Search - new

 
 
Jon Heese (second left) takes part in a 2024 New Year's nihonshu barrel opening ceremony.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2025

Why I chose Japanese citizenship over permanent residency

It may be adequate for some residents’ purposes, but when the chips are down, many will be shocked at just how few protections it offers.
A Hindustan Petroleum oil refinery in Mumbai. Executives at four companies that account for more than 80% of India’s oil-processing capacity say they were caught off guard by U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks that the South Asian nation would halt buying Russian crude.
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2025

India refiners to trim Russia oil buying as Trump sows confusion

India has flip-flopped between defying the U.S. and crimping Russian imports in response to pressure from Washington to cut back.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi (front, second from left) inspects the growth of rice crops, on Aug. 28 in the city of Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2025

Race to secure 2025 rice crop heats up, lifting prices

Competition to secure new-crop rice is intensifying, pushing up the provisional payments that agricultural cooperatives advance to growers.
Japan has made several exceptions to its arms export rules in recent years as part of a broader retreat from the pacifist stance it adopted after its defeat in World War II.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2025

Kawasaki in talks to develop Taurus missile engines

The involvement of a Japanese partner could complicate matters due to Tokyo's ban on transfers of weapons to countries in conflict.
Nintendo is asking its manufacturing partners to ramp up output of its Switch 2 console, counting on demand to persist over the coming holidays and into the new year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2025

Nintendo aims to make 25 million Switch 2 units by end of March

Nintendo’s future hinges on the $450 Switch 2 being a success, and the company more than doubled marketing spending around its June launch to ensure it gets off to a fast start.
Melissa Schriek portrays the city it as a safe place of emotional connection and play between people, influenced partially by her background in dance and gymnastics.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 17, 2025

T3 Photo Festival reframes cityscape as nature

This year’s photography festival plants exhibitions all around central Tokyo with photos that showcase urban landscapes under the theme “City as Garden.”
The Slussen transport hub in Stockholm. Nordic and Baltic governments are increasingly concerned about Russian "hybrid war” attacks — low-level but highly disruptive tactics that disrupt infrastructure and services.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 17, 2025

Sweden's cashless society could be more vulnerable to hybrid war attacks

With 90% of transactions in the country being done digitally, cyberattacks that couple with psychological operations can spark widespread panic.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a plenum session of the Knesset in June.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2025

Has Japan’s Diet finally begun its ‘Knessetization’?

My focus is entirely on whether Japan's parliament will finally begin to “Knessetize” (referring to Israel's parliament, and by extension, unstable coalition politics.)

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