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Grown in the town of Moroyama in Saitama Prefecture, Katsuragi yuzu is believed to be Japan's oldest cultivated yuzu variety.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 22, 2025

The juicy tale of Saitama's prized yuzu

Locals are supporting the country’s oldest cultivation of the Japanese citrus via creative ways like ownership schemes and turning the fruit into various sips and savories.
A White House official said the United States is  "just laying the groundwork" for possibly revoking authorizations granted in recent years to global chipmakers Samsung, SK Hynix and TSMC to receive U.S. goods and technology at their plants in China, in case the trade truce reached between the two countries falls apart.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 21, 2025

U.S. may target Samsung, Hynix and TSMC operations in China

Revoking authorizations to receive U.S. goods and tech would make it difficult for foreign chipmakers to operate in China.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attends a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 21, 2025

Trump floats firing 'numbskull' Fed chair Jerome Powell

The Republican leader regularly berates Powell over the bank's decisions not to lower interest rates.
Lexus GX 550 SUV is displayed at the New York International Auto Show in New York in March last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 21, 2025

Toyota to raise U.S. auto prices by more than $200 from July

Some Toyota- and Lexus-branded models will see their prices raised by an average of $270 and $208, respectively.
Smoke rises from an Israeli attack on an oil refinery in Tehran on June 15.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 22, 2025

Trump’s airstrikes on Iran leave oil market poised for surge

A recent rise in the price of oil is expected to restart on Monday after the U.S. assault dramatically raised the stakes in a region that accounts for a third of global oil output.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a meeting in the Situation Room at the White House in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 22, 2025

Strikes on Iran mark Trump's biggest, and riskiest, foreign policy gamble

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to deliver military strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites is fraught with risks and unknowns.
An under-construction container ship sits at the Daewoo DSME shipyard in Okpo, South Korea, in December 2014.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 22, 2025

South Korea counts on shipbuilding to ease U.S. tariff woes

Already hit by sector levies on steel and car exports, Seoul is laser-focused on negotiations over a 25% country-specific tariff.
People pray during a visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15, the 79th anniversary of Japan's surrender during World War II.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2025

Why only Japan is criticized for honoring its war dead

Other countries honor the ultimate sacrifice regardless of whether the war was just, later judged a mistake or involved actions that could be seen as war crimes.
A worker checks sunscreen products during the final manufacturing process at a factory for the Japanese chemical and cosmetics company Kao in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 23, 2025

Why Japanese sunscreen is going viral — and selling out

Japanese skincare is getting its moment in the sun thanks to the help of beauty influencers on YouTube and other social media platforms.
Protesters, predominantly Houthi supporters, burn Israeli and U.S. flags as they demonstrate in solidarity with Palestinians and Iran, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 23, 2025

How a cornered Iran could wreak havoc on global oil trade

Iran has over the years threatened multiple times to shut the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow stretch of water through which a fifth of the world’s oil supply flows each day.
An employee welds lithium batteries in Verrieres-en-Anjou, western France, on June 10.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2025

Europe's lithium quest hampered by China and lack of cash

The bloc's broader energy security and climate goals could depend on securing a steady supply of the key mineral, used in batteries and other clean energy supply chains.
Rice paddies in the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido. Rice is a major crop for Hokkaido, with the region having produced 562,400 tons of it last year.
BUSINESS / Economy / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jun 30, 2025

U.S. import pressure raises concerns for Hokkaido agriculture

The U.S. is nudging Japan to import more rice, soybeans, and maize — vital crops that support Hokkaido's economy.
People attend a protest following U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Tehran on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 23, 2025

U.S. strikes on Iran come at fragile moment for the global economy

The biggest economic impact from a prolonged conflict in the Middle East would likely be felt via surging oil prices.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a ceremony in the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / History
Jun 23, 2025

Okinawa marks 80th anniversary of end of ferocious ground battle

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke of the horrific ground war involving Okinawan residents, noting that 200,000 lives were lost, or about one in four Okinawans.
A checkout system equipped with a display showing a 3D avatar enables a Lawson employee to remotely help customers at an experimental Lawson store that opened Monday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2025

Lawson beta tests futuristic convenience store with KDDI

Real x Tech Lawson utilizes a range of technologies, including robotics, digital signage and artificial intelligence.
Antimonopoly trials against Dentsu Group and five other firms as well as their officials involved are underway.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2025

