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March 15, 2025
The Independent Voice in Asia
March 15, 2025
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U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, holds an executive order about a tariffs increase in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Feb. 13.
BUSINESS / Economy
U.S. commerce chief rules out auto tariff exemption for Japan
By Jesse Johnson
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick linked the 25% tariffs on car imports, set to begin on April 2, to cutting the U.S. trade deficit with Japan.

More coverage

Concerns grow over possible U.S. tariffs on Japan's auto sector
U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, holds an executive order about a tariffs increase in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Feb. 13.
Then-Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa presents a gift to a Ukrainian refugee during the Women, Peace and Security session as part of the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Growth and Reconstruction at the Japan Business Federation in February last year.
JAPAN
Japan recognized 1,661 'quasi-refugees' in 2024
Protection was given to 1,618 Ukrainians, 17 people from Syria, 13 from Myanmar, 11 from Sudan, and one each from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 members Takuya Onishi, of Japan, and Kirill Peskov, of Russia, depart from the Operations & Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center for transport to Launch Complex 39-A ahead of their launch to the International Space Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Friday.
WORLD / Science & Health
NASA launches ISS-bound SpaceX rocket with Japanese astronaut aboard
By Jessica Speed
Japan's Takuya Onishi is scheduled to command a fresh crew after it relieves a mission that includes two astronauts who have been aboard the station for nine months.
The logo of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, better known as the Unification Church, is seen at the entrance of its Japan branch headquarters in Tokyo in October 2023.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Unification Church faces dissolution in Japan
By Natsuko Fukue
The dissolution would remove the church's tax-exempt status while branding the organization a harmful entity.
The 通勤経路 (tsūkin keiro, commuting route) is a big part of most working Tokyoites’ daily routines.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
From 'commuting' to 'passing through,' meet the kanji that's always on the move
By Yuko Tamura
The character 通 is also used to denote avenues and forms of communication.
The 通勤経路 (tsūkin keiro, commuting route) is a big part of most working Tokyoites’ daily routines.

JAPAN

A bullet train at Tsuruga Station on March 16 last year, the day the Hokuriku Shinkansen line was extended to Fukui
Fukui enjoys visitor boost after shinkansen extension
About 6.42 million people visited Fukui between March 16 last year and Feb. 15 this year, up by about 1 million from a year before.
Urbanization is amplifying pollen-related allergies as grasslands and soft soil give way to concrete and asphalt.
As pollen season peaks, Japan's allergy struggle emerges from hibernation
By Jessica Speed
In Tokyo and Sendai, high cedar pollen levels will persist into late March, followed by cypress pollen peaking from late March to early April.
Divine authority and mortal desires in the turbulent 14th century
By Michael Hoffman
Japan sells 141,796 tons of reserve rice in auction
Man arrested after NHK Party leader injured in attack in Tokyo
Nagoya court upholds NRA approvals extending use of reactors in Fukui Prefecture

BUSINESS

Yoji Muto
Japan, China and South Korea eye trade ministers meeting
Japanese trade minister Yoji Muto will attend the envisaged meeting if he receives parliamentary approval.
Idled blast furnaces at U.S. Steel's Granite City Works in Granite City, Illinois, in July 2017
U.S. Steel activist investor boosts holding in turnaround push
The move comes as hope for the deal that drew massive attention during the 2024 American presidential election has shown little progress.
AI pioneer wants Europe to forge its own nimbler way forward
By Jonathan Tirone
Japan to invite small businesses to declare ¥10 billion sales targets
Watchdog finds Dentsu and other Japanese firms reluctant to accept price hikes
Japan’s unions win largest pay hike in more than three decades
By Erica Yokoyama

WORLD

Then-U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol attend an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework event at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November 2023.
U.S. designated South Korea a 'sensitive' country amid talk of nuclear weapons
By Timothy Gardner, David Brunnstrom and Ju-min Park
The move after the South Korean president briefly imposed martial law and amid talk of Seoul potentially developing nuclear weapons.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly speaks alongside U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the Group of Seven foreign ministers' meeting in La Malbaie, Quebec, on Thursday.
At G7 meeting, U.S. allies’ top diplomats wonder where Rubio stands
The top U.S. diplomat has had to walk a fine line between delivering Trump's "America First” message and looking to cultivate allies.
U.S. hits Thai officials with visa sanctions over deportation of Uyghurs to China
By Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom
Thaksin vows cheaper power to turn Thailand into data center hub
Duterte’s swift descent from ‘Punisher’ president to inmate
By Neil Jerome Morales, Cliff Venzon and Philip J. Heijmans
Canada has a new prime minister with a very hard first assignment
By Vjosa Isai

Sports

Cubs slugger Seiya Suzuki at the dish during an exhibition game against the Tigers on Saturday in Tokyo.
Seiya Suzuki hit with dose of nostalgia as he dons Cubs uniform at Tokyo Dome
By Jason Coskrey
Facing the Hanshin Tigers and hearing the team’s cheering section was a blast from the recent past for the former Hiroshima Carp star.
India's 2036 Games bid a chance to boost infrastructure, says sports governance expert
By Shrivathsa Sridhar
Norris edges Piastri for Australia pole as Tsunoda qualifies fifth
By Martin PARRY
Tigers shut out the Cubs as Seiya Suzuki receives warm welcome in Tokyo
By Jason Coskrey
Former Hawks pitcher Colin Rea happy to be in Japan with Cubs for Tokyo Series
By Jason Coskrey

Opinion

The Nikkei stock average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Many firms on the TSE have price-to-book ratios of less than 1, lowering the perceived quality of the exchange, which should consider taking steps to increase valuations and trading volume.
Tokyo Stock Exchange must weed out underperforming firms
Nicholas Benes
Tokyo wants to become Asia's top financial hub, but faces big obstacles. Among them, the presence of too many companies with low profitability and growth prospects.
Fear and loathing in the Oval Office
By Nina L. Khrushcheva
Duterte may yet pay for his lawless war on drugs
America doesn’t need an official language
By Carlos Lozada
Southeast Asia must learn to defend itself
By David Hutt

ENVIRONMENT

Thames Water's Beddington Sewage Treatment Works near Croydon, south London, on Friday. Thames Water, and other British water companies privatized since 1989, are under fire for allowing the discharge of large quantities of sewage into rivers and the sea.
A stain on Britain: Sewage contaminates its waterways and seas
By Kate Holton and Dylan Martinez
Failings with the most basic services in British society, such as water and sewage, have been harming the broader U.K. economy.
Nepal community efforts revive red panda population
By Anup OJHA
Many U.S. bird species seen as reaching population 'tipping point'
By Will Dunham
On the Mongolian steppe, climate change pushes herders to the brink
By Rebecca Bailey
Most contaminated U.S. nuclear site is set to be the largest solar farm
By Keith Schneider

CULTURE

Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time” won the award for best film at the 48th Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony.
‘A Samurai in Time’ wins top prize at Japan’s premier film event
By Alyssa I. Smith
This country’s answer to the Oscars also saw awards go to “Oppenheimer” and “Faceless.”
K-Ballet Tokyo marks 25 years of passion and perseverance
By Kris Kosaka
The sci-fi satire 'Mickey 17' might be a classic — someday
By Mark Leydorf
‘Ravens’ is a portrait of art, love and inner demons
By Matt Schley
‘Escape’: Masao Adachi’s fugitive biopic salutes a kindred spirit
By James Hadfield

LIFE

The Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art is just one of many hidden art and architectural gems across the Kagawa coast.
‘Resorts for the spirit’: Touring Kagawa’s art and architecture
By Jennifer Pastore
The seaside cities of Takamatsu and Marugame are home to a heritage of beauty, from the monolithic to the modern.
Square Enix Cafe had everything going for it, except the ability to adapt
By Isabelle Steen
Air Canada has a new 'kaiseki'-inspired menu
By Zoria Petkoska
On Japan's top foodie site, imperfection is gold
By Weiwen Lin
Slowly but surely, Osaka emerges from Kyoto’s fine-dining shadow
By Phoebe Amoroso

COMMUNITY

Hiromi Okuda’s study abroad experience at the University of Mumbai inspired her to build a career at the intersection of social welfare and IT.
Hiromi Okuda: 'Humans and emerging tech should exist symbiotically'
By Jessica Kozuka
For the past 30 years, Hiromi Okuda has forged a career at the intersection of social welfare and technology.
A shy Shiba mix is ready to bloom
Redevelopment and resistance in historic Nishiogikubo
By Aviraj Gokool
How a Canadian missionary found spiritual transformation in Shikoku
By Suzanne Kamata
Mike Sunda: ‘Creative production comes with a bigger responsibility than ever before’
By Mike Fu

Editors' Picks

JAPAN
Ishiba on shaky ground over budget and gift vouchers
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's reversal over medical co-payments late last week and the revelation he gave gift vouchers to lawmakers have weakened his political standing.
JAPAN
As pollen season peaks, Japan's allergy struggle emerges from hibernation
By Jessica Speed
Urbanization is amplifying pollen-related allergies as grasslands and soft soil give way to concrete and asphalt.
JAPAN
Japan to get tough on businesses not taking heatstroke countermeasures
By Tomoko Otake
A construction site in Tokyo in July 2018. Businesses failing to take measures to prevent severe heatstroke among employees will be subjected to criminal punishment from June.
BASEBALL
In a sea of Dodger Blue, Japanese superfan ready to cheer on the Cubs
By Mai Yoshikawa
Takuya “Moby” Okamoto after Game 5 of the 2016 World Series, which the Cubs went on to win in seven games to snap a 108-year drought
ASIA PACIFIC
Drones, budgets and infighting: Taiwan's daunting defense challenges
By Gabriel Dominguez
Officials from Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), the Ministry of National Defense’s research arm, say the lessons from the Ukraine conflict are clear for the democratic island: drones and other autonomous systems are crucial for its defense.

Podcast

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

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly
By Tomoko Otake

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SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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WHAT’S TRENDING

JAPAN
The U.S. says Japan has a 700% tariff on American rice. Is that the case?
By Yukana Inoue
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds up a piece of paper with information about tariff rates at the White House on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Man arrested in Tokyo stabbing tracked victim through livestream
Kenichi Takano leaves a police station in Tokyo on Thursday to be sent over to prosecutors.
BASEBALL
Japanese superfans turn dental clinic into Ohtani mini-museum
By Irene Wang
Japanese dentist Yusuke Kamimura poses for a photograph in front of a private collection dedicated to MLB player Shohei Ohtani, inside his dental clinic in Koshigaya, north of Tokyo, on Feb. 28, 2025.
JAPAN
Bonsai thefts sweep Japan as miniature trees grow more popular
By Mia Glass
According to the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative, there were about 30 cases of bonsai theft last year.
WORLD
U.S. steered Syrian Kurds toward Damascus deal, sources say
By Timour Azhari, Phil Stewart, Jonathan Spicer and Suleiman Al-Khalidi
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (right) and Syrian Democratic Forces commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi signing an agreement to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in Damascus on Monday.