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July 26, 2025
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July 26, 2025
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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Various tactics to force Ishiba out of power emerge within the LDP
By Himari Semans
The LDP has been thrown into a political power game between those who want Ishiba ousted immediately and those supporting him staying on.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office.
Opposition party policy chiefs discuss a gas bill in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Move to abolish gasoline tax is LDP-Komeito coalition’s first post-election test
By Eric Johnston
The minority government of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is under pressure to quickly decide on how to respond to the opposition push.
The city of Obihiro in Hokkaido amid scorching heat on Thursday
JAPAN
Extreme heat grips Japan, even Hokkaido
By Tomoko Otake
Several cities in Hokkaido experienced record-high temperatures on Thursday, and Hokkaido Railway has suspended portions of its rail lines as a safety precaution.
The University of Tokyo. International students are increasingly flocking to Asia, with affordability being a particularly important metric.
JAPAN / Society
Tokyo is the No. 2 choice for international students
By Elizabeth Beattie
Amid rising costs of living, affordability is a key factor for students when deciding where to study abroad.
The Liberal Democratic Party’s historic Upper House defeat leaves the party fragmented and searching for a capable leader who can reunite conservatives, modernize its appeal, deliver real policies and rebuild its internal power structure.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Who will save the Liberal Democratic Party?
Michael MacArthur Bosack
The LDP is now faced with two fundamental questions: what tasks must it accomplish to restore its political dominance and who is actually capable of accomplishing them?
The Liberal Democratic Party’s historic Upper House defeat leaves the party fragmented and searching for a capable leader who can reunite conservatives, modernize its appeal, deliver real policies and rebuild its internal power structure.

JAPAN

A mobile battery ignites during a simulation experiment.
Agency warns of fire risks from lithium-ion batteries
Lithium-ion batteries are vulnerable to heat and impact, making them prone to accidents when temperatures rise.
The number of scrambles by Japanese fighter jets against Chinese aircraft rose by 17 in the April-June period from a year before to 122, according to the Defense Ministry.
Japanese fighter jets scramble 157 times in April-June period
The scrambles were mostly in response to Chinese and Russian aircraft.
Health ministry panel calls for consolidating cancer care provision
Japan's average life expectancy in 2024 almost unchanged from 2023, data shows
Police in Japan set up website to support crime victims
Kyoto University researchers find mechanism behind malignant pancreatic cancer

BUSINESS

Bank of Japan officials view the trade deal with the U.S. as reducing a key source of uncertainty for Japan’s economy and businesses, allowing the central bank to focus on monitoring the tariffs’ actual impact in incoming economic data, according to people familiar with the matter.
BOJ Is said to see potential rate hike environment this year
By Toru Fujioka and Sumio Ito
Assuming there’s no change to the U.S. tariff deal, the central bank will likely have enough data by the end of the year to be able to consider whether a rate hike is appropriate.
While the pace of gains in consumer prices in the capital slowed in July from a year earlier, the data send a fresh reminder that households are still coping with higher living costs overall.
Tokyo inflation slows while staying well above BOJ’s target
By Toru Fujioka
A decline in utility costs helped slow the overall gauge, but households are still coping with higher living costs overall.
SmartNews planning to hire Mitsubishi UFJ and Nomura for Tokyo listing
China’s stealthy solar exports stay one step ahead of U.S. tariffs
Intel posts higher revenue after trimming workforce
By Glenn CHAPMAN
Japan’s top pension fund keeps strategy amid volatility
By Hideyuki Sano, Nao Sano, Aaron Clark and Takashi Umekawa

WORLD

A Thai mobile artillery unit fires toward Cambodia on Friday in Surin, Thailand.
Thailand warns of war with Cambodia as 138,000 flee fighting
The conflict is still considered "an armed clash involving heavy weaponry" currently, acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said.
Visitors at Matryoshka Square, a theme park in the border town of Manzhouli, in China’s Inner Mongolia, on July 10. Much of the trade between China and Russia has long run through Manzhouli.
How a Chinese border town keeps Russia’s economy afloat
By Keith Bradsher
The economic strategy of the town of Manzhouli underlines Russia’s evolution into a supplier of raw materials to China’s vast manufacturing sector.
Amid Epstein furor, Ghislaine Maxwell seeks relief from U.S. Supreme Court
By Andrew Chung
Sudan's Islamists plot postwar comeback by supporting army
By Khalid Abdelaziz
Soviet-era passenger plane crashes in Russia's far east, killing all 48 on board
France to recognize Palestinian state in September, Macron says
By Samy Adghirni

Sports

Emma Raducanu hits a forehand against Naomi Osaka on day four of the Mubadala Citi DC Open at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center in Washington on Thursday.
Raducanu beats Osaka in straight sets to reach Washington quarters
By Pearl Josephine Nazare
Raducanu, U.S. Open champion in 2021, next faces former world number three Maria Sakkari after the Greek stunned American second seed Emma Navarro in straight sets.
Liverpool CEO says player spree should quell ownership gossip
By Danny Lee and David Ingles
Kenny Pickett takes first-team reps as Browns may keep four quarterbacks
Verstappen says Horner exit will not influence own F1 future
By Alan Baldwin
No timetable for Caitlin Clark's return to Fever

