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July 21, 2025
The Independent Voice in Asia
July 21, 2025
Japan elections
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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, leaves at the party's headquarters following announcement of Upper House election result projections in Tokyo early Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Japan ruling bloc loses majority in Upper House after election drubbing
By Kanako Takahara, Gabriele Ninivaggi and Francis Tang
The ruling LDP-Komeito coalition's devastating loss in Sunday’s poll could lead to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s resignation or political gridlock in parliament.

More coverage

Voters in Tokyo reflect shifting political views across Japan
Japanese markets brace for triple whammy if opposition wins big
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, leaves at the party's headquarters following announcement of Upper House election result projections in Tokyo early Monday.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya in Tokyo on Sunday night
JAPAN / Politics
‘Japanese First’ Sanseito emerges as powerful force after Upper House poll
By Himari Semans
The small right-wing populist party led by firebrand Sohei Kamiya won 14 seats in Sunday’s Upper House election.
Palestinians carry aid supplies in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, on Sunday.
WORLD
Israeli fire kills 67 people seeking aid in Gaza, medics say, as hunger worsens
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
It was one of the highest reported death tolls among repeated recent cases in which aid seekers have been killed, including 36 on Saturday.
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.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
By Tomoko Otake
The debate over the damage sunscreens cause to the marine environment is heating up as some regions ban certain chemical ingredients.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in a campaign event in Yokohama on July 6. Japan faces deep structural challenges but lacks bold political vision and leaders willing to take risks for transformative change.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Performative ‘elections’ expose a sad lack of vision
Stephen R. Nagy
Political parties jostle for position and trade barbs but offer no clear plan for Japan’s growing structural challenges.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in a campaign event in Yokohama on July 6. Japan faces deep structural challenges but lacks bold political vision and leaders willing to take risks for transformative change.

JAPAN

People watch a campaign speech in Tokyo on July 13.
Record 26.2 million people vote early in Upper House poll
The figure represents 25.12% of all voters, with many people using the early voting system given the long weekend.
A guilty ruling by a Chinese court for a Japanese employee at Astellas Pharma on a spying charge will be finalized if he does not file an appeal by the deadline in late July.
Astellas employee won't appeal spying conviction in China
A Beijing district court that imposed the prison sentence is believed to have found the man guilty of espionage for providing information to an intelligence agency.
Voter turnout reaches 58.52% in Japan's Upper House poll
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
By Alex K.T. Martin
Experiential tourism key to driving inbound spending in Japan
Nepal pavilion finally opens at Osaka Expo

BUSINESS

Visitors play Hades 2, an upcoming independent game for Nintendo's Switch 2, during the BitSummit indie gaming expo in the city of Kyoto on Friday.
Indie game studios battle for piece of Switch 2 success
By Katie Forster
With Nintendo game sales long dominated by in-house franchises, it can be hard for outsiders to break through.
A Dole Food Company worker rakes coffee cherries for them to dry at the company's Waialua coffee and cocoa farm on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, in November 2011.
Trump tariffs spell trouble for Hawaii’s few coffee farmers
By Ilena Peng
Coffee is more popular in the U.S. than even bottled water, with two-thirds of Americans drinking it every day.
China quietly issues 2025 rare earth quotas, sources say
U.S. airlines reap rewards from premium travel strategy amid demand slump
By Rajesh Kumar Singh
Life atop China’s car market is starting to look shaky for BYD
By Danny Lee
Jensen Huang, AI visionary in a leather jacket
By Thomas URBAIN and Allison JACKSON

WORLD

An internal security forces member stands watch at a checkpoint in the village of al-Mazra'a on Sunday, after days of violence in Syria's Sweida province sparked by clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions.
Calm reported in Syria's Sweida, as Damascus says truce holding
With hundreds reported killed, the bloodshed is a major test for interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.
Torrential rains triggered a landslide in Sancheong, South Korea, on Saturday.
Death toll rises to 14 in South Korea as heavy rain triggers landslide and flooding
Two people have died and a further two were missing in the South Korean resort town of Gapyeong on Sunday amid heavy rainfall.
China stops U.S. Department of Commerce worker from leaving country: reports
'Trump before Trump': Orban's illiberal model on show
By Andras ROSTOVANYI
China and Vietnam plan first joint army drill amid U.S. tariffs
China starts construction on world's largest hydropower dam in Tibet

Sports

Oleksandr Usyk celebrates after winning his heavyweight title fight over Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday.
Usyk knocks out Dubois to become undisputed world heavyweight champion
By Julian Guyer
The victory saw Ukraine's Usyk extend his unbeaten professional record to 24 fights as the WBA, WBC and WBO champion added his British opponent's IBF belt to his collection.
Trump threatens stadium deal unless Commanders revert to Redskins name
Scottie Scheffler dominates field to cruise to first British Open crown
Shi beats Lanier to win Japan Open badminton title
Pacquiao held to draw by Barrios in world title return

