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Mercuria Energy Group is gearing up to engage in physical power trading in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 5, 2024

Mercuria joins trader push into Japan’s spot electricity market

That follows moves by other European energy companies, including BP and Engie, to expand in one of the biggest power-consuming nations.
Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin,” once the victim of high waves that dragged it into the sea, sits at the end of a pier on the south side of Naoshima.
CULTURE / Art / Longform
Apr 6, 2024

Why is the most exciting art in Japan so hard to get to?

Japan has a unique movement of public art projects and festivals that are a slog to get to — by design. A writer examines the country's “inconvenient art."
Jera's thermal power station in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, recently started co-firing coal with 20% of ammonia, a technology supported by the government's "green transformation," or GX, policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 7, 2024

Is Japan’s green transformation investing in the past or future?

Japan issued its first green transformation bonds, but the policy breathes new life into fossil fuel-based projects rather than pulling the plug on them.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British leader Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego in March last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 7, 2024

AUKUS weighs expanding security pact to deter China, report says

Rahm Emanuel, the outspoken U.S. ambassador in Tokyo, wrote in a recent commentary that Japan was "about to become the first additional Pillar II partner."
With the resignation of Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu, a major hurdle may have been removed in the construction of the maglev high-speed train, which is expected to connect Tokyo to Osaka in just over 60 minutes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 5, 2024

Maglev train is back on track after Shizuoka governor's derailing

Shizuoka's governor was blocking the construction of Japan's maglev bullet train. Now that he has resigned, the project can finally move at full speed.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Apr 10, 2024

Kishida’s U.S. trip highlights economic and political compatibility

Kishida has worked closely with Biden to enhance the Japan-U.S. alliance, with the countries labeling their bilateral ties a “global partnership.”
Despite Japan’s strict anti-scalping laws, tickets for premium seats to sumo tournaments are being offered at massive markups on resale sites.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Apr 10, 2024

Scarcity of tickets leaves foreign sumo fans out in the cold

Almost as soon as general ticket sales began on Saturday for the upcoming May Grand Sumo Tournament, the entire meet was sold-out.
A demonstration in front of a Nagoya court in 2020 before the appeal trial for a father accused of sexually assaulting his 19-year-old daughter. Sexual violence remains a widespread problem in Japan and one affecting many young victims.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 10, 2024

Landmark sexual violence survey reveals shocking data

Sexual violence remains a huge problem in Japan. Despite recent legal reforms, much more needs to be done to prevent crimes and protect victims.
Akebono waves an American flag as he watches U.S. skaters in Nagano on Feb. 5, 1998, ahead of the Winter Olympics.
SUMO
Apr 11, 2024

Sumo legend Akebono, first foreign-born yokozuna, dies at 54

Akebono, born Chadwick Haheo Rowan in Waimanalo, Hawaii, became the 64th yokozuna in 1993 and gained immense popularity.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's headquarters in Osaka
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 11, 2024

Kobayashi Pharma troubles reverberate in Taiwan as firm assists with recall

Taiwan is the only place outside of Japan to have seen reports of people falling ill after consuming the company's beni kōji.
U.S. President Joe Biden welcomes Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during an arrival ceremony at the White House on Wednesday. The two leaders are also meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, where defense ties between the three nations were set to be high on the agenda. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 11, 2024

Hail to the minilateral chiefs: Biden, Kishida and Marcos

This week the U.S. keeps building NATO 2.0 in the Indo-Pacific, even as it prepares to improve NATO 1.0 in July.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a news conference during his state visit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 11, 2024

Kishida's U.S. state visit may be a turning point in the nation's foreign policy

What was most striking during Kishida's visit to the U.S. was Biden's remarks at the beginning of a joint news conference on their nations' military ties.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a meeting on AI strategy held at the Prime Minister's Office in December. Japan is beginning to draw global attention for its potential as an AI market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 12, 2024

Google alums go big in Japan with months-old startup Sakana AI

Sakana is setting out to train low-cost generative AI models using small datasets, unveiling three AI models for Japanese speakers last month.
Global banks are responding to increased demand for information about Japan’s companies and markets amid a resurgent stock market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 12, 2024

Global banks ramp up roadshows for clients eager to bet on Japan

Foreign investors bought the most Japanese equities since 2013, last week.
Sweden is known for its generous parental leave system, with parents allowed to share 480 days of leave per child and 90% of fathers taking such time off.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 12, 2024

