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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.
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.
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 / Politics / ANALYSIS
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.
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

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.
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.
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.
Interim storage facility in Aomori receives spent nuclear fuel
Volunteers step in as lifeline for Noto flood survivors
Taiwan lifts import ban on Japanese foods
How Taro Kono lost his mojo
By Yukana Inoue

BUSINESS

Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks at a news conference in Osaka on Tuesday.
Small rate hike unlikely to hurt economy, BOJ policy board noted in July
By Kazuaki Nagata
The move came as a surprise and caused roller-coaster fluctuations in stock and currency markets.
The Jeep Avenger fully electric compact utility car debuted in Japan on Thursday.
Jeep’s compact EV debuts in Japan as imported EVs take the lead
By Nicholas Takahashi
In Japan, gasoline and hybrid gas-electric cars remain the dominant powertrains of choice for local consumers.
Suntory to raise monthly wages by 7% in 2025
Meta pitches augmented reality glasses as eventual smartphone rival
By Kurt Wagner and Aisha Counts
Boeing strike leaves plane deliveries up in the air for Asian airlines
By Angus Whitley and Danny Lee
U.S. Steel says arbitration board rules in favor of Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion buyout

WORLD

A Ukrainian soldier operates a DJI drone on the front line of the war, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine in March 2023. U.S. authorities consider Chinese drone-maker DJI a security threat.
Taiwan and U.S. work to counter China’s drone dominance
By Chris Buckley and Amy Chang Chien
Discussions in Taiwan, set to finish Wednesday, brought more than two dozen U.S. companies together with Taiwanese firms looking for U.S. knowledge and customers.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday.
Canadian PM Trudeau survives no-confidence vote but remains vulnerable
Canada's main opposition Conservatives are already vowing to try again to topple the government as soon as Tuesday.
Biden meets with Vietnam leader to counter ties with China and Russia
By Steve Holland and Simon Lewis
Putin issues nuclear warning to the West over Ukraine striking Russia
By Vladimir Soldatkin and Guy Faulconbridge
Hong Kong court to sentence two former editors found guilty of sedition in landmark case
By Jessie Pang
Hezbollah's tunnels and flexible command weather Israel's deadly blows
By Laila Bassam and James Mackenzie

Sports

Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hits his 50th home run of the season during the seventh inning against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 19.
Shohei Ohtani's 50-50 home run ball to be sold at auction house
Bidding will start Friday at an opening price of $500,000, although buyers have a chance to purchase the ball outright for $4.5 million between Sept. 27 and Oct. 9.
Stefanos Tsitsipas loses in first round of Japan Open
All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett at flyhalf for showdown with Australia
Shohei Ohtani drives in go-ahead run as Dodgers close in on NL West title
Fever star Caitlin Clark confident best yet to come following playoff exit

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

Set in a village in the Swiss Alps, Vincenzo Bellini’s opera “La Sonnambula” centers on an orphan named Amina who is unknowingly frightening the locals with her nightly sleepwalking, and they believe there is a ghost among them.
'La Sonnambula' offers a modern take on a dubious happy ending
By Kris Kosaka
Director Barbara Lluch scrutinizes gender expectations and patriarchal societies that thrive on polarizing views in her production of Vincenzo Bellini’s opera.
‘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
Japan’s art world seeks connection at Gwangju Biennale
By Jennifer Pastore
At 35, ‘Patlabor’ now looks awfully prescient
By Matt Schley

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.
JAPAN
Deterring Taiwan conflict is top priority for Japan's ‘front-line’ mayor
By Jesse Johnson
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.
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.

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
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.
JAPAN
How Taro Kono lost his mojo
By Yukana Inoue
Digital minister Taro Kono, who is contesting the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, shows a board saying "accomplishment of reformation" during a debate in Tokyo on Sept. 14.