Opinion

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in a campaign event in Yokohama on July 6. Japan faces deep structural challenges but lacks bold political vision and leaders willing to take risks for transformative change.
Performative ‘elections’ expose a sad lack of vision
Stephen R. Nagy
Political parties jostle for position and trade barbs but offer no clear plan for Japan’s growing structural challenges.
Conservatives win big — just not the Liberal Democratic Party
By Michael MacArthur Bosack
The 'Trump Doctrine' is wishful thinking
By Melanie W. Sisson
The bid for Japan’s 7-Eleven was doomed from the start
By Gearoid Reidy
A trade deal fumble could be Ishiba’s last mistake
By Gearoid Reidy

ENVIRONMENT

Activists from Greenpeace protest deep-sea mining with an inflatable octopus and a banner that says "'Protect the deep sea" in Berlin earlier this month.
Restoring sea floor after mining may not be possible, researchers warn
By Amelie Bottollier-Depois
One of the last wild zones on the planet, the sea floor is a coveted frontier for companies and countries eager to access high-demand minerals found there.
Pakistan's quiet solar rush puts pressure on national grid
By Zain Zaman Janjua
How schools are being built for extreme heat — without air conditioning
By Emma Batha
World risks up to $39 trillion in losses from vanishing wetlands: report
By Duncan Miriri
How climate change is fueling wildfires in Europe
By Kate Abnett

CULTURE

One of Leonard Foujita’s biggest muses was himself. He painted self-portraits, often with a cat on his side, looking back at the viewer. He posed for photographers throughout his life, the displayed photos showing he retained his signature bowl cut and round glasses.
The self as a muse: Leonard Foujita's world in paintings and photos
By Jennifer Pastore
“Foujita: Painting and Photography” at Tokyo Station Gallery is being billed as the first exploration of the artist as a photographer and has been a decade in the making.
What to pack if you are heading to the Fuji Rock Festival
Kawaii Lab redefines idol pop for the TikTok generation
By Patrick St. Michel
Akutagawa and Naoki award decision marks rare absence of literary prizewinners
By Alyssa I. Smith
‘Love Doesn't Matter to Me’: Romance takes a backseat to female friendship
By Mark Schilling

LIFE

You don't need an oven to make Kenji Morimoto's easy and delicious Miso Sticky Toffee Crepe Cake.
In microbes we trust: Embracing the nature of fermented food
By Simon Daly
With simple, fuss-free recipes, Kenji Morimoto's debut cookbook effortlessly guides home cooks into the unpredictable but rewarding world of fermentation.
In Gaza-made obi, Palestinian embroidery meets Japanese kimono
By Anna Sakamoto
Dancers, festivals and one very useful Japanese grammar point
By Yaeko Kabe
Cool to be square: A block of tofu with veggies to chill your summer
By Elizabeth Andoh
Sega’s first Japan store signals ‘immersive entertainment’ push
By Gendel Gento

COMMUNITY

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa
Remote work is reshaping how Indian professionals navigate life, family and identity in a post-pandemic Japan.
The mothers holding up Japan's Vietnamese community
By Nguyen Bao Anh
Lilimi settles into a new life
Tobias Bieker: ‘A good interviewer helps the guest shine’
By Gendel Gento
A furever friend: Tips for responsible dog ownership in Japan
By Kat Joplin

Editors' Picks

CULTURE
‘Noto Democracy’ and the slow work of civic change
By Moe Shimizu
Yukio Iokibe’s “Noto Democracy" centers on Motoyuki Takii, a former junior high school teacher who publishes a handwritten newspaper every month to encourage the residents of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, to engage in local politics.
LIFE
In microbes we trust: Embracing the nature of fermented food
By Simon Daly
You don't need an oven to make Kenji Morimoto's easy and delicious Miso Sticky Toffee Crepe Cake.
LIFE
Touring the Silk Road — without leaving Tokyo
By Kimberly Hughes
One of the entrances to Pao Compound, a nine-story Silk Road-inspired complex in Tokyo's Higashinakano neighborhood
CULTURE
The self as a muse: Leonard Foujita's world in paintings and photos
By Jennifer Pastore
One of Leonard Foujita’s biggest muses was himself. He painted self-portraits, often with a cat on his side, looking back at the viewer. He posed for photographers throughout his life, the displayed photos showing he retained his signature bowl cut and round glasses.
JAPAN
Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi’s policies
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
Kiyoshi Shibata stands in front of one of the rice paddies in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, where he produces the prefecture's signature rice brand Tsuyahime.

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
Japan ruling bloc loses majority in Upper House after election drubbing
By Kanako Takahara, Gabriele Ninivaggi and Francis Tang
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, leaves at the party's headquarters following announcement of Upper House election result projections in Tokyo early Monday.
JAPAN
Polls open for key Upper House election that could shake Japanese politics
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
People vote during Japan's Upper House election at a polling station in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN
Sunken WWII Japanese warship Teruzuki found off Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands. A team from the U.S. nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust has discovered the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki on the deep seabed off the Solomon Islands as the 80th anniversary of the war's end approaches.
JAPAN
Japan team finds ancient ocean full of squids
The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team mainly from Hokkaido University has found through a new method using technology.
JAPAN
Voters in Tokyo reflect shifting political views across Japan
By Yukana Inoue
Pedestrians walk in front of an election notice board displaying posters of candidates in Tokyo on Sunday.