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October 14, 2025
 

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FOCUS

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 — whoever 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.
Set to become first husband, former Lower House lawmaker Taku Yamamoto is supportive of Sanae Takaichi potentially becoming prime minister despite the political circumstances surrounding the Liberal Democratic Party.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 9, 2025
Takaichi taking office will herald arrival of Japan’s first-ever first husband
Former LDP Lower House lawmaker Taku Yamamoto has supported Sanae Takaichi’s position on surnames after marriage and her bid to lead Japan.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito (left) and LDP counterpart Sanae Takaichi meet in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 8, 2025
After 26 years, Komeito may be showing signs it will break with LDP
Komeito not immediately endorsing Takaichi reflects deep concerns among Soka Gakkai members, the party’s main supporters in the lay Buddhist group, about her ideology and policies.
Amaou strawberries grown in a greenhouse
JAPAN / FOCUS
Oct 8, 2025
Fukuoka steps up protection for Amaou strawberry brand
Renowned for its striking appearance and rich sweetness, Amaou has enjoyed strong popularity since its debut and is often hailed as the top tier of sweet strawberries.
A protester holds a sign with an image depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and the words "Nobel" written on it, as supporters and family members of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, demonstrate to demand the immediate end of the war and the release of all hostages, outside the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv, on Sept. 2.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 7, 2025
Trump has his eyes on the prize — but a Nobel win looks unlikely
While this year’s prize is expected to be out of reach, the U.S. president could gain momentum for next year’s award if his Gaza plan and North Korea outreach prove fruitful.
Sanae Takaichi (left), newly elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 6, 2025
DPP emerges as most likely candidate to help LDP's ruling coalition
With personal ties between their executives and policy proximity, the Democratic Party for the People seems the likeliest to help the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition.
Association for Philippines-China Understanding (APCU) Chairman Raul Lambino shakes hands with guests during a ceremony for the Award for Promoting Philippines-China Understanding at The Manila Hotel in Manila in June.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Oct 6, 2025
How China waged an infowar against U.S. interests in the Philippines
China paid for a cyber campaign to weaken support for Philippine government policy and to sow discord over Manila's security alliance with the United States.
A banner of U.S. President Donald Trump on the Department of Labor in Washington, on Thursday
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Oct 6, 2025
Fake job scams cost U.S. job seekers $12 billion as labor market tightens
Employment-related scam cases rose by over 1,000% from May through July, when new graduates typically search for jobs, according to McAfee.
People walk past the Taipei Liaison Office — Taiwan's representative office in South Africa’s administrative capital, Pretoria — in October last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 6, 2025
Chinese pressure shreds Taiwan’s relationship with South Africa
The dispute is a stark example of the precarious moment facing Taiwan in a world order upended by the U.S. under President Donald Trump.
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
After ruling bloc collapses, LDP and opposition scramble to find needed votes for PM
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday after leaving the ruling coalition earlier in the day.
After plenty of ups and downs, Osaka Expo concludes with message of unity
The sun sets on the Grand Ring on the final day of the Osaka Expo on Monday.
Hamas hands over surviving Israeli hostages as Trump visits region
Released Israeli hostages, twins Gali and Ziv Berman, held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, speak to each other after being released, as part of a prisoner-hostage swap and a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Reim, Israel, on Monday.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?
The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.
‘Takaichi trade’ starts unwinding as political calculus upended by Komeito exit
Less than a week ago, Sanae Takaichi seemed set to become Japan's first female prime minister.
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.
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.”

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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