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July 27, 2025
The Independent Voice in Asia
July 27, 2025
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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a speech at an event in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, on Friday afternoon.
BUSINESS
Ishiba rules out joint document on U.S. tariffs as deal's details trickle out
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has faced criticism from the opposition as numerous details about the agreement remain unclear.

More coverage

'#Ishiba don't quit': Unlikely support grows for embattled PM
Various tactics to force Ishiba out of power emerge within the LDP
Big unanswered questions follow Japan's big, beautiful deal with the U.S.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a speech at an event in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, on Friday afternoon.
Kuomintang lawmaker Hsu Chiao-hsin celebrates after the results of the recall election in Taipei on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Taiwan opposition defeats recall, keeps legislative control
Voters overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to recall 24 Kuomintang lawmakers.
Evacuees displaced by the ongoing conflict between Thailand and Cambodia rest at an evacuation center in the Thai border province of Si Sa Ket on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Thailand says open to 'dialogue' with Cambodia to end conflict
The Southeast Asian neighbors exchanged heavy artillery fire for a third straight day Saturday, as a border conflict that has killed at least 33 people.
The U.S. military base at Kadena in Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN
South Korean military plane apparently entered Japan ADIZ without notice
Seoul said that a transport aircraft bound for Guam urgently landed at the U.S. Air Force's Kadena base in Okinawa Prefecture on July 13 as it ran out of fuel.
Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
BASEBALL
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear
By Jason Coskrey
Across his 28 seasons of professional baseball, Ichiro grew to become a superstar — first in Japan and then in North America — and then an icon.
Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.

JAPAN

Investigators examine the area outside a sushi restaurant on Friday where an employee said he had stabbed to death a coworker in Tokyo's Toshima Ward.
Sushi restaurant worker arrested over killing of colleague in Tokyo
Masahito Ishioka has admitted to killing Tomoyuki Iwata, 32, saying that he lost his temper after his relationship with the victim soured, informed sources said.
The University of Tokyo. International students are increasingly flocking to Asia, with affordability being a particularly important metric.
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.
Japan to regularly accept assistant language teachers from India
Health ministry panel calls for consolidating cancer care provision
Japan's average life expectancy in 2024 almost unchanged from 2023, data shows
Move to abolish gasoline tax is LDP-Komeito coalition’s first post-election test
By Eric Johnston

BUSINESS

Personal Information Protection Commission Chairman Satoru Tezuka in Tokyo on July 15
Privacy safeguards needed to help fuel AI growth in Japan, panel chair says
A law revision was postponed during this year's ordinary parliamentary session amid strong opposition from business circles toward a system involving fines.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
Trump tariffs leave costly China supply question unanswered
The U.S. president has threatened to rocket rates up to 40% for products deemed to be transshipped, or re-routed, through Southeast Asia.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang takes aim at AI ‘monopoly’ as U.S. effort quickens
EU’s Von der Leyen to meet Trump in bid to clinch trade deal
By Alberto Nardelli
SmartNews planning to hire Mitsubishi UFJ and Nomura for Tokyo listing
China’s stealthy solar exports stay one step ahead of U.S. tariffs

WORLD

Emmanuel Macron, France's economy minister at the time, meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah in September 2015.
Frustration, Gaza alarm drove Macron to go it alone on Palestine recognition
By John Irish and Michel Rose
Some analysts say Macron is using such recognition to extract concessions from the Palestinian Authority, which is a moderate rival to Hamas.
People detained by U.S. immigration forces are seen behind fences at the Desert View Annex at an ICE detention facility in Adelanto, California, on July 10.
Most ICE detainees have no criminal history as detention reaches record levels
Private prison corporations are set to benefit from the Trump administration's unprecedented deportation drive.
Israel allows aid air drops to Gaza to resume
Trump's distraction methods fall flat against Epstein uproar
By Jeff Mason
Taiwan votes in high-stakes recall election
Thailand-Cambodia clashes widen to new areas with over 30 dead

Sports

The numbers and accolades are only part of what made Ichiro Suzuki great. His devotion to his craft, idiosyncratic methods and dry sense of humor made him a transformational figure.
Four lessons to learn from Ichiro's greatness
By Rustin Dodd
The numbers and accolades are only part of what made Ichiro great. His devotion to his craft, idiosyncratic methods and dry sense of humor made him a transformational figure.
Trump's Turnberry visit puts British Open back on agenda
By Peter HUTCHISON
One of the hardest Tours, Pogacar says, as he moves to brink of fourth win
By Julien Pretot
Norris takes pole for all-McLaren front row in Belgium
By Alan Baldwin
Nick Kurtz ties MLB record with four homers as A's pound Astros

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 and 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

Children play on the splash pad in Miami Beach, Florida, on Friday as the region came under an extreme heat warning.
World court climate ruling: nonbinding but game changing
By Kelly Macnamara
By saying that all countries were firmly bound to a swathe of legal obligations, experts say the ruling will influence climate decisions globally.
‘Unprecedented’ ocean heat waves in 2023 suggest climate tipping point
By Danielle Bochove
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

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
‘Rainy Blue’: Behind-the-scenes drama tarnishes an intriguing debut
By James Hadfield
Marunouchi Toei closes as Japan’s cinema landscape evolves
By Mark Schilling

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.
Communal knead: A Turkish baker in Kamakura draws queues
By Alex Michael Dwyer
As summer soars, the tomato offers a lesson in staying bright and cool
By Makiko Itoh
Traditional Japanese swordsmanship — with modern matches
By Johan Brooks
How a single current keeps Shiga’s ‘village of water’ in concert
By Joanna Kawecki

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

CULTURE
Behind the scenes: Inside Fuji Rock’s strategy for staying on top
By Philip Brasor
In recent years, Fuji Rock has had fewer blockbuster performers and showcased more top-selling Japanese acts and international musicians' first-time performances in Japan.
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.
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.

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

JT Directory Service

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SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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.
JAPAN
Extreme heat grips Japan, including even Hokkaido
By Tomoko Otake
The city of Obihiro in Hokkaido amid scorching heat on Thursday
CULTURE
‘Demon Slayer’ movie slashes its own box office records
By Matt Schley
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” is the first installment in a trilogy that's set to wrap the anime adaptation of Koyoharu Gotoke's manga about sword-wielding heroes fighting man-eating demons.
BUSINESS
Ishiba rules out joint document on U.S. tariffs as deal's details trickle out
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a speech at an event in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, on Friday afternoon.