Search - about-us

 
 
Stacked parcels are seen as an employee stands at a service counter at a post office in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 16, 2025

Hong Kong postal service halts U.S. parcels over tariff ‘bullying'

The move comes as Trump’s tariff offensive on China increasingly affects the former British colony.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has sent a delegation to Washington for high-stakes tariff talks, as other nations watch to see if Tokyo can secure favorable terms from the Trump administration.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 16, 2025

If Japan can’t get a good trade deal, can anyone?

The Asian nation is the canary in the tariff coal mine. If it can’t secure a good deal, there’s little hope for others.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday in Washington.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 16, 2025

Trump calls the U.S.-Japan alliance ‘one-sided.’ Tokyo says otherwise.

Some observers believe the U.S. president’s worldview is stuck in the 1980s, a time when trade deficits with Japan captured the attention of U.S. policymakers.
A U.S. security report cites DeepSeek’s ties to Chinese government interests as "significant.”
WORLD / Politics
Apr 17, 2025

DeepSeek poses ‘profound’ security threat, U.S. house panel claims

The committee urged Nvidia to hand over information on sales of chips that the Chinese startup may have used to develop its breakthrough chatbot model.
Bottles of Hakkaisan-brand sake for export
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2025

U.S. tariffs overshadow Japan's agriculture and food exports

Japanese goods need to be sold by "emphasizing that there are no alternatives" to them, said Kazuhito Yamashita, senior researcher at the Canon Institute for Global Strategies.
Rohingya children eat from jars with the USAID logo on them at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, in February.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 23, 2025

China unlikely to fill void left by U.S. aid pullback, data shows

Observers say Beijing often ties access to assistance to backing China’s preferred policy positions.
Japan has started discussing specific measures to expand liquefied natural gas imports from the United States to reduce its trade surplus, as demanded by Washington.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2025

Japan mulls expanding imports of LNG from the U.S. for tariff negotiations

In 2024, Japan imported ¥542.6 billion of LNG from the U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, in June 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 23, 2025

IAEA chief calls for presidential-level reengagement with North Korea

Pyongyang’s atomic program has grown “exponentially” since 2009, warns Rafael Grossi, head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 23, 2025

Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump

The government hopes an import quota will give them more cards to play in tariff negotiations with the U.S.
Amid U.S.-China trade tensions, the U.S. may be looking at Japan as a potential country to make up for a drop in corn exports to China.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025

Japan looks to increase U.S. corn imports ahead of more tariff talks

The idea appears to be aimed at appeasing U.S. President Donald Trump's criticisms about Japan's tariffs and could be used as leverage in next week's bilateral negotiations.
U.S President Donald Trump meets with Japan's Ryosei Akazawa, who is in charge of trade negotiations with Washington, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 16.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Apr 26, 2025

Japan is a test case for Trump's tariff deals. But talks may be tortuous.

While some expect an agreement at the June G7 summit in Canada in June, others say it will be risky for Tokyo to cede ground before Upper House elections expected in July.
Tesla's store in Tokyo's Shibuya district. While sales of American cars in Japan appear to be shrinking, Tesla's presence in the country is growing.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 28, 2025

Counting the reasons why there are so few American cars in Japan

One reason is size, with American cars tending to be larger and not generally suited for driving in busy cities with many narrow roads, such as Tokyo.
U.S President Donald Trump meets with economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa at the White House during Akazawa's first trip to the U.S. to discuss tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 30, 2025

Akazawa heads to Washington as Japanese automakers 'losing $1 million an hour' 

Speaking to reporters at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan’s chief trade negotiator remained polite but firm as he suggested that the pressure is on.
Soldiers march during a parade marking the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 30, 2025

Vietnam’s Lam hails ‘profound’ lessons 50 years after end of war

Behind the flag-waving, the government is engaged in intense trade diplomacy with Washington, seeking to stave off a threatened 46% tariff that could hollow out its export model.
U.S. President Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2025

Trump says tariffs politically risky, but he’s not rushing deals

Trump said there was a significant political risk to his efforts, but added that he remained determined to push on.
Indian paramilitary troopers stand guard in Srinagar, in India-administered Jammu and Kahsmir, on Wednesday following a terrorist attack near the Kashmiri mountain resort of Pahalgam. According to Pakistani officials, New Delhi is preparing a military response.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2025

