Home page

 
Menu
Search
 
Menu
Search
Tokyo Weather 27℃
TOKYO
July 06, 2025
The Independent Voice in Asia
July 06, 2025
Japan elections
Trump tariffs
Israel-Iran conflict
Latest News
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
JAPAN
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Authorities on Friday evacuated some residents from remote islands close to the epicenter of the 5.5 magnitude quake.
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Japan's top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, speaks to the press upon his arrival at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in April.
BUSINESS / Economy
Japan's top trade negotiator holds two phone meetings with Lutnick
Japan's top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, held "in-depth exchanges" over the phone with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Thursday and Saturday.
Elon Musk looks on during a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on May 30.
WORLD / Politics
Elon Musk says he has created a new U.S. political party
It is not clear how much impact the new party would have on the 2026 midterm elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that.
Farmers spray herbicide at Kazuhachi Hosaka's rice farm in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, on June 19.
JAPAN
In reversal, Japan now wants rice farmers to produce more. Will it work?
By Kaori Kaneko
The new direction has taken on an unexpected urgency as Japan grapples with a shortage of the all-important staple.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in a debate with leaders of seven other political parties at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sizing up the forthcoming Upper House election
Michael MacArthur Bosack
Given all that is taking place, this is shaping up to be one of the most unusual Upper House elections in decades.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in a debate with leaders of seven other political parties at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Wednesday.

JAPAN

Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday.
Government to release stockpiled rice for processed foods from August
The government will release its stockpiled rice for use in processed foods and beverages such as miso, rice crackers, sake and shōchū distilled spirits.
A house in Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, after it collapsed due to the Noto earthquake, in January 2024.
Debates on disaster management lacking steam ahead of Upper House vote
References to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's project to establish a disaster management agency are scarce among political parties.
Record 80% of Japanese mothers are employed
Japan Times 1950: Kyoto’s ‘Golden Temple’ burns to the ground
Japanese parties' election campaigning swings into gear
Overseas voting for Upper House election begins

BUSINESS

Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, has repeatedly declined to say whether he will step down when his four-year term as chair expires in May.
Powell's silence on his future complicates Trump Fed chair search
By Saleha Mohsin, Joshua Green and Amara Omeokwe
The Fed chief has repeatedly declined to say whether he will step down when his four-year term as chair expires in May, or remain on the Fed board.
A Xiaomi SU7 sedan in Beijing. Regulators have been finalizing new safety rules for driver-assistance systems as Beijing sharpens scrutiny of the technology following an accident involving a Xiaomi SU7 sedan in March.
China urges caution — and speed — on assisted-driving technology
Driver-assistance systems are seen by industry analysts as the next big battleground in China's hypercompetitive car market.
Japan eyes 'golden share' as condition for aid to Rapidus
GPIF logs $61 billion loss as weak dollar hits overseas assets
By Hideyuki Sano and Nao Sano
Ex-Sumitomo Mitsui Trust official guilty of insider trading
Japan's inflation is outpacing BOJ's view, expert says
By Toru Fujioka and Sumio Ito

WORLD

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese Premier Li Qiang pose for a picture after a bilateral meeting Saturday ahead of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro on July 5.
BRICS nations voice 'serious concerns' over Trump tariffs
The summit's impact will be depleted by the absence of Vladimir Putin as well as Xi Jinping, who is skipping the meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.
People stand near debris following flash flooding in Kerrville, Texas, on Saturday.
Search for missing girls continues as Texas flood death toll rises to 43
The flooding began Friday — the start of the fourth of July holiday weekend — as months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours.
Israel agrees to Gaza truce talks
Under pressure, Hezbollah weighs scaling back its arsenal
By Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily
'Childhood dream': Seine reopens to Paris swimmers after centurylong ban
By Juliette COLLEN
Making connections in Myanmar's fractured state

Sports

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe scores his team's third goal during its win over Borussia Dortmund at the Club World Cup on Saturday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Mbappe on target as Real Madrid downs Dortmund to reach Club World Cup semis
By Andy Scott
Mbappe, who did not play during the group stage due to illness, will hope to be at full fitness when Real takes on Paris Saint-Germain, his old club.
France make Euro 2025 statement against holders England as Miedema completes century
By Terry Daley
Philipsen wins windy Tour de France opener as Evenepoel trapped in split
By Damian MCCALL
Tearful defending champion Krejcikova knocked out of Wimbledon
By Steven Griffiths
Djokovic thumps Kecmanovic for Wimbledon century and spot in last 16

