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TOKYO
December 15, 2025
The Independent Voice in Asia
December 15, 2025
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Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Sunday, "There is no major disagreement between us and the BOJ" regarding an anticipated interest rate hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Japan finance chief effectively accepts BOJ rate hike
According to a recent Bloomberg survey of 50 analysts, all forecast that the central bank will raise its policy rate at the meeting.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Sunday, "There is no major disagreement between us and the BOJ" regarding an anticipated interest rate hike.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski speaks to reporters on Saturday after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's administration released 123 prisoners, including Bialiatski and former Japanese language teacher Masatoshi Nakanishi.
JAPAN
Belarus releases prisoners, including Japanese
Those released were transferred to neighboring countries, with nine individuals including Nakanishi and Bialiatski being placed under protection in Lithuania.
Ely Ratner, former U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs
JAPAN / Politics
Ex-U.S. official calls for collective defense pact in Indo-Pacific
Ratner, a former assistant defense secretary in the Biden's administration, urged Japan to overcome constitutional issues in order to exercise the right to collective self-defense.
Askul said that a ransomware cyberattack discovered in October led to the mass leakage of data concerning its individual customers, corporate clients and employees.
BUSINESS / Companies
Askul says 740,000 sets of data breached in cyberattack
Askul said that no leakage of individual customers' credit card information has been confirmed and that it has not paid a ransom to the attackers.
Japanese literature in translation abroad has only grown in popularity with every year, resulting in a wide variety of titles available in English, from cozy fiction to crime and horror.
CULTURE / Books
In 2025, Japanese literature took a turn for the weird
By Kris Kosaka
As expected, women writers raked in successes and cozy cat fiction kept its popularity, with two big surprises from male authors ¡ª Uketsu and Osamu Dazai.
Japanese literature in translation abroad has only grown in popularity with every year, resulting in a wide variety of titles available in English, from cozy fiction to crime and horror.

JAPAN

Mount Fuji observed from Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture in October
Government eyes giving prefectures power to coordinate scenic landscape protection
To implement the move, the ministry plans to submit a bill revising the landscape law to next year¡¯s ordinary session of parliament, the sources said.
The United Nations headquarters in New York in September
Japanese workers at U.N. agencies hit record high
While the figure is close to the Japanese government's target of 1,000 workers in 2025, it accounts for only 2% of the overall total of U.N. agency workers.
Princess Aiko attends ceremony for Chiba University's school of nursing
Japan government vows all-out push to resolve North Korea's abductions
Tokyo startup confirms efficacy of iPS cell-derived heart muscle transplants
Japan builds up ¡®missile archipelago¡¯ near Taiwan to counter China
By Alastair Gale

BUSINESS

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son speaks during an event in Tokyo on Dec. 1.
SoftBank billionaire Son trims share pledges after AI rally
Son trimmed his committed shares by 19.4 million to around 154.2 million, according to a filing earlier this month.
Paramount Pictures' studio in Hollywood.
Paramount¡¯s $54 billion debt plays a starring role in Warner bid
By Claire Ruckin and Caleb Mutua
Paramount has a temporary financing package in place for the combined company, but it hasn¡¯t locked in a maximum rate on more permanent borrowings for the transaction.
Musk's Mars mission adds risk to red-hot SpaceX IPO
By Joey Roulette, Ross Kerber and Echo Wang
Macquarie¡¯s Dutch data center stake attracts Igneo and Orix
Kyocera and Fujifilm among firms eyeing investments in Rapidus
Nippon Steel to invest ?6 trillion over five years to fiscal 2030

WORLD

A policeman ushers people across a street after a mass shooting at Sydney's famed Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday
Multiple people confirmed killed in Bondi Beach mass shooting
Gunmen opened fire just after 6.30 p.m. Sunday evening as hundreds of people attended the Chanukah by the Sea event to celebrate the start of the Jewish festival.
Security camera footage shows what police say is the Brown University shooting suspect walking along a street on Saturday in Providence, Rhode Island, after leaving the scene of a mass shooting that killed two people.
Gunman kills two, wounds nine at U.S. university
The shooting is the latest in a long line of school attacks in the United States, where attempts to restrict access to firearms face political deadlock.
Hong Kong's oldest pro-democracy party announces dissolution
Ukraine fails to fill key posts as corruption scandal lingers
By Pavel Polityuk and Dan Peleschuk
Kim hails North Korean troops returning from Russia mission
Flood-stricken towns in Washington state brace for potential levee failures

Sports

Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah applauds the fans following the team's win over Brighton on Saturday.
Salah records landmark assist in win over Brighton after a turbulent week
Salah was one of the Reds' best players on Saturday at Anfield, much to the delight of fans who welcomed him with a standing ovation.
Singapore's Lim, 71, oldest to win world championship darts match
Higa becomes first Japanese golfer to win Asian Tour order of merit
Knicks reach NBA Cup final as Brunson sinks Magic
By Robin GREMMEL
Ex-Michigan coach Sherrone Moore faces felony and misdemeanor charges

Opinion

China¡¯s recent radar lock-on of Japanese F-15s from fighters launched from the carrier Liaoning underscores a rising pattern of coercive pressure that Tokyo and its partners must answer with firm vigilance and clear messaging.
Lock-on incident shows China will continue to test Japan
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi disputed China¡¯s claim that it had given warning about the exercises, arguing that there was ¡°insufficient information to avoid danger.¡±
How to read Trump¡¯s National Security Strategy
By Kuni Miyake
Why Thailand and Cambodia keep fighting the same war
By Karishma Vaswani
Is China guardian of the ¡®postwar international order¡¯?
By Shinya Kadozaki
America's corn syrup addiction began with deceit
By Stephen Mihm

