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March 11, 2025
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March 11, 2025
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Members of a Liberal Democratic Party panel discuss proposals about allowing spouses to retain their respective surnames, in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Eternal debate over surname law comes to fore again
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
Since last October’s general election, momentum has picked up for a legislative change to allow married couples to retain different surnames.
Members of a Liberal Democratic Party panel discuss proposals about allowing spouses to retain their respective surnames, in Tokyo on Thursday.
The government's stockpile of rice in Saitama Prefecture in February
JAPAN
For first time ever, government begins auction of rice stockpile
By Yukana Inoue
Rice from the stockpile is expected to hit shelves from around the end of the month.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at an Upper House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Monday. The opposition's slamming of the Liberal Democratic Party over its position on corporate and group donations, as well as their own divisions over whether to restrict or ban such contributions, cast uncertainty over Ishiba’s hopes of reaching a consensus within the month.
JAPAN / Politics
Opposition parties split on whether to restrict or ban corporate donations
By Himari Semans
Their division casts uncertainty over Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s hopes of reaching a consensus on the matter within the month ahead of a summer election.
Seven & I Holdings says it has agreed to jointly explore store sell-offs with Alimentation Couche-Tard to address antitrust concerns ahead of a potential merger.
BUSINESS / Companies
Shareholder pushes Seven & I to engage with Couche-Tard
By Mathieu Dion and Kanoko Matsuyama
The operator of 7-Eleven stores says that it is doing so, and has rebuffed Artisan Partners Asset Management’s assertions of conflicts of interest within the board.
People rest inside the sports hall of an elementary school that was transformed into temporary accommodations for people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Przemysl, Poland, in March 2022. Geography and geopolitical interests mean that Japan could find itself assuming a supporting role similar to Poland's should China ever attack Taiwan.
JAPAN / Politics
Poland’s role in Ukraine war offers lessons for Japan, top envoy says
By Gabriel Dominguez
Geography and geopolitical interests mean that Tokyo could find itself assuming a supporting role similar to Warsaw’s should China ever attack Taiwan.
People rest inside the sports hall of an elementary school that was transformed into temporary accommodations for people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Przemysl, Poland, in March 2022. Geography and geopolitical interests mean that Japan could find itself assuming a supporting role similar to Poland's should China ever attack Taiwan.

JAPAN

Oto, Japan's oldest lion, died Monday at Toyohashi Zoo & Botanical Park in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture.
Oto, Japan’s oldest lion, dies at 25 — equivalent to 100 human years
By Jessica Speed
Born in 1999 at Asahiyama Zoo in the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Oto had been at Aichi Prefecture's Toyohashi Zoo & Botanical Park since 2001.
Firefighters head for the site of a massive wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Monday to determine whether the fire has been extinguished.
Iwate wildfire contained, evacuation orders fully lifted
There is no danger of the fire spreading further and firefighters will work to determine if it is has been extinguished, Ofunato Mayor Kiyoshi Fuchigami says.
Japan's territory museum to reopen in April following renovations
Man held over box cutter blade sent to former Cabinet minister
Crown Prince Akishino joins in mourning victims of the 1945 Tokyo air raid
Monument erected in Miyagi to remember officials who died in March 2011

BUSINESS

Base pay rose by 3.1% in January from a year earlier, the largest advance since October 1992, according to the labor ministry.
Japan records fastest gains in base pay since 1992, supporting BOJ moves
By Erica Yokoyama
Data has also highlighted the impact of price growth, with real cash earnings falling 1.8%.
People walk past an agency building of the Chinese electric car brand BYD in Mexico City on March 3.
Tesla is flailing in China and the rapid rise of BYD is to blame
Disappointing shipments in China have been blamed on a narrow and dated lineup, particularly in the face of up-to-date and more exciting offerings from BYD and others.
China deploys food as a high-impact, low-cost weapon in tariff fight
JX Metals raises $3 billion in Japan's biggest IPO since SoftBank
By Yasutaka Tamura
Japan logs its first current account deficit in two years in January
‘Impossible trinity’ conundrum has caused a cash crunch in Asia
By Marcus Wong and Malavika Kaur Makol

WORLD

A man watches a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at the main rail station in Seoul on Monday.
North Korea fires multiple missiles after slamming U.S.-South Korea drills
The launches came hours after Pyongyang condemned the South Korean and U.S. militaries for launching drills that it said were a "dangerous provocative act."
Jewish settlers pray in the Evyatar settler outpost in the northern West Bank last July
Christians press Trump to clear path for Israel to annex West Bank
By Ephrat Livni
Some 80% of white, evangelical Christians voted for President Trump. Now, some want a policy change that could undermine a future Palestinian state.
With drones and North Korean troops, Russia pushes back Ukraine’s offensive
By Marc Santora
Israel halts Gaza's electricity supply ahead of new truce talks
By Michael Blum and Adel Zaanoun
Syrian leader scrambles to contain deadliest violence in years
By Jaidaa Taha and Suleiman Al-Khalidi
Mark Carney wins Canada Liberal contest and will succeed Trudeau in days
By Brian Platt and Laura Dhillon Kane

Sports

The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani is expected to return to a two-way role this season.
As Shohei Ohtani embarks on Year 2 in Dodger Blue, a unique encore begins
By Tyler Kepner
Ohtani has won two Most Valuable Player Awards as a two-way player, for the Angels in 2021 and 2023.
Steelers obtain wide receiver DK Metcalf from Seahawks
Henley snatches Arnold Palmer win after Morikawa stumble
Arteta frustrated after draw leaves Arsenal's title hopes in tatters
By Kieran CANNING
Bills star Allen set for record-breaking $330 million deal

