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November 07, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY

Japan

World
Japan
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30. Tokyo's strategic positioning between Beijing and Washington is central to countering China’s economic and geopolitical influence.
COMMENTARY / Japan
What the U.S.-China summit means for Japan
China’s willingness to weaponize commercial dependencies rather than projecting strength exposed the fragility of its economic statecraft.
COMMENTARY / Japan
The Toyota buyout is a major test for Japan’s reforms
A letter signed by two dozen investors addressed "widespread concern” about the plan to buy out Toyota Industries Corp., also known as TICO.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Why Japan — like the U.S. — needs Central Asia
The C5 — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — concerns Japan more directly than seems immediately obvious.
Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations Samuel Moncada holds a printout of The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian newspaper at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Oct. 16. U.S. President Donald Trump uses false narratives to justify aggressive policies, including military strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 4, 2025
The big lie behind Trump’s Venezuela strikes
By Timothy Snyder
This display of military power is intended to serve as political spectacle. The danger is that that it could escalate into an unwinnable, open-ended conflict.
Japan is deploying two officers to Lithuania for demining training in support of Ukraine, marking a key step in its evolving security strategy and the maturation of its defense policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 31, 2025
Japan’s demining deployment is a security milestone
By Michael MacArthur Bosack
This deployment is the latest in demining support that Japan has delivered to Ukraine since Russia’s full scale invasion began in February 2022.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a self-made politician from a humble family, earned her way into Japan’s old-boys’ club through sheer determination, an achievement worth celebrating.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 31, 2025
Takaichi deserves better than gendered stereotypes
By Waka Ikeda
Takaichi’s diplomatic interactions don't strike me as “selling her womanness” to Trump, as some have claimed.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2025
How is Takaichi doing after a week at the helm?
By Edo Naito
The Japanese public's reaction to her first week as prime minister has been overwhelmingly positive.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on Tuesday. Whether Takaichi can follow through on her promises will determine whether her relationship with Trump truly ushers in a new era for Japan-U.S. relations.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2025
Takaichi earns kudos for following Trump ‘manual’
By Kuni Miyake
The Takaichi administration’s diplomacy toward Washington will face many trials in the months and years to come.
Sanae Takaichi’s rise to prime minister has boosted optimism in Japan, but sustaining it will depend on her handling of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's political, ethical and electoral challenges.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 28, 2025
Takaichi’s road to rebuilding the LDP’s ‘big tent’
By Taro Tsuda
Sanae Takaichi’s rise to prime minister has boosted optimism in Japan, but sustaining it will depend on her handling of the LDP’s political, ethical and electoral challenges.
New Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to boost Japan’s defense and regional security amid waning U.S. influence and rising threats from China, North Korea and Russia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 28, 2025
With new leadership, Japan has the chance to flex its defense muscles
By Karishma Vaswani
New Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is determined to convince Trump she’s serious about boosting the nation’s military capabilities.

The Toyota buyout is a major test for Japan’s reforms
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, speaks during a media preview at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Oct. 29. Minority investors are challenging the carmaker's bid to take affiliate Toyota Industries Corp. private.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
ChatGPT nickname and Trump tariffs nominated for Japan’s buzzword of 2025
Women hold toys depicting Myaku-Myaku, the official character for the 2025 Osaka Expo, during a media day ahead of the event's public opening day in Osaka in April.
SoftBank is said to have explored potential takeover of Marvell
SoftBank explored a potential takeover of U.S. chipmaker Marvell Technology earlier this year, in what would have been the semiconductor industry's largest-ever deal.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
These are the hottest lower-division rikishi to watch right now
Fukazaki (right) grapples with Enho at the IG Arena in Nagoya on July 13.
Across borders and screens, Tokyo film festival finds humanity in migration
“Mother Bhumi” takes place in a multiethnic rice-farming community where Chinese, Thai and Malay lineages intertwine.
Takaichi’s balancing act: Supporting Taiwan and stabilizing China ties
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with Lin Hsin-i, Taiwan’s presidential adviser, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday in this image posted to Takaichi's official X account.
From 1973 to 2025: A Japanese American skater’s long ride to recognition
Judi Oyama at Winchester Skatepark in San Jose, California, in January 1979. The Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee and Guinness World Record holder still skates and hopes to inspire older women.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo

Podcast

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

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
By Alex K.T. Martin

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