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September 01, 2025
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September 01, 2025
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A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem
By Jessica Speed
Officials in a Yamanashi town have been struggling to balance welcoming visitors and preserving the quality of life for locals. A new mesh barrier is an attempt at compromise.
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin during a ceremony at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin, China, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Leaders gather with China's Xi for summit ceremony
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his first visit to China since 2018, met leader Xi Jinping on Sunday and was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
According to a survey by the Japanese Red Cross Society, over 25% of respondents in Japan saw or heard false news or information during natural disasters.
JAPAN
Over 25% in Japan encountered false information during disasters
Nearly half of all respondents, 47.4%, were aware of Disaster Prevention Day. But 74.3% said they had never participated in local disaster response drills.
A U.S. military aircraft takes off from the Kadena U.S. Air Force Base on the island of Okinawa in August 2023.
JAPAN
Seoul punishes 10 over unauthorized entry into Japan's ADIZ
Due to bad weather, the aircraft consumed more fuel than planned. It made an emergency landing at the U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture.
A polar bear at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on Thursday. The Arctic animals are among the most vulnerable species to Japan's scorching summer heat and zookeepers have to take a number of precautions in order to keep them safe.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
How Tokyo's Ueno Zoo helps their animals cope with extreme heat
By Carolina Pichardo
From limiting their time outdoors to serving frozen food, the staff at Ueno Zoo take a number of measures to help the animals cope with the heat.
A polar bear at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on Thursday. The Arctic animals are among the most vulnerable species to Japan's scorching summer heat and zookeepers have to take a number of precautions in order to keep them safe.

JAPAN

U.S. military personnel stand guard in front of the New Grand Hotel where Gen. Douglas MacArthur stayed circa September 1945 in Yokohama.
How the Allied Occupation changed Japan: A love story
By Michael MacArthur Bosack
A wartime GI and a Japanese civilian fell in love during the Occupation, embodying the peace built after Japan’s surrender.
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
By Jessica Speed
The government is set to create a task force to review its immigration plans and prevent social division between foreign nationals and citizens.
Japan panel OKs nonprescription sales of morning-after pill
Yamaguchi prefecture town can store nuclear fuel: Chugoku Electric
Pacifist Japan struggles to boost troops as China anxiety grows
By Hiroshi Hiyama
Japan boosting disaster preparedness for pets

BUSINESS

Sukiya plans to cut prices for its beef bowls for the first time since 2014 starting on Thursday.
Sukiya to slash beef bowl prices for first time in 11 years
By Kazuaki Nagata
The move, which comes after a hike in March, will effectively bring prices back down to levels below its major rivals Yoshinoya and Matsuya.
A building which houses the Hokuhoku Financial Group headquarters in Toyama.
Best-performing Japan bank plays BOJ outlook with short debt
By Taiga Uranaka
The president of Hokuhoku Financial Group said he expects the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates in October or December if "things go smoothly.”
Japan fiscal 2026 budget requests likely to top ¥122 trillion
Robots increasingly used in Japan to enhance business efficiency
U.S. trading partners ‘dazed and confused’ after tariff court loss
Indian PM Modi tours Miyagi chip plant with Ishiba
By Sakura Murakami and Gareth Allan

WORLD

Israeli troops stand guard during a weekly settlers' tour in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Saturday.
Israel mulls West Bank annexation in response Palestine recognition moves
By Maayan Lubell
It is unclear where precisely any such measure would be applied and when.
A protester carries an Indonesian flag past a police headquarters that was set on fire and looted during demonstrations in Surabaya, Indonesia, on Sunday.
Deadly Indonesia protests force U-turn on lawmakers' perks
By Stefanno Sulaiman and Gayatri Suroyo
More protests are planned for Monday, and student groups did not call them off after President Prabowo Subianto's announcement to cut lawmakers' benefits.
Man arrested after car crashes into Russian consulate in Sydney
By Kirsty Needham
Persecuted Thai pro-democracy party now poised to play kingmaker
By Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Philip J. Heijmans
Post-war plan sees U.S. administering Gaza for at least a decade: Washington Post
Floods leave women struggling in Pakistan's relief camps
By Shrouq TARIQ

Sports

Akane Yamaguchi returns the shuttlecock to Chen Yufei during the women's singles final match at the Badminton BWF World Championships at the Adidas Arena in Paris on Sunday.
Japan's Yamaguchi cruises to third badminton world title
The Japanese fifth seed rarely looked troubled on court in Paris and needed just 37 minutes to add a third world title to her gold medals from 2021 and 2022.
'Lots of drama' becomes the norm at tense U.S. Open
By Amy Tennery
Yamaguchi to face Chen in badminton world final
Attack and never give up: Inside Japan's deadly boxing scene
By Andrew MCKIRDY
Manchester United's first win not a 'turning point' for Amorim
By Kieran CANNING

Opinion

Voters look at posters of candidates for an Upper House election outside a polling station in Tokyo on July 20. The young abandoned the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for other conservative and newer parties in the recent poll. REUTERS
What is a ‘Japanese conservative’ in this day and age?
Edo Naito
My view is that younger voters saw the LDP as a group of elderly, self-absorbed elitists who were out of touch with the issues that mattered to them.
The global perils of China’s new ‘superdam’ project
By Brahma Chellaney
Lee Jae Myung had a very good week
Japan must prepare for a post-American Indo-Pacific
By Stephen R. Nagy
Can Illinois’ governor keep the National Guard out of Chicago?
By Patricia Lopez