India-Pakistan ties on the brink after Kashmir attack

New Delhi has downgraded ties with Pakistan in response to the Kashmir terror attack. But what could really bite is the suspension of a water treaty and possible military action.
The Bank of Japan signals rate-hike uncertainty and slashes growth forecasts amid rising trade and inflation concerns, as the central bank's earlier optimism is upended by U.S. President Trump's tariff moves.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 2, 2025

Bank of Japan will struggle to justify hikes after this

Few anticipated how dovish the BOJ would sound on the future direction of rates or how gloomy it would be on the near-term prospects for achieving the inflation goal.
A voting site owned by SpaceX in Brownsville, Texas, on April 22. Members of a South Texas community that has served as the hub of Elon Musk's rocket company voted on Saturday to formally establish a new city called Starbase, fulfilling one of  Musk's long-held dreams.
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2025

Easy vote turns Musk's dreams for Starbase city in Texas into reality

Voters overwhelmingly backed turning Elon Musk's Starbase into a new municipality.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters about Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations at his official residence on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 5, 2025

Tariff talks with U.S. seen influencing Japan's Upper House election

The outcome of the ongoing bilateral negotiations will have a major impact on this summer's election in the Upper House.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth awaits the arrival of Peruvian Foreign Affairs Minister Elmer Schialer and Peruvian Defense Minister Walter Astudillo at the Pentagon in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

U.S. defense chief to slash top ranks of military

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday ordered a 20% reduction in the number of four-star officers at the Pentagon.
For Japan, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins indicated the possibility of asking for market-opening measures for agricultural products.
BUSINESS
May 6, 2025

U.S. agriculture secretary to visit Japan for trade talks

The U.S. agriculture secretary indicated the possibility of asking for market-opening measures for agricultural products.
The tie-up between Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and its new partners will target U.S. middle-market companies, according to executives.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2025

SMBC teams with private lenders to offer $1.7 billion of credit

The tie-up between the Japanese banking conglomerate and its new partners will target U.S. middle-market companies, according to executives.
Sailors inspect an F/A-18E Super Hornet on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Arabian Sea in 2020. An F-18 fighter jet tipped off the flight deck of the carrier into the Red Sea on Tuesday.
WORLD
May 7, 2025

Another fighter jet falls into sea from U.S. aircraft carrier

An F-18 tipped off the flight deck of the Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier into the Red Sea on Tuesday, the second such incident in about a week.
The global shipping industry is also contending with U.S. measures beyond the barrage of levies.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 7, 2025

World’s trade superhighway feels strain from U.S.-China decoupling

Among signs of disruption are plunging fees, fewer services and a pall of uncertainty over what for decades has been one the main maritime highways of the global economy.
Tatsumi Onose (right), who plays the part of Commodore Matthew Perry in Shimoda's Black Ship Festival, says the historical episode the event is based on should be remembered for its positives more than its negatives.
LIFE / Travel
May 8, 2025

Celebrating Japan’s defeat at Shimoda’s Black Ship Festival

Held this year from May 16 to 18, an event to the south of Tokyo turns a historical episode of national humiliation into a plain old good time.
U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from the media at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 8, 2025

Trump administration to announce trade deal with Britain

The agreement would be the first deal announced since Trump imposed stiff tariffs on dozens of U.S. trading partners.
Liberal Democratic Party Upper House member Shoji Nishida answers questions from reporters in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 8, 2025

LDP lawmaker Shoji Nishida refuses to retract remarks over WWII exhibits

Nishida said that descriptions at a monument to commemorate the "Himeyuri" nursing corps who died in the Battle of Okinawa had rewritten history.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost waves from the main central loggia balcony of the St Peter's Basilica, after the cardinals ended the conclave, in The Vatican, on Thursday.
WORLD
May 9, 2025

Robert Prevost surprises as first U.S. pope, taking name Leo XIV

Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the surprise choice to be the new leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday.
Workers sew garments along a production line at Thanh Cong Textile Garment in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on April 28.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 12, 2025

Chinese factories are looking for the next China

Tariffs have resulted in the cost of sending products to the United States soaring in recent weeks, forcing companies to find new trade routes.
A bulk carrier arrives at the Port of Los Angeles on April 28.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 13, 2025

China tariff relief spurs shipping rush and price hike U-turns

The temporary tariff relief means that U.S. companies will try to quickly ship out products that were being held in factory warehouses in China.

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