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TOKYO
May 28, 2026
The Independent Voice in Asia
May 28, 2026
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Philippines-Japan summit
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Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during an Upper House Cabinet Committee meeting on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
How the intel bill showed Japan¡¯s new political reality
By Michael MacArthur Bosack
The debate surrounding the National Intelligence Council Law revealed less about 91²Ö¿â intelligence system than the current contours of the country's new political reality.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during an Upper House Cabinet Committee meeting on Tuesday.
Despite government efforts to lower the price of rice by tapping into the nation¡¯s emergency stockpile, the cost of Japan¡¯s staple grain remains at an all-time high.
JAPAN / Society
Rice consumption in fiscal 2025 the lowest in seven years
By Jessica Speed
The drop coincided with last summer's "Reiwa rice riots" when the staple disappeared from supermarket shelves and prices surged nationwide.
The 18-year-old daughter of former Yomiuri Giants manager Shinnosuke Abe said she consulted ChatGPT before reporting an alleged altercation with her father to a child guidance center.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Former Giants manager¡¯s daughter consulted ChatGPT before reporting altercation
By Yukana Inoue
Shinnosuke Abe resigned from his position Tuesday following his arrest on suspicion of physically assaulting his daughter.
Tochigi police have issued an arrest warrant for a man in his 40s in a robbery-murder case, saying he is believed to have instructed a married couple to carry out the attack.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Police issue arrest warrant for potential mastermind in Tochigi murder case
The man fled to China after the incident in which a 69-year-old woman was killed at her home during a break-in.
The Children and Families Agency says language should not be a barrier to calling the 189 hotline.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Built for speed: Inside Japan¡¯s child protection system
By Mai Yoshikawa
In Japan, sources such as schools, neighbors, and the 189 hotline all feed into a child protection system designed to surface potential risks early, even when certainty is low.
The Children and Families Agency says language should not be a barrier to calling the 189 hotline.

JAPAN

Hiroya Masuda (center), head of the Forum for the Future We Choose, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in March.
Deeply entrenched gender roles a key factor in Japan¡¯s low birthrate
A survey has found that many women in rural areas feel constrained by social norms, which could lead to a demographic crisis if left unaddressed.
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier sails off Hong Kong in July 2017.
New Chinese frigate joins carrier strike group training in western Pacific for first time
By Jesse Johnson
China's dispatch of its Type 054B for its first far-seas training since entering service a year ago is a milestone in Beijing's push to punch further into the western Pacific.
Japan weighs criminal penalties for nuclear plant data fraud
First unit of JAXA¡¯s new ISS resupply craft completes missions
Japan welcomes Philippines¡¯ Marcos at Imperial Palace
Japan enacts bill enabling digital issuance of local government bonds

BUSINESS

Jenny Chatman, dean of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley
Japan told that universities are a key to startup success
By Kazuaki Nagata
The dean of the University of California's business school explains how innovation infrastructure can be developed.
"Japan¡¯s experience shows that oil price shocks are never just oil price shocks. They are tests of the entire inflation regime,¡± Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said Wednesday in a speech to open a two-day international banking conference in Tokyo.
BOJ¡¯s Ueda warns of oil shock¡¯s impact on entire inflation regime
By Toru Fujioka
Following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, Ueda has repeatedly said that the central bank needs to pay attention to upside inflation risks.
Government to submit draft extra budget for fiscal 2026 on June 3
Nikkei ends almost flat after topping 66,000
Samsung workers accept wage deal that averts chip plant strike
By Yoolim Lee
¡¯My job is going¡¯: U.K. workers squeezed out by AI
By Lucie Lequier

WORLD

A large political billboard along Enghelab Square in central Tehran on Tuesday
Iran says ¡¯low¡¯ possibility of return to war with U.S.
The statement came a day after Iran accused the U.S. of breaching the ceasefire in place since April.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after arriving at the White House on Marine One in Washington on May 15.
Trump raises refugee ceiling by 10,000 to bring in more white South Africans
By Ted Hesson
A signed presidential determination said white South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity face an emergency situation ?due to the "incitement ?of racially motivated violence."
Blair calls for ¡®coherent plan¡¯ before Labour ousts Starmer
By Lucy White
Errant Ukrainian drones fuel tensions on NATO¡¯s eastern flank
Thai beer heir sexual abuse allegations ignite rare public reckoning
By Montira Rungjirajittranon
Canada and Bahamas impose Ebola-related travel bans
By Jasper Ward

Sports

Shinnosuke Abe bows during a news conference in Chiyoda Ward in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Abe exits as Giants manager after allegedly assaulting daughter
By Jason Coskrey
"I have caused great trouble to many baseball fans, pro baseball officials and the company through my family troubles," Shinnosuke Abe said.
Rare komusubi title win bodes well for Wakatakakage¡¯s future
By John Gunning
Thunder top Spurs to move to brink of NBA Finals
Former Braves and Swallows slugger Bob Horner dies at 68
Patrick Mahomes participates in Chiefs¡¯ first practice

Opinion

Toshifumi Suzuki, then an honorary adviser of Seven & I Holdings, attends the 50th anniversary ceremony of 7-Eleven Japan in Tokyo in April 2023.
The father of Japan¡¯s konbini was right to ignore his critics
Gearoid Reidy
Since his departure, Seven & I has looked strategically unsettled, ensnared with activist investors and takeover bids.
In a single day, three democracies pushed back against Chinese transnational repression
By Megan Khoo
Lessons for Japan from Canada¡¯s ¡®reset¡¯ with China
By Stephen R. Nagy
When war moves at machine speed, politics must not fall behind
By Kumiharu Shigehara
Redistricting is making a mockery of American democracy
By Noah Feldman

