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October 09, 2025
The Independent Voice in Asia
October 09, 2025
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Susumu Kitagawa speaks to reporters at Kyoto University on Wednesday after receiving the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry the same day.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Japan's Susumu Kitagawa among three chemistry Nobel winners
By Tomoko Otake
Kitagawa — the second Japanese Nobel winner this year — joined Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi in winning the award for creating "new rooms for chemistry."

More coverage

Nobel laureate Sakaguchi urges support for science despite its 'poor success rate'
Susumu Kitagawa speaks to reporters at Kyoto University on Wednesday after receiving the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry the same day.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito (left) and LDP counterpart Sanae Takaichi meet in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
After 26 years, Komeito may be showing signs it will break with LDP
By Eric Johnston
Komeito not immediately endorsing Takaichi reflects deep concerns among Soka Gakkai members, the party’s main supporters in the lay Buddhist group, about her ideology and policies.
Japan plans to introduce nationwide five-year bachelor's-master's programs to raise graduate school enrollment and train more highly skilled professionals amid a shrinking workforce.
JAPAN
Japan to move toward five-year integrated bachelor's-master’s programs
By Jessica Speed
The proposed reform would allow students to complete a one-year master’s program after a standard four-year undergraduate course.
Typhoon Halong is moving north near the Izu Islands, with strong winds, high waves and heavy rain expected as it passes early on Thursday, prompting warnings from the weather agency.
JAPAN
Typhoon Halong to cause windstorms, heavy rain and high waves on the Izu islands
Japan's weather agency is forecasting up to 300 millimeters of rain on the Izu islands in the 24 hours through Thursday noon, with a linear precipitation zone possibly forming.
The Jingei, the third of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Taigei-class submarines, was commissioned in March last year. It is equipped with lithium-ion batteries, enabling it to have a longer diving time and cruising distance than older models with lead-acid batteries.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
With nuclear sub proposal, Japan faces array of political and tech challenges
By Gabriel Dominguez
An expert panel has called for Japan’s next-generation subs to be able to operate longer and strike targets from farther way, a shift from current policy.
The Jingei, the third of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Taigei-class submarines, was commissioned in March last year. It is equipped with lithium-ion batteries, enabling it to have a longer diving time and cruising distance than older models with lead-acid batteries.

JAPAN

A bear seen in security camera footage taken Tuesday inside a supermarket in Numata, Gunma Prefecture
Bear injures two in Japan supermarket; man killed in separate attack
More and more wild bears have been spotted in Japan in recent years, even in residential areas, due to factors including a declining human population and climate change.
A Ground Self-Defense Force member conducts a military drill with an anti-ship missiles unit at the GSDF's Camp Miyako on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
Top Pentagon nominee says Japan has 'long underemphasized' defense spending
By Jesse Johnson
John Noh, the White House's nominee to be the Defense Department's top Asia official, said Tokyo “has long underemphasized spending for its own defense.”
Local business leader vows to discuss Osaka Expo legacies
Japan to launch another positioning satellite on Dec. 7
CDP proposes DPP head Tamaki as unified opposition PM candidate
Osaka Expo expected to post profit of up to ¥28 billion

BUSINESS

Nominal wages rose 1.5% in August from a year earlier, decelerating from 3.4% in the previous month, according to a report from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Japan’s wage growth slows, underscoring challenge for Takaichi
By Toru Fujioka
Nominal wages increased 1.5% in August from a year earlier, decelerating from 3.4% in the previous month and falling below economist expectations.
JR East's Shinkansen inspection train East-i
JR East to introduce new inspection shinkansen in fiscal 2029
The next-generation model's design will be finalized around next summer after ideas are sought from employees across JR East group companies.
Japan's April-September business failures hit 12-year high
Economy-watcher sentiment improves in September
SoftBank to buy ABB’s robotics arm in $5.4 billion deal
By Aaron Kirchfeld, Min Jeong Lee and Allegra Catelli
Crypto race to tokenize stocks raises investor protection flags
By Hannah Lang and Elizabeth Howcroft

