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September 23, 2025
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September 23, 2025
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The candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party leadership race at a joint news conference on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
LDP candidates focus on reform as presidential vote approaches
By Eric Johnston
Losing two national elections in the past year has made reform a top concern for the party.
The candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party leadership race at a joint news conference on Tuesday
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio shakes hands with Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (left) and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (right) at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Japan, U.S. and South Korea reaffirm commitment to ridding North Korea of nukes
By Jesse Johnson
The countries’ top diplomats poured cold water on the chances of the U.S. ditching its denuclearization policy, after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hinted he is open to talks.
Han Hak-ja, the leader of the Unification Church, arrives at a court to attend a hearing to review her arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors in Seoul on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Leader of South Korea's Unification Church jailed after court issues warrant
Han Hak-ja, 82, has been accused of directing the church to bribe the country's former first lady for favors for the church's business interests.
The municipal assembly of Toyoake in Aichi Prefecture passed an ordinance Monday that will limit daily leisure-related screen time for all residents to two hours.
JAPAN
City in Aichi Prefecture passes ordinance capping screen time to two hours
There are no penalties for violators, with the city's mayor saying the aim is for residents to see whether they are losing sleep by using smartphones too much.
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.
COMMENTARY / World
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.
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.

JAPAN

The Cabinet Office is looking to survey private-sector initiatives aimed at preventing loneliness and isolation among seniors.
Japan to study corporate efforts to prevent post-retirement loneliness
The government plans to collect and analyze how corporations support employees building relationships before retirement, then promote models that prove effective nationwide.
Police investigate an area around the scene where a woman was killed in a knife attack in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward on Sept. 1.
Tokyo police rearrest South Korean man suspected of murdering ex-girlfriend on stalking charges
Police allege that the suspect, Park Yong-jun, repeatedly stalked the victim, Bang Ji-won, and trespassed into her home in the days leading to her killing.
Japan's recognition of Palestine state is a matter of 'when,' Iwaya says
Ishiba departs for U.N. session in New York and meeting with Trump
Japan to share expo know-how with Saudi Arabia
Palestinian envoy urges Japan to recognize state after France, U.K. and others

BUSINESS

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.
The TikTok app page in the Apple App store is displayed on a smartphone on Jan. 15. A potential tie-in with the popular TikTok service will help Fox reach young audiences in new ways, exposing them to everything from broadcast TV shows to streaming businesses like the ad-supported Tubi and Fox One, a paid online platform.
After MySpace losses, Murdochs mull social media return with TikTok tie-up
By Christopher Palmeri
A Fox investment in TikTok would give the media empire a platform with 170 million U.S. users to promote a broad range of TV programming — from the NFL to The Simpson.
BOJ tankan expected to show slight rise in manufacturers' sentiment
China floods the world with cheap exports after Trump's tariffs
Google seeks to avoid ad tech breakup as antitrust trial begins
By Jody Godoy
Nvidia and OpenAI make $100 billion deal to build data centers

WORLD

Residents cross a flooded road leading to their houses on the outskirts of Dadu, Sindh province, Pakistan, on Sept. 15.
Record floods threaten Pakistan's food security, factories and fiscal plans
By Ariba Shahid and Asif Shahzad
Monsoon rains, amplified by dam releases from India, have submerged large swathes of Punjab and Sindh — the country's two most populous and economically vital provinces.
Smoke billows from the Singapore-registered container ship MV X-Press Pearl, which had been burning for eleven consecutive days, while vessels try to extinguish the fire in the sea off Sri Lanka's Colombo Harbor on May 30, 2021.
Singapore shipper rejects $1B damages over Sri Lanka's worst pollution incident
By Martin ABBUGAO and Amal JAYASINGHE
The company operated the MV X-Press Pearl that sank off Colombo Port in 2021 while carrying 81 containers of hazardous goods and hundreds of metric tons of plastic pellets.
What do some researchers call disinformation? Anything but disinformation.
By Anuj Chopra
Drone sightings disrupt flights at Copenhagen and Oslo airports
Bill Gates pledges $912 million to health aid, urging countries to reverse cuts
By Jennifer Rigby
India plans ‘bodyguard’ satellites after orbital near miss
By Mihir Mishra

Sports

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
The Japanese face and body patches that have had the world wondering
By Mai Yoshikawa
Some athletes at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo swear by the products.
Evenepoel completes time-trial triple as Pogacar left trailing
Team captain Bradley defends U.S. player pay at Ryder Cup
By Amy Tennery
Dembele beats Yamal to Ballon d'Or as Bonmati retains women's award
By Andy Scott
World championships bring few medals but win big with the crowds
By Jason Coskrey

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.
Britain must keep its promise to Hong Kongers
By Matthew Brooker
Could pacifist Japan ever arm itself with nuclear weapons?
By Edo Naito
Vladimir Putin’s ‘negotiations’ are a trap
By Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Mats Marcusson and Ilona Sologoub
America’s friends will never trust the U.S. again
By Andreas Kluth

ENVIRONMENT

Paulina “Jedda” Puruntatameri with Antonia Burke and Tiwi fisher Clinton offshore of Melville Island, one of the Tiwi Islands, in Australia's Northern Territory. Together with other Tiwi, Jedda has been campaigning for years to stop Australian company Santos and its backers, including Japanese investors, from drilling for natural gas at the Barossa gas field.
As Japan keeps buying gas, Aboriginal Australians pay the price
By Mara Budgen
Japan is Australia’s second-largest export market for energy and natural resources, giving Tokyo a certain political weight when it comes to Australian energy matters.
NASA scientist starts food crisis hotline with tech giant funding
By Agnieszka de Sousa
International treaty protecting world's oceans to take effect
Climate change led to at least 16,500 heat deaths in Europe this summer
By Emma Court
Malaysia's largest island state aims to be region's 'green battery'
By Jan HENNOP

CULTURE

“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.
Aichi Triennale’s message from the world: Free Palestine
By Thu-Huong Ha
At Aichi Triennale 2025, Hoor Al Qasimi, the festival’s first foreign artistic director, takes a stand in support of Palestine.
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.
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
Gentle care is the key to Cymbal’s heart

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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WHAT’S TRENDING

BUSINESS
40 years after Plaza Accord, Japan still at mercy of forex swings
The Plaza Hotel in New York, where finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of Five countries met and struck the Plaza Accord on Sept. 22, 1985.
ENVIRONMENT
As Japan keeps buying gas, Aboriginal Australians pay the price
By Mara Budgen
Paulina “Jedda” Puruntatameri with Antonia Burke and Tiwi fisher Clinton offshore of Melville Island, one of the Tiwi Islands, in Australia's Northern Territory. Together with other Tiwi, Jedda has been campaigning for years to stop Australian company Santos and its backers, including Japanese investors, from drilling for natural gas at the Barossa gas field.
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.
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
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.