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Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends the EU-Japan summit in Brussels in July 2023. Economic cooperation between the EU, Japan and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership is showing promise but faces political and structural hurdles that could limit progress.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2025

EU-CPTPP talks highlight shared goals and stubborn obstacles

EU economic cooperation with Japan and the CPTPP shows promise but could face political and structural hurdles that limit progress.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to reporters in Washington on June 27.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2025

U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent to visit Japan next week for Expo

The visit comes after Donald Trump stated his intention to raise tariffs on all Japanese imports to 25% — slightly higher than the 24% rate initially announced in April.
U.S. F-35 stealth fighters fly side by side with South Korean F-35s as part of a bilateral exercise over the Yellow Sea in July 2022. The U.S. Air Force is grappling with whether to prioritize air superiority or air denial in response to lessons from Ukraine and the growing threat from China.  
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 9, 2025

Air superiority vs. air denial: Redefining U.S. airpower strategy

The strategic debate is centering on whether to prioritize offensive or defensive airpower. The decision will determine how U.S. air resources are allocated.
A Phoenix quantum computer made by Atom Computing, in Berkeley, California. Japan is advancing in quantum research but lags in commercialization. To compete globally, it must shift from a research-focused approach to one driven by industry, investment and real-world applications.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 9, 2025

Japan needs to take the quantum-technology leap

Policymakers must focus on specific sectors, test new ideas through public-private partnerships and present practical examples.
Pacific Investment Management says Japan has become a key destination for global investors as a trade war prompts a reevaluation of capital flows into the U.S.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 11, 2025

Pimco sees Japan wooing capital as tariffs spur diversification

Japan is drawing inflows that seek to benefit from "once-in-a-generation structural reforms” in equities and rising rates in fixed income, said the co-head of Pimco in Japan.
Wales' wing Josh Adams tries to catch the ball during a match against Japan in Kobe on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jul 12, 2025

Wales look to future after ending 18-game losing run with Japan win

The Welsh survived another second-half comeback from Eddie Jones' side in Kobe to pick up their first victory since the 2023 World Cup.
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 13, 2025

Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119

More than 1 million foreign visitors a year experience a medical event during their stay.
Trading volumes in dollar-yen call options, which gain in value if the yen depreciates against the dollar, more than doubled those of put options on July 11.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 14, 2025

Yen traders revamp option bets ahead of Japan election

Expectations that the election outcome may pave the way for additional fiscal stimulus have already started to drive long-term Japanese yields higher.
An aerial view from north of the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant. Opposition parties are divided over whether Japan should utilize nuclear power while the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, a proponent of it, has avoided explicitly mentioning its stance in its campaign pledges.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 15, 2025

Energy policy debate falls dormant in Upper House election despite growing risk

Rising tensions in the Middle East have fueled concerns the Strait of Hormuz may be closed, dealing a blow to Japan's energy security.
A barber gives a model a haircut during the World Barber Classic at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2025

Japan's World Barber Classic tries to bring back business

The event is part of a bid by Japan's struggling barber industry to attract young male clients lost in recent years to hair salons.
The Sanseito party, led by Sohei Kamiya, is surging in the polls with anti-immigration talk, but its rise is likely just a short-lived protest vote rather than the start of lasting right-wing populism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 15, 2025

Japan’s right-wing fringe is no MAGA or reform movement

The Sanseito party is surging in polls with anti-immigration talk, but its rise is likely just a short-lived protest vote rather than the start of lasting right-wing populism.
A recent case involving teachers sharing voyeuristic images of schoolgirls has sparked national outrage.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025

Teachers sharing illicit student images raises question of systemic failure

Japan’s sluggish policy response and deep-rooted cultural resistance to the concept of consent sets it apart from other countries.
Mod's memoir “Things Become Other Things” chronicles his walking trips across the Kii Peninsula, surveying “a graceful end to a certain life cycle.”
CULTURE / Books
Jul 16, 2025

Craig Mod's life in motion in a disappearing Japan

In “Things Become Other Things,” the longtime resident of Japan captures that grace that lingers in slowly vanishing countryside towns.
Tomoko Tamura, chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party, attends a debate with other party leaders in Tokyo in October. Her party urges voters to end the LDP’s business-centered politics and U.S. dependence by supporting its social, economic and foreign-policy reforms.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 16, 2025

JCP vows fairer taxes, stronger social safety net and a commitment to peaceful diplomacy

Tamura says LDP’s politics are now in a terminal and critical state with the party unable to respond to domestic and international issues or the wishes of the people.
Exports measured by value dropped 0.5% in June from a year earlier, apparently reflecting the impact from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2025

