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August 09, 2025
 

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APPS

Shintaro Matsue (right), head of the International Furikake Association, holds an enlarged package of <i>furikake</i> in Jakarta on July 9.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2025
'Furikake' app to help manage children's health in Indonesian
After downloading an app featured on furikake product packaging, children input data like their height and weight, then do academic drills, with the reward being manga.
A new law set to take effect in December to promote competition in the smartphone app market bans Google and Apple from excluding other companies' app stores from phones that use their operating systems.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2025
Japan releases guidelines for IT giants regarding smartphone apps
The guidelines prohibit companies like Google and Apple from using data obtained through their operating systems to develop products with competitive advantages.
A high school student uses social media applications in November 2024.
WORLD / Society
Jul 15, 2025
EU states to test age-check app to limit children's access to online services
The European Commission has unveiled a prototype of the app that Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Spain will customize and launch within several months.
Grok, a chatbot made by xAI, on Tuesday made antisemitic comments on billionaire owner Elon Musk's social media platform, X.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 10, 2025
Europe’s clash with Musk’s xAI escalates after Grok’s rants
The chatbot on Tuesday made antisemitic comments on social media platform X.
Shingo Kato, assistant manager at Homechigiru Driving School in Ise, Mie Prefecture, rides in a training vehicle with a smartphone equipped with the school’s translation app.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jun 30, 2025
Translation apps help break language barriers at Chubu driving schools
Some driving schools have refused enrollment of foreign nationals with limited Japanese skills, sources have said.
Regarding news genres that respondents want to avoid, with multiple answers allowed, war and other conflicts were mentioned by 18.9%. "News that is meant to be touching or news that foments anger" was cited by 18%.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 26, 2025
Almost a fifth of people in Japan may avoid news, industry survey suggests
When asked why they avoid news, with multiple answers allowed, 60.8% of those surveyed said it makes them feel depressed and sick.
U.S. President Donald Trump is granting a third reprieve to TikTok from enforcement of a congressionally mandated ban that was supposed to take effect in January.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 18, 2025
Trump to extend TikTok sale deadline for third time, White House says
The U.S. president will extend the June 19 deadline for 90 days.
Japan will be the newest addition to the list of countries where TikTok Shop is available, which already includes the U.S. and the Philippines.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 17, 2025
TikTok Shop to launch e-commerce service in Japan as soon as this month
The service, already available in several other countries, allows users to purchase promoted products directly from the social media app.
A woman weeps as she holds a poster of TikTok star Sana Yousaf during a protest to condemn violence against women, after Yousaf was killed for rejecting a man's proposal in Islamabad.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 16, 2025
'This is a culture': TikTok murder highlights Pakistan's unease with women online
TikTok is wildly popular in the nation, and women have found both audience and income. But as views have surged, so have efforts to police the platform.
A registration system linking local governments with the so-called connected population — nonresidents who regularly interact with regional areas — is designed to encourage people living in urban areas to play active roles in rural communities amid their shrinking populations.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 15, 2025
Japan considers new system to connect urban and rural populations
The system aims to help those in overpopulated cities to play more active roles in rural communities with shrinking populations.
A woman near the Kremlin in Moscow on May 19
WORLD / Politics
Jun 9, 2025
Russian intelligence says it collects WeChat data. What does that mean?
The disclosure highlights the rising level of concern about Chinese influence in Russia as the two countries deepen their relationship.
At a warehouse managed by online grocer BigBasket in central Mumbai, employees work with military-like precision to pull off deliveries in just 10 minutes.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2025
In India's congested cities, delivery apps cash in
Delivery apps have faltered elsewhere in recent years, but sales in India have soared from $100 million in 2020 to an estimated $6 billion in 2024.
Then-U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz checks his mobile phone while attending a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on April 30.
WORLD / Politics
May 22, 2025
Hacker behind U.S communication breach stole data from across government
