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July 03, 2026
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July 03, 2026
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Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi before their meeting at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Thursday
JAPAN / Politics
Takaichi looks to India in the face of supply chain and energy concerns
By Kenji Yoshida
Takaichi and her Indian counterpart met in New Delhi to advance cooperation in artificial intelligence, economic security, clean energy and defense.

More coverage

Indian defense research institute head hails Japan¡¯s lifting of arms export ban
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi before their meeting at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Thursday
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi might take a more pragmatic approach in pushing up the lowest wages in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Government signals flexibility on ?1,500 minimum wage target
By Kazuaki Nagata
Its annual policy guidelines indicate the much-discussed goal could be reached early next decade rather than by the end of this decade.
Zhipu's AI service on the web, dubbed Z.ai.
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
A?new, inexpensive Chinese AI model is catching up with Anthropic, OpenAI on their home turf
By Laurie Chen and Aditya Soni
Z.ai¡¯s GLM-5.2 model has been put at the heart of a growing debate about whether China is finally catching up to the U.S. in the artificial intelligence race.
From January 2028, PlayStation games will release only as digital downloads, calling into question protections about ownership over software and the long-term playability of older titles released on discs.
LIFE / Digital
Sony to end video game disc production in January 2028
By Owen Ziegler
The gaming giant says the move toward digital-only games aligns the company with consumer trends toward online marketplaces.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi¡¯s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strengthened its grip on power by manipulating the electoral process itself.
COMMENTARY / World
Modi is rigging Indian democracy
Jayati Ghosh
The result of voter purging is an electoral system increasingly designed to favor India¡¯s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi¡¯s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strengthened its grip on power by manipulating the electoral process itself.

JAPAN

LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki before a meeting with the Centrist Reform Alliance on Thursday.
LDP to halt debate on JIP priorities to focus on imperial family bill
The LDP is ready to halt debate on controversial bills while discussions on proposed Imperial House Law revisions are underway, LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki has said.
A sign showing bear deterrent measures is displayed next to a wolf-shaped robotic device outside a convenience store in a rural area of Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture.
Bear spray goes off in Japan post office, leaving five hospitalized
At least five people have been killed by bears in Japan since April 1 after a record 13 deaths last fiscal year.
Russian envoy to skip Hiroshima peace ceremony
Following petition, female lawmakers in Japan get two more toilets
JICA holds memorial for victims of 2016 Dhaka terror attack
Tokyo hospital baby hatch accepts 20 newborns in first year

BUSINESS

U.S. President Donald Trump averaged 85 trades per market day, an analysis of his 2025 financial disclosure report shows.
Trump financial disclosure shows 21,000 trades in 2025
The U.S. president averaged 85 trades per market day, an analysis of the report shows.
Foreign exchange dealers work inside the Woori Bank trading room in Seoul.
South Korea opens 24-hour won trading at a fraught moment
By Hooyeon Kim and Heesu Lee
The launch onto the global stage is taking place just as the won is revisiting low levels last seen in 2009, which leaves the currency and economy more open to speculators.
Inside Japan¡¯s $25 billion consumer market built on fan devotion
By Eru Ishikawa
SoftBank plans to rent AI compute in U.S. at 10-gigawatt scale
By Min Jeong Lee
Japan¡¯s convertible bonds regain favor as rates continue to rise
By Yasutaka Tamura
Trump Insists ¡®there¡¯s nothing wrong¡¯ with his big crypto gains

WORLD

Rescuers carry the body of a person found under the debris of an apartment building in Kyiv that was damaged during overnight Russian missile and drone strikes on Thursday.
Russia bombards Kyiv in deadliest strike this year, killing at least 27 people
The scale and spread of the destruction across Kyiv had little precedent even in a war now in its fifth year.
The Society of Saint Pius X consecrates four new bishops in Econe, western Switzerland, on Wednesday in defiance of Pope Leo XIV, who pleaded with the ultra-traditionalist breakaway group to turn back from what he called a "schismatic act" with Rome.
Members of rebel Catholic group in schism and excommunicated, Vatican says
The Vatican said on Thursday that priests and lay Catholics who are part of a breakaway right-wing Catholic group that ordained bishops without Pope Leo's approval are in schism with the wider church and now excommunicated.
Happy birthday, America? At 250, nation may be too divided to celebrate as one
By Tim Reid and Jospeh Ax
Searching for Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar¡¯s capital of confusion
Where the U.S. and Iran stand after Doha negotiations
More than 400 dead in Dr. Congo¡¯s spreading Ebola outbreak

