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NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte looks at military equipment on the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami stealth frigate during a visit to the MSDF's naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in April.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2025

Japan and NATO to launch defense-industrial talks, top envoy says

The talks will aim to explore new areas of cooperation and facilitate coordination between the two sides’ defense and security industries.
The Imperial Household Agency on Tuesday announced the details of the coming-of-age ceremony for Prince Hisahito, set for Sept. 6, his 19th birthday.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2025

Details of Prince Hisahito's coming-of-age ceremony announced

It will be the first coming-of-age ceremony for a male imperial family member in 40 years.
The Japan Securities Dealers Association and Japan Exchange Group are discussing ways to prevent a banned trade known as spoofing, after Nomura Holdings joined a list of brokerages fined for manipulating the instruments.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2025

Japan considers tighter oversight to avoid bond market ‘spoofing’

Spoofing involves placing fake orders to give market participants a false impression about supply and demand to make profitable trades.
A shipwreck of a boat, used by refugees in the past, is stranded at a shore in the northern part of Lesbos island, Greece
WORLD
Aug 1, 2025

On Europe's hardened frontier, Greek island keeps migrants at bay

Ten years after it was a hot spot for migrants, Lesbos shows how far government responses have hardened against people seeking refuge in Europe.
A memorial to two Japanese soldiers killed in combat with anti-Japanese forces in Phrae Province, northern Thailand
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2025

80 years on: Thai man wants to return soldiers' remains to Japan

During the war, Japan was an enemy to the Free Thai group, but the soldiers were victims of the war, which was unnecessary, Puchong said.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Koichi Hagiuda
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 4, 2025

Summary indictment eyed for secretary of LDP's Koichi Hagiuda

A panel of citizens ruled that the secretary of Hagiuda, a member of the House of Representatives, should be prosecuted.
U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shake hands following the announcement of a new U.S.-EU trade deal on July 27 in Turnberry, Scotland.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2025

The EU’s economic surrender only deepens its dependence on the U.S.

The European Union’s tariff deal with U.S. President Donald Trump highlights the bloc’s inability to present a united front.
Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara speaks at a party plenary meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 4, 2025

Nippon Ishin no Kai could join ruling coalition, if the conditions are right

The party might be open to joining if there is a new prime minister and Osaka is designated as Japan's backup capital, its leaders say.
Activists stage a demonstration in front of the United Nations Offices in Geneva on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Aug 5, 2025

Pressure from oil producers and U.S. threaten global pact on plastics pollution

Plastic production is set to triple by 2060 without intervention, choking oceans, harming human health and accelerating climate change, according to the OECD.
Israeli tanks near the border fence with the Gaza Strip earlier this month. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering whether to deploy the Israel Defense Forces into the 25% of the Palestinian territory not already under its control.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 6, 2025

Israel weighs full Gaza takeover despite concerns of armed forces

The plan would likely face considerable opposition by international governments fearful of the worsening humanitarian situation in the strip.
National flags line a street to mark Swiss national day in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced he will impose a 39% tariff on imports from Switzerland, one of the steepest levies globally that threatens to leave the country’s key exports reeling.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 6, 2025

Switzerland’s go-it-alone approach tested by Trump tariff shock

For the pro-EU voices in Switzerland, the chaotic back and forth with the U.S. on trade will give them fresh reason to push the benefits of ties with the bloc.
Liberal Democratic Party youth division head Yasutaka Nakasone (center) and other members speak to reporters in Tokyo on July 25.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 6, 2025

Will the movement seeking Ishiba’s resignation succeed?

It is unclear whether the core personalities looking to unseat him have what it takes to make that happen.
Giants starting pitcher Justin Verlander throws a pitch against the Nationals during the fourth inning at Oracle Park on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 11, 2025

Giants' Justin Verlander becomes 10th pitcher to join 3,500-strikeout club

Verlander joins an exclusive club led by Nolan Ryan, who amassed 5,714 strikeouts during his 27-year career.
Kimi Ozawa, who lost her husband in the 1985 crash of a Japan Airlines jumbo jet, prays in front of his memorial marker on Tuesday in the village of Ueno, Gunma Prefecture.
JAPAN / History / FOCUS
Aug 12, 2025

Controversial theories continue to swirl around 1985 JAL jet crash

Some bereaved family members and critics who subscribe to the idea of possible SDF involvement say the initial probe left too many loose ends untied.
Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Aug 15, 2025

