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TOKYO
March 19, 2025
The Independent Voice in Asia
March 19, 2025
Shigeru Ishiba
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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a session of the Upper House Budget Committee in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Why ousting Ishiba could be a tricky task
By Eric Johnston
Passing a no-confidence motion could result in the dissolution of the Lower House within 10 days, triggering another election the opposition might lose.

More coverage

Approval rates for Ishiba's Cabinet plunge amid gift voucher snafu
Ishiba on shaky ground over budget and gift vouchers
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a session of the Upper House Budget Committee in Tokyo on Friday.
Bags of the government's rice stockpile are shipped out of a warehouse in Saitama Prefecture on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Portion of government rice stockpile to hit shelves as early as next week
By Yukana Inoue
In a bid to stop the surging price of rice, the government auctioned off a portion of its emergency stockpile.
U.S. Justice Department has asked that oral arguments for a lawsuit filed by Nippon Steel against the U.S. government for blocking its planned acquisition of United States Steel be rescheduled for the week of May 12.
BUSINESS / Companies
U.S. government seeks to postpone oral arguments in Nippon Steel suit
The move is apparently aimed at giving the current administration time for talks with the Japanese steelmaker for it to decide on the bid to acquire United States Steel.
Judge James Boasberg in his chambers at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington in March 2023. Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to cease its use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as a pretext for the expulsion of migrants.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Trump’s deportation push tests courts’ ability to check his power
The legal clash, which ultimately could land at the Supreme Court, quickly emerged as a test of the ability of the judiciary to act as a check on Trump’s agenda.
Shohei Ohtani runs home to score during the Dodgers' win over the Cubs in the MLB season opener at Tokyo Dome on Tuesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Shohei Ohtani and Dodgers get title defense off to winning start against Cubs
By Jason Coskrey
The Dodgers started the MLB season strong, defeating the Cubs 4-1 in the first of two Tokyo Series games. The matchup also celebrated the Japanese stars on both teams.
Shohei Ohtani runs home to score during the Dodgers' win over the Cubs in the MLB season opener at Tokyo Dome on Tuesday.

JAPAN

The Japanese postal mark displayed on a Japan Post post box in Tokyo
Number of Japan Post clients affected by misuse of information rises to 10 million
"We deeply apologize for causing anxiety and worry," Japan Post Holdings Managing Executive Officer Miho Ichiki told a news conference.
Yuki Niimi, the widow of Tomomitsu Niimi, who was executed in 2018 along with other former members of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo for their roles in the 1995 sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system, poses with a photo of her husband (front) with cult leader Shoko Asahara, in Osaka in February.
'Until the very end, he gave no apology': Widow of Aum killer speaks out
By Tomohiro Osaki
Tomomitsu Niimi was behind bars when he met Yuki Niimi, and when they married in 2011.
District court rejects residents' petition to halt Ikata nuclear power plant
Prince Hisahito graduates from high school
Japan to begin hospital ship operations by next January
Lower House passes bill on peninsular disaster prevention

BUSINESS

A crowd of tourists at Nishiki Market in the city of Kyoto. Gains in land prices have been helped by a surge in inbound tourism, which has boosted demand for hotels and shops.
Japan's land prices rise at strongest pace in 34 years, government survey shows
Data shows recovery spreading to regional areas, thanks to sustained economic growth, in the latest sign of a pickup in the property market.
Officials from the state-run Alaska Gasline Development Corporation and development partner Glenfarne Group want to transport natural gas south from Alaska's remote north via a $44 billion 1,300-kilometer pipeline, to be shipped as liquefied natural gas to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Alaskan officials to seek investors in Japan as Trump touts LNG
By Katya Golubkova, Yuka Obayashi and Tim Kelly
Japanese energy firms have yet to commit, with cost being a focal point.
Trump tariffs to raise bar to invest in the U.S., JETRO says
By Yoshiaki Nohara
How BYD’s five-minute charging stacks up against the competition
By Danny Lee and Linda Lew
Intel's new CEO plots overhaul of manufacturing and AI operations
By Max A. Cherney
Hong Kong hedge fund Polymer joins rush to debut pure Japan funds, sources say
By Summer Zhen

