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July 04, 2026
 

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OIL

A family walks across a dried up fishery south of Manila in 2015, where the El Nino weather phenomenon ravaged farmlands and damaged crops.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 5, 2026
‘Super El Nino’ raises fears for Asia reeling from Middle East conflict
The continent is now facing the prospect of strong climate conditions that could spike energy demand, sap hydropower and damage crops.
Since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, concerns have emerged over what a shortage of oil and naphtha — a raw material for plastic products including food-packaging containers — could mean to not only industries but also supply chains and individual consumers.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 5, 2026
Amid shortage concerns, Japan works to secure supplies of raw materials
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sparked worries about what an oil and naphtha shortage could mean for not only industries but also supply chains and consumers.
A tanker approaches a pier at a PT Pertamina facility at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta in February. Conflict in the Middle East and rising fuel prices are driving energy shocks across Asia.
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2026
Oil shock will hit Asia harder than the 1970s
We’re seeing the first tremors of a similar earthquake now in Asia. More than 80% of the oil and gas that passes through the Strait of Hormuz heads east.
A line of natto products shown on the website of Mizkan
BUSINESS / Companies
May 4, 2026
Mizkan suspends sales for four natto products amid supply strain
The war in the Middle East has driven up procurement costs, the company said, putting pressure on packed natto production.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with reporters at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday before boarding Air Force One en route to Miami.
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2026
Iran says it forced U.S. warship back from Hormuz; U.S. denies missile strike
A senior Iranian official said Iran had fired a warning shot and that it was unclear whether the warship had been damaged.
Saudi Arabia's minister of energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, speaks during a session of the Russian Energy Week international forum in Moscow, Russia, on Oct. 15, 2025.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 4, 2026
Saudi oil prince’s iron grip faces ultimate test with UAE’s shock OPEC exit
The departure poses a formidable test for ​the first royal Saudi oil minister whose style has shifted from diplomacy to increasingly unilateral decision-making.
A Chinese flag flutters in front of the Shanghai Gaoqiao Company Refinery in Shanghai.
BUSINESS
May 4, 2026
China’s rare defiance of U.S. sanctions sparks showdown over banks
The latest regulations direct companies in the country not to abide by U.S. sanctions on five domestic refiners linked to the Iranian oil trade.
Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, on Friday
JAPAN
May 3, 2026
Tanker carrying Russian oil to arrive in Japan amid Hormuz closure
The oil comes from the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project in Russia’s ear east, which is exempt from Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
An agrivoltaic crop, in which solar panels are raised about 3 meters off the ground so that agricultural machinery can freely operate on the crops underneath, in Sosa, Chiba Prefecture.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
May 3, 2026
As Iran war sends oil prices soaring, some see fresh potential for solar in Japan
While megasolar projects are facing headwinds at the government level, some see renewed potential for solar sharing and smaller-scale, off-grid systems.
Motorists make their way past an anti-U.S. billboard referring to President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran on Saturday.
WORLD
May 3, 2026
Trump says U.S. could restart Iran strikes ‘if they misbehave’
Trump is ‌under domestic pressure to break Iran’s hold on the strait, which has choked off 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies and pushed up U.S. gasoline prices.
The interior of Ume-no-yu, a public bathhouse in the city of Nagano. Soaring oil prices driven by the war in the Middle East are threatening to deal a final blow to a storied Japanese institution: the sento, or traditional public bathhouse.
JAPAN / Society
May 2, 2026
Not even Japanese bathhouses are immune from shocks of Iran war
Soaring oil prices driven by the war in the Middle East are threatening to deal a final blow to the traditional public bathhouse.
The New York Stock Exchange in New York. The part of the ‌energy ‌landscape where the real issue lurks is the physical market, where actual barrels of crude and refined products change hands, rather than ​electronic futures.
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
May 2, 2026
Investors are running out of time to brace for true oil shock
In thrall to an AI boom ⁠that has sent stocks to record highs and harboring hopes of a short-lived Iran war, investors have yet to prepare for a doubling of physical oil prices.
A U.S. military member sits outside the Civil-Military Coordination Center, on the day of a visit from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, last October.
WORLD
May 2, 2026
U.S. to close its flagship Gaza mission as Trump plan stalls
Diplomats said the move underscores the difficulties facing U.S. efforts to oversee the ​truce and coordinate on aid.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends an event at The Villages Charter School at The Villages, Florida, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2026
Trump says he’s dissatisfied with Iranian proposal as rift with allies deepens
Trump’s comments indicated the deadlock over the 2-month-old war is likely to persist, even as he looks to end a conflict that remains deeply unpopular among Americans.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a government meeting on the Middle East on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 1, 2026
Japan secures enough petroleum-derived naphtha to last into 2027
Questions over a possible shortage of the material — used for products ranging from medical supplies to cheap consumer goods — have been rising due to the Iran war.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday following phone talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
JAPAN
May 1, 2026
Takaichi urges Iran president to ensure safe passage through Strait of Hormuz
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also expressed her hopes that the U.S. and Iran will resume talks soon on ending their fighting and reach a final deal.
The consumer price index excluding fresh food rose 1.5% in April from a year earlier in Tokyo, the smallest gain since March 2022, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 1, 2026
Tokyo inflation cools on childcare support, backing BOJ caution
The consumer price index excluding fresh food rose 1.5% in April from a year earlier in the capital, the smallest gain since March 2022.
Japan may see food and drink prices rise as early as this summer, as war-related disruptions to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz squeeze naphtha supply, driving up plastic packaging costs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 30, 2026
Food prices in Japan set to rise as war drives up cost of plastic packaging
Prolonged disruption to energy flows via the Strait of Hormuz has cut the availability of naphtha, a critical ingredient used in the production of plastic packaging.
Auto rickshaw drivers, along with members of the Awami Rickshaw Union, protest rising fuel prices in Lahore, Pakistan, on April 7 amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2026
Get ready for another summer of rage in Asia
Young workers are especially vulnerable. Even before the war, the World Bank had warned of mounting unemployment among the region’s youth.
People gather at a government-organized march to show support for Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader in Iran, at Enghelab Square in Tehran on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 30, 2026
Trump holds talks on prolonged Iran blockade and urges Tehran to reach a deal
The U.S. president’s talks with oil executives followed a deadlock in efforts to resolve the conflict, which has led the U.S. to try to squeeze Iran’s oil exports with a blockade.
‘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 triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
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. 
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.
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.
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.

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