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July 12, 2026
 

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Francis Tang
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa has said that his U.S. counterparts are open to an extension of the July 9 deadline for countries that are making an effort toward a deal.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 20, 2025
Japan hopes good-faith negotiations will buy it some time in U.S. tariff talks
U.S negotiators have said that the July 9 deadline is flexible and that extensions might be granted.
Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto (left) and Nippon Steel Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President Takahiro Mori. The Japanese company is still undecided about a civil suit filed against a U.S. competitor.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2025
Nippon Steel drops lawsuit against U.S. government after acquiring U.S. Steel
The Japanese company had challenged the legality of U.S. President Joe Biden’s rejection of the acquisition.
Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto leaves a news conference, at which he discussed the acquisition of United States Steel, on Thursday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025
Nippon Steel completes U.S. Steel acquisition after 18-month slog
The firm now owns all the stock of the American steel-maker, other than a “golden share” that gives the U.S. government a degree of control
U.S. President Donald Trump (left) speaks with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Group of Seven summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 17, 2025
No breakthrough on tariffs at Ishiba-Trump meeting in Canada
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump met for 30 minutes on Monday during the annual Group of Seven gathering in Alberta.
Nippon Steel is buying United States Steel in a deal that gives the U.S. government a golden share in the U.S. steelmaker.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 16, 2025
Nippon Steel may have gotten the deal it wanted all along
The Japanese company has already committed to heavy investment in U.S. Steel and a U.S.-controlled board of directors at the American steelmaker.
Rare earths from Australia's Mount Weld mine. Japanese companies have a supply agreement with a company that sources rare earths from the mine.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 16, 2025
Japan and the U.S. face challenges in economic security discussions
In their trade negotiations, the subject is much discussed, especially as rare earths become an issue.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a joint news conference with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House in February.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2025
In phone talks, Ishiba and Trump confirm meeting next week to discuss tariffs
The call came as Japan’s top tariff negotiator gets set for a sixth round of discussions with his U.S. counterparts over Trump’s tariffs.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, is expected to head to Washington soon for a sixth round of high-level trade talks with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 10, 2025
Akazawa talks of ‘dense fog’ in U.S. trade talks ahead of G7 summit
Japan is sticking to its demand that all new tariffs be removed, the country’s tariff czar insists.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick held a 110-minute meeting on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 6, 2025
In tariff talks with the U.S., Japan may have blinked
Tokyo is backing off from its insistence that all new tariffs be removed, according to a Friday report by the Asahi Shimbun.
The streets of Dalian, China, in 2017. A business dispute is believed to be behind the killing of two Japanese nationals in the city on May 23, according to local authorities.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 4, 2025
Suspect in Dalian murder of Japanese nationals identified
The suspect, a 42-year-old Chinese man with the surname Yuan and a long-term resident of Japan, is believed to have had a business dispute with the victims.
Japan and the United States are aiming for a meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and President Donald Trump at the Group of Seven leaders summit on June 16 and 17.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 4, 2025
U.S. doubles steel and aluminum tariffs as Japan counts on a breakthrough
The United Kingdom is exempt from the higher rates because it struck an early trade deal with the United States.
A case in which two Japanese nationals were killed in China’s northeastern city of Dalian last month is still being investigated, with local police saying the incident arose from a business dispute between acquaintances.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 3, 2025
Two Japanese nationals killed in Dalian, China
Local police have told the Japanese consulate that the incident arose from a business dispute between acquaintances, and a Chinese national has been taken into custody.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's economic revitalization minster, speaks to members of the media at the Japanese Embassy in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 31, 2025
Japan says progress made in U.S. tariff talks, but details are scarce
The two sides are eyeing the Group of Seven leaders’ summit in June as a possible setting to announce a trade deal.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, is in Washington again for a fourth round of high-level negotiations with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 30, 2025
Tariff talks with U.S. a mix of slow progress, ever-present uncertainty 
Japan’s chief negotiator is back in Washington for another round of high-level negotiations.
A seafood market in Beijing. China has agreed to lift a ban on Japanese seafood imports that has lasted for 21 months.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 30, 2025
China agrees to lift ban on Japanese seafood imports
The prohibition was imposed in response to the release of treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters after his phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday night.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 30, 2025
Ishiba and Trump talk tariffs in second phone call this month
Ishiba described his 25-minute call with Trump as “a very meaningful conversation” that allowed them to deepen their “mutual understanding.”
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (second from left) chairs a meeting of the government's cybersecurity strategy panel in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 29, 2025
Government to formulate new cybersecurity strategy amid rising threats
The new strategy includes a change in cryptography systems to better protect the government’s internal communications against cyberattacks from quantum computers.
Nippon Steel headquarters in Tokyo. The U.S. government is poised to receive a so-called golden share in U.S. Steel as a condition for approving Nippon Steel's proposed acquisition of the American company.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025
Golden share fix proposed for knotty Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel deal
The plan would give the U.S. government a veto over certain company decisions.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a meeting of the government's advisory Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Monday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 27, 2025
Japan private sector backs 1% real wage growth per year over next five years
The plan was first mentioned by the government’s “new capitalism” panel earlier this month.
A United States Steel plant in River Rouge, Michigan. The guessing game continues as to what a "partnership" between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, as announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, actually entails.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2025
Even Nippon Steel is unsure about what a ‘partnership’ with U.S. Steel means
U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for the steelmakers has left the markets guessing and the participants keen to remain mum.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

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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The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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