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Former yokozuna Hakuho arrives at a news conference to announce his future plans in Tokyo on Monday.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Jun 11, 2025

Hakuho’s new venture not an automatic 'Grand Slam'

World Sumo Grand Slam is a very catchy name, but for those wanting more details, that’s all it seems to be for now.
India’s potential participation in the Japan-U.K.-Italy fighter jet project GCAP makes strategic sense but should be postponed until the core partners solidify the program to avoid delays, conflict and operational risk.
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2025

India should join the Global Combat Air Program — but not just yet

GCAP is more than just a weapons platform. It is a statement of strategic autonomy, industrial innovation and trilateral cooperation among democracies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces the launch of a targeted military operation against Iran in a video statement on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 13, 2025

After years of waiting, Israel's Netanyahu finally makes his move on Iran

Iran once ridiculed Netanyahu as the boy who cried wolf for his constant warnings about Tehran's nuclear program, and his repeated threats to shut it down.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters last month in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 13, 2025

Ishiba pledges cash handout for all citizens ahead of election

The handout would be ¥20,000 per person and an additional ¥20,000 would be added on top of that per child or low-income earner, Ishiba said.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a payload of Starlink satellites lifts off from the U.S. Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 14, 2025

White House reviews SpaceX contracts as Trump-Musk feud simmers

The administration ordered the agencies to scrutinize Musk’s contracts to ready possible retaliation against the businessman and his companies, sources said.
A woman walks with a sign depicting Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as people gather for a protest against Israel's wave of strikes on Iran in central Tehran on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 14, 2025

Israel's attacks on Iran hint at a bigger goal: regime change

The moves appear aimed at diminishing Iran's credibility both at home and among its allies in the region — factors that could destabilize the Iranian leadership, experts said.
Protesters hold a U.S. flag and placards as they take part in a nationwide "No Kings" rally against President Donald Trump's policies, in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2025

Tens of thousands throng U.S. streets against 'king' Trump

Protest organizers expected rallies in all 50 U.S. states, calling them the largest since Trump returned to office in January.
Local authorities in Tokyo are resorting to unconventional measures to raise voter turnout, including partnering with public bathhouses amid Japan’s ongoing sauna boom and collaborating with high school students to create promotional materials.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 16, 2025

Tokyo teams up with bathhouses to boost voter turnout for assembly election

The previous election in 2021 showed a much lower turnout rate among younger demographics.
Reiwa Shinsengumi deputy leader Yasuhiko Funago during a news conference at the Diet building on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 18, 2025

Reiwa Shinsengumi lawmaker with ALS to retire

Yasuhiko Funago, 67, said that it would be difficult for him to serve another six-year term considering his age and physical strength.
European Council President Antَnio Costa (from left to right), Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Italian leader Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, U.S. President Donald Trump and leader Minister Keir Starmer pose for a family photo during the Group of Seven summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 18, 2025

Asia overshadowed as G7 struggles with crises and lack of unity

Mentions of China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific were conspicuously absent from the statements that emerged from the latest summit.
Workers pack bathroom fittings in a factory of the Taiwanese-owned LCM Group in Kunshan, China, on June 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 18, 2025

Taiwan's entrepreneurs in China feel heat from cross-strait tensions

Safety fears have led many Taiwanese manufacturers to turn to less politically sensitive locales such as Vietnam and Thailand.
A Nippon Steel facility in Kashima, Ibaraki prefecture on Dec. 6, 2024
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025

Nippon Steel closes acquisition of U.S. Steel to end 18-month saga

The controversial deal weathered two presidential administrations, union opposition, an expensive lobbying campaign and two U.S. security panel reviews.
Pakistani army chief Asim Munir
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

Pakistan army chief discusses Israel-Iran conflict with Trump

The meeting came as the capital was fixated on speculation that the U.S. may join Israel’s attacks aimed at disabling Iran’s nuclear program.
People participate in a rally in support of Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon, Myanmar, in 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi marks 80th birthday in junta jail

No formal celebrations are planned in junta-held parts of Myanmar, but followers in military-controlled Mandalay city staged a spontaneous protest ahead of her birthday.
The Liberal Democratic Party’s pledges ahead of the Upper House election are in sharp contrast to those of the opposition parties, which have all promised tax cuts in various degrees.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

