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September 24, 2025
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September 24, 2025
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U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Trump switches gears on Ukraine war as fears of disengagement rise
By Jesse Johnson
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.

More coverage

U.N. slams 'systematic' Russian torture of Ukraine civilians
NATO warns Russia to stop 'escalatory' actions after Estonian airspace violation
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a speech to the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
'You're going to hell': Trump attacks U.N. and Europe in scathing speech
U.S. President Donald Trump warned that migration is sending Western nations "to hell" and dismissed climate change as a "con job" in wide-ranging speech.
With just three weeks left until the closing of the Osaka Expo, most admission slots are nearly fully booked. On auction sites, however, many reserved tickets are being traded at high prices.
JAPAN
Osaka Expo tickets being resold at exorbitant prices as closing date nears
By Jessica Speed
One adult 9 a.m. entry ticket for Oct. 5, originally ¥7,500, was selling online for ¥59,000 — over seven times the official cost.
Apple is reopening its redesigned store in Ginza, Tokyo, on Friday. The location holds special importance for the company — it was its first overseas store, which originally opened in 2003.
BUSINESS / Companies
Tim Cook arrives in Tokyo as Apple prepares to reopen Ginza store
By Elizabeth Beattie
The Ginza location holds special importance for Apple — it’s the company’s first overseas store, originally opening in 2003.
While some American taxpayers assume they are ineligible to participate in Japan’s tax-deferred savings schemes, certified public accountant Rick Gundlach says that this is no longer the case.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Tax-advantaged investments no lost cause for U.S. residents of Japan
By Gendel Gento
Many U.S. taxpayers believe they should steer clear of Japanese investment vehicles due to stateside regulations — but a Japan-based certified public accountant advises otherwise.
While some American taxpayers assume they are ineligible to participate in Japan’s tax-deferred savings schemes, certified public accountant Rick Gundlach says that this is no longer the case.

JAPAN

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is preparing to issue a statement on World War II after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election on Oct. 4, government officials said Wednesday.
Ishiba to release WWII message after LDP presidential race
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is preparing to release teh statement outlining his views on World War II after the LDP's Oct. 4 leadership election.
Some 91% scholarship recipients say their livelihoods are worsening due to rising prices, with nearly 20% describing their situation as dire, according to a nonprofit organization survey.
Most scholarship recipients in Japan are struggling with Inflation
Over 90% of scholarship recipients are facing financial strain, with nearly 20% describing their situation as dire, a recent survey has found.
Japanese victims react to Unification Church head's arrest in South Korea
Japan's recognition of Palestine state is a matter of 'when,' Iwaya says
LDP candidates focus on reform as presidential vote approaches
By Eric Johnston
Japan to study corporate efforts to prevent post-retirement loneliness

BUSINESS

Australia's regulator said it will initially focus on platforms with the greatest number of users, where there are higher risks of harm.
WhatsApp and Twitch among sites that could face Australia social media ban
By Laura Chung
The head of Australia's eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has written to 16 more companies to "self-assess" whether they fall under the ban's remit.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda announces the central bank's plan to start offloading its massive exchange-traded fund holdings, at a news conference in Tokyo last week.
BOJ seeks to remove stocks overhang with slow sell-down of ETFs
By Hideyuki Sano
The century-long plan to offload its massive holdings of ETFs, through which it indirectly owns about 7% of Japanese stocks, could begin in early 2026.
Trump's new visa fees spur offshoring talks and hiring turmoil
By Aditya Soni and Echo Wang
Full impact of U.S. tariff shock yet to come as growth holds up, OECD says
By Leigh Thomas
BOJ tankan expected to show slight rise in manufacturers' sentiment
After MySpace losses, Murdochs mull social media return with TikTok tie-up
By Christopher Palmeri

WORLD

Displaced Palestinians move southward along a road in the Nuseirat refugee camp area in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
Israel seeks permanent Gaza control and Jewish majority in West Bank: U.N. inquiry
By Olivia Le Poidevin
Israel maintains that its war is not against the population of Gaza but against the Hamas militant group whose fighters led the attack on Israel that precipitated the war.
A United Nations rights office report states that Russia "has subjected Ukrainian civilian detainees to consistent patterns of serious violations" of international law since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
U.N. slams 'systematic' Russian torture of Ukraine civilians
U.N. investigators interviewed 216 civilians released from detention in the occupied territories, and 92% "gave consistent and detailed accounts" of torture or ill-treatment.
‘America is not a safe place to work’: South Koreans describe Georgia raid
By Choe Sang-Hun
At U.N., South Korean leader vows to reduce tensions with North Korea
'I don't cry anymore': In U.S. jail, Russian dissidents fear deportation
By Maria DANILOVA
Taiwan typhoon death toll hits 14, with 124 missing
By Yimou Lee

Sports

Kellyann Ball competes at the Venus Sumo Festival in Tachikawa, western Tokyo, on Saturday.
Rising U.S. women's sumo team hopes to spread the word about Japan’s national sport
By John Gunning
American sumo star Kellyann Ball was impressed by a major Japanese tournament for women held this past weekend. Now she's working on creating a similar future in the United States.
Brilliant Marquez poised to seal seventh MotoGP title in Japan
MLB approves ball-strike challenge system for next season
Red Bull in no rush to make 2026 driver decisions after strong weekend in Baku
By Alan Baldwin
U.S. hails 'gladiator' DeChambeau as Ryder Cup controversy swirls
By Jim Slater