Swedish-style paternity leave could unleash Japan’s potential

In Sweden, most new fathers take paternity leave, with direct benefits for the economy and families — an approach that holds important lessons for Japan.
The departure hall at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Now with inflation at its strongest in decades, Japanese are starting to realize that years of static wages leave many of them budgeting each month before their next pay check.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024

Japan’s young workers head abroad as huge wage gap persists

The outflow is also a sign that many Japanese aren’t buying into the nation’s economic optimism as it exits from decades of deflation.
Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Apr 15, 2024

For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on

After a five-year absence, kabuki has returned to Kotohira. Can it be the draw that this tourism-hungry town desires?
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (right), seen here meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, has made strengthening ties with Tokyo one of his foreign policy priorities.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2024

A humbled Yoon must future-proof Seoul’s alliances

Despite Yoon Suk-yeol's weak grip on South Korea's government after his electoral defeat, he can still do a lot to ensure his foreign policy lives on.
Residents of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, collect supplies in the aftermath of the Jan. 1 earthquake. When it comes to preparing for and responding to disasters in Japan, the specific needs of women are still not being sufficiently met. One way to fix this would be to increase the number of women involved in the area of disaster prevention.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 15, 2024

Women’s needs in disasters are still not accounted for

In Japan, women's needs in disaster situations are not being sufficiently met, as the Ishikawa earthquake shows, partly due to poor female representation.
From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
PODCAST / deep dive
Apr 16, 2024

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

We discuss everything from accessibility in Tokyo to dealing with trains and the country’s shifting attitudes.
A U.S. Army Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher arrives as part of the capability’s first deployment into theater on Northern Luzon, Philippines, April 8.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 16, 2024

U.S. deploys midrange missile system in Indo-Pacific for first time

The deployment for joint military exercises in the northern Philippines — effectively China's backyard — was widely expected to unnerve Beijing.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a joint session of Congress in Washington on Thursday. Kishida’s recent summit with U.S. President Joe Biden is being lauded as a success.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 16, 2024

Give credit where credit’s due after prime minister's outstanding U.S. summit

The Japan-U.S. summit has been rightly called historic and a big deal for Tokyo and the alliance — if its long list of deliverables is realized.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Apr 17, 2024

Why hasn't Japan moved to prop up the weak yen?

Even though the yen has already far exceeded the level that prompted action in October 2022, an intervention seems far off.
Since launching in 1961, the iconic Salone del Mobile furniture fair has firmly established Milan’s status as a leading force in the global design world
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 18, 2024

Salone del Mobile’s Maria Porro: ‘Italy and Japan share many things’

Maria Porro became the leading global design fair's first female and youngest-ever president when she was named to the position in 2021.
Japan's core inflation slowed in March and an index gauging broader price trends fell below 3% for the first time in over a year, as analysts try to gauge when the Bank of Japan will move again.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 19, 2024

Japan’s inflation cools ahead of BOJ policy board meeting

Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.6% in March from a year ago, cooling from February’s 2.8% gain.
The possibility of a deepening conflict between Israel and Iran suggests higher energy prices for energy import-dependent Japan, meaning more downward pressure for the yen.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 19, 2024

Oil poses more risks for yen as Japan depends on energy imports

Crude oil futures jumped on Friday following reports that Israel launched a missile strike on Iran.
Rui "The Hurricane" Junior (right) takes down Mohamed Kamal during the World Championship Sumo tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York on April 13.
SUMO
Apr 19, 2024

World Championship Sumo adds WWE-style pizazz to Japan's traditional sport

A boisterous, nearly full crowd got an in-person look at sumo wrestling at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Vitor Gaspar, director of fiscal affairs at the International Monetary Fund, speaks at a news conference during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 19, 2024

Japan should pursue fiscal consolidation, IMF economist says

With Japan's inflation mostly in line with the Bank of Japan's 2% target, an IMF economist is encouraging fiscal consolidation.
Sunrockers fans at a game in Tokyo in March.
BASKETBALL / B. League
Apr 20, 2024

'Mr. Incredible' and Japan’s improbable bid to compete with the NBA

Japan is a latecomer to basketball’s global expansion, but it has stratospheric expectations for its future.
More than half of respondents in a recent survey say they would continue to buy a product at the same supermarket even if prices rose by 10%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 22, 2024

Higher price tolerance among Japan's shoppers supports further BOJ rate hikes

A recent survey by an inflation expert showed that more than half of respondents would keep buying a supermarket product even if prices rose by 10%.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo