parade, China shows off powerful new weaponry to keep rivals at bay
From hypersonic “carrier killer” missiles to new fifth-generation fighter jets, Wednesday’s military spectacle highlighted Beijing’s growing prowess.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smokes a cigarette before departing Pyongyang by special train to China in this image released Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 2, 2025
North Korea’s Kim arrives in Beijing for debut on multilateral stage
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to join Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a military parade on Wednesday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the missile production process at a newly opened major military manufacturing facility at an undisclosed location in the country on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 1, 2025
Kim shows off missile production site ahead of visit to China for military parade
The North Korean leader inspected a major new missile factory, saying that his country’s five-year plan to boost production had been achieved.
Japan on Friday announced that it will deploy for the first time its domestically made, extended-range Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles in March next year.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2025
With eye on China, Japan to deploy longer-range missiles for first time
Japan will send its extended-range Type-12 missiles to a GSDF base in Kumamoto Prefecture from next March and to another base in Shizuoka Prefecture in fiscal 2027.
A secret no more: Russia and North Korea's battle against Ukraine is celebrated in Moscow exhibit
A woman visits an exhibition of North Korean art at a museum in Moscow on Monday.
Prices to rise for 3,024 food products in Japan in October
A wide range of products will see higher prices due to rising material and labor costs.
Koizumi and Takaichi continue to lead in LDP presidential race, polls show
Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi (right) reacts as former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during the Liberal Democratic Party Presidential Election Candidate Debate at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, on Sept. 24. Koizumi and Takaichi remain head-to-head in the race, media polls show.
The party that ruled Japan for decades is in danger of crumbling
Haruo Tsukamoto, a rank-and-file member of the Liberal Democratic Party and a rice farmer in Ibaraki Prefecture, questions if the party still stands for people like him.
U.S. federal shutdown affects Americans in Japan and diplomatic talks
The U.S. government shut down on Wednesday, though essential services are still being offered.
Tea ceremony experts see matcha hype as a big opportunity
Atsuko Mori, founder and director of Kyoto-based tea salon Camellia Tea Ceremony, prepares matcha during a tea ceremony in Kyoto.
Japan's far-right party courts Trump allies and vows not to get 'wacky'
Sanseito party leader Sohei Kamiya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
How Ohtani has boosted Japan's soft power and made LA even more baseball-obsessed
Fans at Dodger Stadium pose in front of a mural highlighting the Dodgers' Japanese stars from past and present during a game earlier this year.
Japan faces fresh energy challenge as it seeks to expand power-hungry data centers
Data storage tapes at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center facility in Berkeley, California. Data centers consume massive amounts of electricity and water, and that will only rise as generative artificial intelligence takes off in earnest.
Architecture art exhibition highlights unsung industry artists
Yuanhui Li's illustration is one of the awardees in the student category of the American Society of Architectural Illustrators' annual award for artists.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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