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Marine biologist Teina Rongo on his boat passing the research vessel MV Anuanua Moana in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, on June 12. Mining exploration has left many Cook Islanders such as Rongo fearing deep-sea mining could taint their precious ocean forever.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 23, 2025

The Pacific island nation that wants to mine the ocean floor

Research vessels roam the seas around the Cook Islands in search of deposits of battery metals, rare earths and critical minerals.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas speaks to The Japan Times at Europa House in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Wednesday, ahead of an EU-Japan summit.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 23, 2025

EU and Japan aim for deeper defense cooperation in high-tech arena

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says she sees "a lot of room for cooperation" with Tokyo, particularly in technology-driven areas.
Miyazaki Gov. Shunji Kono speaks at a meeting of the National Governors' Association in the city of Aomori on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2025

Governors urge central government to address Japan's shrinking population

During a two-day meeting in Aomori Prefecture, governors called for the establishment of a government agency-level control tower to coordinate related policies.
Government Pension Investment Fund President Kazuto Uchida says there is no need to change the fund's portfolio even after a trade deal was reached between Japan and the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 25, 2025

Japan’s top pension fund keeps strategy amid volatility

As it seeks to ride out the turmoil, the Government Pension Investment Fund aims to enhance portfolio rebalancing with futures and analyze correlations between different assets.
The diffusion index on living conditions in Japan is at its lowest level in nearly 16 years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 24, 2025

Japan might be in a technical recession already

GDP appears to have declined for a second consecutive quarter, while wages remain stagnant and consumer sentiment weak.
A boy and his father walk through the toy section of Walmart in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 29, 2019.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 24, 2025

Toy makers nix batteries and other materials to save costs amid tariff war

The duties imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump are particularly painful for companies like Hasbro and Mattel, as 80% of toys sold in the U.S. come from China.
Swarm Biotactics' cyborg cockroaches are equipped with specialized backpacks that enable real-time data collection via cameras.
WORLD
Jul 24, 2025

Spy cockroaches and AI robots: Germany plots the future of warfare

A wave of German defense startups is developing cutting-edge technology, from tank-like robots and unmanned mini-submarines to battle-ready cyborg cockroaches.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s last-minute trade deal with the U.S. may calm tariff fears but has cost him politically, leaving Japan’s ruling party divided and his leadership on the brink.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 24, 2025

‘Mr. Japan’ bends the knee — and falls on his sword

Shigeru Ishiba’s trade deal with Donald Trump will be his last act as leader
While the pace of gains in consumer prices in the capital slowed in July from a year earlier, the data send a fresh reminder that households are still coping with higher living costs overall.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 25, 2025

Tokyo inflation slows while staying well above BOJ’s target

A decline in utility costs helped slow the overall gauge, but households are still coping with higher living costs overall.
International Monetary Fund spokesperson Julie Kozack said any fiscal stimulus measures Japan takes to address economic shocks should be temporary and targeted at vulnerable households and companies, during a news conference on Thursday in Washington.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 25, 2025

IMF advises Japan to avoid broad tax cuts and handouts

Tackling inflation was a major campaign issue in the Upper House race, with opposition parties having called for reducing or abolishing the consumption tax.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (center) responds to questions during the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, China, on July 17. Nvidia is one of the companies at the heart of the global artificial intelligence movement.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 25, 2025

DeepSeek, Trump’s plan steer agenda at China’s premier AI forum

This year's edition of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference takes place at a critical juncture in the U.S.-Chinese tech rivalry.
U.S. President Donald Trump (left) presents a document to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell while touring a construction project at the central bank in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 25, 2025

Trump says not ‘necessary’ to fire Powell after getting Fed tour

The visit to see the central bank's renovation project put Trump side-by-side with the central bank chief that he has regularly lambasted on social media.
Bank of Japan officials view the trade deal with the U.S. as reducing a key source of uncertainty for Japan’s economy and businesses, allowing the central bank to focus on monitoring the tariffs’ actual impact in incoming economic data, according to people familiar with the matter.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 25, 2025

BOJ Is said to see potential rate hike environment this year

Assuming there’s no change to the U.S. tariff deal, the central bank will likely have enough data by the end of the year to be able to consider whether a rate hike is appropriate.
Japan’s ruling LDP-Komeito bloc lost big, smaller parties gained ground and the country now faces a more fractured, uncertain political future.
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2025

Voter revolt shatters Japan’s ruling coalition, empowers smaller parties

The big winners were smaller, newer parties on the right, Sanseito and the Democratic Party for the People.
The Liberal Democratic Party’s historic Upper House defeat leaves the party fragmented and searching for a capable leader who can reunite conservatives, modernize its appeal, deliver real policies and rebuild its internal power structure.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 25, 2025

Who will save the Liberal Democratic Party?

The LDP is now faced with two fundamental questions: what tasks must it accomplish to restore its political dominance and who is actually capable of accomplishing them?
A stock board in Tokyo on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2025

SmartNews planning to hire Mitsubishi UFJ and Nomura for Tokyo listing

The popular Japanese news aggregation app, valued at $2 billion in 2021, may list in Tokyo as early as next year.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan