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July 10, 2026
 

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Tim Kelly
Nissan Motor's Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. U.S. defense firm Anduril Industries is in talks to acquire the plant to build military drones in Japan, sources say.
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2026
U.S. defense firm Anduril in talks for Nissan plant to build drones in Japan, sources say
While sources say no decision has been made, any deal could transform one of Japan¡¯s first large-scale postwar car factories into ?a weapons hub.
Stanislav Gryshyn, co-founder of Ukrainian drone-maker General Cherry, at the Japan Drone 2026 and International Advanced Air Mobility Expo in the city of Chiba, last month
WORLD / FOCUS
Jun 19, 2026
Ukrainian drone-makers target Asia as Taiwan tensions spur demand
Ukraine has developed a reputation as a master of drone warfare, which has helped an otherwise-outgunned Kyiv hold out for more ?than four ?years against Russia.
Ground Self-Defense Force members during a training exercise at Narashino exercise field in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, in January.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 15, 2026
Rattled by Trump, U.S. allies eye Japan¡¯s biggest arms opening since WWII
The interest comes amid shaky U.S. security commitments to allies and the wars in Iran and Ukraine that are straining U.S. weapons supplies.
Counterfeit U.S. 100 dollar banknotes on the floor inside a compound in Cambodia used for scam operations
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 7, 2026
Scammers¡¯ abandoned Cambodia compound exposes brutality and banality of fraud
A visit to a bombed-out compound near the Thai-Cambodian border offered a look into ?the fraud that has fleeced billions of dollars from victims globally.
Hitoshi Nakama, a fisherman who has been fishing around the Senkaku Islands, speaks as his fishing boat sails past a Japan Coast Guard ship docked at a port in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, on Jan. 13.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 3, 2026
Fearing clash with China, Japan asks fishermen to avoid flash point islands
The requests signal an abrupt shift after years in which Tokyo tacitly accepted such trips.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a campaign event at Maiko Park in Kobe on Thursday
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 31, 2026
Strong voter mandate could hand PM Takaichi new clout to counter China
A big win on Feb. 8 will help send a message to Beijing that its attacks have not damaged her domestically, a senior Japanese government official said.
In a government survey released on Friday, 68% of 1,534 respondents pointed to advances in ?Chinese military technology and its activities close to ?Japan and in ?the South China Sea as their ?top security worry, up from 61% when the poll was last conducted three years ago.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 9, 2026
China tops Japanese public¡¯s security worries in latest government poll
Beijing¡¯s growing military power is now the leading security concern, overtaking the threat posed by North Korean nuclear missiles.
Crew members of a South Korean navy submarine salute during a fleet review in the waters off Busan, South Korea, on Sept. 26.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 5, 2025
Seoul¡¯s nuclear sub gamble raises prospect of underwater arms race in Asia
South Korea¡¯s rapidly developing program could irk China and pressure Japan to develop similar capabilities.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to the media after a telephone call with the U.S. president in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 27, 2025
Trump asked Takaichi to avoid escalating dispute with China, sources say
Takaichi sparked a diplomatic bust-up with Beijing when she said that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger Japanese military action.
Sanseito party leader Sohei Kamiya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 1, 2025
Japan¡¯s far-right party courts Trump allies and vows not to get ¡®wacky¡¯
Sanseito has set up an international arm to court Trump¡¯s allies, betting that conservative recognition will help it shake up staid Japanese politics.
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.
Students visit the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima¡¯s Peace Memorial Park in late April. Attitudes in Japan are shifting away from the traditional pacifist views that have held sway since the end of World War II.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2025
Trump shock spurs Japan to think about the unthinkable: nuclear arms
There is a growing willingness to loosen the country¡¯s decades-old pledge not to produce, possess or host nuclear weapons in its territory.
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Program's fighter jet during an exhibition at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on May 21
JAPAN
May 30, 2025
Japan frets over fighter rollout target and weighs stopgap options, sources say
The joint Global Combat Air Program is falling behind schedule due to a lack of urgency from Britain and Italy, one of the sources said.
Takahiro Mori, executive vice president of Japan's biggest steelmaker Nippon Steel, speaks about its strategy in its headquarters in Tokyo on Nov. 28, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
May 26, 2025
Garage meets and sleepless flights: How Nippon Steel¡¯s negotiator stuck at U.S. merger
With Biden¡¯s incoming successor Donald Trump also voicing opposition to the planned purchase, the outlook was bleak.
Oil pipelines in Alaska. U.S. President Donald Trump wants Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to join a $44 billion natural gas export project.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2025
Alaska governor to brief Trump on Asia gas push as tariffs bite
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is winding up a trip through Asia where he has been seeking investors and long-term buyers.
Officials from the state-run Alaska Gasline Development Corporation and development partner Glenfarne Group want to transport natural gas south from Alaska's remote north via a $44 billion 1,300-kilometer pipeline, to be shipped as liquefied natural gas to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2025
Alaskan officials to seek investors in Japan as Trump touts LNG
Japanese energy firms have yet to commit, with cost being a focal point.
Sony Group President Hiroki Totoki told a news conference last month that the Playstation maker had been preparing for tariffs by building up inventory from its gaming and electronics divisions in the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Mar 6, 2025
Sony and Suntory build U.S. stockpiles as Japan faces Trump tariff threat
In his latest trade salvo this week, U.S. President Donald Trump hinted that he might target Tokyo next, after imposing tariffs on Mexico and China.
Japan is the world's No. 2 LNG buyer, a major investor in energy infrastructure and a trading hub with a glut of LNG that could help open new markets for U.S. gas in Southeast Asia.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 22, 2025
Trump seeks to reshape Asia¡¯s energy supplies with U.S. gas
While the Alaska LNG proposal faces hurdles, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and others are buying into the idea of increasing U.S. gas imports more broadly.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during an 'Unleashing American Energy' event at the Department of Energy in Washington in June 2017.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2025
Japan weighs Alaska LNG pipeline pledge to win Trump¡¯s favor
President Trump may raise the project when he meets Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for the first time in Washington as soon as next week.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's direct approach appears to mark a shift in the Japanese government's stance on the deal.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 26, 2024
Ishiba urges Biden to approve Nippon-U.S. Steel deal, sources say
The prime minister sent a letter asking the U.S. president to avoid marring recent efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries.
Japanese payment processor¡¯s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Trump says ¡®Japan¡¯ instead of Iran at meeting in Ankara
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference during a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara on Wednesday.
Wakatakakage injury casts pall over July meet, but potential new stars loom
Nicholas Tarasenko trains at Minato stable in August 2024.
Osaka trumps Tokyo as both ranked among world¡¯s top 10 most livable cities
Osaka¡¯s infrastructure earned higher marks than Tokyo¡¯s in the Economist Intelligence Unit¡¯s latest Global Liveability Index.
The beating heart inside ¡®Human Vapor¡¯
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix¡¯s ¡°Human Vapor,¡± says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
Okinawa¡¯s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.
Japanese nail salons are tourists¡¯ new obsession
Tourists in Japan have always been interested in quintessentially Japanese approaches to modern culture, and, increasingly, visits to nail salons have become the new hot thing.

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

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