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July 02, 2026
 

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ENERGY

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.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive moves to roll back emissions regulations and pour funding into the coal-power industry seem unlikely to boost the sector’s long-term prospects.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2026
Coal will need more than the army to pull off a U.S. revival
U.S. President Donald Trump is making another major bid to bolster the shrinking U.S. coal-power industry.
Sister Gertrudis gives thanks to God in front of a new solar panel system installed at a nursing home run by the Catholic Church in the Guanabacoa neighborhood of Havana on Feb. 4.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Feb 11, 2026
Charcoal or solar panels? A tale of two Cubas
Cuba was already struggling through its worst crisis in decades when the U.S. overthrew Cuban ally Nicolas Maduro and halted Venezuela’s oil shipments to the island nation.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the signing ceremony for a coal mining executive order in the East Room of the White House on April 8, 2025.
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2026
Trump to direct Pentagon to buy coal in bid to revive industry
The move is expected to tap special Cold War-era authorities under the 1950 Defense Production Act that gives the White House sweeping power to direct private industry.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture. The company plans to postpone the start of the reactor's commercial operations to March 18.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2026
Tepco to restart Kashiwazaki-Kariwa No. 6 reactor on Monday
Tepco restarted the reactor on Jan. 21 for the first time in 13 years and 10 months but soon shut it down following an alarm that went off due to an error with its settings.
An Eneos oil refinery. Oil markets kicked off the year with a high level of volatility as geopolitical risks ran ahead of market glut concerns.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2026
Refiner Eneos to expand oil-trading portfolio outside of Japan
Eneos beefing up its trading presence is part of a broader push to create more value across business sectors as oil markets kicked off the year with a high level of volatility.
JERA, Japan’s largest utility, will purchase around 3 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year from QatarEnergy beginning in 2028, according to an announcement in Doha on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2026
Qatar strikes 27-year deal with Jera to supply LNG
Jera will purchase about 3 million tons of LNG per year from QatarEnergy starting in 2028.
CRA candidate Kureha Otsuki’s campaign van. Blizzards and cold weather in Hokkaido’s 4th district has made campaigning in Otaru, a popular tourist attraction, difficult.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 3, 2026
Fiery campaigns in freezing weather: Inside Hokkaido’s No. 4 district race
Old rivals go head to head amid cold temperatures as both candidates keep a wary eye on a looming newcomer.
Tokyo Gas storage tanks in Tokyo. The company decided not to attend the LNG 2026 conference in Doha due to safety concerns.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2026
Japanese LNG players skip Qatar conference on security fears
Several Japanese buyers opted not to take part in the LNG 2026 conference, including Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas and Saibu Gas Holdings.
Offshore wind turbines off the coast in Clacton On Sea, U.K., on Dec. 30, 2024. Once completed in 2027, Sunrise Wind's turbines at a wind farm developed by Denmark-based Orsted are set to deliver enough energy to power more than 600,000 homes in New York.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Feb 3, 2026
Trump’s offshore wind ban blocked for fifth time by U.S. judge
Orsted’s wind farms and three others off the East Coast were halted Dec. 22 by the Interior Department, which said the projects posed national security risks it didn’t disclose.
The Tomari nuclear power plant in the village of Tomari, Hokkaido. Procedures to obtain consent to the restart of idled nuclear reactors from host local communities accelerated under the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 1, 2026
Nuclear power gains parties’ support as energy becomes key election issue
Each party’s nuclear stance may be scrutinized before the Feb. 8 election following fraud at the Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Residents at the site of an apartment building damaged during overnight Russian drone and missile strikes, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Jan 31, 2026
Russia and Ukraine halt energy strikes, but differences emerge on moratorium
Moscow said the pause would end Sunday while Kyiv indicated the halt would be in effect for a week.
Koji Okamoto, a professor at the University of Tokyo in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Management, said that modern reactors are designed to effectively shut down even if one rod cannot be reinserted.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 30, 2026
Alarm at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa No. 6 was probably a false alarm
A Fukushima-style meltdown was never a possibility given the reactor’s design.
The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, in Tokyo's 23 wards came to 110.9 in January against the 2020 base of 100, rising for the 53rd consecutive month, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2026
Tokyo inflation slows to 2 percent in January
The decrease was mainly due to a smaller rise in food prices excluding perishables.
Japan Gas Association leader Takashi Uchida speaks during an interview in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Jan. 15.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2026
Japan Gas Association leader says it’s hard to give up Russian LNG
Securing alternative suppliers will not be easy since Russian LNG has an “economic advantage,” says Takashi Uchida.
Nine regional power utilities announced Thursday that average household electricity bills will rise in February, due to higher liquefied natural gas costs and reduced government subsidies.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2026
Nine of Japan’s 10 regional power utilities to raise bills in February
Kansai Electric Power is the only utility not to raise its bills.
A power generating station in Texas. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe has replaced some of its lost Russian gas volumes with U.S. liquefied natural gas.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 28, 2026
EU warns of over-reliance on U.S. gas after Russian phase-out
The comments by the European Union’s competition chief come as U.S. President Donald Trump’s stance on Greenland has the continent on edge.
Wind turbines at the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, off the coast of the Guerande peninsula in western France, on Oct. 2, 2025
WORLD / Politics
Jan 27, 2026
Northern European nations plan more wind power in bid for energy independence
Hamburg summit comes as Europe not only faces a hostile Russia but also worries about the future strength of transatlantic ties and U.S. designs on Greenland.
The No. 6 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings expects to return to profitability in the next fiscal year on the assumption that the reactor is restarted.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 26, 2026
Tepco to make cost cuts of ¥3.1 trillion over 10 years under new business plan
The cost cuts will be achieved through business streamlining, reduced investment and asset sales.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
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.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Reform panel calls for easing data center building standards
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi emphasized that the government will promote reforms of regulations and systems that fit the artificial intelligence era.
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.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.

Podcast

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

Longform

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

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