Sports

Naomi Osaka arrives for her second-round match at Wimbledon in London on Wednesday.
Stylish Naomi Osaka cruises into third round at Wimbledon
Osaka, who has ?not progressed beyond the third round at the All England Club, takes on Australian Daria Kasatkina in the next round.
NBA to test ¡®one free throw¡¯ rule in Summer League games
Jaylen Brown both ¡®excited and disappointed¡¯ by trade
Mission impossible? England takes the World Cup high road against Mexico
By John WEAVER
WTA Finals moves to Indian Wells after early end of deal with Saudi Arabia

Opinion

The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population.?
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
Midori Inagaki
Once volunteer-based, the system is shifting toward shared responsibility between local governments and trained professionals.
When the other side is framed as the antichrist
By Nina L. Khrushcheva
Soccer¡¯s Asian century is still just a distant dream
By Gearoid Reidy
Greenspan deflated one bubble ¡ª his own authority
By John Authers
China¡¯s export controls target Japan to split the Group of Seven
By Christopher Nye and Charles Sun

ENVIRONMENT

A woman with an umbrella walks at Plaza Puerta del Sol during a spring heat wave in Madrid on May 27.
Net-zero champion Europe snared by climate change on its doorstep
June¡¯s record-breaking heat wave in Europe has focused minds on the urgency of adapting to global warming in a continent once complacent about its relatively gentle climate.
Japan deploys bear cameras in mountains as attacks surge
NATO project tests perennial grass to clean Ukraine¡¯s war-hit soil
Industrial firms warn EU carbon overhaul could benefit polluters
By Kate Abnett
World¡¯s oceans break June heat record: EU monitor

CULTURE

After premiering in July 1966, the original ¡°Ultraman¡± series gained a peak viewership of nearly half of all TV-owning households in Japan.
The heroism and humanity of ¡®Ultraman¡¯: Documentary looks back on 60 years
By Sebastien Raineri
The iconic sci-fi franchise is the focus of a documentary, co-helmed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, that examines its cultural impact on generations of Japanese and international viewers.
¡®Human Vapor¡¯ brings blockbuster energy to the small screen
By James Hadfield
¡®Piccola Felicita¡¯: From formulaic drama to fever dream
By Mark Schilling
Japan¡¯s first great AI music trend is gloriously wrong
By Patrick St. Michel
Manga and women¡¯s service agencies team up to tell untold stories
By Marta Fanasca

LIFE

With a golden-brown broth and a host of classic toppings, Rairaiken's shoyu ramen carries on a legacy dating back to 1910.
Japan¡¯s first standalone ramen shop reopens in Asakusa
By Weiwen Lin
Fifty years after it closed its doors, Asakusa Rairaiken is now back to court a new generation of ramen lovers with the shoyu-seasoned broth it created in 1910.
Fender opens a second, more unplugged Shimokitazawa cafe
By Aden Max Juarez
In Kyushu¡¯s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
By Robbie Swinnerton
Smash tacos with bear-approved veggies
By Simon Daly
¡®The colors speak for themselves¡¯: How Japan¡¯s chroma bible went global
By Aarohi Narain

COMMUNITY

James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Inside Japan¡¯s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
By Mai Yoshikawa
Beyond the paperwork and the language barrier, James Benstead says the hardest part about adopting in Japan was the waiting.
Two furry siblings seek their forever home
How a U.S. author found ¡ª and helped build ¡ª community in a Japanese hot spring town
By Michele Laudig
In Japan, Nepalese students navigate a growing study-to-work pathway
By Mai Yoshikawa
Fear and uncertainty for foreign business owners after Japan revises rules
By Elizabeth Beattie

Editors' Picks

SUMO
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
By John Gunning
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
BUSINESS
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
By Kazuaki Nagata
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
JAPAN
Japan¡¯s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
By Jessica Speed
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
JAPAN
Life inside Japan¡¯s largest prison for women
By Elizabeth Beattie
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
COMMUNITY
Inside Japan¡¯s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
By Mai Yoshikawa
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

JT Directory Service

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COMFACTS

Space Seed Holdings and Three Partners File Core Patents for ¡°SpaceAgent¡±
Space Seed Holdings and Three Partners File Core Patents for ¡°SpaceAgent¡±
SPACE SEED HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

WHAT¡¯S TRENDING

JAPAN
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
By Yukana Inoue
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ?3,000 from ?1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
JAPAN
¡®My dream is broken¡¯: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
By Kyoko Hasegawa
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
JAPAN
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men¡¯s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men&#039;s restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
COMMUNITY
Inside Japan¡¯s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
By Mai Yoshikawa
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
BUSINESS
Why is the yen so weak and what can Japan do about it?
By Simon STURDEE
Japan spent ?11.7 trillion ($73 billion) between late April and late May to prop up the weak yen.