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October 14, 2025
 

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BUDGETS

The U.S. Capitol in Washington on Friday. The current government shutdown is the most acute symptom of a general lack of goodwill in Washington, where bipartisan deal-making has increasingly gone out of vogue.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 12, 2025
Trump layoffs and broken trust harden Democrats’ shutdown stand
Democrats have expressed doubts that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver a health care fix unless forced to do so.
U.S. President Donald Trump returns to the White House on Friday after a medical checkup at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Trump said on Saturday that he had identified funds that would allow the administration to pay members of the military, even though the government remains shut down and Congress has not approved additional money for the troops.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 12, 2025
U.S. military will use R&D money to pay troops if shutdown persists
With no signs of a resolution anytime soon, the administration on Friday began making good on Trump's threat to lay off thousands of federal workers.
On a per capita basis, the expenses paid to medical institutions for the treatment of illness and injury in the year through March 2024 expanded 3.5% to ¥386,700, also an all-time high, according to a final report released Friday.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2025
Medical expenses in Japan hit record ¥48 trillion in fiscal 2023
The rise in medical costs is attributed to an increase in influenza cases, an aging population and costly medical treatments using advanced technologies.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington on Friday. The White House is making good on threats to fire thousands of federal workers amid a government shutdown now in its 10th day, with job cuts across federal agencies.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 11, 2025
Trump fires federal workers amid shutdown fight with Democrats
The firings mark the first large-scale layoffs of federal employees during a funding lapse in modern history.
A Ground Self-Defense Force member conducts a military drill with an anti-ship missiles unit at the GSDF's Camp Miyako on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2025
Top Pentagon nominee says Japan has 'long underemphasized' defense spending
John Noh, the White House's nominee to be the Defense Department's top Asia official, said Tokyo “has long underemphasized spending for its own defense.”
The Capitol Building in Washington on Oct. 1. The mass layoffs of federal workers could begin if President Donald Trump decides negotiations to end a partial government shutdown are "absolutely going nowhere," a senior White House official said Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 6, 2025
White House says mass layoffs will start if shutdown talks 'going nowhere'
No tangible signs of negotiations have emerged between congressional leaders since Trump met with them last week.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung salutes the national flag during a ceremony to mark Armed Forces Day in Gyeryong, South Korea, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 1, 2025
South Korea to increase defense budget by 8.2% next year, President Lee says
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said that momentum for cooperation and shared prosperity is weakening across the world, calling the situation "every man for himself."
U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House in February. The next prime minister faces the dual challenge of managing a volatile U.S. relationship under Trump while addressing trade and national security concerns.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 1, 2025
Could the Trump factor be a wild card in the LDP race?
The ability to handle the Americans has been a core element of the prime minister’s portfolio.
About 83% of public hospitals in Japan were in the red in fiscal 2024.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 30, 2025
83% of public hospitals in Japan in red in fiscal 2024
Both the deficit and the proportion of loss-making hospitals, 703 out of 844, marked record highs.
The Liberal Democratic Party presidential election candidates in Nagoya on Friday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 28, 2025
On defense and foreign policy, LDP candidates largely align — except where they don’t
From nuanced differences in how to bolster Japan’s defenses to the importance of relations with the U.S., each candidate’s views could result in significantly different policies.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 20, 2025
Trump predicts U.S. government could ‘very well’ shut down on Oct. 1
The prospect of a shutdown increased after Senate Republicans and Democrats earlier Friday each blocked rival plans to provide temporary funding.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s most concrete step to rein in unprecedented budget deficits — sweeping tariff hikes — faces the danger of a legal reversal that would put the nation’s finances on an even shakier footing.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Sep 14, 2025
Tariffs face legal threat that puts Trump’s deficit plan at risk
U.S. President Donald Trump’s most concrete step to rein in unprecedented budget deficits — sweeping tariff hikes — faces the danger of a legal reversal that would put the nation’s finances on an even shakier footing.
The Finance Ministry building in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2025
Government agencies' fiscal 2026 budget requests hit record
The total requested amount rose sharply from ¥117.6 trillion in the previous year to ¥122.4 trillion.
The Finance Ministry building in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2025
Japan fiscal 2026 budget requests likely to top ¥122 trillion
The increase is due to surges in debt-servicing costs, including loan repayments and interest payments, and policy-related expenses reflecting rising prices and wages.
Pedestrians walk past a flag that reads “Free DC” hanging on an overpass near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington on Aug. 15
WORLD / Politics
Aug 30, 2025
Trump notifies Congress of plan to rescind billions in foreign aid
The maneuver challenges Congress’ spending powers and intensifies an already contentious battle over government funding, which is due to lapse Sept. 30.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, will screen government agencies and ministries' requests for tax reform at their respective tax panels, aiming to draw up guidelines later this year.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 30, 2025
Government agencies draw up fiscal year 2026 tax reform requests
The ruling coalition will screen the requests, aiming to draw up late this year tax reform guidelines for the fiscal year starting next April.
A group of Ground Self-Defense Force service members discuss drone operations and capabilities at a joint static display during the Orient Shield 24 opening ceremony at the Yausubetsu Training Area in Hokkaido in July last year.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2025
Japan looks to build drone ‘shield’ in record defense budget request
The Defense Ministry is seeking a budget exceeding ¥8.8 trillion that includes a ¥128.7 billion plan to build a multilayered coastal defense system.
The former main building of the Justice Ministry. The ministry is requesting ¥877.5 billion in overall funding, of which ¥22.9 billion would be used for measures linked to foreign workers.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 28, 2025
Budget requests from Justice Ministry focus on foreign nationals
Of the ¥877.5 billion requested, ¥22.9 billion would be set aside for measures linked to foreign workers and ¥18.3 billion for measures that respond to a rise in foreign tourists.
The Foreign Ministrys budget request for fiscal 2026 will call for building information infrastructure and developing digital human resources.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2025
Foreign Ministry to seek ¥874.3 billion budget for fiscal 2026
The budget request will call for building information infrastructure and developing digital human resources.
The Finance Ministry in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. The ministry plans to seek a record 32.4 trillion yen in debt-servicing costs in its budget request for fiscal 2026.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 26, 2025
Finance Ministry seeks record budget for debt financing
The ministry’s request would be the highest amount ever budgeted for debt-servicing costs, which already account for about a quarter of Japan’s national budget.
Toyoko Kids: The lonely street children of Tokyo
Many young people who feel neglected at home flock to the Toyoko area to find a community where they can fit in.
Japan unveils new overtourism countermeasures
The majority of tourists in Japan tend to stay in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, resulting in overcrowding in popular tourist spots and a strain on transportation systems.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
South Korea couple beat same-sex barriers to parenthood
South Korean lesbian couple Kim Kyu-jin (left) and her wife, Kim Sae-yeon, pose with a "pregnant woman" badge during an interview in Seoul last month.
Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?
The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.
‘Takaichi trade’ starts unwinding as political calculus upended by Komeito exit
Less than a week ago, Sanae Takaichi seemed set to become Japan's first female prime minister.
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.
A Japanese comedian walks into an Aussie bar … and stays there
Takashi “Waka” Wakasugi stopped by the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya Ward last month following his stint at Edinburgh Festival Fringe performing his show “Comedy Samurai.”

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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