ENVIRONMENT

A worker wearing protective equipment walks near the Electric Arc Furnace at the 7 Steel facility in Cardiff, Wales, on July 18.
Sky-high electricity costs hindering the U.K.'s progress toward net zero
By Kate Holton and Susanna Twidale
Energy bills have stripped firms of money to improve efficiency, deterred the shift to lower-carbon power sources and made wind-farm, pylon and battery production less competitive.
Ancient tombs unearthed in Iraq due to drought
Record wildfires burn more than 1 million hectares of EU land this year
By Kate Abnett
Are bridges near you safe? This MRI-like scan may prevent disaster
By Coco Liu
'Restoring dignity': Kenya slum exchange offers water for plastic

CULTURE

Headlining the second day of YouTube Music Weekend is Vocaloid artist Kikuo, who, with 1.46 million YouTube subscribers, is one of the most popular artists in the genre.
YouTube Music Weekend is where Japan’s internet-born performers go global
By Patrick St. Michel
YouTube's three-day weekend of online performances features a medley of Vocaloid, hyperpop, rock and pop artists in a supportive, cultural festival atmosphere.
ChatGPT controversy is the least interesting part of 'Sympathy Tower Tokyo'
By Thu-Huong Ha
Sakurazaka46 wants the world to dance along
By Patrick St. Michel
In pictures: Koenji Awa Odori 2025
By Johan Brooks
Virtual singer Kaf's music becomes magic in 'Kamitsubaki City Under Construction'
By Alicia Haddick

LIFE

Tattoos have a complex history in Japan, but new types of temporary ink are letting locals curious about body art experiment without the commitment.
Japan is warming up to tattoos — just not permanent ones
By Saki Toi
Tokyo’s tattoo artists say natural dyes and ‘made-to-fade’ inks are helping to push back on the long-held stigma against body art.
A fuss-free Okinawan stir-fry to boost your energy in the heat
By Makiko Itoh
How to complain politely: Lessons from the McDonald’s Pokemon debacle
By Yuko Tamura
Sega's ninja-themed Shinobi series is back from the dead
By Owen Ziegler
Retired Tokyo trains live on as upcycled table lamps
By Joanna Kawecki

COMMUNITY

The Betsukai Pilot Spirits welcomed new players (left to right) Yuta Yamanaka, Roman Guthrie, Scott Bellina and Leo Jiminian this year, pictured here with Yassir Lachkar of the Ishikari Red Phoenix.
Overseas sluggers step up to bat in small-town Hokkaido
By Justin Randall
The residents of Betsukai, Hokkaido — where cows outnumber people 7-to-1 — have extended a warm welcome to five players from overseas who joined the Pilot Spirits.
Jesse Kirkwood: ‘Languages are entire cultural universes with all sorts of baggage’
By Kris Kosaka
Tosca turns a new leaf in a new home
More Than Music makes space for creative communion
By Shyam Bhardwa
Seri Yanai: ‘We mix modern and analog to create something new’
By Ayako Nakano

Editors' Picks

JAPAN
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
By Jessica Speed
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
LIFE
Sip a bespoke coffee for ¥4,000
By Melinda Joe
At Kuro Mame, baristas customize the coffee according to the guest's preferences.
LIFE
Japan is warming up to tattoos — just not permanent ones
By Saki Toi
Tattoos have a complex history in Japan, but new types of temporary ink are letting locals curious about body art experiment without the commitment.
CULTURE
YouTube Music Weekend is where Japan’s internet-born performers go global
By Patrick St. Michel
Headlining the second day of YouTube Music Weekend is Vocaloid artist Kikuo, who, with 1.46 million YouTube subscribers, is one of the most popular artists in the genre.
JAPAN
Japan looks to build drone ‘shield’ in record defense budget request
By Jesse Johnson
A group of Ground Self-Defense Force service members discuss drone operations and capabilities at a joint static display during the Orient Shield 24 opening ceremony at the Yausubetsu Training Area in Hokkaido in July last year.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

COMFACTS

Tsunan Sake Brewery Launches Limited-Edition “Yukigesho Castella” Featuring Sake Lees at “Tsunan Sake Brewery Sunflower Festival 2025”
Tsunan Sake Brewery Launches Limited-Edition “Yukigesho Castella” Featuring Sake Lees at “Tsunan Sake Brewery Sunflower Festival 2025”
TSUNAN SAKE BREWERY

WHAT’S TRENDING

BUSINESS
Top Japan trade negotiator canceled U.S. trip over rice, report says
Ryosei Akazawa
JAPAN
‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem
By Jessica Speed
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
JAPAN
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
By Gabriel Dominguez
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
JAPAN
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
By Jessica Speed
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
ASIA PACIFIC
The Nobel Prize and a testy phone call: How the Trump-Modi relationship unraveled
By Mujib Mashal, Tyler Pager and Anupreeta Das
U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greet one another at the start of a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington in February.