Japan’s exports fall as U.S. tariffs stoke recession risks

Exports measured by value dropped 0.5% in June from a year earlier, led by cars and steel, the Finance Ministry reported.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda said it is obvious that Japanese society could not function without the help of foreign workers in manufacturing, health care, construction and public transportation.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 17, 2025

CDP leader criticizes ‘Japanese First’ policy and calls for inclusive society

Foreign residents are critical to maintaining Japan’s economy, said Yoshihiko Noda, as he issued a call on the campaign trail for a multicultural society that respects minorities.
One of the entrances to Pao Compound, a nine-story Silk Road-inspired complex in Tokyo's Higashinakano neighborhood
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 19, 2025

Touring the Silk Road — without leaving Tokyo

Located near Higashinakano Station, Pao Compound is an eclectic mix of restaurants, event spaces and an affinity for cultural exploration.
"Japan said that tariffs aren’t really the right tool to fix excessive current accounts imbalances,” Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2025

Finance minister says tariffs not right tool to fix trade imbalances

Katsunobu Kato's comments come as the global economy braces for higher U.S. tariffs.
Once seen as an unlikely prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba has struggled to deliver on promises, mishandled ties with U.S. President Donald Trump and now faces an election where the odds don’t look good for his party to come out victorious.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2025

A trade deal fumble could be Ishiba’s last mistake

Ishiba already leads a coalition that lacks a majority in the Lower House, and another bad showing Sunday will likely mean Japan is looking for its third leader in as many years.
A Sanseito campaign van in Shinjuku. The populist party is gaining ground and challenging the more centrist parties.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2025

Japanese markets brace for triple whammy if opposition wins big

Bonds, stocks and the yen could be destabilized if spendthrift parties gain influence.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 19, 2025

Ishiba and Bessent say 'good' trade agreement still possible

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba urged U.S. Treasury chief Scott Bessent to continue talks with Japan’s chief negotiator to achieve a win-win deal.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in a campaign event in Yokohama on July 6. Japan faces deep structural challenges but lacks bold political vision and leaders willing to take risks for transformative change.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 20, 2025

Performative ‘elections’ expose a sad lack of vision

Political parties jostle for position and trade barbs but offer no clear plan for Japan’s growing structural challenges.
Canada’s Couche-Tard has abandoned its bid for Japan’s Seven & I, easing fears it would ruin the beloved convenient store experience, while giving the company a chance to refocus and strengthen its business.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2025

The bid for Japan’s 7-Eleven was doomed from the start

Seven & I ’s more measured response shows the company is ready to move on.
Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, in Tokyo on Sunday. Smaller conservative parties such as the DPP gained in the election at the weekend, at the expense of the Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 21, 2025

Conservatives win big in Japan — just not the Liberal Democratic Party

Sunday's election marks the first time the once-proud party has lost a majority in both houses since its foundation in 1955.
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa in Osaka on Saturday. On Monday, Akazawa flew to the United States for another round of tariff negotiations.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 21, 2025

Akazawa jets to Washington for tariff talks after historic election

If an agreement with the U.S. can't be reached before Aug. 1, the "reciprocal" tariff rate imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump rises to 25%.
Ichiro Suzuki will soon become the first Japanese player to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
BASEBALL
Jul 22, 2025

Induction of Ichiro has Cooperstown fretfully preparing

The star's entry into baseball's Hall of Fame could bring an influx of fans from far away.
Car dealerships in Tokyo. Some of Japan's automakers are raising loan rates amid higher costs for servicing loans.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 23, 2025

Japan carmakers put squeeze on households with higher loan rates

More than a year after the Bank of Japan’s first interest rate increase in 17 years, the volatile march higher in superlong bonds is raising the cost of servicing loans.
McKinsey’s 2025 Technology Trends Outlook, published Wednesday, says that the use of “sovereign AI” is a trend gaining significant global traction, including in Japan.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 23, 2025

Japan leans into homegrown AI amid rising competition

Japan is among the countries aiming to develop localized artificial intelligence models to target national priorities.
Members of three organizations working for the abolition of nuclear weapons pose for a picture at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday. The three organizations issued a joint statement calling for spreading awareness of the reality of atomic bombings across the country.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 24, 2025

Japanese groups make united call for abolition of nuclear weapons

This is the first time that Gensuikyo, Gensuikin and Nihon Hidankyo have come together to issue a joint statement.
As U.S. tariffs caused global uncertainty, Japanese carmakers in particular have been losing momentum as the industry faced pressure from levies.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 24, 2025

Firms in Japan likely to log lower profits amid tariff and political uncertainty

While tariffs caused global uncertainty, Japanese carmakers in particular have been losing momentum as the industry faced pressure from the levies.

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