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Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
CULTURE / Books / Longform
Apr 22, 2024

The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores

Shops without staff, shelves for rent, cafes and meetups are some of the ways the country's dwindling bookstores are trying to survive.
An electronic board in Tokyo showing the yen-dollar rate on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 24, 2024

Japan ‘very close’ to yen intervention, former top currency official says

Market reaction to U.S. data could encourage Japanese authorities to act about the yen, according to Mitsuhiro Furusawa.
Everywhere, U.S. allies are taking steps to defend or advance their interests in the event former U.S. President Donald Trump returns to power in November elections, an even chance based on recent opinion polls in swing states.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 25, 2024

How U.S. allies are preparing for a possible second Trump term

They want to avoid Trump's "America First" policies dealt them before, which included trade wars and a shakeup of security alliances.
Yukio Kasaya (center), who won a ski jumping gold medal at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, stands on the podium with silver medalist Akitsugu Konno (left) and bronze medalist Seiji Aochi in Sapporo in February 1972.
MORE SPORTS / Ski jumping
Apr 26, 2024

Yukio Kasaya, Japan's first Winter Olympic gold medalist, dies at 80

Kasaya led a historic podium sweep for Japan at the 1972 Olympics and was joined by Akitsugu Konno, who took silver, and Seiji Aochi, who earned bronze.
Japan has entered an era of full-fledged population decline. If current trends remain unchanged, the nation's population is expected to decline by about half from 124 million in 2023 to 63 million by 2100.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 26, 2024

Japan’s shrinking population is a big problem for the nation

An expert panel sounds the alarm on the nation's declining birthrate and population crisis.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki has reiterated the government's readiness to take an appropriate action as the yen continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Apr 28, 2024

When will Japan intervene to support the yen?

The yen hit a 34-year low past ¥158.40 per dollar in U.S. trading on Friday, after the BOJ announced a decision to keep its monetary policy unchanged.
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Apr 28, 2024

Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers

As Japan’s rice farmers prepare for a new planting season, many will be hoping that this summer brings a reprieve from 2023’s brutal weather conditions.
The departure lobby for domestic flights is crowded with travelers at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Saturday, the first day of this year's Golden Week holidays.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2024

Golden Week crowds greeted with high temperatures as holiday period kicks off

The mercury soared as millions of travelers were venturing to both international and domestic destinations.
A liquefied natural gas tanker arrives at a Tokyo Gas LNG terminal in Yokohama. Despite a decline in domestic gas demand, Japanese companies are looking to maintain their stake in overseas LNG markets, especially in Asia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 29, 2024

The double standard of Japan’s energy companies abroad

In Japan, energy companies like Tokyo Gas are striving to cut emissions. But overseas, they're shoring up LNG markets, making for a very different picture.
Activist investor campaigns are becoming more commonplace in Japan as the government and the Tokyo Stock Exchange encourage companies to boost shareholder returns.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2024

Elliott Management's Sumitomo stake reflects growing activism in Japan

Elliott has built a large holding in Sumitomo after investing several tens of billions of yen in the trading house backed by Warren Buffett.
Former Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda is among the 4,108 people recognized for this year's spring honors.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2024

Former BOJ head among 4,108 people receiving spring honors

Haruhiko Kuroda, who led the central bank's unprecedented monetary easing, was given the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure.
Japan's government debt has grown to the equivalent of more than 250% of the nation’s economy, more than any of its peers.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 30, 2024

Japan’s debt dilemma may doom any FX intervention, Brooks says

The consequences have been a sharply weaker yen, which has lost more than a quarter of its value against the U.S. dollar since March 2022.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara takes part in an arrival ceremony with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon in Washington last October.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 30, 2024

‘Collective capacity’ to top agenda at four-way defense talks in Hawaii

One thing will be on Defense Minister Minoru Kihara's mind: how to deepen military and security cooperation with allies to counter China.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 30, 2024

Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.

