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July 24, 2025
 

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HOKKAIDO

Kunashiri, one of the four islands seized by Russia in the last days of World War II, is visible from the Shiretoko Peninsula in northeastern Hokkaido.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jul 22, 2025
Ex-residents of Russian-controlled islands off Hokkaido want grave-site visits resumed
Now in their advanced years, the former residents want the visits to be restored for them to honor their ancestors whose grave sites are located on the four islands.
Former residents of Russian-held islands claimed by Japan hold a memorial service aboard the exchange ship Etopirika, which arrived off Kunashiri, part of the Northern Territories, on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2025
Ex-residents of Japan-claimed isles hold memorial at sea
Former Japanese residents of the Russian-held islands cannot return to their hometowns because exchange programs between the two countries have been suspended.
Rapidus last week printed circuitry on wafers using 2-nanometer gate-all-around process technology, President Atsuyoshi Koike told reporters Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025
Rapidus reports 2-nanometer progress, moving Japan closer to semiconductor goals
Uncertainty about U.S. President Donald Trump’s willingness to defend Taiwan in the event of an attack is among motivations for Japan’s efforts to build its own foundry.
Muneo Suzuki speaks in Sapporo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025
Prodigal Hokkaido son returns to campaign trail for last run in Upper House election
Muneo Suzuki's personality and past actions make him a divisive political figure, but he's teaming up with the Liberal Democratic Party for one final run.
Relatives of victims of a tour boat that sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido in April 2022 pay tribute to their loved ones at sea on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2025
Victims of 2022 tour boat sinking in Hokkaido remembered at sea
On April 23, 2022, the Kazu I tour boat sank off the peninsula, killing 20 of its 26 passengers and crew, with the other six still missing.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2025
Taiwanese rocket fails to achieve Japan's first foreign launch
The rocket lifted off at 11:40 a.m., but within a minute its trajectory turned wobbly and it went into free fall.
Pick up some country-style bread from Boulangerie Aman on your road trip in Kamikawa, Hokkaido.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 13, 2025
Road-tripping through central Hokkaido? Don't miss these bakeries
Slice through lavender fields and flaky croissants on your drive through the scenic region of Kamikawa.
The arrival of this season's first batch of saury was more than a month earlier than last year.
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2025
Season's first batch of saury sells for ¥300,000 per kilogram at Toyosu market
It was the first time in three years that saury was landed in July, but there were only 50 kilograms compared to last year's first arrival, which totaled around 42 tons.
A street in Suttsu, Hokkaido, with a sign put up by an anti-nuclear organization. The small community is considering hosting a facility that would hold nuclear waste.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jul 6, 2025
Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste
Some scholars and activists are raising concerns that Indigenous voices are not being heard amid the debate over whether to host nuclear waste storage facilities.
Karuizawa Distillers, which runs Komoro Distillery in Nagano Prefecture, has teamed up with the city of Furano and real estate developer Seibu Group to open a whisky distillery in Furano.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 4, 2025
Beyond the lavender fields in Furano, a whisky distillery emerges
The region has teamed up with Karuizawa Distillers and property developer Seibu Group to build a state-of-the-art facility to make single malts.
Rice paddies in the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido. Rice is a major crop for Hokkaido, with the region having produced 562,400 tons of it last year.
BUSINESS / Economy / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jun 30, 2025
U.S. import pressure raises concerns for Hokkaido agriculture
The U.S. is nudging Japan to import more rice, soybeans, and maize — vital crops that support Hokkaido's economy.
Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jun 30, 2025
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji’s deadliest weekend still echoes today. Luckily, area rescue squads have leveled up their game.
Pat Gelsinger (left), former Intel CEO and general partner at Playground Global, and Peter Barrett, co-founder and general partner of Playground, in Tokyo on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2025
Former Intel CEO Gelsinger has some advice for Japan's Rapidus
He encourages the chipmaker to distinguish itself in some way from TSMC.
A single Type-88 missile is tested off the coast at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Shizunai anti-aircraft firing range in Shinhidaka, Hokkaido, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025
Japan conducts first domestic surface-to-ship missile test
Japan called its first surface-to-ship missile test within its territory necessary training given the current "severe security environment."
A view of Kunashir — known as Kunashiri in Japanese — one a group of Russian-controlled islands off Hokkaido that are claimed by Japan
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2025
Memorial services at sea to be held off disputed islands
Two of the five events will involve an overnight stay on a ship, with participants offering prayers toward part of Kunashiri Island.
Honda's experimental reusable rocket during a launching and landing test
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 18, 2025
Honda hails successful test of reusable rocket
Japan's second-biggest carmaker has successfully tested an experimental reusable rocket as it seeks to expand into the space sector.
The white-tailed eagle's wintering grounds include Hokkaido, northern Honshu, the Russian coast, the southern Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
May 26, 2025
Eagle nest discovery sparks opposition to megasolar project
Groups want to put a stop to the project near eastern Hokkaido's Kushiro Wetlands National Park.
The Hokkaido East Trail links some of the northern prefecture's most striking national parks and landscapes.
LIFE / Travel
May 24, 2025
In search of untouched Japan? Meet Hokkaido’s newest hiking trail.
The 410-kilometer Hokkaido East Trail links three national parks as it winds through marshland, calderas and more.
Sapporo’s Susukino district. Hiroko Tamura, the mother of a 31-year-old woman suspected of killing and beheading a man in the district in 2023, was sentenced on Wednesday to one year and two months in prison, suspended for three years, for aiding in the mutilation and concealment of a corpse.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 7, 2025
Mother of suspect in Sapporo beheading case sentenced for role in cover-up
Hiroko Tamura was sentenced to one year and two months in prison, suspended for three years, for aiding in the mutilation and concealment of a corpse.
Masaru Okawa (right), head of the Ainu association, receives ancestral remains from Peter Mathieson, principal of the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 1, 2025
Remains of Ainu people in Edinburgh to be repatriated to Japan
The remains, which had been kept at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, have been returned to the Ainu Association of Hokkaido and will arrive back in Japan on Saturday.
Japan and U.S. reach tariff deal with ‘reciprocal’ rate at 15%
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Japan on Tuesday, saying the agreement would create "hundreds of thousands of jobs."
Ishiba denies reports he will resign next month, leaving his fate unclear
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba looks on after meeting with the Liberal Democratic Party executives at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan and U.S. both claim win in surprise 11th-hour tariff deal
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan chief tariff negotiator, in Tokyo
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
Rice grain-sized earphone may have been used to cheat on TOEIC English test
A pendant-shaped relay device suspected to have been used to cheat on the TOEIC English proficiency test, in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Tuesday
Japan leans into homegrown AI amid rising competition
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.
Induction of Ichiro has Cooperstown fretfully preparing
Ichiro Suzuki will soon become the first Japanese player to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
JT picks: What not to miss at Fuji Rock 2025
Fuji Rock Festival turns the green slopes of Niigata Prefecture’s Naeba Ski Resort into a summer escape that offers soundtracks for every mood.
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
Pentagon looks to unleash ‘military drone dominance’
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts a drone demonstration at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on July 10.

Podcast

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

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
By Alex K.T. Martin

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