Opinion

The Liberal Democratic Party’s historic Upper House defeat leaves the party fragmented and searching for a capable leader who can reunite conservatives, modernize its appeal, deliver real policies and rebuild its internal power structure.
Who will save the Liberal Democratic Party?
Michael MacArthur Bosack
The LDP is now faced with two fundamental questions: what tasks must it accomplish to restore its political dominance and who is actually capable of accomplishing them?
RFK Jr. is making America sick again. Republicans need a cure.
By Michael R. Bloomberg
Voter revolt shatters Japan’s ruling coalition, empowers smaller parties
Is Japan drifting toward fragmented and ineffective politics?
By Kuni Miyake
Japan trade deal offers U.S. automakers relief, not new markets
By Liam Denning

ENVIRONMENT

Manhattan Beach on the California coast
‘Unprecedented’ ocean heat waves in 2023 suggest climate tipping point
By Danielle Bochove
The world’s oceans experienced a staggering amount of warming in 2023, as vast marine heat waves affected 96% of their surface.
Top U.N. court says treaties compel wealthy nations to curb global warming
By Stephanie van den Berg and Alison Withers
Trump staff cuts force firefighters to clean toilets, critics say
By Andrew Hay
Restoring sea floor after mining may not be possible, researchers warn
By Amelie Bottollier-Depois
Pakistan's quiet solar rush puts pressure on national grid
By Zain Zaman Janjua

CULTURE

Fuji Rock still excites Hitsujibungaku — (from left) bassist Yurika Kasai, lead singer and guitarist Moeka Shiotsuka and drummer Hiroa Fukuda — even as its flock grows abroad.
Hitsujibungaku’s pop-fueled rise to stardom
By Patrick St. Michel
Rock trio Hitsujibungaku is set to make its fourth appearance at Fuji Rock this weekend on its most primetime stage yet — the White Stage right before headliner Haim.
‘Demon Slayer’ movie slashes its own box office records
By Matt Schley
National Ballet of Japan stages first overseas performance in London
Behind the scenes: Inside Fuji Rock’s strategy for staying on top
By Philip Brasor
‘Rainy Blue’: Behind-the-scenes drama tarnishes an intriguing debut
By James Hadfield

LIFE

Located in Patina Osaka, P72 doesn't have a fixed menu, opting instead to rely on whatever is available from local suppliers and its on-site garden to create its innovative plant-based cuisine.
P72 sows the seeds for a dynamic plant-based cuisine
By Jessica Kozuka
With an ever-changing menu dictated by what's available from its garden and suppliers, the Osaka-based restaurant injects creativity and spontaneity into its green cuisine.
Study first, screens later: Japanese kids have summer projects to do
By Yuko Tamura
In microbes we trust: Embracing the nature of fermented food
By Simon Daly
Touring the Silk Road — without leaving Tokyo
By Kimberly Hughes
In Gaza-made obi, Palestinian embroidery meets Japanese kimono
By Anna Sakamoto

COMMUNITY

Ayaka Ohira (center) celebrates the launch of “Shinsei Galverse” with interpreter Himari Lala Shimizu and executive producer Jack Baldwin.
Ayaka Ohira: ‘Being outside of the traditional path gave me more freedom’
By Zoria Petkoska
Anime director Ayaka Ohira talks about her newly launched ‘Shinsei Galverse’ series and how she navigates the industry as a self-taught female artist.
A big, beautiful Bengal cat named Pupu
The mothers holding up Japan's Vietnamese community
By Nguyen Bao Anh
Lilimi settles into a new life
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

Editors' Picks

BASEBALL
Hall of Fame always held deeper meaning for Ichiro
By Jason Coskrey
Ichiro presents then-Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson with the bat he used to break the single-season hits record in 2004.
BUSINESS
Japan leans into homegrown AI amid rising competition
By Elizabeth Beattie
McKinsey’s 2025 Technology Trends Outlook, published Wednesday, says that the use of “sovereign AI” is a trend gaining significant global traction, including in Japan.
CULTURE
JT picks: What not to miss at Fuji Rock 2025
By Johan Brooks, Alyssa I. Smith, Patrick St. Michel, Mark Thompson and Philip Brasor
Fuji Rock Festival turns the green slopes of Niigata Prefecture’s Naeba Ski Resort into a summer escape that offers soundtracks for every mood.
ENVIRONMENT
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
By Tomoko Otake
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
WORLD
Pentagon looks to unleash ‘military drone dominance’
By Gabriel Dominguez
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts a drone demonstration at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on July 10.

Podcast

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

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
By Alex K.T. Martin

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WHAT’S TRENDING

JAPAN
Tokyo is the No. 2 choice for international students
By Elizabeth Beattie
The University of Tokyo. International students are increasingly flocking to Asia, with affordability being a particularly important metric.
JAPAN
Junglia, Japan’s newest theme park, opens in northern Okinawa
By Owen Ziegler
In Junglia’s Dinosaur Safari attraction during a media preview on Thursday, a casual drive through a habitat for the prehistoric creatures goes haywire when several Tyrannosaurus rexes break out of containment.
BUSINESS
Big unanswered questions follow Japan's big, beautiful deal with the U.S.
By Francis Tang
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, the day after he agreed to an 11th-hour trade deal with Japan.
JAPAN
Extreme heat grips Japan, even Hokkaido
By Tomoko Otake
The city of Obihiro in Hokkaido amid scorching heat on Thursday
JAPAN
Japan ties with South Korea for second most powerful passport
By Elizabeth Beattie
Japanese passport holders have visa-free access to 190 destinations out of 227 globally.