ENVIRONMENT

The remains of uprooted trees are seen at the Darul Mukhlisin Islamic boarding school and mosque in the aftermath of flash floods at Aceh Tamiang in Indonesia's Northern Sumatra, on Wednesday.
Climate change supercharged $20 billion Asia floods, study finds
Warmer Indian Ocean waters likely fueled the two strongest storms, scientists reported in a rapid World Weather Attribution analysis released Thursday.
Energy demand boom keeps Asia tethered to coal
By Ishika Mookerjee and Dan Murtaugh
2025 on track to tie as second-hottest year on record, EU monitor says
Multilateralism works even as U.S., fossil fuel industry oppose climate action, U.N. chief says
By Valerie Volcovici
The world¡¯s plastic glut is set to get much worse by 2040, study finds
By Leslie Kaufman

CULTURE

The miniseries "Queen of Mars" was made in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the NHK.
NHK envisions a multicultural Mars in its newest sci-fi series
By Mike Fu
The new sci-fi show was created with involvement of scientists and space experts to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the NHK.
Japanese film director Masato Harada dies, aged 76
¡®Good Luck¡¯: A gently absurd road movie about filmmaker¡¯s anxiety
By Mark Schilling
¡®Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise¡¯: Cute designs, harrowing truths about the horrors of war
By Matt Schley
Japan releases 'Emily in Paris' star after drug arrest

LIFE

Chef Taizo Hirokado worked at high-end Japanese restaurants around Japan for two decades before returning to his hometown, Beppu, to open his eponymous restaurant.
Beppu Hirokado puts the spotlight on Kyushu's rich seafood
By Robbie Swinnerton
In a town better known for hot springs than haute cuisine, chef Taizo Hirokado is making waves with his bold cuisine that brilliantly showcases the bounty from the region's waters.
The ¡®bear¡¯ defined kanji in 2025. The internet defined almost everything else.
By Yuko Tamura
Why is 'Harry Potter' so big in Japan? ¡®Oshikatsu¡¯ fandom.
By Gendel Gento
Osaka Expo and ¡®Kokuho¡¯ top 2025¡¯s sumo-style consumer interest rankings
By Mark Schreiber
Frank O. Gehry, titan of architecture, is dead at 96
By Nicolai Ouroussoff

COMMUNITY

Southern California native Hector Herrera is one of three pastors at Tokyo Union Church in Omotesando.
Hector Herrera: ¡®Tolerance means remaining in the conversation¡¯
By Kimberly Hughes
Music, incense and natural wines ¡ª a pastor at Tokyo Union Church talks about his hobbies and inspirations, both in and out of the church.
Finding a way forward from financial abuse
By Louise George Kittaka
Sunny fellow Naruto wins hearts and minds
A French cabbie behind the wheel in small-town Japan
By Isabelle Steen
Alex and Mami St-Jean: ¡®Home feels like the family we¡¯ve created in Hokkaido¡¯
By Jessica Speed

Editors' Picks

CULTURE
J-pop found new ways to diversify in 2025
By Patrick St. Michel
Rock trio Mrs. Green Apple celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, and did so by largely dominating the nation¡¯s music space. Meanwhile, singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu¡¯s ¡°Iris Out¡± broke Spotify Japan¡¯s record for most streams by a song on its release day.
ASIA PACIFIC
Calling AI ¡®a gift from God,¡¯ Catholic bishops draft usage guidelines for Asia
By Elizabeth Beattie
Cardinal Stephen Chow, the bishop of Hong Kong, speaks during Mass in Hong Kong in November 2023. During the opening Mass a three-day event to draft guidelines for the clergy¡¯s use of artificial intelligence in the region Asia, he described AI as a "gift from God."
CULTURE
A movie buff in Jimbocho bets on independent cinema in a big way
By Matt Schley
CineMalice is set to open Dec. 19 in Jimbocho, the bookstore-laden enclave recently dubbed the world's coolest neighborhood by Time Out.
JAPAN
U.S. may require tourists to disclose social media history to customs
By Elizabeth Beattie
Haneda Airport's international departure lobby in April 2023. Under U.S. President Donald Trump, travelers and immigrants have been scrutinized more aggressively.
LIFE
A deep dive into Japanese comfort food
By Simon Daly
As a child, Emiko Davies spent long periods in Japan and was exposed to her grandmother's homecooking.

Podcast

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

Longform

Brown rats, also known as sewer rats, often burrow into damaged pipes and survive on garbage and food scraps. While there aren¡¯t any official numbers, at least hundreds of thousands of them are thought to be living in Tokyo.
In the company of rats: Tokyo's growing rodent problem
By Alex K.T. Martin

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WHAT¡¯S TRENDING

JAPAN
Japan builds up ¡®missile archipelago¡¯ near Taiwan to counter China
By Alastair Gale
Military radar towers on Yonaguni, the westernmost inhabited island of Japan.
JAPAN
China aircraft carrier flotilla headed home, one week after Japan radar incident
By Jesse Johnson
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier sails through the Miyako Strait near Okinawa on its way to the Pacific in April 2021.
JAPAN
GPS watch of hiker killed in Hokkaido bear attack shows last movements
Bears have killed a record 13 people in Japan this year and injured more than 200 others.
JAPAN
Ski resort acknowledges reports of bear sightings, as predator tops kanji pick
A record 13 people have been killed by bears across Japan since April.
JAPAN
China holds low-key Nanking Massacre memorial despite Japan tensions
Soldiers stand on the stage during the memorial ceremony to mark the 88th anniversary of the 1937 Nanking Massacre at the Nanking Massacre Museum in the city now known as Nanjing, in China's Jiangsu province, on Saturday.