The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers

An decades-long effort to recover the remains of those who died during World War II, most of them abroad, may be entering its final phase.
The HMS Prince of Wales arrives at the Port of Darwin, Australia, in July during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
EDITORIALS
Aug 15, 2025

Operation Highmast reinforces claims that ‘security is indivisible’

European governments recognize that developments in the Indo-Pacific have a profound impact on their national interests.
A BNP Paribas branch in Paris. The EU’s biggest bank by assets was questioning the value of continued Net-Zero Banking Alliance membership as recently as June.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2025

Banking’s ailing climate coalition loses ground in Europe

Inside the world’s largest climate coalition for banks, there’s speculation that an exodus led by Wall Street could be about to spread to the European Union.
Onetime members of a now-defunct faction once led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are calling for the party to more actively promote conservative policies.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 17, 2025

Internal battle pits LDP's conservatives against liberals

Some in the party —mainly ex-members of the now-defunct Abe faction — are calling for it to more actively advertise conservative policies.
Izumi Nakamitsu, U.N. undersecretary-general and high representative for disarmament affairs, speaks during a news conference on Monday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2025

U.N. official Nakamitsu urges Japan to attend disarmament summit

Nakamitsu highlighted the importance of Tokyo's involvement in disarmament in the face of rising tensions and nuclear threats.
The Bank of Japan maintains a wait-and-see approach as calls grow for it to raise rates.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Aug 19, 2025

Bank of Japan encouraged to increase rates soon, before it’s too late

Business and political leaders argue that inflation is too high and must be brought under control soon.
A child collects chunks of coal near the Duvha coal-based power station in Emalahleni, in Mpumalanga province, South Africa, in 2021.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 19, 2025

South Africa artisanal miners want stake in critical minerals boom

As the nation moves away from the planet-heating coal industries toward renewables, miners — both formal and informal — fear mass unemployment.
Students visit the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park in late April. Attitudes in Japan are shifting away from the traditional pacifist views that have held sway since the end of World War II.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2025

Trump shock spurs Japan to think about the unthinkable: nuclear arms

There is a growing willingness to loosen the country’s decades-old pledge not to produce, possess or host nuclear weapons in its territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Yury Slyusar, acting governor of the Rostov region, in Moscow on Monday. Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court for allegedly unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2025

Switzerland and Austria say they would host ICC-wanted Putin for peace talks

Both countries have indicated they would give the Russian leader immunity in order to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at a neutral location.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a speech at a dinner during the Tokyo International Conference on African Development on Thursday in Yokohama.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

LDP mulls pushing back deadline for review of Upper House election

The delay is mainly due to Prime Minister and LDP President Shigeru Ishiba's schedule of diplomatic events.
Members of the student club Neo at Shuri High School receive words of gratitude from Haebaru Junior High School students after their workshop on June 6. They are Mei Nakazato (far left), Nanoka Hirata (second left), Yuzuyu Oyakawa (center), Hinano Yagi (second right) and Honomi Taira.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Aug 25, 2025

Okinawa high school students bring new approach to peace education

A high school group that held a workshop for junior high school students aims to bring a new approach to peace education by turning “passive learning” into something more personal.
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 22, 2025

Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?

With smaller, more ideologically unified parties gaining voter support, some critics say the LDP should split into different groups.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks next to U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Terry Cole, Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), during the signing of executive orders by U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 26, 2025

U.S. weighing sanctions on EU officials implementing Digital Services Act

The law aims to make the online environment safer, in part by compelling tech giants to tackle illegal content such as hate speech and child sexual abuse material.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a news conference at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Thursday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 29, 2025

RFK Jr. says CDC must more closely align with Trump’s agenda

The comments come a day after the White House fired the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's director following an intense clash over vaccines.
The special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office searches the office of Upper House lawmaker Akira Ishii in the city of Toride, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 29, 2025

Nippon Ishin lawmaker's alleged fraud likely totals ¥8 million

Akira Ishii is suspected of receiving salaries for a state-paid public secretary who actually did not work for him.
The lawsuit accused U.S. President Donald Trump of violating Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook's right to due process under the Constitution by firing her without notice or a hearing.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 29, 2025

Fed Gov. Lisa Cook sues Trump over his attempt to fire her

The case is likely headed to the Supreme Court, where a conservative majority has at least tentatively allowed Trump to fire officials from other agencies.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?