WORLD

A demonstrator wrapped in a U.S. flag stands amid smoke during a protest at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday.
Trump's Insurrection Act threat escalates showdown with Democratic cities
By Emily Schmall, Andrea Shalal and Joseph Ax
President Donald Trump again left open the possibility of using the Insurrection Act to sidestep any court rulings blocking the dispatch of guard troops into Democratic-led cities.
A Royal Australian Navy submarine during a maritime exercise in Darwin, Australia
Pentagon conducting ‘brass-tack’ review of AUKUS, nominee says
By Tony Capaccio
The comments from John Noh, Trump’s pick for assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs, mark a rare moment that the administration has acknowledged the review.
Study finds women have higher genetic risk of depression
What the EU's new biometric border checks mean for non-EU citizens
By James Davey
Child protection versus privacy: decision time for EU
By Camille CAMDESSUS
Modi to open airport and metro-line projects worth $4 billion in Mumbai
By P R Sanjai and Mihir Mishra

Sports

Top sumo stars, including yokozuna Hoshoryu, perform the goningakari contest, which pits five top-division wrestlers against one yokozuna.
Japan Sumo Association’s 100th anniversary bash mixes the ancient with the modern
By John Gunning
A multitude of historical ceremonies and arcane aspects of the sport, each one rarely performed, were all on display over the space of a few hours at Tokyo’s Kokugikan.
Mitsubishi UFJ to acquire naming rights for National Stadium
Yankees erase Jays' five-run lead to stay alive in ALDS
NBA back in China after six-year absence sparked by democracy tweet
By Holmes Chan
Mariners club three homers to push Tigers to brink of elimination

Opinion

Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister if appointed, will have her work cut out for her and face key diplomatic challenges with the U.S., China and South Korea, as well as persistent economic and demographic issues.
Will Takaichi become the prime minister Japan needs?
Stephen R. Nagy
An admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is an adherent to Shinzo Abe’s pragmatic yet conservative vision.
What’s behind the great American murder decline?
By Justin Fox
Best evidence yet that the U.S. dollar isn’t close to being dead
By Daniel Moss
Putin doubles down on Ukraine as economic woes grow
By Sergei Guriev
Trump weaponizes American trade policy
By Kazuto Suzuki

ENVIRONMENT

Jane Goodall spun her love of wildlife into a lifelong campaign that took her from a seaside English village to Africa and then across the globe in a quest to better understand chimpanzees.
Wildlife advocate and primate expert Jane Goodall dies at 91
By Susan Heavey
The scientist and global activist was a pioneer in her field, both as a female scientist in the 1960s and for her work studying the behavior of primates.
Trump calls climate change a con; science braces for more
By David Sherfinski
Global renewable power output overtakes coal for the first time, report says
Swiss glaciers hit by light snowfall and heat wave, scientists say
By Cecile Mantovani and Denis Balibouse
Japan faces fresh energy challenge as it seeks to expand power-hungry data centers
By Eric Margolis

CULTURE

Anshul Chauhan’s Japanese film “Tiger” won the Hylife Vision Award for independent films at this year’s Busan International Film Festival.
Japanese films win crowds but few prizes at Busan festival
By Mark Schilling
From art house cinema to commercial hits, 24 films showcased Japan’s range at the 30th edition of the Busan International Film Festival.
Artists turn Okayama into Murakami-esque city of wonder
By Mike Fu
With Hollywood facing headwinds, Netflix looks eastward
By Erik Augustin Palm
‘Cinderella Grey’ gallops past the other sports documentaries
By Patrick St. Michel
The summer kabuki came roaring back
By Kris Kosaka

