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Natsumi Sakai, a Lower House member of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, during an interview in parliament last month
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 4, 2025

Gender equality in politics remains elusive in Japan

Japan has a long way to go before fully achieving gender equality in politics.
Elbridge Colby appears at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee to be undersecretary of defense for policy at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

Trump Pentagon policy pick pushes Japan and Taiwan to boost defense spending

Tokyo should boost its defense budget to 3% of GDP "as soon as possible,” said Elbridge Colby, Trump's pick for the top policy job at the Pentagon.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani arrives at the Naval Station Ernesto Ogbinar, previously known as Wallace Air Station, in San Fernando City, La Union province, Philippines, on Feb. 23. Japan and the Philippines have entered into a reciprocal access agreement that is pending approval by the Lower House.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

LDP panels approve implementation bill for defense pacts

The bill will streamline laws associated with such agreements, for instance, when a member of a foreign military deployed to Japan commits a crime.
People walk past the Department of Education building in Washington on Feb. 4.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2025

Trump to order U.S. Education Department abolished, WSJ reports

Trump has repeatedly called for eliminating the department, calling it a "big con job."
U.S. President Donald Trump is exempting automakers from newly imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month, the White House said Wednesday, as a temporary reprieve following pleas from industry leaders.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025

Trump’s tariff pause cheered globally and watched closely in Tokyo

The U.S. president is delaying 25% tariffs on cars from Mexico and Canada and might consider carve-outs for agricultural imports from those countries.
Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Mar 7, 2025

Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly

Despite longstanding taboos, evolving attitudes toward women's health highlight shifting cultural norms.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive for a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025

Tokyo responds to Trump remarks on 'interesting' Japan-U.S. security pact

Japan's top government spokesperson underlined the agreement's cooperative element after the U.S. president complained the deal was one-sided.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday. Trump said tariffs could be imposed on Canadian dairy and lumber products within days, in a growing trade war with the United States' northern neighbor.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Mar 8, 2025

Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff strategy sows confusion

Hasty announcements have injected chaos into the economy and financial markets, casting doubts about the White House’s trade strategy.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda addresses a rally calling for the introduction of a system allowing married couples to choose whether to use the same or different family names on Feb. 26 at parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2025

Some 44% of Japanese lawmakers back selective dual surname system

The figure far outstrips the 1% who said that the country should maintain its current same surname system.
Elon Musk, head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, wears a shirt that says "Tech Support" as he speaks during a Cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Feb. 26.
WORLD
Mar 11, 2025

Elon Musk says X hit by major cyberattack

The attack raises questions as to whether the politically divisive billionaire — and top adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump — is being targeted.
Japan's economy expanded in the October-December quarter at a slower pace than earlier reported as consumption came in weaker than expected.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 11, 2025

Japan’s economic growth revised lower ahead of BOJ meet

The revised figures highlight pockets of weakness in the Japanese economy even as it continues to moderately expand.
The law will require scrap metal dealers to verify the identity of sellers during transactions.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 11, 2025

Japan moves to curb metal theft with new identity check laws

Metal theft has surged in recent years, driven by rising copper prices.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's arrest on an ICC warrant for crimes against humanity related to his brutal drug war is a victory for affected families, but it may plunge the country into political chaos.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 12, 2025

The law finally caught up with Rodrigo Duterte

A reckoning for Duterte — the man they called "The Punisher” — is long overdue. The former Philippine president’s anti-drug crusade killed thousands of people.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds up a piece of paper with information about tariff rates at the White House on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2025

The U.S. says Japan has a 700% tariff on American rice. Is that the case?