WORLD

Then-U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun arrives at a meeting with the media in Bangkok in December 2017.
U.S. official says South Korea's watchlist status due to mishandling of lab data
The U.S. Department of Energy confirmed this week that it had designated South Korea a "sensitive" country in January, but did not explain why.
A Taiwanese military honor guard holds Taiwanese flags during an open day event for the public at the Keelung port on the island Monday.
China sends most military aircraft near Taiwan since October
By Jesse Johnson
Beijing's military move came days after the democratic island’s president called it “a foreign hostile force.”
Teen’s suicide turns mother against Google and AI chatbot startup
By Malathi Nayak
Scam hubs on Thai-Myanmar border still have up to 100,000 people, Thai police says
By Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat
Israel strikes Hamas targets throughout Gaza as ceasefire frays
Myanmar faces 'untold' suffering due to U.S. aid 'betrayal': U.N. expert
By Robin Millard

Sports

Shohei Ohtani greets manager Dave Roberts before the team's game against the Tigers at Tokyo Dome on Sunday.
In Tokyo, Dodgers get taste of the Shohei Ohtani experience
By Jason Coskrey
The Dodgers have explored various parts of the Japanese capital, and it's a safe bet that wherever each player went, Ohtani was not far behind in some form.
Swiatek surprised at 'harsh judgments' after Indian Wells incident
By Pearl Josephine Nazare
Japanese gymnastics great Akinori Nakayama dies aged 82
By Shifa Jahan
Japan set to seal World Cup spot as Son aims to forget Spurs woes
By Peter Stebbings
Sixers forward Paul George ruled out for regular season

Opinion

Shohei Ohtani gets a kiss from his dog Decoy at a game in August 2024. The Japanese slugger-pitcher’s return to his country to kick off the Major League Baseball season has sparked immense excitement, highlighting his unparalleled career and symbolic role as a national hero.
Superstar Shohei Ohtani for prime minister
Gearoid Reidy
He’s unavoidable in Japan: His face adorns ads for cosmetics, mattresses, English conversation schools and, most recently, convenience store rice balls.
It’s time to flip Russia’s script on North Korean nukes
By Maya Sobchuk
Changing U.S. commitments spark nuclear armament debates, including in Japan
By Edo Naito
Japan needs academic programs focused on territorial issues
By Robert D. Eldridge
Reaping Asia’s silver demographic dividend
By Lee Jong-wha

ENVIRONMENT

Saul Luciano Lliuya in his home in Huaraz, Peru, on March 2. Lliuya is pursuing a lawsuit against German energy utility RWE, whose emissions he says have contributed to the melting of Andean glaciers, swelling a lake above his hometown to dangerous levels.
Facing glacial melt-water flood risk, Peruvian farmer tests global climate law
By Alexander Villegas, Riham Alkousaa and Alfredo Galarza
Lawyers in the case say German energy firm RWE is responsible for 0.5% of global emissions, so should pay 0.5% of the costs for a local $3.5 million flood defense project.
Japan removes 207 species from red list of endangered plants and fungi
'More and faster': U.N. calls to shrink buildings' carbon footprint
From oil spills to new species: How tech reveals the ocean
By Sara Hussein
Carbon capture industry tweaks message for the Trump era
By John BIERS

CULTURE

Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time” won the award for best film at the 48th Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony.
‘A Samurai in Time’ wins top prize at Japan’s premier film event
By Alyssa I. Smith
This country’s answer to the Oscars also saw awards go to “Oppenheimer” and “Faceless.”
Japanese singer and actor Ayumi Ishida dies at 76
K-Ballet Tokyo marks 25 years of passion and perseverance
By Kris Kosaka
The sci-fi satire 'Mickey 17' might be a classic — someday
By Mark Leydorf
‘Ravens’ is a portrait of art, love and inner demons
By Matt Schley

