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October 07, 2026

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October 07, 2026

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Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi says cutting the food tax to 1% from April 2027 and introducing targeted payments next year would increase households’ disposable income.

JAPAN / Politics

Takaichi defends plan to combine consumption tax cut with income-based cash payments

By Kenji Yoshida

Designing a system of direct cash payments tailored to recipients’ incomes takes longer than distributing uniform amounts, the prime minister said.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi says cutting the food tax to 1% from April 2027 and introducing targeted payments next year would increase households’ disposable income.

This week alone, reports of unauthorized access and potential user data leaks were reported by Daiwa Securities, GMO Research, Rakuten Drive, Nikkei media group and Yakiniku King — potentially affecting millions of customers.

BUSINESS / Tech

Cyberattacks against Japanese firms continue, putting millions at risk of identity theft

By Ariana King

Authorities are trying to get to the bottom of the situation after more companies across various sectors reported data breaches.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi boards a plane in Maryland on Sept. 25. Although the Chinese foreign minister voiced the need to improve relations, former Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said that he felt China's assessment of Japan's current administration remained very harsh.

JAPAN

China’s foreign minister suggested Takaichi resolve Taiwan remark issue

Former Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said that he and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi confirmed the need to improve relations.

Less sunlight can trigger seasonal affective disorder by lowering serotonin levels.

JAPAN / Science & Health

For mind and body, Tokyo hopes for brighter October after record run of rain

By Spencer Landers

Lack of sunlight, like what the Kanto region experienced during its record string of rainy days, can cause seasonal affective disorder.

A bust of Alfred Nobel in the Nobel Forum in Stockholm on Monday

JAPAN / Science & Health

Japanese scientist Kenso Soai and France’s Henri B. Kagan win Nobel Prize in chemistry

By Tomoko Otake

Japanese scientist Kenso Soai and Henri B. Kagan won “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.”

A bust of Alfred Nobel in the Nobel Forum in Stockholm on Monday

People look at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, in October 2021.

U.S. military in Okinawa pauses operations and enforces curfew in wake of murder

By Jesse Johnson

The two-day operational pause from noon Wednesday will be followed by a 30-day curfew dubbed a “Period of Reflection.”

Ibaraki police have arrested a 30-year-old man in the town of Oarai after a woman was stabbed with pruning shears outside a restaurant and the establishment's owner was later found dead.

Man held over stabbing outside Ibaraki restaurant whose owner was later found dead

Police believe Kotaro Uchiyama, 30, had been drinking with the woman he allegedly stabbed. The owner of the restaurant was later found dead.

12 years sought for attacker of anti-NHK group leader

Regional management organizations help residents take lead in their communities

Japanese professors welcome Nobel Prize for IceCube project chief

Man arrested after girlfriend’s body found in mountains of Miyagi Prefecture

Japanese authorities raided four major beer manufacturers on Wednesday over suspicions they colluded to colluded to raise prices charged to wholesalers in a violation of the Antimonopoly Act.

Japan watchdog raids four major brewers over suspected beer price cartel

By Jessica Speed

The alleged price collusion potentially affected consumers across a market worth more than ¥1 trillion annually.

A construction site for one of the largest data center projects in Japan by Australian property group Goodman Group in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, earlier this month

Goodman’s Japanese data center under fire following Sydney site setback

The dispute with residents in Japan is part of a broader global backlash against data centers.

Japanese firm confirms it sold books to Anthropic

Nomura Asset Management shifts focus to longer-term returns

By Nao Sano

IMF chief concerned about high Japan and U.S. long-term rates

Topix’s largest-ever overhaul to cull hundreds of Japan stocks

By Kentaro Tsutsumi

People take part in a demonstration, part of a nationwide day of actions called by high-school students and joined by unions and teachers, in Nantes, western France, on Tuesday.

French school protests draw over 250,000 as violence flares

Around 256,000 people were taking part in demonstrations, including 56,000 in Paris, according to the Interior Ministry.

Ships anchored off the coast of Khasab in Oman's Musandam Governorate, near the Strait of Hormuz, on Oct. 2.

Iran ramps up ship attacks in Hormuz just as oil and gas flows climb

U.K. Maritime Trade Operations has reported nine attacks already this month, half the number it reported for all of September.

