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TOKYO
August 05, 2026
The Independent Voice in Asia
August 05, 2026
Kumamoto earthquake
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Takaichi
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The effort to cut consumption tax on food has created a rift between Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and several senior members of her own party who are openly critical of the plan.
JAPAN / Politics
Takaichi¡¯s Cabinet approves consumption tax cut on food
By Eric Johnston
While the majority of the Liberal Democratic Party endorsed the cut, some party veterans opposed lowering the tax rate, fearing it will lead to economic and political chaos.
The effort to cut consumption tax on food has created a rift between Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and several senior members of her own party who are openly critical of the plan.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has taken an active interest in Japan¡¯s economic affairs.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Scott Bessent draws on hedge fund instincts to help rescue yen
By Daniel Flatley
Most recent Treasury Secretary predecessors came from what is known as the sell-side of finance, but Scott Bessent, with a decades-long hedge fund career, is different.
Author Keigo Higashino's newest and last book is displayed at a Kinokuniya bookstore on Wednesday in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
CULTURE / Books
Fans rush to buy copy of Keigo Higashino¡¯s final work
By Elizabeth Beattie
The release of ¡°Eternal Memory¡± comes after the acclaimed mystery author died of colorectal cancer last month.
Police block a street in Kawachinagano, Osaka Prefecture, on Tuesday after a man was fatally shot by a police officer.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Police in Osaka fatally shoot knife-wielding man
It is rare for police officers in Japan to shoot a suspect, as they are subject to strict restrictions regarding the use of handguns.
This photo of Hiroshima was taken in March 1946, nearly half a year after the atomic bomb was dropped on Aug. 6, 1945, and shows the extensive destruction caused by the blast. REUTERS
COMMENTARY / Japan
Make anniversary of Hiroshima bombing ¡®Disarmament Day¡¯
William Lambers
Remembering Hiroshima cannot become a once-a-year ritual. It must become a reminder that nuclear weapons remain an urgent contemporary problem.
This photo of Hiroshima was taken in March 1946, nearly half a year after the atomic bomb was dropped on Aug. 6, 1945, and shows the extensive destruction caused by the blast. REUTERS

JAPAN

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi holds a news conference at the Diet building on Tuesday.
Shinjiro Koizumi backs nuke-free world after controversy
The defense minister¡¯s proposal last month for debates without any taboos on nuclear policy sparked criticism, including among hibakusha atomic bomb survivors.
At the Akita Kanto Festival held in the city of Akita this week, city officials with bear repellent sprays are patrolling the area around the festival venue.
Organizers of summer festivals in Tohoku strengthen measures against bears
While protocols vary across prefectures, several organizers say events may be canceled if a bear is spotted within a certain distance of the festival venue.
Japan protests Russian drills near disputed islands
Owner of Kumamoto inn expresses resolve amid concern over earthquake damage
Support for accepting more foreign workers in Japan drops below 60%
U.S. ambassador to skip peace ceremonies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki

BUSINESS

Semiconductor powerhouse Taiwan has stepped ?up a campaign against what it sees as underhand ?methods being ?used by Chinese companies to poach Taiwanese tech ?workers.
Taiwan investigates 17 Chinese firms for suspected poaching of high-tech talent
The Taiwan justice ministry¡¯s investigation bureau said Chinese companies commonly concealed their identities in their bid to illegally recruit ?Taiwanese ?talent.
A man wipes his sweat away at a warehouse in Hikawa, Kumamoto Prefecture, on July 31, days after a powerful earthquake struck the region.
Japanese firm¡¯s ¡®human refrigerator¡¯ offers relief from punishing summer heat
By Yui Hasebe
The Do Hiemon Box is an oversized stainless-steel refrigerator that looks big enough to fit a human being, because that¡¯s exactly what it¡¯s designed to do.
BOJ board split over JGB buying at June meeting
Samsung, SK Hynix test Chinese chip tools as hedge against U.S. risks
U.S. weighs polysilicon price floor, tariffs to counter China in solar and chips
By Nichola Groom
Chip plants begin restarting operations in quake-hit Kumamoto

WORLD

A man photographs parts of an unidentified missile, which Ukrainian authorities believe to be made in North Korea and was used in a strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in January 2024.
North Korean missile unit deploys in Russia for Ukraine war, Kyiv says
By Tom Balmforth
Russia has fired scores of North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine for years, but the deployment of North Korean missile forces would be an expansion of the two¡¯s cooperation.
An Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) is displayed during the inauguration of a new artillery plant of ammunition maker Rheinmetall, in Unterluess, Germany, in August last year.
U.S. has used ¡®virtually all¡¯ of long-range precision missiles in Iran war, sources say
By Erin Banco, Mike Stone and Jonathan Landay
As the war drags on, fears are rising that the falling ?missile supplies could limit the U.S. ability to deter adversaries, including Russia and China.
Strong El Nino could push 49 million more into acute hunger, U.N. agency says
By Olivia Le Poidevin
Russia kills 17 in heavy ballistic hit on Ukraine, destroys warehouses, logistics
By Olena Harmash and Yurii Kovalenko
Trump vowed to ¡®bring free speech back.¡¯ Judges in 75 cases ruled he has stifled it.
By Nate Raymond and Jan Wolfe
How China keeps tabs on foreigners
By Lily Kuo

Sports

Shiho Kuwaki appears at a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Kuwaki says first major victory is only now sinking in
By Jason Coskrey
Shiho Kuwaki finally broke through by winning the Women¡¯s British Open, becoming the latest Japanese golfer to make her mark on the global stage.
The hidden details that shape professional sumo
By John Gunning
Marines¡¯ Masuda logs 250th career save, fifth all-time in NPB
Sabalenka tops Uchijima in WTA Toronto opener
Turkey¡¯s Trabzonspor says transfer talks with Salah under way
By Tuvan Gumrukcu

