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TOKYO
August 29, 2025
The Independent Voice in Asia
August 29, 2025
Shigeru Ishiba
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A group of Ground Self-Defense Force service members discuss drone operations and capabilities at a joint static display during the Orient Shield 24 opening ceremony at the Yausubetsu Training Area in Hokkaido in July last year. Orient Shield 24 is a large-scale U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and JGDSF joint training exercise that converges on multi-domain bilateral field training and live fire exercises. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. Tara E. Brown)
JAPAN
Japan looks to build drone ‘shield’ in record defense budget request
By Jesse Johnson
The Defense Ministry is seeking a budget exceeding ¥8.8 trillion ($60 billion) that includes a ¥128.7 billion plan to build a multilayered coastal defense system.
A group of Ground Self-Defense Force service members discuss drone operations and capabilities at a joint static display during the Orient Shield 24 opening ceremony at the Yausubetsu Training Area in Hokkaido in July last year. Orient Shield 24 is a large-scale U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and JGDSF joint training exercise that converges on multi-domain bilateral field training and live fire exercises. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. Tara E. Brown)
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a reception at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 9.
BUSINESS / Economy
Russia eyes China trade revival as Putin prepares for Xi summit, sources say
By Gleb Bryanski, Darya Korsunskaya, Elena Fabrichnaya and Gleb Stolyarov
"Ahead of the visit, officials on both sides are looking into ways to increase trade because the current numbers do not look good," one source said.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
By Francis Tang
Japan's chief tariff negotiator had been set to leave on Thursday for a 10th round of talks.
Nippon Ishin no Kai leader Hirofumi Yoshimura (center), Secretary-General Hiroshi Nakatsuka (center right) and other executives meet in Osaka on Aug. 12.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Amid LDP turmoil, speculation grows over possible tie-up with Nippon Ishin
By Eric Johnston
Recent moves that put LDP-friendly executives into leadership positions seem to signal that Nippon Ishin wants to draw closer to the LDP.
Sakurazaka46, the idol pop outfit formerly known as Keyakizaka46, wrapped up an an 11-night nationwide tour this month.
CULTURE / Music
Sakurazaka46 wants the world to dance along
By Patrick St. Michel
The 33-member idol group takes its spectacle-heavy performances on the road — and abroad.
Sakurazaka46, the idol pop outfit formerly known as Keyakizaka46, wrapped up an an 11-night nationwide tour this month.

JAPAN

The Justice Ministry has drafted an ordinance proposing a legally mandated post-divorce child support amount of ¥20,000 per child per month, sources said.
Statutory post-divorce child support to be set at ¥20,000 a month
According to a 2021 welfare ministry survey, only 28.1% of single-mother households and 8.7% of single-father households had actually received child support from the other parents.
The health ministry is considering allowing nationwide pharmacy sales of emergency contraceptive pills without requiring age restrictions or parental approval.
Japan weighs OTC sales of emergency contraceptive pills without age limit
By Yukana Inoue
To ensure proper use, the plan would require that the morning-after pill be taken in the presence of a pharmacist.
Japan to support internship programs at local companies
Japan still struggling with problem of groping
Nippon Ishin lawmaker's alleged fraud likely totals ¥8 million
Japan and Ecuador agree to deepen economic ties

BUSINESS

Despite political uncertainty in Japan, investors in the stock market are banking on an economy that is finally gaining momentum after years of stagnation.
Japanese stocks tipped to extend record rally after trade deal
By Aya Wagatsuma and Momoka Furusawa
The Nikkei Stock Average is projected to rise an average of 10% over the next 12 months from its most recent record high of 43,714.31.
A cargo ship full of containers is seen at the Port of Oakland, California.
U.S. low-value package tariff exemption ends, raising costs for shippers and consumers
By David Lawder and Andrea Shalal
The move broadens the Trump administration's cancellation of the de minimis exemption for packages from China and Hong Kong in May.
Akazawa expects to make another trip to U.S. ahead of executive order
By Yoshiaki Nohara and Akemi Terukina
Prices of 1,422 food items, including chocolate, to rise in Japan in September
Japan's unemployment rate falls to 2.3% in July
China is running the world's most powerful floating wind turbine

WORLD

Emergency service workers at the site a Russian airstrike on a residential building in Kyiv on Thursday
Russian missiles pound Ukraine, damaging EU and British offices
By Taras Garanich and Anastasiia Malenko
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strike was Moscow's answer to diplomatic efforts to end its war.
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia (center) is flanked by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura (right) and his brother Cesar (left) as he arrives for his immigration check-in on Monday in Baltimore.
Why are countries accepting deportees from the U.S.?
By Rose TROUP BUCHANAN
Several poor countries, mostly in Africa, have agreed to take deportees from the United States who are almost entirely citizens of other countries.
The 'land swap' that wasn't: Inside Trump's frantic dash for Ukraine peace
By Gram Slattery, Jonathan Landay and Andreas Rinke
South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee indicted for bribery
By Ju-min Park
European powers pull trigger to slap Iran with U.N. sanctions
By Jonathan Tirone, Ellen Milligan and Samy Adghirni
In Chicago, locals prepare for Trump's possible deployment of national guard
By Emily Schmall, Bianca Flowers and Heather Schlitz