The size and timing of the swing indicates that the government stepped in after the currency fell significantly.
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Apr 30, 2024

Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change

Yellow sand gets carried by the wind from the deserts of China and Mongolia to Japan along with man-made pollutants, causing a host of symptoms.
An analysis of the Bank of Japan's accounts suggests an intervention of about ¥5.5 trillion took place on Monday to prop up the yen.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 1, 2024

BOJ accounts suggest Japan intervened to support yen

The Bank of Japan said its current account will probably fall ¥7.56 trillion — much bigger than the drop of about ¥2.1 trillion estimated.
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2024

Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan

Spending per head soared 52% over the first three months compared with 2019.
The root cause of yen weakness lies in the U.S., not Japan, with the currency falling to its weakest since around 1990.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 1, 2024

Japan should leave its currency bazooka at home

The root cause of yen weakness lies in the U.S., not Japan. That makes the latter's options very limited.
Thirty years after his death, Ayrton Senna remains a revered figure among motorsports fans in Japan.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
May 1, 2024

30 years on, Japan's bond with Senna remains strong

During the driver's peak, Formula One grew to a point where the sport brought a second race to Japan in 1994.
An electric screen displaying the Nikkei share average and yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 1, 2024

For Japan Inc., the weak yen may be too much of a good thing

The currency's weakness has pushed up costs of raw materials, food and fuel.
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 2, 2024

Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again

The yen advanced more than 3% and hit ¥153.04 per dollar as more than $4 billion of yen-related futures were exchanged.
The weak yen impacts the airline industry multiple ways, as it boosts foreign currency revenue from international flights but negatively affects travelers from Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 2, 2024

Japan firms reach pain threshold as yen keeps testing lows against the dollar

The currency's sustained decline makes planning difficult for all firms and can add costs across the whole supply chain.
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 3, 2024

With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability

Although “China” was not uttered by the officials during their news conference in Hawaii, Beijing’s growing assertiveness was clearly on their minds.
Despite bustling cities like Tokyo and Osaka, Japan faces a rising number of abandoned properties, particularly in rural areas, which pose risks to communities and economies.
EDITORIALS
May 3, 2024

Abandoned homes will be a big part of Japan’s future

Statistics reveal a significant increase in vacant and abandoned homes, with projections indicating a further rise unless addressed soon.
Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
LIFE / Style & Design / Longform
May 4, 2024

The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces

Once an exotic curiosity, Japanese gardens have gone on to inspire green thumbs around the world.
Shunichi Suzuki, Japan's finance minister
BUSINESS / Markets
May 4, 2024

Japan’s finance minister keeps traders guessing on yen intervention

The comments came days after Japanese authorities apparently entered the market to support the yen on two occasions this week.
Much like other hot spots across Okinawa, Onna has diligently strived to captivate both domestic and international tourists, while at the same time grappling with the environmental strain induced by the influx of visitors.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 5, 2024

As visitors surge, Japan seeks ways to make tourism eco-friendly

A record tourism boom has raised concerns over the enormous stress visitors put on the environment.
Ibuki Matsumoto competes at an event in Osaka on April 21.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
May 6, 2024

Japan’s tween skateboarders get head start on preparations for 2028 Olympics

Hikari Satake, 11, and Ibuki Matsumoto, 12, may not be household names just yet, but they are laying the groundwork for their Olympic ambitions.
Mikuni Minato is not a town that has recently fallen on hard times — it's been that way for a century.
LIFE / Travel
May 7, 2024

48 hours in Mikuni Minato, Japan’s port town that time forgot

A trip to Mikuni Minato may not appeal to the average tourist, but well-traveled residents will find it fascinating.
The Kioke Summit on Shodoshima has seen a steady rise in participants from dozens in its early days 12 years ago and about 100 in 2019 to more than 600 this past February.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 8, 2024

On Japan’s island of olives, age-old shoyu secrets survive

Each Kioke Summit features many activities including a "kioke" auction — shoyu fermentation barrels that fetch anywhere from ¥60,000 to ¥450,000.

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