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July 31, 2025
 

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FOCUS

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 31, 2025
Ishiba’s time as LDP chief and PM might not be over just yet
The lack of obvious successors who can unite the party and raise public support, coupled with a cautious opposition, puts him in a stronger position than expected.
U.S., Japanese and Australian staff work in the JJOC Cooperation Team office at the U.S. Army’s Hardy Barracks in central Tokyo in this image posted to the Australian Embassy's X account on July 25.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 31, 2025
Coordination office marks first step in U.S. Forces Japan’s shift to ‘warfighting’ command
The launch of the new joint command team is the fruit of a multiyear effort to reshape and streamline U.S.-Japan operations.
A wall is pockmarked by bullet holes following sectarian violence in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, on July 25.
WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 30, 2025
How Syrian attackers killed: One hand on the gun, another on the camera
Videos posted to social media provide some of the most detailed depictions yet of the sectarian bloodshed that erupted Syria this month.
Fuji TV headquarters in Tokyo's Minato Ward. Fuji TV came under fire over the manner in which it handled a case of “sexual trouble” involving former boy band member Masahiro Nakai and a female announcer.
JAPAN / Media / FOCUS
Jul 30, 2025
How the Japanese TV industry is changing
After a series of major scandals in recent years, Japan’s TV industry appears to be growing more sensitive to issues of harassment and misconduct.
Supporters of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba take part in a rally across the street from the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 29, 2025
Why Ishiba refuses to quit even amid intense pressure for him to go
With the U.S. tariff deal not yet implemented, a leadership change now would create a political vacuum and may put the agreement at risk.
Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates, has become irresistible for the world’s richest people.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jul 28, 2025
World’s rich ignore Middle East strife to bet on Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Europeans have turned to the United Arab Emirates to seek respite from economic uncertainties, while some Chinese have begun looking beyond long-favored hubs like Singapore.
The dashboard screen of a Toyota RAV4 compact crossover vehicle at an event in May
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jul 28, 2025
Toyota’s internal inertia stifles digital transformation effort
Inside Toyota, a group of employees are worried about the company’s future in an era when a car’s software matters just as much as its sheet metal.
Students hoping to work in Japan attend a Japanese class at a job placement company in Hanoi in October 2022.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 28, 2025
Japan to start new residency system for foreign workers
The aim is to systematically develop foreign human resources and ensure they stay in Japanese workplaces for the long term.
Emmanuel Macron, France's economy minister at the time, meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah in September 2015.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 27, 2025
Frustration and Gaza alarm drove Macron to go it alone on Palestine recognition
Some analysts say Macron is using such recognition to extract concessions from the Palestinian Authority, which is a moderate rival to Hamas.
People detained by U.S. immigration forces are seen behind fences at the Desert View Annex at an ICE detention facility in Adelanto, California, on July 10.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jul 27, 2025
Most ICE detainees have no criminal history as detention reaches record levels
Private prison corporations are set to benefit from the Trump administration's unprecedented deportation drive.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jul 26, 2025
Trump tariffs leave costly China supply question unanswered
The U.S. president has threatened to rocket rates up to 40% for products deemed to be transshipped, or re-routed, through Southeast Asia.
Children play on the splash pad in Miami Beach, Florida, on Friday as the region came under an extreme heat warning.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / FOCUS
Jul 26, 2025
World court climate ruling: nonbinding but game changing
By saying that all countries were firmly bound to a swathe of legal obligations, experts say the ruling will influence climate decisions globally.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, walks past a poster after meeting with party executives at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 24, 2025
Political turmoil continues as Ishiba’s fate hangs in the balance
While there are demands for the ruling party's leadership to resign, the weakening of past factional ties makes it hard for those opposing the prime minister to join forces.
The Virtual Expo app lets users navigate a digital version of the 2025 Osaka Expo site by controlling avatars.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 24, 2025