Opinion

The rise of China’s DeepSeek-R1, a low-cost, high-performance open-source AI model, has challenged the belief that only nations with vast computational resources can lead in artificial intelligence, signaling a shift in global AI power dynamics.
A ‘Sputnik’ moment in the global AI race
Makoto Shiono
Much remains uncertain about DeepSeek’s LLM and its capabilities should not be overestimated — but its release nevertheless has sparked intense discussion.
Japan’s Do It Yourself Party: Who we are and where we are headed
By Sohei Kamiya
As trade deadline approaches, Japan must draw lines
The dilemma facing Japan’s rising (and falling) populist parties
By Rintaro Nishimura
China’s shipyard dominance leads to geoeconomic risks
By Kenichi Doi

ENVIRONMENT

Solar panels and wind turbines at the Huaneng Binzhou new energy power generation project in China's eastern Shandong province on June 11
China leading BRICS clean-energy boom with shift into solar, report shows
Most countries in BRICS remain major fossil fuel producers, but the group together produced 51% of the world’s solar energy in 2024 — up from 15% a decade earlier.
Europe’s climate resolve faces big test as EU unveils 2040 goal
By John Ainger and Ewa Krukowska
Europe bakes in summer's first heatwave as continent warms
Three Japanese nationals found guilty over PFAS pollution in Italy
How robotic hives and AI are lowering the risk of bee colony collapse
By Brian Kahn

CULTURE

“Fani Mani” marks Kom_I’s return to music, after leaving the genre-bending J-pop outfit Suiyoubi no Campanella in 2021.
‘Try first, figure it out later’: Kom_I and Foodman’s beautiful mess
By Patrick St. Michel
Part philosophy and part performance, the musicians' “Fani Mani” is all party.
The future is bright inside the visionary mind of architect Sou Fujimoto
By Zoria Petkoska
Queer-coded yakuza story wins prestigious U.K. crime writing award
By Thu-Huong Ha
‘Virgin Punk: Clockwork Girl’: Beautiful, brutal and bringing back ’90s anime energy
By Matt Schley
‘I Am Kirishima’ peels back the mystery of a fugitive radical
By Mark Schilling

LIFE

Karuizawa Distillers, which runs Komoro Distillery in Nagano Prefecture, has teamed up with the city of Furano and real estate developer Seibu Group to open a whisky distillery in Furano.
Beyond the lavender fields in Furano, a whisky distillery emerges
By Simon Daly
The region has teamed up with Karuizawa Distillers and property developer Seibu Group to build a state-of-the-art facility to make single malts.
Shintaro Awa appointed to head the kitchen of L’Ambroisie in Paris
By Kyoko Nakayama
What’s the first thing you think of when you think of a Japanese summer?
By Yuko Tamura
Come nightfall in Nakano, Thai eatery Orangutan opens its arms
By Kimberly Hughes
Cats, dogs, meerkats, goats: Interpets trade fair draws furry hordes
By Shawn B. Swinger

COMMUNITY

Miho Koshiba started her career in finance before she founded the Mirai Institute, a think tank that operates the Midori.so coworking space with an ever-growing cosmopolitan community across seven locations in Tokyo.
Miho Koshiba: ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if people looked forward to Mondays?’
By Carina Fushimi
The cofounder of the Midori.so coworking space shares her inspirations and aspirations for career and community.
A furry ball of sunshine
Japanese language is your gateway to seeing the world anew
By Damian Flanagan
Fine feline twosome on the hunt for a forever home
A singular ensemble: Indian food, science and Fukushima
By Trishit Banerjee

Editors' Picks

CULTURE
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
By Thu-Huong Ha
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
MORE SPORTS
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
By John Gunning
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
BUSINESS
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
By Elizabeth Beattie
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
LIFE
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
By Tan Pin Yen
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
ENVIRONMENT
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
By Anton L. Delgado
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

JT Directory Service

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

Ex.Portal By Synergy Media Specialists

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy
Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

WHAT’S TRENDING

JAPAN
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
JAPAN
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
By Tomoko Otake and Yukana Inoue
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
COMMENTARY
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
By Gearoid Reidy
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
JAPAN
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
By Jessica Speed
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
JAPAN
U.S. military apologizes over Okinawa sexual assault case
Col. Neil Owens (right), chief of staff for the 3rd Marine Division, bows in apology at the Okinawa Prefectural Government office in Naha on Thursday.