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TOKYO
October 05, 2024
The Independent Voice in Asia
October 05, 2024
Shigeru Ishiba
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Middle East conflict
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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his inaugural policy address to parliament in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
LDP to endorse 'slush fund' lawmakers in general election
Opposition parties are turning up the heat on Ishiba, who had earlier signaled his intention to take action against those implicated in the scandal.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his inaugural policy address to parliament in Tokyo on Friday.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Worries about the implications of further BOJ tightening against a global backdrop of easing were again on display this week, with newly selected Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba saying Japan wasn’t ready for more rate hikes yet.
BUSINESS / Markets
Stepped-up global easing risks making it harder for BOJ to hike
By Paul Jackson and Christopher Anstey
Worries about the implications of further BOJ tightening against a global backdrop of easing were again on display this week.
There's long been one mantra in mainstream economics: Growth is good. But recently, an alternative term has begun taking root in popular culture and policy: "degrowth."
BUSINESS / Economy
These are boom times for ‘degrowth’
By Ephrat Livni
Kohei Saito believes one reason degrowth has had increasing appeal is because "younger generations are not enjoying the fruits of economic growth.”
Men run for cover after an Israeli strike on the Mreijeh neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Countdown to Middle East war? How the region can step back from the brink
By Alexander Cornwell, Matt Spetalnick and Jonathan Saul
Brakes remain to halt a regional fall into a wider conflagration that would lock Israel and Tehran into escalating conflict and suck in other nations.
Bourgeois is perhaps best known among the general public for her giant steel spider sculptures, particularly in Tokyo, where a nearly 10-meter tall bronze cast of the original spider has loomed over the walkway in Roppongi Hills since 2003.
CULTURE / Art
Japan’s biggest Louise Bourgeois exhibit yet leans into ambivalence
By Thu-Huong Ha
At Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, a large-scale retrospective of the visionary artist emphasizes her complex feelings toward femininity, memory, parenthood and the human body.
Bourgeois is perhaps best known among the general public for her giant steel spider sculptures, particularly in Tokyo, where a nearly 10-meter tall bronze cast of the original spider has loomed over the walkway in Roppongi Hills since 2003.

JAPAN

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs on Saturday
11 Japanese nationals flee Lebanon on SDF plane
This was the first evacuation of Japanese nationals from Lebanon using SDF aircraft since tensions flared up in the Middle East in October last year.
Sakie Yokota shares her thoughts ahead of her abducted daughter's 60th birthday, on Thursday in Kawasaki.
Sakie Yokota expresses hopes for a reunion on daughter's 60th birthday
Megumi Yokota was abducted by North Korea in 1977 at the age of 13. If a reunion is realized, "I just hope to hug her silently," Sakie said.
Government looks to improve safety at Japan's dangerous railway crossings
Possible dud shell found in residential area of Tokyo
Japan says Paul Watson case 'nothing to do with whaling'
Ishiba omits divisive proposals in first policy speech as PM
By Gabriele Ninivaggi

BUSINESS

Jera's liquefied natural gas fired power plant inside the company's Anegasaki Thurmal Power Station in Ichihara, Japan.
Japan firms unite to cut methane emissions from LNG supply
By Shoko Oda and Tsuyoshi Inajima
Twenty-two firms are joining an initiative that aims to leverage their buying power to curb methane emissions from liquefied natural gas supply chains.
Containers are stacked at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal (PMT) in Portsmouth, Virginia, on Wednesday.
U.S. port strike throws spotlight on big union foe: automation
By Doyinsola Oladipo
Companies view automation as a path to better profit while unions see it as a job-killer.
Boom in Samurai bond issuance drives up yen swap costs
By Masaki Kondo
EU tests its mettle to take on China with new EV tariff fight
By Jorge Valero
Japan's three major business lobbies submit policy requests to Ishiba
EU presses ahead with Chinese EV tariffs after split vote

WORLD

Zackree Kline works as a manager in a diner and also at a funeral home. "I work every single day of the week. I never have a day off," he said.
One job by day, another by night as U.S. voters make ends meet
By Julie CHABANAS
Rising costs of living are weighing heavily on voters who want the next president — whoever it may be — to "do the right thing."
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after a strike as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, on Saturday.
Israel targets Hezbollah intel HQ in Lebanon, Iran says it will not back down
By Maya Gebeily, Timour Azhari and James Mackenzie
The air attack on Beirut was reported to have targeted the potential successor to the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
By Marie Heuclin
Scientists explain Mount Everest's anomalous growth
By Will Dunham
U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon stay put, despite Israel asking them to move
By Michelle Nichols
U.K. cedes Chagos Island sovereignty to Mauritius and keeps air base
By Alistair Smout, Michael Holden and Villen Anganan

Sports

A giant mural of Shohei Ohtani on the side of a hotel in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles
Japanese baseball fans flock to LA to see playoff-bound Ohtani
By Rory Carroll
Inside Dodger Stadium, the influence of Japanese fans is clear, from Japanese-language merchandise to cuisine that included bento boxes, sushi and fried octopus.
Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano announces plans to join MLB
Padres excited to renew rivalry with Dodgers in postseason
Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
Yoshinobu Yamamoto to start Game 1 of NLDS after Dodgers flip starters