Sports

Naomi Osaka celebrates after her win over Hailey Baptiste in the second round of the U.S. Open in New York on Thursday.
Naomi Osaka shines on way to third round at U.S. Open
Osaka needed just 70 minutes to complete a lopsided win over Hailey Baptiste.
Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber blasts 4 home runs in win over Braves
F1 leader Oscar Piastri backs McLaren over moves at Hungarian Grand Prix
Sebastian Coe confident gene testing will be completed for Tokyo worlds
Noah Lyles makes statement with win in 200 ahead of world championships

Opinion

Japan faces a strategic dilemma between an unreliable U.S. security alliance and an assertive China, requiring it to pursue flexible, resilient and multilayered partnerships while avoiding dependence on either power.
Japan must prepare for a post-American Indo-Pacific
Stephen R. Nagy
Tokyo must confront an uncomfortable truth: The U.S.-led order that enabled Japan’s postwar success is dead and no one knows what comes next.
Trump’s tariffs should spur Indo-Japan convergence
By Varuna Shankar
Al and our brave new world of ‘weaponized interdependence’
By Brad Glosserman
Joint Sino-Russian patrols push Japan to rethink defense posture
By Jonathan Berkshire Miller
Microsoft hack victims need to be on alert for sleeper cells
By Dave Lee

ENVIRONMENT

A worker wearing protective equipment walks near the Electric Arc Furnace at the 7 Steel facility in Cardiff, Wales, on July 18.
Sky-high electricity costs hindering the U.K.s progress toward net zero
By Kate Holton and Susanna Twidale
Energy bills have stripped firms of money to improve efficiency, deterred the shift to lower-carbon power sources and made wind-farm, pylon and battery production less competitive.
Record wildfires burn more than 1 million hectares of EU land this year
By Kate Abnett
Are bridges near you safe? This MRI-like scan may prevent disaster
By Coco Liu
'Restoring dignity': Kenya slum exchange offers water for plastic
Spain's 16-day heat wave is 'most intense on record'

CULTURE

Japan Times
In pictures: Koenji Awa Odori 2025
By Johan Brooks
At Koenji Awa Odori, performers and crowds blur together in sound, sweat and laughter — a summer festival that thrives on shared energy and joy.
From foil to fan favorite, Kuromi embodies Sanrio’s darker side of cute
By Patrick St. Michel
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announce engagement after two-year romance
By Lisa Richwine
Healing Oshima Island's history of disease with a touch of art
By Uliana Dobrova
'The Face of Jizo': Hisashi Inoue's play staged in Sydney commemorates WWII victims
By Kris Kosaka

LIFE

A boy looks at samples of Pokemon toys available with the McDonald's Happy Meal set in Tokyo earlier this month.
How to complain politely: Lessons from the McDonald’s Pokemon debacle
By Yuko Tamura
In Japan, the right phrasing can mean the difference between a request and harassment.
Sega's ninja-themed Shinobi series is back from the dead
By Owen Ziegler
Retired Tokyo trains live on as upcycled table lamps
By Joanna Kawecki
Behind Tanikoretani’s quiet facade, a lively world of sake-fueled food
By Robbie Swinnerton
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
By Yuko Tamura

COMMUNITY

Jesse Kirkwood is part of a vibrant field of translators who have nurtured what might be called a “post-Murakami era of Japanese literature and translation,” one book at a time.
Jesse Kirkwood: ‘Languages are entire cultural universes with all sorts of baggage’
By Kris Kosaka
The Japanese-English literary translator reflects on catching the recent wave of “post-Murakami” fiction and how he balances reading for work versus pleasure.
Tosca turns a new leaf in a new home
More Than Music makes space for creative communion
By Shyam Bhardwa
Seri Yanai: ‘We mix modern and analog to create something new’
By Ayako Nakano
Carl J. Green, mentor to a generation of ‘Japan hands,’ dies at 85
By Matthew Goodman

Editors' Picks

BUSINESS
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
By Francis Tang
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
CULTURE
Virtual singer Kaf's music becomes magic in 'Kamitsubaki City Under Construction'
By Alicia Haddick
Virtual singer Kaf got her start in 2018 by posting songs and covers to YouTube. Now, after having performed live shows at major venues including Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, she is turning to voice acting and starring in the new anime series “Kamitsubaki City Under Construction.”
JAPAN
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
By Yukana Inoue
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
BASEBALL
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
By Mai Yoshikawa
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
JAPAN
Is Kishida plotting a return of the king? Or would he rather stay a kingmaker?
By Eric Johnston
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chairs a plenary session at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

JT Directory Service

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SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

COMFACTS

Tsunan Sake Brewery Launches Limited-Edition “Yukigesho Castella” Featuring Sake Lees at “Tsunan Sake Brewery Sunflower Festival 2025”
Tsunan Sake Brewery Launches Limited-Edition “Yukigesho Castella” Featuring Sake Lees at “Tsunan Sake Brewery Sunflower Festival 2025”
TSUNAN SAKE BREWERY

WHAT’S TRENDING

JAPAN
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
By Gabriel Dominguez
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
BASEBALL
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
By Mai Yoshikawa
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
BUSINESS
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
By Francis Tang
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
JAPAN
Confusion over Japan’s ‘hometown’ plan overshadows African development event
By Yukana Inoue
First Lady Yoshiko Ishiba (center, in white and blue dress) hosts an event on Japanese culture with the first ladies of African leaders on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.