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Takumi Yamaguchi (right), head of startup AirKamuy, and a colleague retrieve a drone made of cardboard after a test flight in a field near Nagoya.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 7, 2025

Startups lead charge as Japan warms to defense and dual-use technologies

Opinion polls show public support growing for a stronger defense, and the new leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Sanae Takaichi, has called for more military spending.
The oil tanker Eagle S sails alongside a Finnish border guard ship and tugboat in the Gulf of Finland on Dec. 28. The vessel was seized by Finland on suspicion of damaging underwater cables in the area at the time.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2025

Russia’s hybrid war looks increasingly like the real thing

European officials are warning that Moscow appears to be “at war” with countries it hasn’t invaded yet.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito speaks to reporters at parliament after meeting with Liberal Democratic Party executives on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 7, 2025

Future of Japan's ruling coalition uncertain as Komeito pushes back on Takaichi

Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito has said that they cannot form a coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party unless Komeito's concerns are addressed.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the press in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Oct. 2.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 8, 2025

Macron urged to quit to end France political crisis

Macron is facing pressure even from allies to find a rapid solution to France's political deadlock.
The Jingei, the third of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Taigei-class submarines, was commissioned in March last year. It is equipped with lithium-ion batteries, enabling it to have a longer diving time and cruising distance than older models with lead-acid batteries.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Oct 8, 2025

With nuclear sub proposal, Japan faces array of political and tech challenges

An expert panel has called for Japan’s next-generation subs to be able to operate longer and strike targets from farther way, a shift from current policy.
Resonac President and CEO Hidehito Takahashi (front row, third from left) in Tokyo on Sept. 3 along with officials from companies participating in a joint framework to develop chipmaking equipment
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 8, 2025

Japanese chemical firms seeking partnerships over next-gen chips

Companies are taking measures with others, such as setting up a joint framework, to speed up the development of related materials
A crime scene technician prepares to document evidence at the site of a shooting in West Baltimore in May 2015. U.S. cities are seeing murder rates fall sharply from post-2020 highs thanks to local violence-reduction efforts and pandemic-era investments.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2025

What’s behind the great American murder decline?

Homicides are plummeting in many places. The explanation may be the sheer volume of different efforts to reduce violence.
Against the yen, the dollar was last up 0.53% at ¥152.7. It earlier reached ¥152.99, the highest since Feb. 14, and has risen from ¥147.44 on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 9, 2025

Yen weakest since mid-February on fiscal fears

The dollar has likely benefited from a lack of U.S. government economic data as the federal government remains shut.
A monitor shows AI-generated images found on the computer of a man who has been arrested on charges he intentionally ignited the Pacific Palisades Fire, during a press conference with Acting United States Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli and Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of the Los Angeles Field Division Kenny Cooper, in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 9, 2025

Man charged with ‘maliciously’ starting massive LA fire

The Palisades Fire burned more than 23,000 acres and destroyed more than 6,800 structures before it was fully contained on Jan. 31.
The Blue Jays' Bo Bichette (left) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. celebrate in the clubhouse after helping the team defeat the Yankees in  Game 4 of the ALDS.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 9, 2025

Blue Jays knock out Yankees to advance to first ALCS since 2016

Toronto won the-best-of-five AL Division Series 3-1 to advance to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2016.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth addresses senior military officers in Quantico, Virginia, on Sept. 30.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 9, 2025

Press groups condemn U.S. Defense Department rules governing media access

The new policy would constrain the media's ability to cover the world's most powerful military.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (center) gestures as he meets Indian traditional dancers during a ceremony for the upcoming Diwali festival in Mumbai on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 9, 2025

Starmer looks to India for example on U.K. plan for digital ID

Starmer said his proposed smartphone-based ID was needed to "address the fact that too many people can come to this country to work illegally.”
UK gold bullion bars are stacked at Baird & Co in Hatton Garden in London on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 9, 2025

Gold’s spectacular three-year rally is breaking all the records

Bullion has shaken off its reputation as a barbarous relic and muscled its way back toward the center of the global monetary system.
High voltage transmission towers in Tokyo. Power traders are fueling a boom in weather data, which helps them to anticipate sudden price swings.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 9, 2025

Energy firms snap up weather services for trading edge in Japan

Weathernews is among a handful of companies cashing in on demand for meteorological data.
A mine for heavy rare earth metals outside of Longnan in south-central China's Jiangxi province
BUSINESS
Oct 10, 2025

