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October 21, 2025
 

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FOCUS

A flea market in Kyoto. Local governments in Japan have been urged to mediate between citizens and businesses to expand secondhand markets.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Oct 20, 2025
Japan pushes reuse market as new consumption model
The Environment Ministry plans to compile a road map by the end of March 2026 outlining medium- to long-term measures to further boost growth of the sector.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura, who leads Nippon Ishin no Kai, says a "definite condition" for forming a coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party is to reduce the number of parliamentary members.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 17, 2025
Coalition with LDP could give Nippon Ishin chance to advocate its pet projects
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura, who leads Nippon Ishin, said a "definite condition" for forming a coalition with the LDP was reducing the number of parliamentary members.
Rengo's head Tomoko Yoshino speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Oct. 8.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 16, 2025
As they wrestle for power, Japan’s political parties must remember their base
Electoral fortunes are shaped — or undone — by parliamentary alignments, social and religious groups, and representation from industries and labor.
Crowds attend a Sanseito rally in the city of Saitama during the Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 16, 2025
Doctrine forms the core of Sanseito’s strategy, with some caveats
Its adherence to doctrine makes it resemble older parties with strong organizational structures and voting blocs rather than smaller populist ones.
Kansai Electric Power plans to carry out geological and other surveys in Mihama, Fukui Prefecture, home to its Mihama nuclear power plant, as groundwork for next-generation reactors.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Oct 15, 2025
Kansai Electric to conduct surveys for new nuclear reactors
The government's renewed push for nuclear power comes amid a surge of new facilities with high electricity consumption, notably data centers and semiconductor plants.
Newly-elected leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi (right) celebrates with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after winning the LDP leadership election in Tokyo on October 4.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 14, 2025
Number of scenarios now on the table for who might be Japan’s next prime minister
With Komeito’s exit from the ruling coalition, there is now no guarantee LDP chief Sanae Takaichi will be voted prime minister when parliament convenes.
Mourners and villagers carry the coffin of a Pakistani soldier in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 14, 2025
Why has the latest Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict erupted?
Late on Saturday, Taliban forces attacked Pakistani military posts along the length of the 2,600-kilometer border, with Pakistani forces later retaliating.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a speech during the Gaza Peace Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 14, 2025
Trump basks in the spotlight in Egypt with harder part to come
Trump has offered a vision for a broader Middle East peace after the success of U.S.-led mediation efforts to end the fighting in Gaza. But these goals are formidable.
As horse-trading and speculation surge over who will be elected the next prime minister in parliament — the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Sanae Takaichi or a possible candidate put forward by a unified opposition — Japan’s next leader will be confronted with a quick succession of key diplomatic events.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 13, 2025
A frenetic diplomatic schedule looms for Japan’s next leader — whomever that may be
Japanese diplomacy has landed in a precarious position following the exit of Komeito from the LDP-led ruling bloc as a spate of summits and meetings loom at the end of this month.
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Oct 12, 2025
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
The mega-event was a resounding success, taking in some 25 million visitors over 184 days. But how its legacy will look in the decades to come remains a question mark.
In a ranking of the best-performing equity indexes this year, the U.S. doesn’t crack the Top 50. You need to go all the way to No. 66 before the world’s most valuable equity index shows up — one of the worst relative performances since the global financial crisis for the U.S. benchmark.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Oct 12, 2025
A great year for U.S. stocks? Not compared with rest of the world.
The underperformance, market participants say, owes just as much to a broader shift in the mindset among foreign investors
A drone detection and defense system is parked in Kottingbrunn, Austria, on Oct. 3
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 12, 2025
How can Europe protect its skies against 'escalating' drone menace?
Concerns are growing that such disruptions are part of Russian hybrid war tactics three-and-a-half years into its invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington on Friday. The current government shutdown is the most acute symptom of a general lack of goodwill in Washington, where bipartisan deal-making has increasingly gone out of vogue.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 12, 2025
Trump layoffs and broken trust harden Democrats’ shutdown stand
Democrats have expressed doubts that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver a health care fix unless forced to do so.
Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi enters party headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 11, 2025
Why Japan's coalition collapsed — and what's next
In an upcoming vote in parliament, all parties are expected to put forward their leaders in a first round of voting, with LDP chief Sanae Takaichi likely bound for a runoff.
Ichiro Ozawa (left), leader of the Liberal Party, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi (center) and Takenori Kanzaki, leader of Komeito, hold hands ahead of a three-party summit toward forming a coalition government, at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo in October 1999.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 11, 2025
LDP-Komeito coalition marked by twists and turns over 26 years
The two parties have been in a mutually dependent relationship centered on electoral cooperation.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Oct. 5.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 11, 2025
Trusting Trump: Why Hamas gambled on giving up Gaza hostages
The U.S. president's handling of Israel's Qatar attack on Hamas officials gave the group more faith that he was serious about ending the war in Gaza.
Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado greets supporters during a rally in Guanare, Venezuela, in July 2024.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 11, 2025
Nobel winner vilified by Maduro regime vows to keep up her fight in Venezuela
Supporters of Maria Corina Machado have thinned under Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's brutal crackdown that's sent many to jail or into exile.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 11, 2025
With flattery and warnings, Russia tries to revive 'spirit of Alaska' with U.S.
Moscow is trying to adapt to Trump's diplomatic reversals by taking a delicate twin-track approach.
A worker waters the site of a rare earth metals mine in Nancheng county, in China's Jiangxi province, in January 2011.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Oct 11, 2025
The world’s chip supply chain is bracing for fallout from China’s rare-earth curbs
The restrictions represent the first major attempt by Beijing to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over foreign companies to target the semiconductor industry.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is escalating its efforts to target domestic opponents, raising alarm among civil rights groups and Democratic leaders about the use of executive power.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 10, 2025
Trump’s war on the left: Inside the plan to investigate liberal groups
Potential tools to defund or shut down groups include IRS investigations to strip them of tax-exempt status and criminal probes by the Justice Department and FBI.
Why I chose Japanese citizenship over permanent residency
Jon Heese (second left) takes part in a 2024 New Year's nihonshu barrel opening ceremony.
Path clears for Takaichi to become PM as LDP and JIP agree to form coalition
Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi (right) reaches out to shake hands with Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura after signing a coalition deal Monday evening in Tokyo.
EV battery race heats up among Japanese automakers
Japanese EV production is focusing on batteries as automakers compete for the lightest, most durable models and the longest driving range.
LDP and Nippon Ishin no Kai to form coalition government, report says
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai have agreed to form a coalition, paving the way for the country's first female prime minister, Kyodo reports.
Suntory and Sapporo to halt gift beer sales after cyberattack against Asahi
Suntory will gradually suspend the sale of 13 beer sets for winter gifts, including a set of Chinese zodiac-themed cans of The Premium Malt's.
Japan leads in in-depth AI awareness, new global study finds
In Japan, 55% were “equally concerned and excited” about the rise of AI in daily life, while 28% were “more concerned than excited.”
What does Jimbocho think of its unexpected ‘cool’ status?
Tokyo's Jimbocho neighborhood is a haven for book lovers, its rows of secondhand bookstores spilling over with printed materials.
What you need to see at this year's Tokyo film festival
Chloe Zhao’s "Hamnet"
New film explores how Japan and the U.S. found common ground through baseball
Masanori Murakami became the first MLB player from Japan when he made his debut with the Giants on Sept 1, 1964.
As they wrestle for power, Japan’s political parties must remember their base
Rengo's head Tomoko Yoshino speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Oct. 8.

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

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