FTC fines Dentsu Group and others ¥3.3 billion

The FTC also found an antimonopoly law violation by ADK Marketing Solutions but refrained from imposing a fine on the firm.
The Strait of Hormuz separating Iran (top) from the United Arab Emirates and Oman (bottom) as seen from the International Space Station in 2021. More than half of the oil imported by East Asia passes through the Strait, experts estimate.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 24, 2025

Asian countries most vulnerable to Strait of Hormuz blockade

Japanese customs data showed 95% of crude oil imports last year came from the Middle East.
A WE League Cup championship match between Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina and INAC Kobe takes place on Dec. 29 in Tokyo. A healthy increase in gross revenue has highlighted the WE League’s newfound growth potential.
SOCCER
Jun 24, 2025

WE League finally sowing seeds of growth under new stewardship

Yoshikazu Nonomura, who took the helm a year ago, oversaw improved attendance and financial numbers during his first season as chairman.
Chinese tech startup DeepSeek is helping Beijing with military and intelligence operations, according to U.S. officials.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 24, 2025

DeepSeek aids China's military and evaded export controls, U.S. official says

The U.S. conclusions reflect a growing conviction in Washington that the capabilities behind the rapid rise of one of China's flagship AI enterprises may have been exaggerated.
The Finance Ministry will trim the volume of 20-, 30- and 40-year bonds sold in regular auctions by a combined ¥3.2 trillion ($21.7 billion) through the end of March 2026.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 24, 2025

Japan approves plan to cut super-long bond sales by $22 billion

The changes come after an imbalance between supply and demand for long tenors in Japan’s government bond market led to surges in yields to record highs.
Since its introduction in 1985, Sega's UFO Catcher machine has come to define crane games in Japan.
LIFE / Digital
Jun 24, 2025

King of Japan’s arcades, Sega’s UFO Catcher turns 40

Where would Japan’s arcades be without the rows and rows of crane games that Sega’s influential machine helped popularize?
"I am confident that we have what we need to rebuild our company," said Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa at its headquarters in Yokohama on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2025

Investors grill new Nissan CEO over job cuts, losses and mounting debt

"We understand your frustration,” Espinosa told stakeholders. "It will not be easy to deliver. But I am confident that we have what we need to rebuild our company.”
Nomura Holdings shareholders have voted down a name change plan following a pair of scandals at the company.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2025

Nomura shareholders reject proposal to change company name

Investors also voted in favor of retaining CEO Kentaro Okuda and Chairman Koji Nagai as board members, the company said on its website.
U.S. proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services had urged Japan Exchange Group investors to vote against CEO Hiromi Yamaji’s re-election after an employee was found guilty of insider trading.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2025

Japan bourse CEO reappointed with slimmer vote as rating falls

Investors voted with their feet as the stock’s 18.6% decline over the past year underperformed the broad Topix’s 1.6% rise.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press before boarding Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2025

Trump baffles with sudden U-turn on China buying Iranian oil

U.S. Treasury and State department officials handling Iranian oil sanctions were surprised by Trump’s statement and uncertain how to immediately interpret it.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 25, 2025

BOJ record signals consensus that inflation is faster than expected

The board’s views indicate it’s possible the bank will raise its inflation forecast in a quarterly economic report at the July meeting.
Taxi drivers wait for fares under a patriotic billboard in Tehran on Tuesday, the day of the ceasefire announcement.
WORLD
Jun 25, 2025

Twelve day Middle East war shows how 'normal' the unthinkable has become

The ructions that have torn through the Middle East aren’t likely to fully reveal their impact for years to come.
Marubeni will jointly hold Senoko with Singapore’s Sembcorp Utilities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 25, 2025

Marubeni boosts power role in Singapore by raising Senoko stake

Following the acquisition, Marubeni will jointly hold Senoko with Singapore’s Sembcorp Utilities.
SBI Holdings repaying the public funds on July 31 will mark the end to the aftermath of a financial crisis triggered by the bursting in the early 1990s of the asset-inflated economic bubble in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 25, 2025

SBI to fully repay public funds next month

SBI repaying the public funds would mark the end to the aftermath of a financial crisis triggered by the bursting in the early 1990s of the asset-inflated economic bubble in Japan.
A group of tourists drive go-karts in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on April 18, 2024. The ward will introduce new regulations on go-kart rental operators starting July 1.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025

Shibuya to regulate popular street kart rentals amid tourist boom

Go-kart-style vehicles have become a staple part of Tokyo’s inbound tourism scene, but they have also drawn complaints from locals.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji