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July 05, 2026
 

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TRADE

Trade minister Ryosei Akazawa said that some details of the first projects under Japan's $550 billion capital commitment still need to be worked out.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 18, 2026
Trump selects three projects to be funded under Japan’s $550 billion pledge
Japan and the U.S. have agreed on the first round of projects to be funded by Japan, and a strategically important synthetic diamond factory is on the list.
Japan’s exports rose 16.8% in January from a year earlier, the fastest pace since November 2022, driven by strong chip shipments to China and auto exports to the EU, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 18, 2026
Japan’s exports rise most in three years as AI underpins chips
The value of overall exports gained 16.8% in January from a year earlier, the sharpest increase since November 2022, the Finance Ministry said.
U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, delivers remarks at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in Tokyo on Oct. 28, 2025.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 18, 2026
Trump selects investment projects to be funded by Japan
The announcement comes one month before Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s planned visit to the White House.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet in the Oval Office in Washington on Feb. 13, 2025. Trump’s transactional trade policies have eroded U.S.-India trust, leaving a once-strategic partnership vulnerable despite a temporary tariff deal.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2026
Trump’s trade truce won’t restore the U.S.-India relationship
With the interim trade deal between the U.S. and India, hopes are high that the bruising confrontation initiated by Trump last year is coming to an end.
Self-righteousness comes from judging the world by the perceived correctness of actions rather than by the quality of outcomes.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2026
Why is everyone so self-righteous?
Self-righteousness comes from judging the world by the perceived correctness of actions rather than by the quality of outcomes.
U.S. military forces board an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean on Sunday. India forces have seized three other U.S.-sanctioned oil tankers linked to Iran this month and stepped up surveillance in its maritime zone to curb illicit trade, according to a source.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 17, 2026
India seizes three Iran-linked, U.S.-sanctioned tankers, source says
New Delhi’s ship seizures and heightened surveillance in its waters follow recent improvements to ⁠U.S.-India relations.
Trade minister Ryosei Akazawa takes a ride in a U.S.-made Toyota Highlander on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 17, 2026
U.S. cars can now be sold in Japan without local safety testing
The rule change follows an agreement reached last year in the course of tariff negotiations.
This aerial view shows the oil tanker Boracaya, suspected of being part of the “shadow fleet” involved in Russian oil trade, under investigation by French authorities off the coast of Saint-Nazaire in October.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2026
The black market for Russian and Iranian oil is in trouble
China’s choices will determine whether prices rise or fall and whether Moscow and Tehran cut production.
With Cuba’s former Venezuelan ally, President Nicolas Maduro, facing charges in the U.S., Havana confronts a deepening crisis under Trump administration pressure, leaving it few friends and stark choices between reform and collapse.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2026
Cuba is home alone in Latin America
Cuba’s collapse has long been predicted; this time, it feels unmistakably real.
Vehicles parked at an Audi dealership in Shanghai. German exports to China fell 9.3% in 2025 — while Chinese exports to Germany have surged.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 13, 2026
‘China shock’: Germany struggles as key market turns into business rival
Germany’s annual trade deficit with China hit a record of around €89 billion ($106 billion) last year, according to preliminary official data.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and trade minister Ryosei Akazawa speak during Akazawa’s trip to Washington to discuss Japan’s $550 billion commitment.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2026
Japan’s $550 billion capital commitment to the U.S. stuck in committee
Talks have been tough, and significant gaps remain on the fine details of the first deals.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk as they leave after a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, in Busan, South Korea, in October 2025.
WORLD
Feb 13, 2026
Trump pauses China tech bans ahead of Xi summit
The measures include a ban on China Telecom’s U.S. operations and restrictions on sales of Chinese equipment for U.S. data centers.
Copper cathode sheets at a mining complex in Morenci, Arizona. Japan's producer prices of nonferrous metals surged 33% in January due to soaring copper prices.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 12, 2026
Japan producer prices rose 2.3% in January, BOJ reports
The pace of increase in the producer price index, which measures the costs of goods traded between companies, slowed from a 2.4% gain the previous month.
Mercedes-Benz cars at a Panavto dealership in Moscow on Dec. 19. A Russian car dealer has said that most foreign cars sold in the country are imported through China regardless of where they are built.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 12, 2026
Thousands of foreign cars sold to Russia through China, circumventing sanctions
Automakers from regions imposing sanctions say they prohibit sales to Russia and that the trade happens against their will.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea, in October.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2026
U.S. President Donald Trump is no game theorist
Game theorists argue that repeating the prisoner’s dilemma eventually leads to better outcomes, as the more impatient country might give up on the high-risk strategy.
A circuit board at Annapurna Labs on Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. Memory chip makers have been the standout winners among tech stocks in recent months.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 10, 2026
Memory chip crunch ripples through markets, with worse to come
The massive build‑out of artificial intelligence infrastructure has shifted production capacity away from traditional chips used in most consumer electronics.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and trade minister Ryosei Akazawa, seen last October in Tokyo, will meet in Washington this week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 10, 2026
Akazawa heading to the U.S. to discuss first project under Japan’s $550 billion pledge
Four online discussions have been held since December on the commitment, but no announcements about specific projects have been made.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's fabrication plant in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on June 7, 2025
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 10, 2026
Taiwan says ‘impossible’ to move 40% chip capacity to U.S.
Taiwan is a powerhouse in producing chips — a critical component in the global economy — but the White House wants more of the technology made in America.
Vehicles bound for shipment at a port in Yokohama. Although exports to the United States dropped in 2025 for the first time in five years due chiefly to U.S. President Donald Trump's high tariff policy, those to other parts of Asia and Europe were robust.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 9, 2026
Japan’s 2025 current account surplus hits record
The country’s combined balance of goods and services trade extended its historic surplus growth to two years.
A farmer inspects his wheat field on the outskirts of Amritsar, India, on April 3, 2025.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 8, 2026
What’s at stake for Indian agriculture in Trump’s trade deal?
Indian farmers have expressed concern that New Delhi has made too many concessions to Washington.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japanese police arrest nine over Sierra Leone-based special fraud
Japanese police have arrested nine individuals for their alleged involvement in a special fraud case using Sierra Leone as a base.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan's renewable goals.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.

Podcast

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

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What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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