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September 23, 2025
 

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DRUGS

A street in Naha in August. In entertainment districts in southern Okinawa, a drug known as "laughing gas vape" is being abused at nightclubs and bar. Now, some establishments have put up warning notices.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Sep 22, 2025
Abuse of 'zombie cigarettes' among Okinawa youths raises alarm
"Laughing gas vape," inhaled using devices resembling e-cigarettes, can cause its users to lose control.
A screen grab from video posted to U.S. President Donald Trump's Truth Social account shows what he said is a U.S. military strike on a boat carrying alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 20, 2025
Trump says U.S. struck alleged drug vessel in latest operation
The latest strike — at least the third against alleged drug vessels — comes amid a large U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 16, 2025
Trump says U.S. struck another alleged Venezuelan drug vessel, killing three
The U.S. president provided no evidence for his assertion that the boat was carrying drugs.
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 9, 2025
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Sometimes it makes sense to act before the investigation is done.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio in June.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 7, 2025
U.S. strike on alleged cartel boat shows Rubio’s influence growing
The attack was the culmination of Trump’s yearslong interest in using unprecedented — and legally questionable — force against drug cartels.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a meeting with the high military command in Caracas on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 6, 2025
Trump plays down regime change in Venezuela as U.S. deploys stealth fighter jets
The Trump administration has ordered the deployment of 10 F-35 fighter jets to a Puerto Rico airfield to conduct operations against drug cartels.
Cannabidiol products in New York in October 2014. Tetrahydrocannabinol, which gives the “high” often associated with marijuana, is illegal in Japan if it exceeds a certain amount.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Sep 5, 2025
Japan has ‘strictest standard in the world’ when it comes to CBD products
The country’s threshold for tetrahydrocannabinol, a compound derived from cannabis that gives the “high,” is just 10 parts per million, compared with 3,000 ppm in the U.S.
Takeshi Niinami, the former chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings, at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / EXPLAINER
Sep 4, 2025
What we know about the supplements scandal linked to Suntory’s ex-CEO
The ex-Suntory CEO’s side of the story offered some clarity, but much remains unknown.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, "It won’t stop with just this strike,” after the U.S. targeted a boat in the Caribbean Sea allegedly full of drugs from Venezuela.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2025
U.S. threatens more strikes on purported drug boats after attack in Caribbean
The move marked a major escalation in U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on narcotics traffickers following deployment of U.S. Navy vessels off the Venezuelan coast.
Former Suntory Holdings CEO Takeshi Niinami said he did not violate the law.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2025
Niinami, a tough and respected leader, remains at helm of Keizai Doyukai for now
He has championed fast wage increases and a tough approach to wrongdoing.
Takeshi Niinami, who has resigned as Suntory Holdings chairman and CEO, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 3, 2025
Ex-Suntory CEO Niinami says he is confident he has 'broken no laws'
His comments came a day after Tuesday’s shocking revelation that he is the target of a police investigation over illegal drugs.
Takeshi Niinami, then-chief executive officer of Suntory Holdings, in May 2024
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 2, 2025
Suntory CEO Takeshi Niinami resigns over alleged possession of illegal drugs
Police are investigating Niinami over supplements he allegedly purchased overseas that are suspected to be illegal in Japan, a fact that he was unaware of.
The U.S. Navy warship USS Sampson docks at the Amador International Cruise Terminal in Panama City on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 31, 2025
Trump taunting Maduro on Venezuela coast spurs questions on goal
The U.S. president has labeled Nicolas Maduro a terrorist and on Aug. 7 Trump's administration put a $50 million bounty on the Venezuelan leader's head.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. walks to the ring for his fight against Jake Paul in Anaheim, California, on June 28.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 25, 2025
Boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. released from prison pending trial
U.S. authorities arrested Chavez in July for being in the United States illegally.