ENVIRONMENT

Visitors outside Notre-Dame Cathedral amid a severe heat wave in Paris on Tuesday
Record temps as spring heat wave bakes Europe
The U.K. reported its hottest-ever day for May, at 35.1 degrees Celsius?at Kew Gardens in southwest London, as a high-pressure system trapped warm air over western Europe.
Climate change fueling growth of antibiotic-resistant salmonella
By Karoline Kan
As bee population collapses, U.S. apiarists fear research cuts
By Paul BLAKE
Climate change threatens global plant species as habitats shrink
Garment workers face heat risks in Bangladesh as energy cuts curb cooling
By Md. Tahmid Zami

CULTURE

Shueisha is one of the major Japanese manga publishers and its Weekly Shonen Jump has been awarded the Guinness World record for bestselling manga magazine in 2022.
Shueisha turns 100 with an eye on the future of manga
By Erik Augustin Palm
91²Ö¿â record-breaking manga publisher Shueisha marks 100 years in the business with a slew of projects that make its titles more accessible to readers.
In first for Japanese, Tao Okamoto shares Best Actress award at Cannes
Nordic noir meets Japanese occult in ¡®Blood and Sweat¡¯
By Gabriella Geisinger
At Singapore International Festival of Arts, theater spills into everyday life
By Zoria Petkoska
¡®Patlabor EZY¡¯ turns everyday mecha bureaucracy into a delight
By Matt Schley

LIFE

Other Japanese role-playing game series may be more popular overseas, but in Japan, Dragon Quest still reigns supreme ¡ª even 40 years after the first game in the franchise hit shelves.
On Dragon Quest¡¯s 40th anniversary, ¡®it¡¯s impossible to ignore its influence¡¯
By Gendel Gento
The famous JRPG franchise that developers around the world say set the standard for the genre turns 40 on May 27.
Barbaric tastes: The pickled Portuguese dish that won over Japan
By Elizabeth Andoh
What I ate at SoNoMa, Kyoto¡¯s newest fine-dining restaurant
By Kyoko Nakayama
At Kawasaki¡¯s ¡®penis festival,¡¯ phalluses are vessels of compassion
By Elizabeth Beattie
A salaryman, a ghost and a water spirit walk into a coffee bar
By Owen Ziegler

COMMUNITY

Tokyo native Noemi Minami founded Koen Book Club in 2021 with two friends. The club continues to meet monthly in public parks across Tokyo, weather permitting.
Anglophone bookworms unite across Japan
By Mike Fu
Book clubs, book swaps and other reading events are providing a space for wholesome offline socializing in Tokyo and beyond.
Sturdy Tanpopo is a ¡®dandy lioness¡¯
Exuberant eater Minori will bless your home
Fujisawa flashpoint: A mosque project stokes nativist fears
By Simon Scott and Ben Stubbings
Italian creatives find their niche in Japan
By Agnese Dionisio

Editors' Picks

JAPAN
Record number of students in Japan need help learning Japanese
By Jessica Speed
How Japanese-language instruction is provided currently varies widely according to region.
JAPAN
Why youths have become central to ³Ù´Ç°ì³Ü°ù²â¨± crimes
By Yukana Inoue
With the proliferation of smartphones and growth of an internet-savvy generation, the application pool for dodgy jobs posted on social media or apps like Timee ¡ª which matches companies with job-seekers for one-off jobs ¡ª began to skew younger.
BUSINESS
Even at home, American shoppers are flocking to Japanese supermarkets
By Elizabeth Beattie
Tokyo Central staff offer handroll sushi at its Emeryville outlet in California.
ENVIRONMENT
Japan¡¯s automotive industry is driving ¡ª slowly ¡ª toward a greener future
By Eric Margolis
Toyota's bZ4X electric vehicle at an international car show in Indonesia in August 2023. At 10% of Japan¡¯s economy, the automotive industry is a pillar of the nation.
JAPAN
Philippine leader¡¯s state visit to Japan to focus on shoring up defense ties
By Jesse Johnson
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. takes part in a news conference during an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cebu, central Philippines, on May 8.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Community programs and tracking systems are expanding across Japan as local governments search for ways to prevent dementia-related disappearances.
He told his wife he was ¡®coming home.¡¯ Then he disappeared.
By Alex K.T. Martin

JT Directory Service

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WHAT¡¯S TRENDING

JAPAN
Record number of students in Japan need help learning Japanese
By Jessica Speed
How Japanese-language instruction is provided currently varies widely according to region.
BASEBALL
Abe exits as Giants manager after allegedly assaulting daughter
By Jason Coskrey
Shinnosuke Abe bows during a news conference in Chiyoda Ward in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
DIY and lifestyle store Hands exits Shibuya after 48 years
By Elizabeth Beattie
Hands, a beloved DIY and lifestyle store, has announced that it will close its Shibuya location in November.
BUSINESS
Japan slips to world¡¯s No. 3 creditor behind Germany and China
By Erica Yokoyama
Japan¡¯s net external assets rose to an all-time high at the end of 2025, but the total was surpassed by China, Finance Ministry data shows.
JAPAN
Why youths have become central to ³Ù´Ç°ì³Ü°ù²â¨± crimes
By Yukana Inoue
With the proliferation of smartphones and growth of an internet-savvy generation, the application pool for dodgy jobs posted on social media or apps like Timee ¡ª which matches companies with job-seekers for one-off jobs ¡ª began to skew younger.