Virtual access brings Osaka Expo to broader audience
The Japan Association for the 2025 World Expo hopes to bridge the "experience gap" for those who wish to visit but are unable to make the trip to the site.
Komeito head Tetsuo Saito speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 22, 2025
Upper House election confirms inexorable decline of voting blocs
Unaffiliated voters were the kingmakers in Sunday’s election.
Representatives of four major nonlife insurance companies receive a notice from the Japan Fair Trade Commission regarding a cease and desist order, on Oct. 31, 2024, in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jul 22, 2025
Scandals put Japanese nonlife insurers' business model at a crossroads
A series of recent scandals has brought to light deeply entrenched and problematic business practices within the industry.
The Maritime Transport Group's medium-size 3,500-ton Yoko-class landing support vessel will be used for rapid transportation of personnel and supplies.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 22, 2025
SDF maritime transport group boosts mobility in contingencies
China's ongoing maritime expansion has heightened regional tensions and increased concerns about a potential crisis involving Taiwan.
Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), speaks to the media in Tokyo on Sunday hours after voting closed for the Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 21, 2025
CDP shows ‘modest’ outcome as Noda struggles to unite the opposition camp
There is speculation the opposition party might form a coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party and its partner Komeito to form a stable, centrist-oriented government.
Yukihiro Kaneko, a Panasonic research officer, shows a perovskite panel, through which the background can been seen, during an interview in Tokyo.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2025
Japan sees bright future for ultrathin and flexible solar panels
The government is offering generous incentives in order to reach Japan's target of having renewable energy cover up to 50% of electricity demand by 2040.
Women and children arrange their containers as they line up at a standpipe, where incomplete water connections caused by USAID funding cuts to the NGO Mercy Corps have led to ongoing water shortages, in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 16.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2025
Trump's funding cut stalls water projects, increasing risks for millions
The White House's decision to slash nearly all U.S. foreign aid projects has created new hazards for some of the people they were designed to benefit.
Japan on edge but prepared for tsunami after huge Kamchatka earthquake
Police officers ask a man to evacuate from an empty beach following a tsunami warning, in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Japan to start new residency system for foreign workers
Students hoping to work in Japan attend a Japanese class at a job placement company in Hanoi in October 2022.
Last soldiers of Imperial Japanese Army have a warning for younger generations
Kunshiro Kiyozumi, 97, who was the youngest crew member of the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58 in World War II, on his way to a restaurant to have lunch in Matsuyama, Japan, on April 29.
Japan marks highest-ever temperature of 41.2 C in Hyogo
Japan's temperature soared to a record 41.2 degrees Celsius in Tanba, Hyogo Prefecture, on Wednesday, surpassing the previous high of 41.1 C.
Japan should take all possible measures to raise wages, white paper says
Prolonged high prices for food and other goods have pushed down consumer sentiment and real wages, according to the Annual Report on the Japanese Economy and Public Finance for fiscal 2025.
How the Japanese TV industry is changing
Fuji TV headquarters in Tokyo's Minato Ward. Fuji TV came under fire over the manner in which it handled a case of “sexual trouble” involving former boy band member Masahiro Nakai and a female announcer.
Last soldiers of Imperial Japanese Army have a warning for younger generations
Kunshiro Kiyozumi, 97, who was the youngest crew member of the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58 in World War II, on his way to a restaurant to have lunch in Matsuyama, Japan, on April 29.
Why Ishiba refuses to quit even amid intense pressure for him to go
Supporters of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba take part in a rally across the street from the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
Behind the scenes at the Baseball Hall of Fame's new Yakyu/Baseball exhibit
“Yakyu / Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game” is set to remain on display in Cooperstown for at least five to 10 years — and possibly indefinitely.
Boys’ love dramas from Thailand make waves in Japan
Wakana, a Japanese fan of Thai BL, visits a temple in Thon Buri, Bangkok featured in the Thai adaptation of the Japanese series “Cherry Magic.” Her media consumption kindled an interest in Thai culture and language, and ultimately led her to relocate to Thailand. “I fell in love with the whole country,” she says.

Podcast

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

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear
By Jason Coskrey

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