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's accusation describes only a small portion of U.S. rice imported by Japan.
A worker inspects a steel coil on the factory floor before Canada's Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney visits the ArcelorMittal Dofasco steel mill in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 13, 2025

Trump threatens further tariffs as EU and Canada retaliate against U.S. levies

The U.S. tariffs have rattled investor, consumer and business confidence and raised recession fears.
The Tokyo Port Brewery team in front of the brewery building. President Shunichi Saito (left) and Master Brewer Yoshimi Terasawa are the ones holding sake bottles.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2025

Sake brewery in central Tokyo revives Edo tradition

Although Japan had roughly 11,000 sake breweries around 1900, now only about 1,200 remain.
Toyota vehicles are loaded onto a ship at the Port of Nagoya in June last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 13, 2025

Concerns grow over possible U.S. tariffs on Japan's auto sector

U.S. President Donald Trump has pointed out that the U.S. is importing a "very big" amount of Japanese cars while other countries are not really buying American cars.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends an Upper House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 13, 2025

How Upper House pressure led to Ishiba's stunning reversal on medical cost caps

An unprecedented second amendment to Japan's budget shows opposition in the Lower House is not the only external pressure to which the government is exposed.
George Glass, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Japan, speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2025

Trump's ambassador pick to press Japan to spend more to host U.S. troops

The remarks by George Glass were the latest volley from the Trump administration to target Japan, following comments by other nominees.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on March 3.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2025

Trump administration weighs travel ban on dozens of countries, memo says

The move harkens back to Trump's first term ban on travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions during an Upper House Budget Committee meeting Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 16, 2025

Opposition set to step up offensive against Ishiba

Ishiba, already hurt by low public support, has found himself in a bind ahead of this summer's Upper House election as the scandal shakes his image as a "clean politician."
Tokyo will soon require all companies in the city to make efforts to stop harassment by customers, such as by creating a manual on how to handle suspected cases.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 17, 2025

Tokyo gears up for April launch of law against harassment by customers

All companies in Tokyo must make an effort to eliminate such harassment, such as by creating a manual on how to handle suspected cases.
Then-U.S. President Joe Biden awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson during a ceremony at the White House in July 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 16, 2025

Former U.S. senator who aided Japanese American internees dies

Former Sen. Alan Simpson, who died Friday, was a cross-party ally of the late Democrat Norman Mineta, the first Japanese American to hold a U.S. Cabinet post.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi addresses an opening ceremony on Sunday for a new medical center built in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2025

New medical center opens at former U.S. military site in Okinawa

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of the Ryukyus and its affiliated hospital have moved to the new medical center.
One year on from the Bank of Japan's historic rate hike, the biggest winners are the banks.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 17, 2025

Banks boom and shoppers scrimp a year after Japan’s rate pivot

Higher borrowing costs are also fueling a political battle over how the government can rein in its outlays.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) speaks to officials of Miyada in Nagano Prefecture on Saturday during his visit to the village.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 17, 2025

Japan to extend financial aid to more people moving out of Tokyo

The government plans to expand eligibility to include people taking up jobs in agriculture, medicine and welfare, as well as those becoming self-employed.
Japan, despite facing multiple territorial disputes, lacks a dedicated university program on the issue, unlike Western countries, and would benefit from an interdisciplinary academic initiative to foster expertise.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 17, 2025

Japan needs academic programs focused on territorial issues

While many countries have territorial disputes with their neighbors — in fact, there are at least 150 active disputes worldwide — Japan faces issues with nearly all its neighbors.
A man rides past a graffiti that reads "Patino FARC EP" on a road near El Plateado, Cauca department, Colombia, on March 9. The Micay Canyon mountains have been transformed into a micro-state, ruled by guerrillas fighting each other and the army.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 19, 2025

USAID suspension shutters Colombia programs, endangering FARC peace deal

In recent years, Colombia had received as much as $440 million annually in USAID assistance for more than 80 programs.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waits for a session of the House of Councillors Budget Committee to begin in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Explainer
Mar 19, 2025

What's the fuss over Ishiba's gift vouchers?

The prime minister's standing has worsened following reports that he handed out gift vouchers worth ¥100,000 ($668) each to rookie lawmakers from his party.
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 19, 2025

Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description

The lastest scandal comes amid broader concerns over the LDP's misuse of political funds, further damaging Prime Minister Ishiba’s reputation.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?