Opinion

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Tokyo on May 12.
How safe is the yen under the U.S. umbrella?
Gearoid Reidy and Daniel Moss
Having Washington on board brings important potential benefits ¡ª and no small amount of danger.
Bankers are doing grown-up stuff with crypto now
By Lionel Laurent
New words to live by, new worlds to occupy
By Brad Glosserman
The real reasons to be terrified about AI and WMD
By Andreas Kluth
The Rohingya drown while ASEAN debates oil
By Imran Khalid

ENVIRONMENT

An environmental regulator in Australia has sued Japan's Inpex for under-reporting emissions from its Ichthys liquefied natural ?gas plant near Darwin.
Australian regulator sues Japan¡¯s Inpex over Ichthys LNG emissions breaches
The charges cover ?alleged license ?breaches, such as the under-reporting of ?benzene and toluene emissions between 2019 and 2024.
Lithium mining for green power triggers eco-outcry from South African farmers
By Tim Cocks
Climate change expected to redraw Africa¡¯s malaria map, study finds
By Janice Kew
Fires on more than 100,000 hectares of Washington state prompt evacuations
Wildfires spread across Greece as conditions worsen in France and Spain

CULTURE

The Rabbit Hole is helping redefine Okayama as a contemporary-art destination.
Before the art islands, a reason to stop in Okayama
By Erik Augustin Palm
The Rabbit Hole and Fukuoka Shoyu Gallery make Okayama a contemporary-art destination before visitors reach the Seto Inland Sea.
Etc.books: A lone bookstore in Tokyo pushes against sexism
By Kim Kahan
¡®Death Note¡¯ musical eyes a London breakthrough
By Alicia Haddick
¡®The Secret Battlefield¡¯: An inside view of the machinery of war
By James Hadfield
¡®Chiikawa¡¯ was always darker than it looked
By Patrick St. Michel

LIFE

Haruhiko Kohri and Kayo Asai stand outside their meticulously re-created "bunka jutaku" home in Tokyo.
How one Japanese couple made the 1920s and ¡¯30s into a way of life
By Alex K.T. Martin
No refrigerator. No microwave. Just blocks of ice, records and a home built for another age.
At Nonna Nietta, Italian magic in suburban Tsukuba
By Robbie Swinnerton
A sushi rice pocket by any other name
By Simon Daly
Beast of Reincarnation shows Game Freak has more to learn
By Owen Ziegler
Luxury is pastoral at Iwate¡¯s Azuma Farm Koiwai
By Gendel Gento

COMMUNITY

Volunteer Vicky Parthasarathy (right) believes that people from various cultures can understand each other better through food.
This children¡¯s cafeteria in Shikoku serves up free meals and global perspectives
By Jacob Meyer
As immigration becomes an increasingly contentious issue in Japan, a children¡¯s cafeteria in Shikoku is bridging cultural gaps, one hot meal at a time.
How foreign workers became an essential part of Japan¡¯s ubiquitous konbini
By Yumi Wijers-Hasegawa
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan¡¯s digital nomad visa
By Mai Yoshikawa
A friendly ¡®peaches-and-cream¡¯ fellow
Found on Jan. 1, Osechi is a New Year¡¯s darling

Editors' Picks

JAPAN
Current permanent residency applications to be judged using new income criteria
By Jessica Speed
Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Disinformation abounds online in aftermath of Kumamoto quake
By Elizabeth Beattie
Television screens in Tokyo show news coverage of a powerful earthquake hitting Kumamoto Prefecture on July 28. Some social media accounts have claimed that shaky footage of the quake was fake.
JAPAN
Japan defense report says China challenge must be met with ¡®overall national strength¡¯
By Jesse Johnson
Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers walk in front of a Type 88 surface-to-ship missile launcher, during the Balikatan annual joint military exercises at Culili Point Sand Dunes, in Paoay, Philippines, on May 6.
JAPAN
A pressing question on the front lines in Kumamoto: Who cares for the caregivers?
By Mai Yoshikawa
Tomoko Sato, the chief of emergency medicine at Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital, brought her two children to the hospital so she could continue treating patients following the Kumamoto earthquake.
ENVIRONMENT
For Japan¡¯s aging homeless population, brutal summers are dangerously inescapable
By Elizabeth Beattie
A homeless person near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. Authorities have warned the public to avoid unnecessary outings and advised people to stay in air-conditioned spaces, but for people who are homeless this is often not an option.

Podcast

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

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

JT Directory Service

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WHAT¡¯S TRENDING

JAPAN
Current permanent residency applications to be judged using new income criteria
By Jessica Speed
Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
LIFE
Beast of Reincarnation shows Game Freak has more to learn
By Owen Ziegler
Releasing on Aug. 4, Beast of Reincarnation is set in a far-future version of Japan ruined by a mysterious apocalypse.
WORLD
U.S. to close consulates in Canada, Japan and Indonesia, sources say
By Humeyra Pamuk and Gram Slattery
The U.S. State Department said in a notice ?sent to some congressional committees last week that it plans to close ?its posts ?in St. George's, Grenada; Nagoya, Japan; Medan, Indonesia; Douala, Cameroon; and Winnipeg, Canada. ?
JAPAN
Japan to add five-year stay period for Type 2 foreign workers
Holders of the Type 2 specified skilled foreign worker status are currently granted periods of stay for six months, one year, two years or three years.
JAPAN
Three lions die at Tokyo¡¯s Tama Zoo amid heat wave
By Tomoko Otake
Mugi, a female lion at Tama Zoo in Tokyo, has died following a heat wave in July.