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October 11, 2025
 

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Francis Tang
PayPay is the most popular payment app in Japan, with 70 million users.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 15, 2025
SoftBank's PayPay prepares for listing on a U.S. exchange
It has filed registration documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
A screen displays share prices inside the Kabuto One building in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 closed at a record high of 43,378.31 on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 15, 2025
Tokyo stocks hit closing-price record as GDP surprises
The Japanese economy grew much faster than expected in the second quarter.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent believes Japan's rates are too low.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 14, 2025
Tokyo’s record-beating stock rally ends as Bessent jawbones Japan on rates
The U.S. treasury secretary argues that Japan has an inflation problem.
Tokyo stocks rallied to a new high on Wednesday even as trade tensions and economic concerns remain.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 13, 2025
Japan's Nikkei 225 breaches 43,000 for first time ever
The benchmark stock index surged to a new high for a second consecutive day.
Stocks in Tokyo rallied on Tuesday despite months of uncertainty and general economic concerns.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 12, 2025
Japan's Nikkei 225 hits record high on tariff and rate optimism
Shares rise after some good news on the trade front and a long weekend.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, said the U.S. made a clerical error in not including a “reciprocal” tariff rate ceiling for Japan in the trade deal.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2025
U.S. backtracks on Japan tariff calculation, taking effective rate lower
Japan's chief tariff negotiator said that a clerical error had been made in the U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 7, 2025
The United States imposes 15% 'reciprocal' tariff on most Japanese goods
Japan and the U.S. still disagree on how the rate will be calculated.
U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday. He told CNBC that investment pledges are like signing bonuses.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 6, 2025
Trump: The $550 billion pledged by Japan is 'our money'
The U.S. president told CNBC that he is free to invest the funds however he wishes.
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa. Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, is returning to the United States for another round of trade talks.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 5, 2025
Akazawa returns to U.S. for more talks as tariff deal looks shaky
Japan is urging the United States to cut the tariff on cars as soon as possible.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has been talking up Japan's successful tariff negotiations with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2025
U.S. sets Aug. 7 as start date for Japan's 15% 'reciprocal' tariff
The focus is now on unfinished business as auto duties go unmentioned.
Police officers ask a man to evacuate from an empty beach following a tsunami warning, in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2025
Japan on edge but prepared for tsunami after huge Kamchatka earthquake
Tsunami waves measuring up to 1.3 meters were observed off the Pacific coast of Japan, with authorities urging people in coastal areas to evacuate to higher ground.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, the day after he agreed to an 11th-hour trade deal with Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 24, 2025
Big unanswered questions follow Japan's big, beautiful deal with the U.S.
The $550 billion investment plan, in particular, is the subject of doubt and discussion.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures after signing executive orders in Washington on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2025
Trump says Tokyo agreed to buy U.S. defense gear, but questions remain
Touting the surprise trade agreement with Japan, the U.S. president claimed that Tokyo agreed to buy billions of dollars in defense equipment.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan chief tariff negotiator, in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jul 23, 2025
Japan and U.S. both claim win in surprise 11th-hour tariff deal
The "reciprocal" rate is set at 15%, while the rate on autos is 12.5%
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Japan on Tuesday, saying the agreement would create "hundreds of thousands of jobs."
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 23, 2025
Japan and U.S. reach tariff deal with ‘reciprocal’ rate at 15%
The U.S. president did not mention sector-specific tariffs currently in place, but NHK reported the overall tariff rate on autos will be 15%.
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa in Osaka on Saturday. On Monday, Akazawa flew to the United States for another round of tariff negotiations.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 21, 2025
Akazawa jets to Washington for tariff talks after historic election
If an agreement with the U.S. can't be reached before Aug. 1, the "reciprocal" tariff rate imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump rises to 25%.
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
Jul 21, 2025
Japan ruling bloc loses majority in Upper House after election drubbing
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.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 19, 2025
Ishiba and Bessent say 'good' trade agreement still possible
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba urged U.S. Treasury chief Scott Bessent to continue talks with Japan’s chief negotiator to achieve a win-win deal.
Campaign posters in Tokyo. Voters in Japan put immediate economic issues ahead of longer-term concerns about the effects of tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 17, 2025
Trump tariffs fail to register with Japanese voters ahead of key election
Only 8% of voters surveyed by NHK rated tariffs as their top priority.
U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum (left) and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 16, 2025
Trump signals the end of the road for Japan tariff negotiations
U.S. President Donald Trump's 25% "reciprocal" rate might simply be allowed to go into effect on Aug. 1
Takaichi's PM bid faces further headwinds with coalition split
LDP leader Sanae Takaichi and Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito attend a party leaders' meeting on Friday in Tokyo.
Powerful earthquake strikes off southern Philippines
Authorities inspect a damaged wall and a car outside a mall in Butuan, Philippines, on Friday, after a major earthquake struck the area.
Japan to move toward five-year integrated bachelor's-master’s programs
Japan plans to introduce nationwide five-year bachelor's-master's programs to raise graduate school enrollment and train more highly skilled professionals amid a shrinking workforce.
Tokyo named world’s best big city for second straight year
Tokyo was ranked the world's best large city for the second year in a row in the Conde Nast Traveler's 2025 Readers' Choice Awards.
Chemistry Nobel winner Kitagawa says downtime helped him think up new material
Susumu Kitagawa speaks to reporters at Kyoto University on Wednesday after receiving the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry the same day.
A Japanese comedian walks into an Aussie bar … and stays there
Takashi “Waka” Wakasugi stopped by the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya Ward last month following his stint at Edinburgh Festival Fringe performing his show “Comedy Samurai.”
Chemistry Nobel winner Kitagawa says downtime helped him think up new material
Susumu Kitagawa speaks to reporters at Kyoto University on Wednesday after receiving the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry the same day.
University of Tokyo lands its highest spot ever in global higher education ranking
The University of Tokyo in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward
Tokyo named world’s best big city for second straight year
Tokyo was ranked the world's best large city for the second year in a row in the Conde Nast Traveler's 2025 Readers' Choice Awards.
With nuclear sub proposal, Japan faces array of political and tech challenges
The Jingei, the third of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Taigei-class submarines, was commissioned in March last year. It is equipped with lithium-ion batteries, enabling it to have a longer diving time and cruising distance than older models with lead-acid batteries.

Podcast

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

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

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