LDP pledges cash handouts and a better economy ahead of Upper House vote

“Driving Japan forward, enriching lives” will be the ruling party’s campaign slogan as it prepares for the upcoming Upper House election.
Upper House lawmaker Hirofumi Yanagase in his office on June 9. Last month in parliament, he urged the criteria for naturalization to be revised.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 20, 2025

Calls to make naturalization more difficult emerge in parliament talks

Naturalization requires applicants to have lived in Japan for at least five consecutive years, or half of the duration required for permanent residency.
At Mount Zine’s gallery in Komazawa, Setagaya Ward, one wall is for exhibiting, while another is for zines for sale.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 21, 2025

A buzzing zine scene across Japan packs passion in multiple formats

In a world now dominated by digital media, small handmade books are a return to analog media and offline connection.
Candles and flowers adorn a memorial outside the Minnesota State Capitol following the killing of Democratic state assemblywoman Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, in St. Paul on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 21, 2025

Two days of terror: How the Minnesota shooter evaded police and got caught

The suspect had an imperfect disguise, but it was enough to evade police for two days in the state's largest-ever manhunt.
Protesters hold a banner with a message and images of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a rally in New York on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 22, 2025

Trump’s ‘two weeks’ pause on Iran strikes comes with high stakes

Because by now the world knows that Trump’s "two weeks” could mean two days, two months or never, his delay this time only fed the uncertainty.
South Korean Ambassador to Japan Park Cheol-hee attends an interview on June 17 in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 22, 2025

South Korean envoy calls ties with Japan best ever

The ambassador called for closer relations in the face of deepening cooperation between North Korea and Russia and pressure from China and the current U.S. administration.
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.
A banner announcing the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election is displayed at Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 23, 2025

Koike-backed party gains seats as LDP dealt setback in Tokyo assembly poll

Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First), supported by Koike as a special adviser, remained the biggest party, taking 31 seats, up from 26.
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.
An Iranian military ship takes part in an annual drill in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman and near the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, in this picture obtained in December 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 23, 2025

China criticizes attack on Iran as U.S. asks Beijing for trade route help

Beijing "strongly” condemns the attacks on Iran, according to a four-sentence statement from the Foreign Ministry on Sunday.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte holds a news conference ahead of a NATO summit, in The Hague on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 24, 2025

NATO’s Indo-Pacific ties risk losing momentum as leaders skip key summit

Analysts say U.S. President Donald Trump’s moves mark a visible shift away from his predecessor's approach to the alliance and the IP4 grouping.
Many recent video games, including Breath of the Wild and Planet of Lana, have borrowed from the pastoral aesthetic of Studio Ghibli films like “Princess Mononoke.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 25, 2025

Studio Ghibli’s majestic sensibility is drawing imitators

Forty years after the Japanese animation studio was founded, game creators are embracing its legacy of moral integrity.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s second-term tech policy consolidates AI regulatory power in the White House, empowering American tech giants at the expense of state authority, international cooperation and democratic oversight.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2025

The 'Washington Effect' could decide the AI race

While Trump administration officials pressure foreign governments to ease up on U.S. firms, Congress moves to block state-level oversight altogether.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office on April 7. Without further diplomacy, the Iran-Israel conflict could become an endless, no-win situation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2025

Trump abandons ‘America First’ for Middle East quagmire

Iran's acceptance of the ceasefire is what in Japanese politics is called a “feigned death” tactic.
Britain's Competition and Markets Authority spent years setting up a regime to intervene in the operations of tech giants such as Google, only for the Labour government to say its need to grow the economy meant tough regulation was now out.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 26, 2025

U.K. politics blunts antitrust action against Google

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority spent years setting up a regime to intervene in tech giants' operations, only for the Labour government to say tough regulation was out.
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun and his counterparts pose for a group photo before the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Defense Ministers' Meeting in Qingdao, Shandong province in China on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 26, 2025

China hosts Iran and Russia's defense ministers amid 'momentous change'

The Qingdao meeting of the SCO's top defense officials comes as a fledgling ceasefire between Israel and Iran holds after 12 days of fighting between the arch-foes.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo