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October 14, 2025
The Independent Voice in Asia
October 14, 2025
Sanae Takaichi
Osaka Expo 2025
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The lawmaker that secures a majority of votes in the Lower House will become prime minister. If no one gets a majority, the two top contenders will enter a runoff in which the person with the highest number of votes gets elected.
JAPAN / Politics
Could an opposition candidate become prime minister?
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
With the CDP, DPP and Nippon Ishin no Kai still far apart when it comes to their key policies and political objectives, it's unclear if they can field a unified candidate.

More coverage

A frustrated LDP weighs its options now that Komeito is out
The lawmaker that secures a majority of votes in the Lower House will become prime minister. If no one gets a majority, the two top contenders will enter a runoff in which the person with the highest number of votes gets elected.
Newly-elected leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi (right) celebrates with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after winning the LDP leadership election in Tokyo on October 4.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Number of scenarios now on the table for who might be Japan’s next prime minister
By Eric Johnston
With Komeito’s exit from the ruling coalition, there is now no guarantee LDP chief Sanae Takaichi will be voted prime minister when parliament convenes.
Bear warning signs at the Akita Prefectural Government building
JAPAN
As temperatures drop in Japan, bear attacks shoot up to historic highs
By Yukana Inoue
A total of 39 people sustained injuries from bear attacks in September alone.
The 'Takaichi trade' is in doubt and Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi faces challenges from opposition parties.
BUSINESS / Markets
China-U.S. trade war and political turmoil in Japan weigh on Tokyo stocks
By Francis Tang and Kazuaki Nagata
The Nikkei 225 fell as much as 1,500 points, and closed the day down 2.58%, at 46,847.32.
Pace Japan Vice President Kyoko Hattori, the de facto head of the nation’s business, believes a larger, more lucrative art market will allow Japan to be more attractive for collectors.
BUSINESS / Companies
Pace eyes great strides for Japan’s art market
By Elizabeth Beattie
One of the largest art galleries in the world wants to turn the country into the center of Asia’s art scene.
Pace Japan Vice President Kyoko Hattori, the de facto head of the nation’s business, believes a larger, more lucrative art market will allow Japan to be more attractive for collectors.

JAPAN

A recent survey by the Sports Agency found that women in their 30s and 40s were less physically fit in 2024 compared to 1998 levels as more women are busy working and/or raising children.
Fitness levels fall for women in their 30s and 40s compared to 1998, survey finds
By Jessica Speed
The survey from the Sports Agency suggested women are too busy working and/or raising children to do physical exercise, resulting in the decline.
University of Osaka professor Shimon Sakaguchi (right), and Susumu Kitagawa, special professor at Kyoto University, attend a reception for Swedish Crown Princess Victoria hosted by the Swedish Embassy in Tokyo on Monday.
Japanese Nobel winners attend reception in Tokyo
It was the first time Shimon Sakaguchi and Susumu Kitagawa had appeared together in public since being named Nobel laureates last week.
ANA flight returns to Haneda Airport after hitting runway lights
Nagano court sentences man to death for quadruple murder
Sake industry steps up promotion in Britain
Japan welcomes release of Israeli hostages in Gaza

BUSINESS

A container ship at the Port of Los Angeles. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has accused China of pointing a bazooka at the supply chains and the industrial base of the entire free world with its rare earth curbs.
Trump and Xi spark another standoff with world economy at risk
The question now is which side blinks first.
People walk past a large electronic screen showing the Samsung logo at a train station in Seoul on Tuesday.
Samsung rides global AI boom to its biggest profit since 2022
By Yoolim Lee
South Korea’s largest company reported an operating profit of 12.1 trillion won in the September quarter, according to a preliminary earnings report.
Firms show off Japanese food at event in Brazil
CEATEC digital tech show kicks off near Tokyo
This old thing? Why brands are hyping well-worn, heritage hand-me-downs
By Chris Rovzar
U.S. investments, and rhetoric, help AstraZeneca seal drug deal with Trump
By Maggie Fick

WORLD

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport as Trump leaves Israel en route to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, to attend a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a U.S.-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal, in Lod, Israel, on Monday.
Trump convinced Netanyahu to take a deal. Can he keep him on board?
By Gram Slattery, Alexander Cornwell and Humeyra Pamuk
With Israel and Hamas divided over many aspects of Trump's plan, Netanyahu's approach may shift as he attempts to keep his right-wing coalition together for next year's elections.
Mourners and villagers carry the coffin of a Pakistani soldier in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday.
Why has the latest Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict erupted?
By Saeed Shah
Late on Saturday, Taliban forces attacked Pakistani military posts along the length of the 2,600-kilometer border, with Pakistani forces later retaliating.
80 South Koreans missing in Cambodia scam center row, Seoul says
From menacing to 'cool': How views on China have shifted in Vietnam
By Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio
Spread of drug-resistant superbugs surging, WHO warns
By Nina LARSON
Trump to attend signing of Thai-Cambodian 'peace deal'

Sports

Dodgers players celebrate after defeating the Brewers during Game 1 of the NLCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday.
Dodgers barely preserve Blake Snell's win in NLCS opener
Freddie Freeman hit a solo homer in the sixth inning and Los Angeles increased the lead to 2-0 in the top of the ninth when Mookie Betts drew a bases-loaded walk.
Cape Verde erupts in celebration after first World Cup qualification
France faces crunch match against Ukraine after 2-2 draw with Iceland
Mariners rout Blue Jays to seize 2-0 lead in MLB playoffs
Moriyasu aiming for a result against Brazil
By Sam Byford

Opinion

Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, holds a news conference at the Diet on Oct. 7. The collapse of the LDP-Komeito coalition highlights the risks of an opposition more focused on obstruction than solutions. 
Japan’s opposition coalition is a recipe for paralysis, not progress
Stephen R. Nagy
The collapse of the LDP-Komeito coalition highlights the risks of an opposition more focused on obstruction than solutions.
Is the global economy as resilient as it seems?
By Eswar Prasad and Caroline Smiltneks
The NBA’s return to China is no slam dunk
By Juliana Liu
Singapore thrived in a U.S.-led world. Now what?
By Hal Brands
Hypothermia in the land of the rising Sanae
By John Authers

ENVIRONMENT

The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.
At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?
By Joel Tansey
While major Japanese gas companies have lauded e-methane as key in fighting climate change, experts paint a different picture.
Europe's bees and butterflies at risk, conservation body says
U.K. spearheads polar climate change research as U.S. draws back
By Joe JACKSON
Indonesia says no to scrap metal after shrimp radiation scare
By Chandra Asmara
Trump calls climate change a con; science braces for more
By David Sherfinski

CULTURE

In his book, correspondent Chris Horton examines Taiwan's history but also brings the story into the present by tracing its strategic alignments today.
'Ghost Nation' puts Taiwan’s history in present context
By Athena Tong
Horton, a veteran correspondent who has lived in Taiwan for more than a decade, devotes substantial space in the book to the transformative years of Japanese rule over Taiwan.
Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton dead at 79
Autumn Meteorite stages a month of inventive theater in Tokyo
By Jessica Kozuka
Iyo Sky takes flight: How the ‘Genius of the Sky’ turned risk into art and fear into fun
By Adam Davidson
Hungarian 'master of the apocalypse' Laszlo Krasznahorkai wins Nobel Prize in literature

LIFE

This year’s World's 50 Best Bars list features bars from 29 cities worldwide, including debuts from Eastern Europe.
Tokyo earns three spots on World’s 50 Best Bars list
By Weiwen Lin
Bar Benfiddich climbs ranks, but Hong Kong steals the show with Bar Leone making history as the first bar in Asia to be named No. 1 in the listing.
A bitter pale ale from Yokohama finds a sweet win at World Beer Awards
By Jeremy Wilgus
Nara inn offers room, board and an ancient burial mound
By Kimberly Hughes
From straight to curly: Getting your hair done in Japanese
By Mishu Callan
Roasted green tea gets a milky makeover
By Simon Daly

COMMUNITY

<i>Sashiko</I> dates to the Edo Period (1603-1868) and began as a technique that allowed working-class people to prolong the lifespan of their clothing.
Beauty in slowness: Life lessons from Japanese embroidery
By Cassie Xu
After taking up the practice of sashiko stitching six years ago, a Chinese Canadian woman found an anchor in the traditional craft amidst major life transitions.
Shrunali Ranade: ‘Stepping back isn’t failure but another form of strength’
By Megha Wadhwa
Student groups nurture Japan-South Korea dialogue and cultural ties
By Moe Shimizu
Linda Joyce: ‘We hope people recognize the benefits of exploring rural areas’
By Louise George Kittaka
Stirred, not shaken: Kyoto business platform blends local and global
By Samantha Seghers

Editors' Picks

JAPAN
A frenetic diplomatic schedule looms for Japan’s next leader — whomever that may be
By Jesse Johnson
As horse-trading and speculation surge over who will be elected the next prime minister in parliament — the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Sanae Takaichi or a possible candidate put forward by a unified opposition — Japan’s next leader will be confronted with a quick succession of key diplomatic events.
LIFE
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
By Owen Ziegler
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
ENVIRONMENT
At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?
By Joel Tansey
The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.
BUSINESS
‘Takaichi trade’ starts unwinding as political calculus upended by Komeito exit
By Kazuaki Nagata
Less than a week ago, Sanae Takaichi seemed set to become Japan's first female prime minister.
JAPAN
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
By Tomoko Otake
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

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SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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

COMFACTS

New Food Products Utilizing Tsunan Sake Brewery’s Sake Lees Unveiled at “TORANOMON JUST RIGHT NEW FOOD” Tasting Event
New Food Products Utilizing Tsunan Sake Brewery’s Sake Lees Unveiled at “TORANOMON JUST RIGHT NEW FOOD” Tasting Event
TSUNAN SAKE BREWERY

WHAT’S TRENDING

JAPAN
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
By Joel Tansey and Tomoko Otake
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
COMMENTARY
Hypothermia in the land of the rising Sanae
By John Authers
Amid the election of Sanae Takaichi as Liberal Democratic Party president, and possibly the next prime minister, Japan's economy shows signs of recovery, but weak wages, a conservative corporate culture and currency issues raise doubts about a true economic thaw.
LIFE
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
By Owen Ziegler
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
JAPAN
After ruling bloc collapses, LDP and opposition scramble to find needed votes for PM
By Eric Johnston
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday after leaving the ruling coalition earlier in the day.
COMMENTARY
What if everything we think about obesity is wrong?
By F.D. Flam
Recent research shows obesity may be driven by ultraprocessed and hyperpalatable foods that disrupt fullness signals and lead to overeating.