Opinion

Every year, there is heightened interest in commemorating the 3/11 disaster around the time of the anniversary. But memorial facilities and operators are increasingly struggling to keep their activities going all year round and as time passes.
Preserving the memory of 3/11 is becoming more difficult
Julia Gerster
Despite a peak in interest around the 3/11 anniversary, disaster memorial facilities and operators are facing mounting challenges in keeping their activities going as time passes.
Japan needs collective public support to reach its nuclear goals
By Pinar Temocin
How to hedge against AI stealing your job
By Chris Bryant
Kyiv and Moscow are divided by a valley of lies
By Marc Champion
Europe braces for a post-American world. Is Japan ready?

ENVIRONMENT

India, the world’s third-biggest emitter, wants to more than double clean-power capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030. That won't be easy.
Eyeing short-term savings, India’s utilities put green energy boom at risk
By Rajesh Kumar Singh
A federal auction model that helped the country add more than 130 gigawatts of renewables projects over the past decade is under threat of circumvention.
BRICS' climate leadership aims hang on healing deep divides
By Virginia Furness
Cascading extreme weather events unleash billions in damages globally
By Brian K Sullivan, Mary Hui and Joe Wertz
Japan actress Mana Ashida named UNDP goodwill ambassador
Butterfly populations plummet by 22% in U.S. since turn of century
By Will Dunham

CULTURE

Ichiko Aoba’s latest full-length album, “Luminescent Creatures,” weaves in sounds mimicking whale songs and wind to express her fascination with the natural world and its interconnectedness.
Ichiko Aoba’s intimate sonic fantasy born from dreams
By Patrick St. Michel
The singer-songwriter turns her subconscious into songs about the natural world and its interconnectedness on “Luminescent Creatures.”
‘May You Have Delicious Meals’: The ugly taste of office and gender politics
By Eric Margolis
‘A Bad Summer’: A scorching drama of simmering rage and its consequences
By Mark Schilling
‘The Gesuidouz’ flips the bird at viewers
By James Hadfield
Can a meal make you besties? ‘K-foodie meets J-foodie’ says yes.
By Patrick St. Michel

LIFE

While Google may be the restaurant review medium of choice in other countries, Japan largely prefers Tabelog, where five-star reviews are rare and three-star reviews aren't what they seem.
On Japan's top foodie site, imperfection is gold
By Weiwen Lin
Cultural expectations may influence ratings on Tabelog, but reading between the lines might help you find the next hidden gem.
Slowly but surely, Osaka emerges from Kyoto’s fine-dining shadow
By Phoebe Amoroso
Scams, taxes and tariffs: It's that time of year.
By Yuko Tamura
Stories from behind the bar at Shinjuku's Golden Gai
By Mika Inoue
Toyama’s finest seafood underpins Ebitei Bekkan’s return to greatness
By Robbie Swinnerton

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.
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
Black History Month in 2025: The boundaries between 'us' and 'them'
By Baye McNeil

Editors' Picks

LIFE
Tokyo’s vinyl experts say overseas buyers are ‘sustaining the scene’
By Gabrielle Doman
Rintaro Sekizuka runs a record store in both London and Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward.
JAPAN
Cherry blossom season set to kick off on March 21 in Tokyo
By Jessica Speed
A Weathernews forecast shows the cherry blossom season will begin on March 21 in Tokyo.
CULTURE
Grief ebbs and flows between two tragedies in 'The Place of Shells'
By Thu-Huong Ha
“The Place of Shells” takes place mostly in Gottingen, Germany, where both the author and the book's narrator live, while also jumping both geographically and temporally to Sendai, Japan, through memories of the 3/11 disaster and its aftermath.
LIFE
‘Granny hobbies’ are the new self-care
By Yuko Tamura
Yarn shortages are a sign that hobbies like knitting and crochet are gaining in popularity.
COMMENTARY
Can Shiori Ito’s documentary open Japan’s black box?
By Atsushi Funahashi and Chelsea Szendi Schieder
Shiori Ito is the first Japanese director to have been nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature film. "Black Box Diaries," which tells the story of her quest for justice following her rape in 2015, hasn't been released in Japan.

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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WHAT’S TRENDING

ASIA PACIFIC
As Trump hails taking back of Panama Canal, Hong Kong Inc. walks tightrope
By Clare Jim, James Pomfret and Anne Marie Roantree
Balboa Port, operated by Panama Ports Company, at the Panama Canal. Conglomerate CK Hutchison, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, has agreed to sell its ports network, including assets along the Panama Canal, to a U.S. consortium led by BlackRock.
LIFE
Tokyo’s vinyl experts say overseas buyers are ‘sustaining the scene’
By Gabrielle Doman
Rintaro Sekizuka runs a record store in both London and Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward.
JAPAN
Woman sentenced to 23 years over Asahikawa girl's murder
The bridge in the city of Asahikawa where a female high school student died after being pushed off in April last year
BUSINESS
Bank of America CEO willing to hire in Japan amid revival
By Lisa Du and Shery Ahn
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan
JAPAN
Ishiba vows all-out election fight at LDP convention
Shigeru Ishiba, the prime minister and president of the Liberal Democratic Party, shakes hands with one of the party's candidates for the upcoming Upper House election during the party's annual convention in Tokyo on Sunday.