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The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan wants to use the Bank of Japan’s exchange-traded funds to help cover the cost of making high school education free.
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2025

CDP eyes BOJ’s exchange-traded funds to pay for free schooling

The Bank of Japan's exchange-traded funds have remained untouched even as Gov. Kazuo Ueda oversaw further rate hikes.
Swallows mascot Tsubakuro performs during a game at Jingu Stadium in June 2023.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 21, 2025

Swallows employee who portrayed popular mascot Tsubakuro dies

Tsubakuro became a ubiquitous presence at Jingu Stadium after his debut in 1994.
Cubs pitcher Colin Rea pitches against the Guardians in a spring training game in Mesa, Arizona, on March 1.
BASEBALL
Mar 15, 2025

Former Hawks pitcher Colin Rea happy to be in Japan with Cubs for Tokyo Series

Rea pitched for the Pacific League club in 2021 and 2022. 
Shohei Ohtani tips his batting helmet during the opening game of the MLB season between the Dodgers and Cubs on Tuesday at Tokyo Dome
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 19, 2025

At Tokyo Dome, a stage so big that even Shohei Ohtani felt nervous

Even the game's preeminent superstar admitted to feeling nervous as the MLB season kicked off with what amounted to a celebration of Japan and its place in the sport.
An economic dialogue between Japan and China will take place in Tokyo on Saturday, the same day as a meeting among top diplomats of the two countries plus South Korea.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2025

Japan and China set for economic talks as U.S. tariff pressure rises

The scale and proximity of the Chinese market means it is in Japan’s interest to maintain stable relations despite ongoing tensions.
Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Itsunori Onodera said on Tuesday that tariffs announced by the U.S. could result in a big economic crisis for Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 1, 2025

Trump tariffs may spell economic crisis for Japan, Onodera says

Auto tariffs in particular would have a huge impact given the breadth of the sector's supply chain in the country, the Liberal Democratic Party's policy chief says.
A Bank of Japan rate hike in May would likely be too early given the need to assess the impact of upcoming U.S. tariffs and ongoing wage talks, Kazuya Shimba, Secretary General of the Democratic Party for the People, said on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2025

A May BOJ hike would be too early given tariffs and wages, DPP says

Most economists see the next increase in borrowing costs coming in June or July, but many have said a May hike is possible.
Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture in 2017. Travel agencies catering to luxury tourists often include areas outside well-known cities such as Tokyo and Kyoto in their itineraries offered.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2025

A trip to remember: Japan answers the demand for curated luxury travel

Creating a unique experience that luxury travelers feel they can hold on to well after their trip is part of the challenge.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping. A high-level Japanese delegation will deliver a letter from Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to Xi this week.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 22, 2025

Ishiba pens letter to Xi as Japan aims to avoid trade crossfire

The gesture highlights Japan’s desire to balance managing its relationships with China, its largest trading partner, and with the U.S., its sole formal security ally.
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2025

Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono

Kono said matters related to regional security shouldn’t be discussed as part of the trade talks, nor should the question of how best to manage relationships with China.
The transport ministry will consider administrative punishments for Japan Post after carrying out probes.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2025

Government begins probe of Japan Post over improper driver checks

The audit started after it was learned that 75% of post offices offering collection and delivery services across the country had improperly conducted mandatory alcohol checks.
As Japan gears up for the trade talks, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is also seeking to cushion the blow that the U.S. tariffs may have on the domestic economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 26, 2025

Japan to resist Trump efforts to form trade bloc against China

Any demands from Washington on Tokyo to downgrade its economic relationship with China would potentially deal Japan a major economic blow.
Kazuo Sumi, former president and chairman of railway operator Hankyu Hanshin Holdings
JAPAN
May 7, 2025

Ex-Hankyu Hanshin Holdings chief Kazuo Sumi dies at 76

The Kansai native died at his house in the city of Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, on April 26.
James Rosewald, co-founder of Dalton Investments, speaks during an interview at the company's office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025

Dalton connects with activist investor-linked fund to pressure Fuji Media

Dalton is trying to pressure Fuji Media after the broadcaster earlier this month spurned the fund’s proposal for 12 new directors, including SBI Holdings' Yoshitaka Kitao.
Detail of Takashi Murakami, “Rakuchu-Rakugai-zu Byobu: Iwasa Matabei RIP” (2023-25)
CULTURE / Art
Jun 5, 2025

