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October 07, 2024
The Independent Voice in Asia
October 07, 2024
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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a Lower House session on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Ishiba fends off questions on endorsement of scandal-tainted LDP members
By Eric Johnston
The prime minister was grilled in parliament on the extent of support the ruling party will give those implicated in a recent slush funds scandal in upcoming polls.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a Lower House session on Monday.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato attends an interview with media outlets at the Finance Ministry on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Japan's new finance minister vows to finish the job as deflation czar
By Kazuaki Nagata
Katsunobu Kato's message indicates that financial conditions might remain accommodative for some time.
A man receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Tokyo on Oct. 1. Experts say fears over the newly approved replicon vaccine are unwarranted.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Experts move to allay replicon COVID shot fears in Japan amid backlash
By Tomoko Otake
The health ministry and experts say concerns around "shedding" are unwarranted.
Nobel Committee Secretary-General Thomas Perlmann speaks to the media in front of a picture of this year's laureates Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkum during the announcement of the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm on Monday.
WORLD / Science & Health
U.S. pair wins Nobel in medicine for discovery of microRNA
By Tomoko Otake
Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered the new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his dog, Dekopin, who delivered the ceremonial first pitch prior to a game against the Orioles on Aug. 28
MORE SPORTS
The furry performance-enhancers that are sweeping the world of sports
By Mai Yoshikawa
Athletes from Shohei Ohtani to Naomi Osaka are using dogs to reduce stress and help enhance performance before and during high-stakes competitions.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his dog, Dekopin, who delivered the ceremonial first pitch prior to a game against the Orioles on Aug. 28

JAPAN

An Oct. 1 picture of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his Cabinet posted on the website of the Prime Minister's Office (right) appears slightly different from one taken by a media agency (left). Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi admitted on Monday that the photo underwent minor digital edits before being uploaded to the government website.
New Cabinet photo on government website had minor edits, Hayashi admits
By Himari Semans
Media agencies had reported that their pictures appeared slightly different to what was posted on the website of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Yoshimoto Kogyo, the agency that manages comedy trio Jungle Pocket, announced in mid-September that group member Shinji Saito had been experiencing health issues and underwent hospitalization, and that he requested a hiatus.
Comedian Shinji Saito investigated over sexual assault
The member of comedy trio Jungle Pocket is alleged to have performed nonconsensual sexual intercourse on a woman in a bus at a filming location in Shinjuku.
Japan's new internal affairs minister looks to boost regional revitalization
Japan's party leaders' debate to be extended to 80 minutes
Tokyo mayors ask people to follow rules during Halloween
Japanese archbishop named cardinal
By Francis Tang

BUSINESS

Players on Nintendo Switch game consoles. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is reportedly weighing deploying more capital to Nintendo and its sector peers.
Nintendo jumps after Saudi fund expresses interest in bigger stake
By Haruka Iwai and Aya Wagatsuma
The Saudi government is keen to mold the kingdom into a global gaming industry player and diversify its oil-heavy portfolio.
A showroom in Budapest for electric vehicles made by BYD, a Chinese auto manufacturer, on Sept. 16
Climate change and economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
EU states have voted to impose tariffs on electric vehicles made in China, but experts say this complicates the push to get cleaner cars on the road.
Tokyo Metro unveils range for biggest Japan IPO since 2018
By Nao Sano and Yasutaka Tamura
The future of EV charging looks a lot like an airport lounge
By Tope Alake and David R Baker
Oil bets are the most bullish in two years as Mideast tension flares
By Alex Longley and David Marino
Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
By Alice PHILIPSON

WORLD

Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans speaks during an interview in Kyiv on Sunday.
Netherlands to provide €400 million to develop drones with Ukraine
By Anastasiia Malenko
Ukraine is fighting to thwart Russia's troops as they inch forward in the east and attack critical infrastructure ahead of the winter months.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs late on Sunday.
Israel bombs Lebanon and Gaza ahead of marking one year since attacks
By Laila Bassam, Timour Azhari and Steven Scheer
Israel's defense minister also declared all options were being looked at for retaliation against arch-enemy Iran.
Hezbollah strikes Israel on Gaza anniversary as fears of wider war grow
'Terrorist attack' near Karachi airport kills two Chinese nationals
By Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam and Casey Hall
Former Taiwan President Tsai to make sensitive Prague visit, sources say
By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard
Crowd-sourcing data could help Philippines tackle deadly floods
By Mariejo Ramos

Sports

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his dog, Dekopin, who delivered the ceremonial first pitch prior to a game against the Orioles on Aug. 28
The furry performance-enhancers that are sweeping the world of sports
By Mai Yoshikawa
Athletes from Shohei Ohtani to Naomi Osaka are using dogs to reduce stress and help enhance performance before and during high-stakes competitions.
Paralympic star Takayuki Suzuki hopes to raise visibility of people with disabilities
By Jason Coskrey
Pro sports heading toward robotic future
By Ken Belson
Lakers father-son duo LeBron and Bronny James play together in preseason contest
Yu Darvish shuts down Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani as Padres even series

Opinion

Shigeru Ishiba's nascent administration is attracting something of a reputation for flip-flopping — and it hasn’t even been a week.
Don’t take Japan's new leader literally. But should you take him seriously?
Gearoid Reidy
Ishiba will discover that his supply of capital with the public will run out quickly if he offers no break from his predecessor.
To empower Japan, new PM has to get hot on renewables
By Walter James
The sources of Russian conduct
By Nina L. Khrushcheva
A lot of ‘unskilled’ workers actually aren’t
By Betsey Stevenson
Tories remain the ‘party party.’ Time for a bouncer.
By Martin Ivens