The discovery potentially raises the stakes of a breach that has already drawn questions about data security in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Although Japan's rate of cashless transactions remains relatively low compared with those of other countries, the share of such payments in personal consumption has surpassed 40% for the first time.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
May 21, 2025
Cashless payments top 40% of consumer spending in Japan
The country's cashless payment penetration remains low globally, with the risk of fraud and service interruptions due to natural disasters presenting hurdles to growth.
A projected 8 million deepfakes — manipulated video or audio made using artificial intelligence — will be shared worldwide in 2025, about a fifth of which will be part of romance scams, according to cyber firm McAfee.
WORLD / Society
May 19, 2025
Deep love or deepfake: Dating in the time of AI
Scammers are increasingly using deepfakes — manipulated video or audio made using artificial intelligence — to look and sound real on dating apps.
The Apple App Store app on an iPhone on June 25, 2024
BUSINESS / Tech
May 1, 2025
Apple must halt non-app store sales commissions, judge says
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sided Wednesday with Fortnite maker Epic Games over its allegation that the iPhone maker failed to comply with a court order.
Tapple, one of Japan's most popular dating apps, has launched the nation's first feature to verify a user's single status via their My Number card.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2025
Single, or not? Japanese dating app launches relationship verification system
With Tapple boasting over 20 million users, worries about dishonest relationship statuses were common.
Apple responded fiercely to the European Union penalty, accusing the bloc’s regulators of discriminating against the company and forcing it to give away its technology for free.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Apple and Meta hit by $798 million in EU tech fines after Trump threats
The punishments are far lower than previous ones under traditional EU competition law, and are likely to be seen as an attempt to avoid provoking Trump.
The U.S., U.K. and Europe are aligning with China and Russia in their efforts to undermine the encryption tools that millions of internet users depend on.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2025
Don't let governments break encryption
To convince the public that breaking encryption is necessary, governments often rely on technical jargon and emotionally charged anecdotes.
The proposal reportedly calls for a legal framework that would obligate telecom operators to store communication records for a fixed period.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2025
LDP proposal would require telecom companies to store usage records
The proposal calls for a legal framework that would obligate telecom operators to store metadata and usage records for a fixed period.
Japan's inheritance tax is high, unforgiving and sometimes avoidable
The National Tax Agency at the Ministry of Finance, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Japanese tax authorities can bill foreign residents in Japan for assets inherited globally.
The United States imposes 15% 'reciprocal' tariff on most Japanese goods
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House on Wednesday.
U.S. backtracks on Japan tariff calculation, taking effective rate lower
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, said the U.S. made a clerical error in not including a “reciprocal” tariff rate ceiling for Japan in the trade deal.
How Pakistan shot down India's cutting-edge fighter using Chinese gear
An Indian Air Force pilot gets out of a Rafale fighter jet during its induction ceremony at an air force station in Ambala, India, September 2020.
Biggest drop in Japanese nationals seen alongside record high in foreign residents
A street in Tokyo's Shinjuku district on Wednesday
Cheer with caution: Expert advises sports fans have game plan for extreme heat
A Cardinals fan fans himself during the seventh inning of a game against the Pirates in St. Louis, Missouri, in June 2022.
Japan's inheritance tax is high, unforgiving and sometimes avoidable
The National Tax Agency at the Ministry of Finance, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Japanese tax authorities can bill foreign residents in Japan for assets inherited globally.
Will the movement seeking Ishiba’s resignation succeed?
Liberal Democratic Party youth division head Yasutaka Nakasone (center) and other members speak to reporters in Tokyo on July 25.
Photographer Bleg Bayraktar is winning social media with politeness
A video on Bayraktar's Instagram account of the Belgian photographer approaching an elderly worker in Tokyo's Shibuya has gone viral, garnering almost 9 million views.
Australia announces new warships will come from Japan
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate Niyodo sails at an undisclosed location in this image released Tuesday.

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Longform

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The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person
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