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September 15, 2025
 

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RELATIONS

Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s top trade negotiator, said U.S. officials expressed regret that the stacking rule had been applied to Japan despite a verbal agreement, and said Washington would refund any overpaid levies.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 10, 2025
U.S. and Japan working to announce tariffs won’t stack
The United States is working to finalize an announcement that would end the stacking of universal tariffs on Japanese goods.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung delivers a speech during a news conference at the Blue House in Seoul on July 3.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 9, 2025
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung likely to visit Japan later this month
Lee's visit to Japan is being arranged to come just before or just after a reported trip to the United States on Aug. 25.
A model of the upgraded Mogami-class frigate is displayed at the Defense Security Equipment International Japan exhibition at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on May 21.
EDITORIALS
Aug 8, 2025
The Japan-Australia frigate deal is more than a weapons pact
The scale of the agreement is sweeping. Japan has never before won a bid this size.
A monitor shows the morning closing value of the Topix index hitting a fresh record, trading above 3,000 for the first time, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 8, 2025
Japan index hits record high on earnings boost as other Asian markets ease
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average went up 2% and the Topix index hit a fresh record, trading above 3,000 for the first time.
A Bank of Japan board member suggested the possibility of a rate hike by year-end, depending on the impact of U.S. tariffs, according to a summary of opinions from the central bank’s policy meeting last week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2025
BOJ may exit wait-and-see mode by year-end, policy meeting summary says
Depending on the impact from U.S. tariffs, another rate hike then might be possible, an unnamed board member hinted.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump meet at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires in December 2018. Xi is blending Maoist resolve with pragmatic diplomacy in his foreign policy.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 8, 2025
Xi steals a page from Mao’s foreign-policy playbook
Xi foreign policy blends Maoist ideology, pragmatic statecraft and strategic patience as he advances anti-corruption efforts and selectively cooperates with the U.S.
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.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2025
U.S. backtracks on Japan tariff calculation, taking effective rate lower
Japan's chief tariff negotiator said that a clerical error had been made in the U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 7, 2025
The United States imposes 15% 'reciprocal' tariff on most Japanese goods
Japan and the U.S. still disagree on how the rate will be calculated.
Students at the Taira First Elementary School in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, learn about the World War II "mock atomic bombs" during a special class given at the school in July.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2025
People work to pass on stories of U.S. 'mock atomic bombs' dropped on Japan in WWII
Over 400 people were killed by 49 of what are also called "pumpkin bombs" that the U.S. dropped on Japan between July 20 and Aug. 14, 1945.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate. Australia's selection of an upgraded version of the Mogami-class warship for its next frigate class could prove to be a watershed moment for Japan’s defense industry.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 6, 2025
Australia's warship selection signals Japanese defense industry's arrival
Japan's successful bid will serve as a confidence booster and could set a precedent for other countries to consider Japanese capabilities for their own militaries.
The Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, is on display at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Virginia after restoration in August 2003.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 6, 2025
Were the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings necessary?
Was it necessary to drop the bombs on civilian population centers to demonstrate the power of the weapons?
A woman prays at the Peace Memorial Park ahead of the memorial service to mark the 80th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack, in the city of Hiroshima early on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2025
Documents show U.S. initially estimated Hiroshima bombing victims at 100,000
One of the documents said that the heart of the city of Hiroshima was so completely devastated that "not even debris of buildings was left."
U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday. He told CNBC that investment pledges are like signing bonuses.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 6, 2025
Trump: The $550 billion pledged by Japan is 'our money'
The U.S. president told CNBC that he is free to invest the funds however he wishes.
This undated handout photo released by the Australian Defence Force on Tuesday shows the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force JS Mogami frigate sailing at an undisclosed location.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 6, 2025
The Japan-Australia frigate sale is a big deal. Here’s why.
For the Japanese government, this will make for the largest defense export to date.
Tokunoshima, Kametoku New Port. A coast guard patrol boat spotted the Taiwanese vessel conducting the suspicious activity at a point some 335 kilometers west-northwest of the island of Tokunoshima in Kagoshima Prefecture at around 3:50 p.m. Monday, according to the 10th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2025
Taiwanese vessel suspected of conducting survey in Japan's EEZ for second time
The vessel was seen conducting suspicious activity around 335 kilometers west-northwest of the island of Tokunoshima in Kagoshima Prefecture on Monday.
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa. Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, is returning to the United States for another round of trade talks.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 5, 2025
Akazawa returns to U.S. for more talks as tariff deal looks shaky
Japan is urging the United States to cut the tariff on cars as soon as possible.
Mizuho Bank is said to have appointed Devendra Sharma as co-head of corporate banking in India with the aim of strengthening its presence in the country.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 5, 2025
Mizuho said to hire Mashreqbank’s corporate banking head in India
Mizuho Bank is betting big in India, with a focus on corporate and investment banking, as well as retail loans.
Bridgestone will sell Mexico Carbon Manufacturing to U.S.-based Cabot for about $70 million as part of its carbon black business restructuring.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 5, 2025
Bridgestone to sell carbon black business in Mexico to U.S. firm Cabot
In July, the Japanese tire-maker announced the sale of its carbon black operations in Thailand to Japan's Tokai Carbon.
On Monday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba offered his views of U.S. President Donald Trump and the American leader’s negotiating tactics — colorful comments that were unusual for their candor but not widely reported in Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 5, 2025
'Not a normal person’: Ishiba shoots from the hip when it comes to Trump
It is extremely unusual for a sitting prime minister to publicly speak about the leader of the U.S. in a manner that could be construed as criticism.
Jamco, a Japan-based maker of airplane seats, toilets, and galleys that was recently acquired by Bain Capital, is betting its U.S.-based manufacturing hub will give it an advantage under President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 5, 2025
Bain’s Japanese plane seat-maker sees U.S. hub as shelter from Trump tariffs
Supply chain issues that have seen extended wait times for cabin fittings also present an opportunity to fill, Jamco Executive Chair Kate Schaefer says.
Is America ready for Japanese-style 7-Elevens?
Convenience stores are a fixture of Japanese life and 7-Eleven, a chain that began in the U.S. in 1927, opened its first store in Japan in 1974 — and then became wholly Japanese-owned in 2005 through parent company Seven & I Holdings.
Japan's cutting-edge railgun successfully strikes target vessel
The Defense Ministry’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) conducted a ship-board railgun shooting test from June to early July this year with the support of the Maritime Self-Defense Force.
‘Fairytale’ Shirakawago ranked one of the world’s most beautiful villages
Forbes and Unforgettable Travel Company have ranked Shirakawago in Gifu Prefecture as Asia's most beautiful village.
People rush to make furusato nozei donations ahead of tighter rules
A booth from the town of Betsukai in Hokkaido at an Amazon Japan furusato nо̄zei promotion event, on Sept. 5 in Tokyo's Minato Ward.
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
Strikes on Qatar and Poland shake U.S. sway among friend and foe
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Museum of the Bible in Washington on Sept. 8. Israeli strikes in Qatar and Russian drone incursions into Poland have challenged the U.S. leaders claims of global respect.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
As Manila modernizes its military, new opportunities emerge for Tokyo
A Brahmos missile system is displayed during a rehearsal for a military parade in New Delhi in January. The Philippines will soon receive its second batch of the supersonic cruise missiles from India.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

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