Opinion

Soldiers participate in a military exercise in Miaoli County, Taiwan, in July 2022. While China may desire to unify the island, military, geographic, political and economic factors make a successful invasion unlikely.
Taiwan isn’t as susceptible to invasion as one would think
Brad Glosserman
The island’s coastline is remarkably unsuited for amphibious operations and an invasion would demand a fleet comparable in size to that used by the Allies on D-Day.
An Orwellian lesson from Xi and Putin
By Sergiy Korsunsky
The U.S. assault on the U.N. rests on a tragic misunderstanding
By Andreas Kluth
Donald Trump and Russia's 'useful idiot'
By Nina L. Khrushcheva
Britain must keep its promise to Hong Kongers
By Matthew Brooker

ENVIRONMENT

In an hourlong speech before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump attacked his predecessor, his European allies and renewable energy.
In bid to upend global energy policy, Trump denies climate change in U.N. speech
By Brian Kahn
The U.S. president made a series of misleading claims in a rambling speech that went on for nearly an hour.
The unexpected upside of Canada's wildfires 
By Ed White
As Japan keeps buying gas, Aboriginal Australians pay the price
By Mara Budgen
NASA scientist starts food crisis hotline with tech giant funding
By Agnieszka de Sousa
International treaty protecting world's oceans to take effect

CULTURE

“Archipelago of the Sun” by Yoko Tawada is part of a trilogy billed as a dystopian future under threat of climate crisis.
Yoko Tawada’s wandering trilogy concludes search for the 'land of sushi'
By Thu-Huong Ha
In “Archipelago of the Sun,” the merry band of polyglot friends board a boat crossing the Baltic Sea, still vaguely in search of a disappeared Japan.
Why Japan’s most melancholic writer speaks to today’s youth
By Kris Kosaka
A bucket becomes a house in the hands of craftsman Shuji Nakagawa
By Thu-Huong Ha
Park Chan-wook’s sharp satire ‘No Other Choice’ opens Busan festival
By Erik Augustin Palm
‘Ranshima Bound’: Family fractures and buried truths collide in Hokkaido chill
By Mark Schilling

LIFE

Filled with red bean paste and covered in "kinako" soy flour, green "zunda" soybean mash and black sesame, "o-hagi" sticky rice balls offer a delicious interplay of sweet and savory flavors.
Celebrating autumn with timeless sticky rice balls
By Elizabeth Andoh
Filled with red bean paste and sheathed in various coatings, the spherical sweets evoke the gentle mood of the season.
With new Tokyo bar, Shingo Gokan's bartending journey comes full circle
By Melinda Joe
‘Pluriversal’ Singapore Design Week brings solution-oriented works
By John L. Tran
How Japanese captures the subtle shift into autumn
By Yaeko Kabe
From tofu to teriyaki: Japanese essentials for the home cook
By Simon Daly

COMMUNITY

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan
By Christoph Sponsel
From sugar plantations in Peru to factory floors in Japan, the Nikkei story is one of migration, resilience and identity.
A friendly Kai ken dog with a big heart
When a typhoon isn’t really a typhoon, I’ll be there to tell you about it
By Daniel Traylor
Calisthenic companions bridge cultures and generations
By Swastika Jajoo
Melos Han-Tani: ‘Figuring out what you value is valuable for any artist’
By Gendel Gento

Editors' Picks

JAPAN
Who’s who in the LDP presidential race?
By Eric Johnston
(Clockwise from top left) Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi; former foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi; Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi; former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi; and former minister of state for economic security Sanae Takaichi
CULTURE
Aichi Triennale’s message from the world: Free Palestine
By Thu-Huong Ha
“Between Currents and Bloom,” an eye-popping crocheted seascape by Indonesian artist Mulyana, dazzles with Instagram-ready cuteness while recalling a vibrant ocean now threatened by warming seas.
BUSINESS
Twice-a-year injection could make HIV prevention easier, developer argues
By Francis Tang
Jared Baeten, Gilead Sciences' senior vice president and virology therapeutic area head, hopes regulatory approval elsewhere for lenacapavir as a preexposure prophylaxis — for reducing the risk of contracting HIV — could lead to real discussions toward ending HIV in Japan.
LIFE
Behold the glory of Japan’s fruit boxes
By Thu-Huong Ha
Otherwise common sights in Japan's supermarkets, the country's fruit and veggie boxes can hide surprising symbols of local pride.
CULTURE
YouTuber Gigguk shifts from talking anime to making anime
By Patrick St. Michel
The process of making “Baan” was personal and enlightening for Maneetapho, who spent years talking about anime on his YouTube channel and podcast before making the jump to becoming an anime creator himself.

Podcast

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

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan
By Christoph Sponsel

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Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
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WHAT’S TRENDING

COMMENTARY
South Korea’s baby bust threatens its demographic future
By Lee Jong-wha
Marriage is rapidly declining in South Korea as rising education and career aspirations collide with traditional gender norms.
BUSINESS
German companies choosing Japan as Asia manufacturing hub: survey
By Elizabeth Beattie
Japan has many positive qualities for German companies, but the market does face some challenges, such as talent acquisition and retention, particularly as demand for skilled workers grows, a survey by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan showed.
MORE SPORTS
The Japanese face and body patches that have had the world wondering
By Mai Yoshikawa
Japan's Mebuki Suzuki in action with Uganda's Oscar Chelimo in the men's 10,000 meter final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sept. 14
JAPAN
Abuse of 'zombie cigarettes' among Okinawa youths raises alarm
A street in Naha in August. In entertainment districts in southern Okinawa, a drug known as "laughing gas vape" is being abused at nightclubs and bar. Now, some establishments have put up warning notices.
BUSINESS
Twice-a-year injection could make HIV prevention easier, developer argues
By Francis Tang
Jared Baeten, Gilead Sciences' senior vice president and virology therapeutic area head, hopes regulatory approval elsewhere for lenacapavir as a preexposure prophylaxis — for reducing the risk of contracting HIV — could lead to real discussions toward ending HIV in Japan.