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September 27, 2024
The Independent Voice in Asia
September 27, 2024
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Hakamata retrial
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A poster showing portraits of candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election at the party headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Front-runners solidify lead as LDP counts down to leadership vote
By Eric Johnston
The LDP’s presidential election happens Friday, with three front-runners leading a field of nine in a race that will determine the country’s next prime minister.

More coverage

Does Sanae Takaichi have a real shot at becoming Japan's first female leader?
Why is Shigeru Ishiba so unpopular among his LDP peers?
Does Shinjiro Koizumi have what it takes to lead Japan?
A poster showing portraits of candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election at the party headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday
Hideko Hakamata (center) and lawyers representing her younger brother, Iwao Hakamata, pose with a banner that reads "Iwao Hakamata verdict not guilty" as they leave the Shizuoka District Court on Thursday after the ruling was delivered.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
In rare retrial, Shizuoka court rules ex-boxer not guilty of 1966 murders
By Kanako Takahara and Himari Semans
Iwao Hakamata, the world’s longest-serving death row prisoner, has maintained his innocence for decades.
Yonaguni Mayor Kenichi Itokazu speaks to a Ground Self-Defense Force soldier at the town hall on Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost inhabited island in Okinawa Prefecture last November.
JAPAN / Politics
Deterring Taiwan conflict is top priority for Japan's ‘front-line’ mayor
By Jesse Johnson
The mayor believes the U.S. and Japan must do away with "strategic ambiguity" over Taiwan if they intend to keep China in check.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito after the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly passed a no-confidence motion against him on Sept. 19　
JAPAN / Politics
Hyogo governor to seek reelection after automatically losing his seat next week
By Francis Tang
Motohiko Saito, who has been at the center of a series of controversies, announced his decision at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
Tokyo Game Show opens to the public on Sept. 28 full of cosplayers promoting a full slate of new and upcoming titles.
LIFE / Digital
Tokyo Game Show 2024 stacked with big returns and hyped announcements
By Samantha Low
PlayStation returns to Tokyo Game Show for the first time since 2019 as Japan's biggest gaming show opens to the public on Sept. 29 and 29.
Tokyo Game Show opens to the public on Sept. 28 full of cosplayers promoting a full slate of new and upcoming titles.

JAPAN

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan President Yoshihiko Noda (right) and Nippon Ishin no Kai leader Nobuyuki Baba in Tokyo on Tuesday
CDP's Noda wants to court Nippon Ishin and DPP, but will he succeed?
By Eric Johnston
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's new leader faces an uphill task of bridging the differences of its peers in the opposition ahead of a general election.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Sazanami arrives in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean during a scheduled port visit in July. The Sazanami became the first Japanese warship to sail through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
Japan MSDF warship sails through Taiwan Strait for first time
By Gabriel Dominguez and Jesse Johnson
The transit on Wednesday, which follows a spate of Chinese military moves near Japan, drew a strongly worded warning from Beijing.
Interim storage facility in Aomori receives spent nuclear fuel
Volunteers step in as lifeline for Noto flood survivors
Hyogo governor to seek reelection after automatically losing his seat next week
By Francis Tang
Taiwan lifts import ban on Japanese foods

BUSINESS

The Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo. Japanese companies with directors that sit on multiple boards are facing the equity market’s displeasure as the bourse steps up pressure to improve corporate governance.
‘Moonlighting’ directors are problem for company boards in Japan
By Hideyuki Sano
The Tokyo bourse has demanded that firms in its blue-chip Prime section get at least a third of their board members externally.
The Sharp air purifier's furniture-like design was overseen by architect Kengo Kuma.
Sharp collaborates on wooden air purifier with architect Kengo Kuma
The purifier is aimed at corporate clients and will sell for ¥550,000 yen.
A global hunt for neutral rates to shape world finance costs
By Howard Schneider and William Schomberg
Musk's X seeks Brazil comeback, retreats on 'censorship' feud
By Ricardo Brito and Luciana Magalhaes
Tokyo Electron prepares for India expansion as Modi lures chipmakers
By Mayumi Negishi and Yuki Furukawa
Tokyo inflation cools as government resumes energy subsidies
By Toru Fujioka

WORLD

Eric Adams, mayor of New York, exits a weekly news conference at City Hall in New York in 2023.
NYC mayor was corrupt for years, U.S. claims in scathing case
By Bob Van Voris, Laura Nahmias and Patricia Hurtado
The indictment calls into question the political future of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is in charge of running the biggest U.S. city.
A man watches as smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon, on Thursday.
Israel rejects cease-fire talks and keeps up attacks in Lebanon
By Henry Meyer and Ethan Bronner
Airstrikes will continue until all of Israel’s objectives have been achieved, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Starmer’s ‘business whisperer’ brings connections, complications from past
By Harry Wilson and Alex Wickham
Sudan's army pushes to retake lost ground in capital
By Khalid Abdelaziz
Kremlin calls changes to Russia's nuclear policy a signal to the West
Biden announces $8 billion in military aid for Ukraine
By Steve Holland, Patricia Zengerle and Trevor Hunnicutt

Sports

Shohei Ohtani reacts to a standing ovation from fans after hitting his 50th home run of the season on Sept. 19.
Florida man files lawsuit claiming he caught Shohei Ohtani's 50-50 ball first
The man is accusing a fellow spectator of "stealing the ball for himself."
U.S. sweeps International team 5-0 on Day 1 of Presidents Cup
Lawson to replace Ricciardo at RB for rest of F1 season
By Alan Baldwin
Athletics pay emotional farewell to Oakland in last home game before move
Stefanos Tsitsipas loses in first round of Japan Open