New Naoshima museum bets on Asia, not the West

The Naoshima New Museum of Art is Tadao Ando’s 10th contribution to the popular art islands.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office after holding talks with opposition leaders Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2025

Japan and U.S. still far apart in tariff talks, Ishiba cited as saying

Ishiba is expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Group of Seven leaders gathering in Canada starting Sunday, but a deal is far from certain.
A defiant U.S. President Donald Trump attend the 44th Group of Seven gathering in Charlevoix, Canada, in 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

Trump returns to G7 he once loathed as Iran crisis intensifies

President Donald Trump arrives in Canada as the center of attention for a Group of Seven summit of world leaders whose main purpose will be to mollify him.
Japan said on Tuesday that it had lodged a protest with China after observing a new structure in a natural gas field in the East China Sea.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025

Japan protests new Chinese construction in East China Sea

In the latest development, Japan said on Tuesday it lodged a protest with China after observing a new structure in a natural gas field in the East China Sea.
Only two months into his role as agriculture minister, Shinjiro Koizumi has become the face of a risky political bet by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025

Japan’s ‘rice minister’ is ruling party’s biggest election gamble

Shinjiro Koizumi’s reformist drive is testing the loyalty of Japan's rural population — the LDP’s most dependable voter bloc.
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.
The city of Kumamoto. The number of local governments that are able to operate their finances without state tax allocations has increased for the fourth consecutive year, the internal affairs ministry announced on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 29, 2025

Local governments not allocated state tax revenue increase for fourth year

In fiscal 2025, such local governments totaled 85, up by two from the previous year, reflecting the growth of local tax revenues backed by robust corporate performance.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s top trade negotiator, said U.S. officials expressed regret that the stacking rule had been applied to Japan despite a verbal agreement, and said Washington would refund any overpaid levies.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 10, 2025

U.S. and Japan working to announce tariffs won’t stack

The United States is working to finalize an announcement that would end the stacking of universal tariffs on Japanese goods.
The Tigers' Teruaki Sato connects on his 31st home run of the season during the third inning against the Swallows at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Sunday.
BASEBALL / NPB NOTEBOOK
Aug 11, 2025

Red-hot Tigers slugger Teruaki Sato sets himself apart with home run surge

Reaching 30 home runs this season was just the latest benchmark for the Hanshin Tigers slugger, who has set himself apart from the crowd this season.
Artistically talented 14-year-old Sosuke (Konosuke Harada) finds himself pulled into deeper currents in his coastal town in “Seaside Serendipity.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2025

‘Seaside Serendipity’: A pastel-soaked reverie on youthful creativity

Satoko Yokohama’s film blends watercolor whimsy, bohemian houseguests and a school newspaper scoop gone too far into a youth-skewed summer tale.
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 23, 2025

Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu

The monster dolls may be driving fans wild elsewhere, but Japan has long had plenty of its own domestically produced characters that know exactly what consumers want.
Jesse Kirkwood is part of a vibrant field of translators who have nurtured what might be called a “post-Murakami era of Japanese literature and translation,” one book at a time.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 29, 2025

Jesse Kirkwood: ‘Languages are entire cultural universes with all sorts of baggage’

The Japanese-English literary translator reflects on catching the recent wave of “post-Murakami” fiction and how he balances reading for work versus pleasure.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meet in Sendai on Saturday during a trip in which they toured a chip factory belonging to Tokyo Electron.
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2025

Indian PM Modi tours Miyagi chip plant with Ishiba

"We hope to work together to strengthen the semiconductor supply chain and enhance economic security,” Ishiba told reporters after the visit.
Musician Haruna Kimishima, better known as Haru Nemuri, confronts Japan’s politics, nationalism and censorship on her recent output.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 5, 2025

Haru Nemuri’s radical new album refuses easy listening

Haru Nemuri’s “ekkolaptomenos” fuses philosophy, pop and protest, confronting Japan’s politics while navigating visa fears and DIY touring.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba heads toward the Upper House hall in Tokyo on Aug. 1.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 5, 2025

Ishiba reaffirms intent to stay on after tariffs lowered

In a further sign of his intention to stay on, he also announced later in the day that his government will compile an economic package this autumn.
A booth from the town of Betsukai in Hokkaido at an Amazon Japan furusato nо̄zei promotion event, on Sept. 5 in Tokyo's Minato Ward.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2025

People rush to make furusato nozei donations ahead of tighter rules

Website operators are holding events and campaigns to lure customers before the government bans them from giving reward points to donors, effective next month.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building