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August 26, 2025
 

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EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2010
No letup in suicide rate
The National Police Agency announced last month that 32,845 people took their own lives in 2009, a rise of 596 from the previous year. This marks the 12th consecutive year in which the number of suicides has topped 30,000 — a sad persistent trend in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2010
New prime minister's lineup
New Prime Minister Naoto Kan has announced the lineup of the Democratic Party of Japan's party leadership and the Cabinet. The lineup clearly shows his thinking: Give a fresh image to the party and Cabinet and win back people's trust by diluting the influence of former DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2010
Devolution plan still half-baked
The central government is expected to decide on a "strategic outline" this month for promoting devolution. The focus will be on relaxing rigid administrative rules imposed by the central government on local governments, changing subsidies from those with strings attached to grants that can be used freely,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 2010
Keidanren's to-do list
Mr. Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of Sumitomo Chemical Co., on May 25 became the top leader of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), Japan's most influential business lobby. He assumes the post at a time when the Japanese economy is suffering from deflation, high unemployment, a low birth rate...
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2010
Yakuza feel the pinch
Japanese leaders who have chafed at Japan being largely ignored by the rest of the world are now faced with Japan's new prominence as poster boy for how not to handle an economy: Its two "lost decades" are cited as a negative example of the dangers of inaction.
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2010
New relations with neighbors
Finally moving beyond World War II, Japan seems to be entering a new era in its relations with its Asian neighbors. Chinese and Japanese companies are exploring new tieups, Chinese tourists are bringing welcome cash to Japan, and the popularity of South Korean dramas on Japanese TV is as strong as ever....
EDITORIALS
Jun 5, 2010
Economy growing for now
Japan's real gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2010 grew 1.2 percent, or an annualized 4.9 percent, from the previous quarter, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of growth. Nominal GDP, which is said to better reflect people's true feelings about economic conditions, also grew...
EDITORIALS
Jun 5, 2010
Work cut out for Mr. Kan
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan was chosen as Japan's next prime minister by the Diet on Friday, two days after Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigned on the heels of his mishandling of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma relocation issue and a scandal involving his political...
EDITORIALS
Jun 4, 2010
Israel overreacts
There are real threats to Israel's security. A flotilla of peace activists that was trying to breach the blockade of Gaza is not one of them. A heavy-handed and poorly prepared response has further blackened Israel's image, claiming innocent lives and alienating close friends and allies. Israel needs...
EDITORIALS
Jun 3, 2010
A disappointing departure
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigned Wednesday, nine months after bringing historic change to Japanese politics by ending more than five decades of almost uninterrupted Liberal Democratic Party rule.
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2010
Raising Japan-China cooperation
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Monday, meeting in Tokyo, have agreed to work toward formal talks on signing a treaty on the joint development of gas fields in the East China Sea. In view of the Chinese helicopters that flew close to two Japanese destroyers in April in the...
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2010
Heavy blow to Mr. Hatoyama
The Hatoyama administration has been weakened after the prime minister decided to basically keep intact the 2006 Japan-U.S. pact on the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa. Mr. Yukio Hatoyama's dismissal of consumer affairs minister Mizuho Fukushima, who opposed the Futenma decision,...
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
Man arrested in Kobe stabbing had been staying at hotel near victim’s home
Masashi Tanimoto arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a woman in Kobe, is sent to prosecutors on Sunday.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.

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

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