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.
Japan shouldn’t work with the Taliban, not even to build schools
By Sadiq Amini
The Russian war economy’s days are numbered
By Anders Aslund
Pete Rose fans are wrong: He's not worthy of the Hall of Fame
By Adam Minter
Ishiba faces challenges from the opposition — and his own party

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 boon for the region from clean hydrogen, produced using electricity from renewable sources that do not emit carbon.
Study documents extinction of 610 bird species and ecological impacts 
By Will Dunham
Green hydrogen hype fades as high costs force project retreat
By William Mathis
Despite snowy winter, Swiss glaciers 'on track to disappear'
By Agnes Pedrero and Elodie LE MAOU
Rising food costs due to extreme weather likely to drive up grocery bills
By Keira Wright, Bernadette Toh and Charlotte Hughes-Morgan

CULTURE

Kim Sang-man’s “Uprising” has attracted significant attention ahead of its world premiere thanks largely to the involvement of its producer Park Chan-wook, best-known for directing ultra-violent thrillers like 2003’s “Old Boy,” which played a key role in bringing South Korean cinema to the global forefront.
Netflix war epic to open Asia's largest film festival
By Claire Lee
Streaming-only content has contributed to a significant surge in the global visibility of Korean and Korean diaspora stories.
‘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
Wozme, an all-women dance troupe, wants to move the needle in butoh
By Zoria Petkoska
Masayoshi Fujita’s ‘Migratory’ is an ode to nature and nurture
By Russell Thomas

LIFE

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.
At Tokyo Game Show 2024, nostalgia was king
By Samantha Low
Indie gems were on the show floor, but the nostalgia from remakes and remasters drew the biggest crowds this year.
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
Award ceremony for Japanese alcohol held in Paris
Making a habit of describing your morning convenience store run
By Yuko Tamura

COMMUNITY

Having grown up in North Carolina, where people are chatty and friendly, Duane Levi says Kansai and Osaka in particular had a similar vibe.
Duane Levi: 'Once you are able to create something that has sustainability … you’re going to get help and support.'
By Patrick St. Michel
Unable to get a job in PA and recording, Duane Levi forged his own path in the Japanese music scene and has introduced many artists to the market here.
What’s a mother to do when your non-Japanese child is bullied in school?
By Harriet Ocharo
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
Andreas Fuchs: ‘I love that no two days are the same’
By Louise George Kittaka

Editors' Picks

ENVIRONMENT
How climate change affects Japan's typhoons
By Jessica Speed
A bus is seen submerged in floodwaters in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on Aug. 29 as Typhoon Shanshan dumps torrential rain across southern regions of Japan.
SUMO
Who can challenge Onosato's dominance? Takerufuji might be the best bet.
By John Gunning
Takerufuji, the most recent Emperor’s Cup winner apart from Terunofuji and Onosato, claimed the second-tier title in September in his first full tournament back from injury after a six-month absence.
JAPAN
Japan's new top diplomat calls 'Asian NATO' an idea for the future
By Kathleen Benoza
Newly appointed Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya speaks during his first news conference as Japan's top diplomat at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Ishiba looks to 'defense tribe' to fill key Cabinet positions
By Jesse Johnson and Kathleen Benoza
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, 66, has experience as the onetime head of Japan’s former Defense Agency before it became a full-fledged ministry and is seen as a pair of steady hands.
JAPAN
Investment and romance fraud cases triple in first eight months of year
By Himari Semans
The National Police Agency has noted a major rise in online investment fraud cases, incidents of which have more than quadrupled in the first eight months of this year.

Podcast

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

Longform

Wozme, founded by dancer and choreographer Wakaba Kohei, is composed of Kana Kitty, Ami Ishii, Akane Watanabe and Natsuki. Its aim is to inject elegance and beauty, traits traditionally associated with femininity, into the sometimes grotesque art form of butoh dance.
Wozme, an all-women dance troupe, wants to move the needle in butoh
By Zoria Petkoska

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SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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

WHAT’S TRENDING

JAPAN
Early Ishiba missteps add to anticipation over key policy speech
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Further BOJ rate hike this year in doubt after Ishiba's surprise warning
By Toru Fujioka
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Consumer consultations by foreign visitors to Japan on the rise
The number of consultations from foreign visitors to Japan about problems related to accommodations and shopping is increasing.
ENVIRONMENT
How climate change affects Japan's typhoons
By Jessica Speed
A bus is seen submerged in floodwaters in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on Aug. 29 as Typhoon Shanshan dumps torrential rain across southern regions of Japan.
BUSINESS
Buffett may target Japan banks or insurers for next purchase, analysts say
By Momoka Yokoyama
Analysts say Warren Buffett may be looking to buy Japanese financial firms and shipping companies.