LIFE

Tokyo Creative Salon combines elements of design, fashion and less easily categorizable artistic disciplines.
Tokyo Creative Salon sees the city as both runway and canvas
By Erik Augustin Palm
Through March 23, Tokyo’s streets, shopping centers and civic spaces will host an interdisciplinary celebration of creativity.
A classic combination for spring
By Makiko Itoh
‘Resorts for the spirit’: Touring Kagawa’s art and architecture
By Jennifer Pastore
Square Enix Cafe had everything going for it, except the ability to adapt
By Isabelle Steen
From 'commuting' to 'passing through,' meet the kanji that's always on the move
By Yuko Tamura

COMMUNITY

Kyoko Watanabe made a home for herself in Ishinomaki after moving there to participate in disaster relief efforts following 3/11, and now operates a business focused on the creative reuse of <i>akiya</i> (abandoned houses).
From abandoned houses to ‘creative communities’: An Ishinomaki entrepreneur's vision for rural Japan
By Florentyna Leow
Kyoko Watanabe moved to Miyagi Prefecture to help with disaster relief efforts following 3/11. She ended up building a company and a vision for revitalizing rural Japan.
A shy Shiba mix is ready to bloom
Hiromi Okuda: 'Humans and emerging tech should exist symbiotically'
By Jessica Kozuka
Redevelopment and resistance in historic Nishiogikubo
By Aviraj Gokool
How a Canadian missionary found spiritual transformation in Shikoku
By Suzanne Kamata

Editors' Picks

LIFE
At Ventinove, Tuscan specialties taken to new heights
By Robbie Swinnerton
Tucked away behind the historic Tsuchida sake brewery, Ventinove's location and sleek, angular architecture make for impressive destination dining.
BASEBALL
In Tokyo, Dodgers get taste of the Shohei Ohtani experience
By Jason Coskrey
Shohei Ohtani greets manager Dave Roberts before the team's game against the Tigers at Tokyo Dome on Sunday.
JAPAN
Private clubs quietly open in Tokyo for free-spending Chinese businesspeople
By Takehiro Masutomo
Sources say a hui suo — a private club, which in Japan caters mainly to Chinese businesspeople — will soon open on the upper floors of the Moutai Building in the Ginza district of Tokyo.
ENVIRONMENT
Japan’s youth climate activists still searching for a breakthrough
By Eric Margolis
While climate demonstrations around the world often draw thousands of participants, in Japan such demonstrations rarely break the 100-person barrier.
CULTURE
Augmented reality artist Omega C navigates a precarious scene for XR art
By Erik Augustin Palm
Artist Adrian Steckeweh 3-D prints otherworldly clothes and accessories for himself, in a way augmenting his reality with tangible objects.

Podcast

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

Longform

Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.
The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo
By Alex K.T. Martin

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WHAT’S TRENDING

JAPAN
Tokyo pub hit with first-ever closure order for illegal street tables
One pub in Tokyo's Shimbashi district received more than 60 warnings from law enforcement for setting up tables on the street, blocking the way for traffic.
JAPAN
Japan to extend financial aid to more people moving out of Tokyo
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) speaks to officials of Miyada in Nagano Prefecture on Saturday during his visit to the village.
JAPAN
Tokyo gears up for April launch of law against harassment by customers
By Yukana Inoue
Tokyo will soon require all companies in the city to make efforts to stop harassment by customers, such as by creating a manual on how to handle suspected cases.
JAPAN
Mount Fuji hikers to be charged ¥4,000 on all trails
Tourists gather at the Fuji Subaru Line 5th station, which leads to the popular Yoshida Trail for hikers climbing Mount Fuji, ahead of its reopening for the season in Narusawa, Yamanashi Prefecture in June 2024.
BUSINESS
Geely billionaire goes on a cost-cutting spree to catch rivals
By Linda Lew and Rafaela Lindeberg
Cars at the Geely Auto production base in Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province on Feb. 16