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November 23, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY

Japan

World
Japan
China is using threats, diplomatic pressure, economic measures and manufactured media narratives to attack new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and influence Japanese politics.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Seeking good relations with Xi’s CCP is a fool’s errand
China has a history of favoring Japanese leaders, going back at least to Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka in the 1970s, who are inclined to comply with its "red lines."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Japan’s cultural heritage and its aging guardians
Living national treasures are revered. But without reform, the risk of cultural attrition grows.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Beware China’s ‘gray-zone’ activities on Japanese soil
China’s wolf-warrior diplomacy and belligerent social media posts are not the only unsettling activity carried out by Chinese diplomats in Japan.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara holds a news conference at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday. Kihara is leading a new Cabinet-level panel to review foreign-national related issues.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 18, 2025
Fixing immigration without sparking xenophobia
By Edo Naito
Don’t lump long-term, law-abiding foreign residents in with new arrivals.
China holds a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing on Sept. 3. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 18, 2025
Beware of China’s strategic distortion of reality
By Stephen R. Nagy
The ancient strategy resurfaced after Prime Minister Takaichi said Japan might need to respond militarily if China forced Taiwan’s unification.
Japan must act quickly to protect anime creators through stronger labor rights, transparency and fair compensation as AI threatens to exploit the industry’s creative work.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 18, 2025
Will artificial intelligence turn Japan’s ‘irreplaceable treasures’ into slop?
By Catherine Thorbecke
AI’s threat gives Japan a second chance to do right by the workers propping up the $21 billion industry.
South African cricket legend Jacques Kallis plays a shot during the final day of a cricket test match against India in Johannesburg in December 2013.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 17, 2025
Who is cricket’s Shohei Ohtani?
By Salil Tripathi
A better question might be: Does cricket need its own Shohei?
Ramen is a versatile global dish, ranging from traditional tonkotsu broth to innovative mazemen and whole-grain noodles, enjoyed for its endless variations and worldwide appeal.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 17, 2025
How Japanese does that bowl of ramen need to be?
By Howard Chua-Eoan
Ramen purist argue about what’s orthodox and what’s allowable, while cooks who love to experiment and improvise push those boundaries.
JR East is retiring the beloved Suica penguin as part of a rebrand to transform the contactless payment platform, used for both transit and retail, into a mobile fintech powerhouse.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 16, 2025
A beloved Tokyo penguin’s end presages Suica’s shift to payments giant
By Gearoid Reidy
Since Suica’s introduction in 2001, the penguin has featured on transit cards and apps that are used daily by the tens of millions who traverse the world’s largest metropolis.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi talks with Japan’s then-leader, Shinzo Abe, her mentor, at the Lower House of Parliament in December 2014. Takaichi, under so-called Abenomics 2.0, must convert the nation’s asset boom into broad-based economic prosperity benefiting all. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 14, 2025
How Takaichi can make 'Abenomics 2.0' succeed
By Jesper Koll
For now, there is absolutely no evidence that the rise in Japanese asset prices — both stocks and real estate — is feeding a positive wealth effect.

Japanese court orders Cloudflare to pay ¥500 million over manga piracy
Cloudflare has been ordered to pay ¥500 million after four major publishing firms accused the firm of copyright infringement for its role in hosting sites that distribute pirated copies of manga titles.
Japan plans higher visa fees for foreign residents
Along with planned higher fees for foreign residents to stay, Japan is looking to raise the ¥3,000 single-entry visa fee for inbound tourists to Western standards in the next fiscal year.
Two men suspected of smuggling 1 ton of gold into Japan from South Korea
U.K. gold bullion bars and coins are displayed at Baird & Co. in Hatton Garden in London.
Takaichi rejects China's demand to retract Taiwan remarks
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has rejected China's demands for her to retract her comments on Taiwan, saying Tokyo's stance on a major regional security crisis remains unchanged.
¥21.3 trillion stimulus package approved by Cabinet
The Cabinet is expected to submit an extra budget bill to finance the package to parliament, which is in session until Dec. 17.
First foreign president of Hosei University looks abroad for change
Hosei University President Diana Khor, who herself was an international student, aims to encourage students to look outward and cultivate a global mindset.
Japanese companies advised to change mindset about investment in Africa
Bernard Laurendeau, chief of Enkopa Lab Japan, in Tokyo last month
Munetaka Murakami headlines quartet looking to move to MLB via posting system
The Swallows' Munetaka Murakami has 246 career home runs in eight NPB seasons.
The reality of human trafficking in Japan
A view of Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward at night. Last year in Japan, 66 people were put in protective custody as victims of human trafficking. Among them, 58 — including all 41 minors — were Japanese nationals. International pressure to act on human trafficking led Japan to make efforts to crack down on the crime, such as a tightening of conditions in 2005 for entertainer visas.
Why we can’t get enough of the sham of the rental family
“Rental Family,” directed and co-written by the single-named Hikari, follows out-of-work actor Phillip (Brendan Fraser), who is hired as the “token white guy” at a Tokyo agency called Rental Family.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” was released Nov. 23, 1985, and though it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has gained a cult following in the years since.
Eat, slurp, love: 'Tampopo' turns 40
By Weiwen Lin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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