LIFE

Avant-garde chef Grant Achatz and his team from Alinea are in Tokyo for a three-week residency.
Eat your balloons: The culinary theater of Grant Achatz comes to Tokyo
By Weiwen Lin
The man behind Chicago’s iconic Alinea restaurant shares insights on modernist cuisine and his Tokyo pop-up.
Roasted green tea gets a milky makeover
By Simon Daly
Japan’s first foreign wine investor plants its roots in Hokkaido
By Weiwen Lin
Don’t poke the bear: Learn how to sort your garbage the right way
By Yuko Tamura
Tokyo's newest stationery store sells 'a slower, more human rhythm'
By Gendel Gento

COMMUNITY

Through the Japan-Korea Summer Exchange Conference, undergraduate students have sustained an ongoing cultural and academic dialogue for 40 years.
Student groups nurture Japan-South Korea dialogue and cultural ties
By Moe Shimizu
Since 1985, the Japan-Korea Summer Exchange Conference has provided a platform for students to discuss bilateral relations and build cultural bridges along the way.
Chipper Yorkie-Maltese mix still young at heart
Scaredy-cat Kashata is searching for a friend
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

BUSINESS
OpenAI’s Sora 2 is drowning in Japanese 'AI slop'
By Elizabeth Beattie
OpenAI has rolled out a social app powered by Sora 2, its artificial intelligence video generator, which was quickly flooded with videos featuring iconic Japanese intellectual property.
WORLD
Trump has his eyes on the prize — but a Nobel win looks unlikely
By Jesse Johnson
A protester holds a sign with an image depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and the words "Nobel" written on it, as supporters and family members of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, demonstrate to demand the immediate end of the war and the release of all hostages, outside the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv, on Sept. 2.
BUSINESS
‘Takaichi trade’ stalls as political reality calls for wait-and-see approach
By Francis Tang
Tokyo stocks staged a powerful rally on Monday. On Tuesday, they rallied again, then retreated.
ASIA PACIFIC
‘We have drawn lessons,’ Indian Army chief says of brief clash with Pakistan
By Gabriel Dominguez
Indian Army chief Upendra Dwivedi waves as he arrives to attend the ceremonial reception of Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New Delhi in May.
LIFE
How a family-run landscaper turned the Osaka Expo green
By Edward Hewes
The team at Ryokukou Garden consists primarily of a single family, including Toshiki Tanisaki (second from right), who led the company's efforts at the Osaka Expo, Chikako Tanisaki (fifth from right), who performs daily maintanence at the expo, and Takeshi Tanisaki (fourth from right), who added a nursery to the family farm more than 50 years ago.

Podcast

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

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

JT Directory Service

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WHAT’S TRENDING

ASIA PACIFIC
How China waged an infowar against U.S. interests in the Philippines
By Poppy McPherson and Karen Lema
Association for Philippines-China Understanding (APCU) Chairman Raul Lambino shakes hands with guests during a ceremony for the Award for Promoting Philippines-China Understanding at The Manila Hotel in Manila in June.
ASIA PACIFIC
‘We have drawn lessons,’ Indian Army chief says of brief clash with Pakistan
By Gabriel Dominguez
Indian Army chief Upendra Dwivedi waves as he arrives to attend the ceremonial reception of Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New Delhi in May.
JAPAN
Typhoon Halong to cause windstorms, heavy rain and high waves on the Izu islands
Typhoon Halong is moving north near the Izu Islands, with strong winds, high waves and heavy rain expected as it passes early on Thursday, prompting warnings from the weather agency.
JAPAN
Takaichi's leadership lineup favors Aso and his allies while shutting out rivals
By Himari Semans
The LDP's newly-appointed election chief Keiji Furuya (far left), general affairs council chair Haruko Arimura (second from left), vice president Taro Aso (center left), president Sanae Takaichi (center right), secretary-general Shunichi Suzuki (second from right) and policy chief Takayuki Kobayashi in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Qilin cybercrime gang claims hack on Japan's Asahi
By A.J. Vicens
The Asahi Group headquarters complex in Tokyo