China expands rare earths restrictions, targeting defense and chips users

The new curbs come ahead of a scheduled face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea at the end of October.
U.S. long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrates with her gold medal at the World Athletics Championships at National Stadium on Sept. 15.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 10, 2025

Women's track-and-field startup Athlos eyes sustainable and durable growth

The concept, which is the brainchild of Reddit founder and women's sports entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, appears to be going from strength to strength.
There has been a rapid rise in the number of business manager visa holders in recent years, triggering concerns that some are using it as an easy route to long-term residency rather than for genuine entrepreneurship.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2025

Business management visa requirements to be tightened from next week

There has been a rapid rise in the number of business manager visa holders in recent years, triggering concerns some are merely using it as an easy route to long-term residency.
In early October, 100 grams of autumn salmon roe in central Sapporo was priced at just below ¥2,000.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Oct 20, 2025

Prices for Hokkaido’s autumn salmon roe jump as catch numbers fall

As of early October, 100 grams of autumn salmon roe in central Sapporo was selling for just under ¥2,000.
A worker waters the site of a rare earth metals mine in Nancheng county, in China's Jiangxi province, in January 2011.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Oct 11, 2025

The world’s chip supply chain is bracing for fallout from China’s rare-earth curbs

The restrictions represent the first major attempt by Beijing to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over foreign companies to target the semiconductor industry.
President Emmanuel Macron has reappointed Sebastien Lecornu to be France’s prime minister, giving the centrist ally another shot at naming a new Cabinet and getting a budget through a fractious parliament.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 11, 2025

Macron reappoints Sebastien Lecornu as France’s prime minister

The reappointment is a last-gasp attempt to find political balance to prevent the next government from collapsing.
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses hundreds of American generals and admirals summoned to the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, on Sept. 30.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Oct 12, 2025

Trump’s dealmaking diplomacy grows fragile as China fires back

The sudden, and unexpected, back-and-forth between the world’s two largest economies came just weeks ahead of a consequential meeting between the U.S. and Chinese leaders.
The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Oct 12, 2025

At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?

While major Japanese gas companies have lauded e-methane as key in fighting climate change, experts paint a different picture.
Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku last month.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Oct 12, 2025

From Sauber to Audi, Wheatley prepares to disrupt in F1 revolution

The Swiss-based outfit, in Formula One since 1993 and with one grand prix triumph and 28 podiums, will become the Audi works team next year.
A screen outside a Tokyo securities firm shows the Nikkei 225 Stock Average on Oct. 6. As Japan's financial markets reacted to Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party presidential win, much of the media's focus was on the falling yen, downplaying the surge in equities to record highs.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 12, 2025

Sanae Takaichi gets 'the Abe treatment'

Given that she is frequently labeled a "Shinzo Abe protege," the media coverage of her so far reminds me of how they reported on Abe himself throughout his second term.
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.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Oct 13, 2025

Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building

A surge of new arenas from Chiba to Yokohama reveals how Japan’s cities are betting big on live entertainment.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 13, 2025

U.K. ministers criticize Starmer’s China policy amid spying row

Several Cabinet ministers are concerned the prime minister has taken too generous an approach to Beijing and want him to commit to prioritizing national security.
The latest showdown underscores the difficulty for Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump to strike a trade deal.
BUSINESS
Oct 13, 2025

Xi’s red line on Trump’s export curbs threatens to upend truce

The renewed brinkmanship between China and the U.S. revives fears of a deeper rupture in global trade that could push the two economies toward partial decoupling.
As horse-trading and speculation surge over  who will be elected the next prime minister in parliament — the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Sanae Takaichi or a possible candidate put forward by a unified opposition — Japan’s next leader will be confronted with a quick succession of key diplomatic events.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 13, 2025

A frenetic diplomatic schedule looms for Japan’s next leader — whomever that may be

Japanese diplomacy has landed in a precarious position following the exit of Komeito from the LDP-led ruling bloc as a spate of summits and meetings loom at the end of this month.
Europe must break its dependency on U.S. tech monopolies by investing in decentralized, open-protocol social media platforms that empower users, foster innovation and protect democratic discourse.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2025

Europe can build its own social media

Europe’s systemic dependency on Big Tech’s social-media platforms threatens the continent’s digital sovereignty.
Amid the election of Sanae Takaichi as Liberal Democratic Party president, and possibly the next prime minister, Japan's economy shows signs of recovery, but weak wages, a conservative corporate culture and currency issues raise doubts about a true economic thaw.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2025

Hypothermia in the land of the rising Sanae

Of late, the country has suddenly given every impression of heat. There are good reasons to believe hypothermia is over.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes