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TOKYO
September 03, 2024
The Independent Voice in Asia
September 03, 2024
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Concern about the yen strengthening might limit the Bank of Japan's room for maneuver.
BUSINESS / Economy
Yen calling the shots as BOJ mulls rate increase
By Kazuaki Nagata
Analysts are concerned that the BOJ is at risk of going too far with its rate hikes and that the currency is close to being too strong.
Concern about the yen strengthening might limit the Bank of Japan's room for maneuver.
People at the Sensoji temple in Tokyo in July. The three months between June and August were 1.76 degrees Celsius hotter than average in Japan.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Japan sees joint hottest summer on record
By Francis Tang
The three months between June and August were 1.76 degrees Celsius hotter than average, matching the record set only last year.
The U.S. has been pressuring Japan to impose additional restrictions on the ability of firms to sell advanced chipmaking tools to China, as part of a long-running campaign to curtail China’s semiconductor progress.
BUSINESS / Economy
China warns Japan of retaliation over potential new chip curbs
By Jenny Leonard, Mackenzie Hawkins and Takashi Mochizuki
One major concern is that Beijing could cut off Japan’s access to critical minerals that are essential for automotive production.
Students participate in a mock lay judge trial session with a lawyer serving as a lecturer at Tokyo Metropolitan Mitaka Secondary School in March.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
15 years on, Japan's lay judge system faces low participation
Fifteen years after its launch, Japan's lay judge system continues to grapple with a high refusal rate among candidates.
An abandoned house in Urayama, Saitama Prefecture. Buying an <i>akiya</i>, which means empty house in Japanese, can be a rewarding experience that yields a unique space and a livable home, competitively priced. Or it could turn out to be a money pit.
BUSINESS / Economy
First lesson of Japan’s akiya gold rush: No such thing as a free house.
By Elizabeth Beattie
Renovations are usually the most expensive part of the journey and the laundry list of what needs to be done is long and tends to get longer after the process starts.
An abandoned house in Urayama, Saitama Prefecture. Buying an <i>akiya</i>, which means empty house in Japanese, can be a rewarding experience that yields a unique space and a livable home, competitively priced. Or it could turn out to be a money pit.

JAPAN

Boxes of Joban-mono marine produce such as flounder are lined up at the Hisanohama fishing port in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.
Fukushima fishermen not in the clear yet
Challenges remain for the prefecture's fisheries industry a year after the release of treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant began.
Keisuke Yoshida, 42, is accused of killing his wife by poisoning her with methanol at their home in Tokyo’s Ota Ward between Jan. 14 and 15 in 2022.
Ex-employee of Daiichi Sankyo denies poisoning his wife with methanol
Keisuke Yoshida, formerly a senior researcher at the pharmaceutical firm, said he had never thought of killing his wife.
Novel dog training program aids rehab at juvenile correctional facility
Japan working to train guides for visually impaired runners
Japanese government to promote 'new perception of dementia'
Man left unconscious after being hit by concrete debris in Tokyo

BUSINESS

Daikin's air conditioners are sold at a home appliances store in Mumbai.
Daikin, world’s No. 1 air-conditioner maker, to expand capacity in India
By Supriya Singh and Masatsugu Horie
The Japanese company has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire an additional 13.4 hectares to build a new plant near its current factory in southern India.
Used cars are sold at high prices at a dealership in Nagoya as a surge in export demand has reduced supply on the domestic market.
Japanese businesses grapple with exchange rate swings
For the used car sector, the weaker yen has resulted in buyers being forced to pay higher prices due to increased export demand.
Japan’s new prime minister must set fresh fiscal target, adviser says
By Takashi Umekawa
Bus group Ryobi sets up forex fund to survive population fall
By Masatsugu Horie
Harris says U.S. Steel should remain American owned and run
By Josh Wingrove
Japanese companies cannot use national security cover to block takeovers, official says
By Makiko Yamazaki and Ritsuko Shimizu

WORLD

Vladimir Putin arrives at Buyant-Ukhaa International Airport in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Monday.
Putin set to meet Mongolian president despite international arrest warrant
By Terrence Edwards
The visit is the first by Putin to a member state of the International Criminal Court since the warrant was issued over the abduction of children from Ukraine.
The Panama-flagged oil tanker Blue Lagoon I transits the Bosphorus in Istanbul on June 14.
U.S. military says Houthis attacked two crude oil tankers in Red Sea
By Jonathan Saul and Kanishka Singh
The Houthis first launched aerial drone and missile strikes on the waterway in November, in solidarity with Palestinians under assault in Israel's war on Gaza.
Before Indian doctor's murder, an unmet promise to keep physicians safe
By Subrata Nag Choudhary and Sakshi Dayal
Xi wants bigger returns and fewer headaches from African debt deals
By Peter Martin
Hostage deaths prompt angry Israelis to push Netanyahu’s red lines
By Ethan Bronner
U.K. suspends 30 of its 350 arms export licenses to Israel
By Michael Holden and William James

Sports

Masanori Murakami poses with a Willie Mays-themed clock during a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Monday.
The man who opened MLB's door to Japanese players
By Jason Coskrey
Masanori Murakami's time with the San Francisco Giants in the 1960s made him something of an accidental trailblazer.
Swiatek and Medvedev cruise into U.S. Open quarterfinals
By Amy Tennery
Rory McIlroy aims to cut as many as nine events in 2025
Baku and Singapore could be good for Ferrari, says Leclerc
By Alan Baldwin
Uruguay striker Suarez announces international retirement

Opinion

Cars are assembled at a Maruti Suzuki manufacturing plant in Manesar, India, in September 2023. Suzuki is one of the success stories for Japanese manufacturers trying to establish joint ventures in India, having become a household name in the country.
For Japanese companies in India, local staff are an invaluable resource
Megha Wadhwa
The roots of Japanese investment in India go far back, to 1958, when the latter became the first country to receive official development assistance from Japan.
Political and economic chaos through 'the looking glass'
By Michael J. Boskin
Japan's strategy for navigating an uncertain U.S. election
By Stephen R. Nagy
60,000 years of history is facing economic reality
By Andreea Papuc
Telegram’s hands-off approach to content faces a reckoning
By Parmy Olson

ENVIRONMENT

A construction worker in Tokyo's Akasaka district on Aug. 21. With 886 cases, 54 of them fatal, during the period from 2019 to 2023, the construction industry leads Japan’s tally for occupational heatstroke.
Clocking off: Japan’s hotter summers put limit on outdoor work
By Annelise Giseburt
Climate change is forcing businesses to sacrifice productivity in the name of safety in industries ranging from construction to transportation.
How climate change made Shanshan more likely and more devastating
By Tomoko Otake
Robots are starting (good) fires in California
By Coco Liu
Climate change fueled deadly Typhoon Gaemi, study finds
Extreme rain is a growing climate threat to the northeastern U.S.
By Eric Roston

CULTURE

Yoko Ogawa’s latest novel to be translated into English, “Mina’s Matchbox,” is like a playground for the author’s interest in particular details: the subtleties of striking matches, playing volleyball and searching for typos, to name a few.
Yoko Ogawa's 'Mina’s Matchbox' sparkles with quiet intimacy
By Eric Margolis
The latest novel in translation from one of Japan's most eclectic writers leans toward magical realism while reveling in the minutiae of an affluent family's life.
Hayao Miyazaki wins prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award
‘From Okinawa with Love’: A revealing documentary about a true original
By Mark Schilling
'The Colors Within' tunes into everyday moments of love
By Matt Schley
‘Rude to Love’ gives Noriko Eguchi her tour de force moment
By James Hadfield

LIFE

From mid-August through late September, eggplants reach their height of flavor in Japan.
Japan’s autumn eggplant: Too delicious for your daughter-in-law
By Elizabeth Andoh
In Japan, autumn eggplant has become a shorthand symbol for keeping the most pleasurable things in life to yourself.
To accompany your counter sushi, why not try a New World wine?
By Melinda Joe
Japan’s nasty summer has left you with a nastier sunburn. Now what?
By Kat Joplin
With Black Myth: Wukong, China is now a force to reckon with in AAA games
By Owen Ziegler
Japan’s dueling ‘katsu’ curry creators are just happy to see the dish thrive
By Cassandra Lord

COMMUNITY

Jonah Ndeuludila (right) is studying at Tochigi Prefecture's Asian Rural Institute in order to bring skills back to his job at Namibia's Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust.
Over half a century, seeds of change grow at a Tochigi farm
By Madeleine Cuckson
Founded by Toshihiro Takami in 1973, ARI promotes organic, subsistence farming methods and the practice of servant leadership.
Verdi is looking for a home as affectionate as him
Adrian Bianco: ‘Leaving your comfort zone keeps you alive’
By Ora Margolis
The American journalist ahead of the game on an ascendant Japan
By Bill Holstein
America-Japan Society announces recipients of 2024 Kentaro Kaneko Award
By Jessica Speed

Editors' Picks

BASEBALL
The man who opened MLB's door to Japanese players
By Jason Coskrey
Masanori Murakami poses with a Willie Mays-themed clock during a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS
Clocking off: Japan’s hotter summers put limit on outdoor work
By Annelise Giseburt
A construction worker in Tokyo's Akasaka district on Aug. 21. With 886 cases, 54 of them fatal, during the period from 2019 to 2023, the construction industry leads Japan’s tally for occupational heatstroke.
JAPAN
Japan seeks another record-breaking defense budget for fiscal 2025
By Jesse Johnson
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force hold a live-fire exercise at the GSDF's training grounds in the East Fuji Maneuver Area in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May. Japan's Defense Ministry is seeking another record-breaking budget for fiscal 2025.
ENVIRONMENT
Can Japan handle a heat wave and natural disaster at the same time?
By Tomoko Otake
A member of the Self-Defense Forces wipes away sweat as he conducts a search and rescue operation at a landslide site caused by heavy rain in Kumano, Hiroshima Prefecture, on July 11, 2018.
LIFE
Did you feel that? It may be time to refresh your disaster kits — and vocabulary.
By Tadasu Takahashi
A map of western Japan shows the Nankai Trough and, to its north, the hypocentral region where the energy for an earthquake is thought to be building.

Podcast

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

Longform

A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?
By Alex K.T. Martin

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WHAT’S TRENDING

COMMENTARY
Will Bangladesh go the way of Pakistan?
By Brahma Chellaney
Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, Bangladesh's army chief, arrives at Dhaka International Airport to receive Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Aug. 8 to lead the country's interim government.
JAPAN
Slow-moving storm Shanshan downgraded to tropical depression
By Jessica Speed
Elevated water levels on the Tama River in Kawasaki on Friday after Shanshan dumped torrential rain on wide areas of Japan.
JAPAN
Apparent suicide jumper falls onto pedestrian in Yokohama, killing both
Two women died near Yokohama Station on Saturday after one of them apparently fell from a building and landed on the other, who was walking below.
BUSINESS
First lesson of Japan’s akiya gold rush: No such thing as a free house.
By Elizabeth Beattie
An abandoned house in Urayama, Saitama Prefecture. Buying an <i>akiya</i>, which means empty house in Japanese, can be a rewarding experience that yields a unique space and a livable home, competitively priced. Or it could turn out to be a money pit.
BUSINESS
Yen calling the shots as BOJ mulls rate increase
By Kazuaki Nagata
Concern about the yen strengthening might limit the Bank of Japan's room for maneuver.