Omar Garcia Harfuch has earned respect from rank-and-file military and security forces by showing up, gun-in-hand, on the front lines, one source said.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 19, 2025
Battle-tested cop is Mexico's hope to tame cartels and placate Trump
Garcia Harfuch has earned praise for helping deliver on Sheinbaum's vision of increased cooperation with the U.S.
Dried cannabis confiscated by police shown to media in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 15, 2025
Japan makes its biggest drug bust ever
Authorities have seized roughly a metric ton of dried cannabis smuggled by ship from Vietnam worth around ¥5.2 billion ($35.2 million).
The Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia
WORLD
Aug 15, 2025
U.S. military deploying forces to southern Caribbean against drug groups
U.S. President Donald Trump has wanted to use the military to go after Latin American drug gangs that have been designated as global terrorist organizations.
Among the middle school students who admitted to abusing over-the-counter medication, the majority — around 64% — said they got them from pharmacies while a third said they had access to them in their own households.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 13, 2025
1 in 55 Japanese middle schoolers abuse over-the-counter drugs, survey shows
Most of them got the drugs from pharmacies and their own households.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Aug. 1.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 9, 2025
Trump rattles Latin America by eyeing military force against drug cartels
The approach discards the previous administration's preference for carrots over sticks to coax countries into alignment with U.S. interests.
London’s worsening disorder — from soaring petty crime to reckless delivery riders and rising drug use — reflects a decades-old pattern of authorities and citizens normalizing lawlessness.
COMMENTARY
Jul 23, 2025
What turning a blind eye to deviant behavior is doing to London
The city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, needs to take growing disorder on the streets more seriously.
40 years after Plaza Accord, Japan still at mercy of forex swings
The Plaza Hotel in New York, where finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of Five countries met and struck the Plaza Accord on Sept. 22, 1985.
As Japan keeps buying gas, Aboriginal Australians pay the price
Paulina “Jedda” Puruntatameri with Antonia Burke and Tiwi fisher Clinton offshore of Melville Island, one of the Tiwi Islands, in Australia's Northern Territory. Together with other Tiwi, Jedda has been campaigning for years to stop Australian company Santos and its backers, including Japanese investors, from drilling for natural gas at the Barossa gas field.
Abuse of 'zombie cigarettes' among Okinawa youths raises alarm
A street in Naha in August. In entertainment districts in southern Okinawa, a drug known as "laughing gas vape" is being abused at nightclubs and bar. Now, some establishments have put up warning notices.
German companies choosing Japan as Asia manufacturing hub: survey
Japan has many positive qualities for German companies, but the market does face some challenges, such as talent acquisition and retention, particularly as demand for skilled workers grows, a survey by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan showed.
Boom in business class travel from Japan fuels airlines profits
A business class suite of an Airbus SE A350-1000 aircraft operated by Japan Airlines is seen during a media preview at the company's hangar at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in January last year.
Who’s who in the LDP presidential race?
(From left) Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi; former foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi; Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi; former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi; and former minister of state for economic security Sanae Takaichi, speaking at events in Tokyo.
Twice-a-year injection could make HIV prevention easier, developer argues
Jared Baeten, Gilead Sciences' senior vice president and virology therapeutic area head, hopes regulatory approval elsewhere for lenacapavir as a preexposure prophylaxis — for reducing the risk of contracting HIV — could lead to real discussions toward ending HIV in Japan.
Behold the glory of Japan’s fruit boxes
Otherwise common sights in Japan's supermarkets, the country's fruit and veggie boxes can hide surprising symbols of local pride.
YouTuber Gigguk shifts from talking anime to making anime
The process of making “Baan” was personal and enlightening for Maneetapho, who spent years talking about anime on his YouTube channel and podcast before making the jump to becoming an anime creator himself.
How Yuki Joseph Nakajima turned failures into breakout success at Tokyo worlds
Yuki Joseph Nakajima after finishing sixth in the men's 400-meter final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Thursday.

Podcast

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

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan
By Christoph Sponsel

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