ENVIRONMENT

HIF Global's Haru Oni clean hydrogen plant in Punta Arenas, Chile, last month
Latin America gears up for clean hydrogen boom but the road is not smooth
By Oliver Griffin, Lucinda Elliott and Fabio Teixeira
Government leaders expect a major boom for the region from clean hydrogen, produced using electricity from renewable sources that do not emit carbon.
Europe’s urban dilemma: Saving the past from a warming future
By Sonja Wind
Environment takes center stage as global summits loom
By Julien MIVIELLE
Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of U.N. forum
By Hervé BAR
Study documents extinction of 610 bird species and ecological impacts 
By Will Dunham

CULTURE

Cameron Lew, who makes music under the name Ginger Root, recently released “Shinbangumi,” an album that was influenced by the glimmering pop echoes of Japan in the 1980s as well as the nerviness of Devo, the loose rock-pop of Hall & Oates and even Haruomi Hosono’s ’70s explorations of exotica.
Ginger Root expands on effervescent retro sound
By Patrick St. Michel
New release "Shinbangumi" comes after a whirlwind year for the American artist who blends glittering pop echoes of 1980s Japan with a mish-mash of Western influences.
Japan's 'master of horror' Kiyoshi Kurosawa highlights 'B-movie' appeal
By Claire Lee
Japan’s biggest Louise Bourgeois exhibit yet leans into ambivalence
By Thu-Huong Ha
‘Super Happy Forever’: Melancholy romance makes most of fleeting happiness
By James Hadfield
‘See You Tomorrow’: A pursuit of passion grounded in reality
By Mark Schilling

LIFE

For one night in Tokyo last month, Daniel Calvert (left) and Quique Dacosta brought their wildly different culinary styles together into a a remarkable service.
A meeting of Michelin minds at Tokyo's Sezanne
By Robbie Swinnerton
Daniel Calvert doesn't says no to most requests for pop-ups at two-Michelin-starred Sezanne — except when the chance to work with three-starred Quique Dacosta came up.
Sake, coffee and fish bones: Anything goes for Sushi M’s cocktails
By Melinda Joe
Get yourself in a pickle with this uber-tangy banh mi
By Simon Daly
Japan's flat-packed furniture doesn't skimp on aesthetics
By Mio Yamada
Sure, Tokyo’s trains are amazing. But are they ruining your trip?
By Justin Randall

COMMUNITY

Without Japanese outdoorsman George Masa, America might not have the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — so why do so many people in Japan not know he existed?
The forgotten Japanese naturalist who created a U.S. national park
By Drew Damron
George Masa was an enigmatic figure, but his contributions to preserving America's natural beauty are unassailable.
What’s a mother to do when your non-Japanese child is bullied in school?
By Harriet Ocharo
Duane Levi: 'Once you are able to create something that has sustainability … you’re going to get help and support.'
By Patrick St. Michel
Saying good riddance to what bugs me about a Japanese summer
By Jordan Allen
‘The people I’d seen in kimono didn’t have as much melanin as I do’
By Baye McNeil

Editors' Picks

JAPAN
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
By Karin Kaneko
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
ENVIRONMENT
Important tool or alarmism? Japan experts split on megaquake advisories.
By Kathleen Benoza
A damaged road in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 6, after a major earthquake struck the area on New Year's Day
JAPAN
The Japanese tech that could one day make Southeast Asia landmine-free
By Anton L. Delgado
Dul Saroth (left) and Soeum Samrach, deminers with the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, practice using the Advanced Landmine Imaging System in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province in August.
LIFE
At Tokyo Game Show 2024, nostalgia was king
By Samantha Low
As is the trend in movies and TV, the games with the biggest budgets at Tokyo Game Show 2024 were by and large remakes and remasters.
COMMUNITY
The forgotten Japanese naturalist who created a U.S. national park
By Drew Damron
Without Japanese outdoorsman George Masa, America might not have the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — so why do so many people in Japan not know he existed?

Podcast

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

Longform

Dul Saroth (left) and Soeum Samrach, deminers with the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, practice using the Advanced Landmine Imaging System in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province in August.
The Japanese tech that could one day make Southeast Asia landmine-free
By Anton L. Delgado

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SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Sasakawa works for a sustainable blue economy
Sasakawa works for a sustainable blue economy

WHAT’S TRENDING

LIFE
Sure, Tokyo’s trains are amazing. But are they ruining your trip?
By Justin Randall
Walking through Tokyo's varied neighborhoods and the sub-communities within them can be the best way for a tourist, even one with limited time, to take the city in.
JAPAN
Ishiba says LDP will not endorse some 'slush fund' lawmakers in general election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Saturday.
ENVIRONMENT
Important tool or alarmism? Japan experts split on megaquake advisories.
By Kathleen Benoza
A damaged road in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 6, after a major earthquake struck the area on New Year's Day
JAPAN
Tokyo passes nation's first customer harassment ordinance
By Yukana Inoue
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike speaks to a reporter on Sept. 27. Aggressive acts toward front-line workers, dubbed "customer harassment," have become a growing problem.
BASEBALL
Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
By Rob Woollard
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates after blasting a homer to right field in the second inning of Los Angeles' Game 1 victory over the Padres on Saturday.