Opinion

Japan's flag flies at half mast at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing on Thursday after a Japanese schoolboy was stabbed to death in the southern city of Shenzhen.
The death of a Japanese school student: Is this just a tip of an iceberg?
Kunihiko Miyake
Despite the fact that an innocent 10-year-old boy was brutally murdered, the reaction of the Japanese government and media was predictably restrained.
In Lebanon, Israel set a trap for Iran and itself
By Marc Champion
Lessons from Ukraine and Gaza on humanitarian law
By Hirohito Ogi
The LDP election through the eyes of allies, 'frenemies' and foes
By Stephen R. Nagy
Draghi warns Europe — and Japan — about the failure to innovate
By Brad Glosserman

ENVIRONMENT

Funafuti, Tuvalu’s most populous island, on Sept. 6
Tuvalu fights to retain its maritime rights amid climate change inundation
By Kirsty Needham
Tuvalu's economic zone is rich in tuna, but few foreign jurisdictions that fish in the Pacific have supported efforts to safeguard its maritime boundaries.
Climate change made Europe’s floods worse and more likely, study shows
By Olivia Rudgard and Eamon Akil Farhat
Offshore wind opponents in Australia and Europe look to U.S. for advice
By Nichola Groom and Lewis Jackson
Amazon forest loses area the size of Germany and France, fueling fires
Insurance czar has ‘harsh’ message about climate: You may just have to move
By Thomas Seal

CULTURE

“A Whisper in the Eye of the Storm,” by Canadian artists Caitlind R. C. Brown and Wayne Garrett is an outdoor installation of around 14,000 recycled lenses of varied prescriptions.
Weather makes for an unpredictable artist at Nagano art festival
By Thu-Huong Ha
Fram Kitagawa’s Northern Alps Art Festival embraces its inconvenient location and the natural elements.
‘Previously Saved Version’: An intriguing premise gets lost in space
By James Hadfield
‘Cloud’: Dangers of the internet deliver full-throttle action
By Mark Schilling
'La Sonnambula' offers a modern take on a dubious happy ending
By Kris Kosaka
Japan’s art world seeks connection at Gwangju Biennale
By Jennifer Pastore

LIFE

The Nintendo Museum opens to the public on Oct. 2, but unlike the company's all-ages games, the new attraction may be geared more toward older rather than younger gamers.
A first look inside the new Nintendo Museum
By Joel Tansey
Set to open on Oct. 2, the gaming giant's newest foray into real-world experiences shows flashes of the same creativity that made the company what it is today.
Some idioms and terms pertaining to Japan's favorite grain
By Yuko Tamura
Japan is next level for retro game collectors
By Mathias Cena
Brewers developing climate change-resistant beer ingredients
Jimgu: A farm-driven restaurant of outstanding local variety
By Andrew Lee

COMMUNITY

Time is nearly up for the hordes of insects that are thriving more than ever in Japan's increasingly boiling summer.
Saying good riddance to what bugs me about a Japanese summer
By Jordan Allen
For an arachnophobe in Japan, the fall, winter and spring just can’t come quick — and stay long — enough.
Emirates works to fly better, cleaner and smarter
By Warren Meehan
‘The people I’d seen in kimono didn’t have as much melanin as I do’
By Baye McNeil
Andreas Fuchs: ‘I love that no two days are the same’
By Louise George Kittaka
Philippine envoy highlights climate and smart farms
By Louise George Kittaka

Editors' Picks

LIFE
A first look inside the new Nintendo Museum
By Joel Tansey
The Nintendo Museum opens to the public on Oct. 2, but unlike the company's all-ages games, the new attraction may be geared more toward older rather than younger gamers.
ASIA PACIFIC
China fires long-range missile into Pacific Ocean in rare test
By Jesse Johnson
Chinese military vehicles carrying DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles travel past Beijing's Tiananmen Square during a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, on Oct. 1, 2019.
MORE SPORTS
People of all ages and sizes scale new heights amid climbing boom in Japan
By Mai Yoshikawa
A climbing wall at a kindergarten in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture. The sport has been on the rise in Japan, mainly due to the popularity it gained from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and new climbing walls are popping all over the place.
LIFE
In need of rice and some Japanese words that describe necessity
By Yuko Tamura
A farmer harvests rice in a paddy field in Tamba-Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture, last month.
JAPAN
Does Sanae Takaichi have a real shot at becoming Japan's first female leader?
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, a candidate in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election, speaks during a debate in Tokyo on Sept. 14.

Podcast

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

Longform

A woman passes an "akichi" (vacant lot) in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. The capital is littered with such small lots in part because of Japan's aging and shrinking population.
Dealing with rising land vacancies as Japan shrinks
By Alex K.T. Martin

JT Directory Service

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SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

WHAT’S TRENDING

ASIA PACIFIC
China fires long-range missile into Pacific Ocean in rare test
By Jesse Johnson
Chinese military vehicles carrying DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles travel past Beijing's Tiananmen Square during a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, on Oct. 1, 2019.
WORLD
Russia has a secret war drones project in China, intel sources say
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a drone production facility of the the Special Technology Center in St. Petersburg on Sept. 19.
SUMO
As Onosato dominates the spotlight, former sumo stars exit the stage
By John Gunning
Takakeisho during a one-day tournament at Kokugikan in Tokyo in February 2020
JAPAN
Japan MSDF warship sails through Taiwan Strait for first time
By Gabriel Dominguez and Jesse Johnson
The Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Sazanami arrives in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean during a scheduled port visit in July. The Sazanami became the first Japanese warship to sail through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
WORLD
Putin issues nuclear warning to the West over Ukraine striking Russia
By Vladimir Soldatkin and Guy Faulconbridge
Russia's President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Security Council on the subject of nuclear deterrence in Moscow on Wednesday.