North Korea warns U.S. over Taiwan while Kim pledges support for Russia

The reclusive Houthi leader wreaking havoc in the Middle East

U.S. and China discuss reciprocal visits to nuclear sites, CNN reports

Trump to speak to Putin on plague as U.S. and U.N. urge transparency

By Danny Kemp

The 41st Shikimori Inosuke, who later became the 38th Kimura Shonosuke, pictured in February 2020

Sumo’s officiating cohort is a world of its own

By John Gunning

Gyōji inhabit a world every bit as steeped in tradition as that of the wrestlers they officiate.

McKenna scores first goal for Leafs in overtime win

Emotion, tears as Messi retires from Argentina national team

By Leila Macor

Alcaraz wins Japan Open for first title since injury return

By Andrew MCKIRDY

Yamamoto drives Dodgers to the brink of NLCS

U.S. Marines prepare to receive Chinese leader Xi Jinping for his official reception with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 25.

Japan wants the U.S. close. Just not too close

Gearoid Reidy

Japan fears nothing more than America losing focus and allowing Beijing to start dictating policy.

Reports of rising powers’ demise are premature

By Brad Glosserman

Hedging against an AI doomsday

By Dambisa Moyo

What happens when Chinese artificial intelligence goes rogue?

By Catherine Thorbecke

Can Japan build a defense-startup ecosystem?

By Makoto Shiono

Wind turbines along a beach in Happo, Akita Prefecture. Lacking land on shore, Japan has long had high hopes for offshore wind as a clean energy solution that could help the country meet its climate goals. Five years after setting ambitious goals for the industry, however, progress has been slow.

As wind power momentum slows in Japan, can tech help the industry get back on track?

By Nithin Coca

Concerns from environmentalists have played a role in the slow buildup of Japan’s offshore wind industry. The latest tech could provide a solution.

Intense heat puts births in jeopardy, U.N. says during Fiji talks

By Ben Strang

Heat deaths in Western Europe top 34,600 during hottest summer on record

Polar oceans transformed as warming melts ice habitats, research shows

How Europe’s intensifying marine heat waves threaten its fisheries

Formed in 2015, Finnish metal band Beast in Black draws inspiration from — and pays homage to — Kentaro Miura’s classic manga “Berserk” in many of its songs.

A Finnish metal band riffs on dark fantasy manga ‘Berserk’

By Gendel Gento

Finland-based metal band Beast in Black has found a well of inspiration in Kentaro Miura’s classic manga “Berserk.”

‘The Ozu Diaries’: An engaging look at the man behind the myth

By Mark Schilling

‘F(r)iction’: A play within a film gets meta and messy

By James Hadfield

After ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi,’ ‘Mitani’ tells a different sushi story in San Sebastian

By Erik Augustin Palm

Poetry, history and performance entwine in Daisydoze’s immersive spectacle

By Alyssa I. Smith

From Oct. 10, the Sushi Bus will start ferrying equal parts passengers and raw fish on loops around central Tokyo.

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned: A Sushi Bus confession

By Owen Ziegler

From Oct. 10, the “world-first” bus will offer tours of downtown Tokyo alongside all-you-can-eat sushi. Heaven help us.

$200 tuna-cutting dining events offer ‘point of connection’ with sushi culture

Japan changes the language around parent-child deaths

By Yaeko Kabe

The man who gave tequila a shot in Japan

By Weiwen Lin

FamilyMart’s sock became a prized souvenir. Now there are 47.

By Abi Buller

A recent Book Camp gathering in Nagoya. Khanh Nguyen Phu, a native of Vietnam, started the community group as a way to bring together families in his neighborhood through reading, games and discussions.

Amid shifting attitudes toward immigrants, disinformation unsettles Vietnamese in Japan

By Elizabeth Beattie

As Japan tightens its visa rules, some Vietnamese say their community has become a target of anti-immigration disinformation.

For delicate Crepe, it’s a brave new world

How students in Japan strive to escape the international school bubble

By Yumi Wijers-Hasegawa

Mitsunaka is mighty, but mellow

Amid Japan’s immigration squeeze, foreign residents ask: Should we stay?

By Mai Yoshikawa

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

As demand for anime grows, a shortage of skilled workers is giving some animators more leverage and pushing studios to improve pay and working conditions.

Anime’s boom finally pays off — for some

By Matt Schley

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