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October 05, 2025
 

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FOCUS

A Lower House plenary session in November 2024. The next leader of the Liberal Democratic Party will need to make tough political compromises given the party needs opposition support to pass bills.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 3, 2025
Host of tough compromises on policy issues await next LDP president
Just how much the ruling party needs to compromise will depend on which opposition party it intends to work closer with for any given issue, and the level of that cooperation.
Komeito head Tetsuo Saito says his party cannot form a coalition government with any party that doesn’t align itself with its moderate conservative policies.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 2, 2025
LDP presidential election could be turning point for Komeito
After Saturday’s vote, the junior coalition partner will have to adjust to a new LDP, one whose values might differ from its own.
U.S. President Donald Trump departs after addressing senior military officers gathered at the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 1, 2025
Trump speech to military brass hints at looming Pentagon shift to focus on homeland
Amid a litany of talking points were Trump’s hints at an increasingly inward-looking foreign policy stance.
The ruling and opposition parties hold talks at the parliament building on Sept. 5 over a proposal to scrap the provisional gasoline tax surcharge.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Oct 1, 2025
Ruling-opposition talks on gasoline tax cut stall ahead of LDP election
The slowdown is widely attributed to the political lull caused by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election slated for Saturday.
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi poses with supporters at Hie Shrine in Tokyo on Sept. 22.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 1, 2025
Can Takaichi win back conservative voters? Maybe not.
The conservative champion has been trying to soften her image to reach more moderate voters — the party’s largest support base.
In his second bid for the presidency, farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi has toned down his rhetoric, avoiding controversial proposals for social and labor reform and pledging instead to carry on the work of previous administrations.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 30, 2025
Why Koizumi is toning down his calls for reform
The political scion's unsuccessful bid for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency last year may be influencing his shift in strategy this time.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at a joint news conference in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Sep 30, 2025
Trump’s pro-Israel Gaza plan seen as unlikely to win over Hamas
The key question of the proposal is whether the leaders of Hamas feel sufficiently defeated and pressured to finally accept an offer they have long rejected.
Komeito Secretary-General Makoto Nishida (left), LDP political reform chief Kisaburo Tokai (center) and CDP political reform chief Hiroshi Ogushi attend a meeting on political reform at the Diet on Sept. 25.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 30, 2025
Momentum for political reform wanes in Japan
Responses to the key unresolved issue of political donations from corporations and other organizations will test all political parties' commitment to reform.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi touts his own "experience and achievement" during the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election candidate debate at Nihon Kisha Club in Tokyo on September 24.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2025
Japan’s ‘Mr. 119’ might be facing his biggest challenge yet
Time is running out for Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi to convince colleagues in the Liberal Democratic Party that he is best suited to lead them.
The city of Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, used a crowdfunding-style hometown donation program to help fund fireworks during the Matsue Suigosai festival held in August.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2025
Crowdfunding-style hometown donations gain traction in Japan
Such initiatives set clear fundraising targets and deadlines to solicit contributions to address specific local challenges.
The Liberal Democratic Party presidential election candidates in Nagoya on Friday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 28, 2025
On defense and foreign policy, LDP candidates largely align — except where they don’t
From nuanced differences in how to bolster Japan’s defenses to the importance of relations with the U.S., each candidate’s views could result in significantly different policies.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro addresses pro-Palestinian demonstrators, through a translator, at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza outside United Nations headquarters, during the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 28, 2025
Colombian leader’s call to defy Trump amplifies rifts in region
Trump’s confrontational approach to Latin America, which is still scarred by U.S. interventions before and during the Cold War, will be tested in a string of upcoming elections.
Former Chile President Michelle Bachelet (center) attends an event by GWL Voices, an organization of female world leaders committed to building an international system of equality, in Madrid in January last year.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 27, 2025
Calls grow for first female U.N. chief in 80 years
The United Nations has never had a woman serve as secretary-general — a fact that some world leaders now view as a glaring symbol of gender inequality.
Fishermen sail on a boat near Caraballeda, in Venezuela's La Guaira state, on Wednesday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Sep 27, 2025
Sitting ducks: Venezuelan fishermen wary of U.S. warships
Feeling exposed, they have started heading out in groups, limiting their range and traveling with emergency beacons issued by the government.
A federal agent aims a less-lethal launcher at protesters outside the Broadview ICE processing facility, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence to assist with crime prevention, in Broadview, Illinois, on Friday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Sep 27, 2025
ICE tactics inflame tensions in New York, Chicago and other cities
Immigration officers are pepper spraying protesters and manhandling detainees in overt displays of force.
Most Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Section companies have independent directors now.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Sep 26, 2025
Japanese corporate boards have changed dramatically in recent years
Governance reforms have led to the addition of independent outside directors.
The Liberal Democratic Party presidential election candidates in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 25, 2025
Will a Lower House election follow LDP’s leadership vote? Maybe not this time
Dissolving the Lower House to call a snap general election soon after the appointment of a new party leader is convention, but the current situation seems more complicated.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (left), former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi (right) and agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi arrive to attend the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election candidates joint press conference at LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 25, 2025
Newcomer or veteran? LDP faces two choices for new party chief
Whoever wins the Oct. 4 leadership race must be able to work with senior members while also showing the public that the LDP is serious about reform.
In April 2022, the Tokyo Stock Exchange reorganized its four markets into three sections: Prime, Standard and Growth.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Sep 25, 2025
In fourth year of TSE reform, listed firms face pivotal choices
The TSE reorganized its four markets into three sections, then disclosed that 208 companies did not meet the criteria for continued listing on these markets.
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 24, 2025
Trump switches gears on Ukraine war, but fears of disengagement rise
Ukraine and its supporters are concerned the U.S. president could be pivoting to distance himself from the war that he had vowed to end in days.
Takaichi poised to become Japan's first female PM after winning LDP poll
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, holds a news conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on Saturday.
A Japanese ski resort town is roiled by a debate over immigration
A Swedish snowboard instructor works at the Niseko ski resort area on Hokkaido, in Kutchan, in December 2022
Tokyo's newest stationery store sells 'a slower, more human rhythm'
Plotter's signature customizable leather binder is just one of many products contributing to the ongoing boom in the popularity of Japanese stationery.
One dead, one missing in Japan after bear attack
A bear warning sign. More and more wild bears have been spotted in Japan in recent years, even in residential areas, due to factors including a declining human population and climate change.
Japan’s jobless rate edges up to highest in over a year
August’s unemployment figures showed a slight tempering of Japan's job market, but the data still points to overall firmness amid an ongoing labor shortage.
The summer kabuki came roaring back
Kabuki has been trying for years to attract a new generation of fans. One way to do this has been to adapt manga and anime franchises, such as “Naruto,” for the stage. 
Tea ceremony experts see matcha boom as a big opportunity
Atsuko Mori, founder and director of Kyoto-based tea salon Camellia Tea Ceremony, prepares matcha during a tea ceremony in Kyoto.
Japan's far-right party courts Trump allies and vows not to get 'wacky'
Sanseito party leader Sohei Kamiya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
How Ohtani has boosted Japan's soft power and made LA even more baseball-obsessed
Fans at Dodger Stadium pose in front of a mural highlighting the Dodgers' Japanese stars from past and present during a game earlier this year.
Japan faces fresh energy challenge as it seeks to expand power-hungry data centers
Data storage tapes at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center facility in Berkeley, California. Data centers consume massive amounts of electricity and water, and that will only rise as generative artificial intelligence takes off in earnest.

Podcast

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

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

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