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September 18, 2025
 

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US JAPAN RELATIONS

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 17, 2025
Japan won't recognize Palestinian state given U.S. ties: media report
Recent reports said the U.S. had prompted Japan to forgo the recognition through diplomatic channels, while France had urged the opposite.
The Bank of Japan has maintained a wait-and-see approach for most of the year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 17, 2025
Bank of Japan set to hold rates steady even as inflation remains high
It is expected to keep the policy rate at 0.5% at its meeting this week.
Proxy-shopping services — companies that ship Japanese products ranging from cosmetics and snacks to limited-edition stationery on behalf of customers abroad — are already feeling the impact of the U.S. suspending de minimis exemptions.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2025
End of U.S. de minimis exemption causes headaches for some businesses in Japan
Companies that ship to the U.S. are hoping customers will tolerate higher costs or that the de minimis treatment will be restored, but many believe it's gone for good.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong at the State Department in January.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2025
Japan and India must anchor America in the Indo-Pacific
Neither Japan or India possess the military strength to counter China independently.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, speaks on Tuesday about the implementation of the Japan-U.S. trade deal.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 16, 2025
U.S. tariffs on Japanese autos formally cut to 15% from 27.5%
The reduction is a long-awaited implementation of the terms of a July 22 agreement.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, arrives at the Vostochny Сosmodrome before a meeting between her brother and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia's far eastern Amur region in September 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 14, 2025
North Korea condemns 'reckless' U.S.-Japan-South Korea drills
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister condemned the upcoming joint military drills as a "reckless show of strength" that would bring "bad results."
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Aegis destroyer Chokai at its Sasebo base in Nagasaki Prefecture
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2025
MSDF Aegis destroyer Chokai to test-fire Tomahawk missiles
If successful, the SDF would gain the ability to directly strike the territory of other countries using cruise missiles.
Sailors aboard the U.S. Navy's guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn conduct a small boat operation during a "Maritime Cooperative Activity" with the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Osumi tank-landing ship and the Philippine Navy's Jose Rizal frigate in the South China Sea on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 14, 2025
Beijing denounces joint U.S.-Japan-Philippines patrol of South China Sea
China criticized the joint trilateral exercises, alleging that Manila has “frequently colluded with non-regional countries” to organize the patrols.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato reaffirmed in a joint statement their commitment to allowing markets to determine currency exchange rates and not targeting them for competitive advantage.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 12, 2025
U.S. and Japan pledge not to manipulate forex for competitive advantage
Tokyo has spent close to $150 billion in the last three years trying to prop up the yen with the last move in July last year.
A U.S. Air Force serviceman in Okinawa Prefecture has appealed to the Supreme Court against a high court ruling that upheld a five-year sentence for abducting and sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 16 in the prefecture, it was revealed on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 12, 2025
U.S. airman appeals to top court in Okinawa assault case
Brennon Washington filed the appeal Wednesday after receiving the ruling by the Fukuoka High Court's branch in Naha that day.
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.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2025
Is America ready for Japanese-style 7-Elevens?
Facing a stagnant and highly competitive retail market in Japan, Seven & I’s growth is expected to come from overseas.
The Bank of Japan's wait-and-see approach is likely to continue given the political climate and the tariff situation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 11, 2025
Rate increase in Japan less likely following Ishiba's resignation
Political uncertainty will make a move higher in October difficult.
The U.S. Air Force's Kadena Air Base in Kadena, Okinawa Prefecture. Brennon Washington, who was stationed at the base, was handed a five-year prison sentence over the kidnap and sexual assault of a girl under the age of consent.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2025
Five-year term upheld for U.S. airman over Okinawa sexual assault
A judge rejected the defense's appeal and upheld the Naha District Court's ruling in the trial of 26-year-old Brennon Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump at Granite City Works in Illinois in 2018. U.S. Steel, the owner of the plant, was acquired by Nippon Steel earlier this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2025
U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works to cease steel slab processing: report
The production decision comes just three months after the acquisition by Nippon Steel.
The 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force conducts the first Typhon midrange missile system live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States on July 16, successfully sinking a maritime target during the Talisman Sabre exercises in Australia's Northern Territory.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 10, 2025
High-tech U.S. missile systems come to Japan amid policy shifts and China concerns
Long wary of such a move, Tokyo’s acquiescence — and its own planned missile deployments — highlights a gradual but monumental shift in defense policy.
Investigators from the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations at a factory being built by South Korea's Hyundai Motor in Georgia on Friday
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2025
Three Japanese nationals among those detained by ICE at Hyundai plant in Georgia
The Japanese nationals are employees of a Japanese industrial machinery manufacturer who were dispatched to the electric vehicle battery plant in Georgia.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a news conference at the White House in Washington on Feb. 7. Ishiba's short-lived prime ministership underscores the challenges facing the Japan and U.S. alliance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 10, 2025
What Japan’s political drift means for U.S.-Japan relations
Decisive political leadership is missing. Ambitious reforms and bold initiatives require political capital.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief negotiator, says that U.S. tariffs on Japanese autos will fall soon.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 9, 2025
Akazawa heralds U.S. trade deal as he moots wrinkle in it
He notes Japan cannot finance any project that contravenes its laws.
Hitachi's dog-shaped robot, introduced at its railway vehicle plant in Maryland. The heavy machinery maker is looking to expand its investment in the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 9, 2025
Hitachi to expand its investment in U.S., CEO says
The company invested more than $12 billion in the United States in the five years through 2024, its CEO said, who added the goal is to invest that or more by around 2030.
Japan has hired energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie to assess a proposed $44 billion Alaska gas pipeline and LNG project backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, sources say.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2025
Japan hires Wood Mackenzie to assess Trump-backed Alaska LNG project: sources
The scope and cost of the deal with Wood Mackenzie is unclear, as is whether any resulting report will be made public.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japan dispatches five language education 'partners' to India
Five members of the Japan Foundation's Nihongo Partners program (front) gather at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Monday.
Struggling train firm in Chiba Prefecture turns to self-deprecating humor
"Laughter is important when you're in a difficult situation," said Katsunori Takemoto, president of Choshi Electric Railway, on Aug. 5 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
China says Philippine ship ‘deliberately rammed’ coast guard vessel in South China Sea
A China Coast Guard ship navigates near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea in August.
Japanese athletes inspired by raucous home fans at World Athletics Championships
Fans cheer on the home favorites during the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.
Pole vault rivals in awe after Duplantis has another historic night in Tokyo
Sweden's Armand Duplantis competes in the men's pole fault final during the World Athletics Championships at National Stadium in Tokyo on Monday.
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.
Tara Davis-Woodhall leaps to gold and finds redemption at world championships
Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrates after winning the women's long jump final at the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday night.
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.

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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