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July 04, 2026
 

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OIL

An attendant holds a petrol nozzle after refueling a car at a PetroChina gas station in Beijing on March 10.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 18, 2026
China’s fuel export ban to further tighten Asia supply
Australia, Bangladesh and the Philippines are ​especially reliant on Chinese fuel supply and will have to cover their needs elsewhere.
The liquefied natural gas tanker Sohshu Maru approaches a thermal power station in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture, in December 2021.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2026
Japan’s energy dilemma in an era of volatility
Between 30% to 40% of Japan’s power generation relies on LNG, yet the country maintains only two to three weeks of LNG feedstock for electricity generation.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo in January.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 17, 2026
BOJ likely to sit tight as Middle East conflict clouds economic outlook
Though a rate hike is unlikely this month, if the yen’s depreciation continues, pressure on the bank to act will likely grow at the next meeting in April.
Tankers sail in the Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz in United Arab Emirates on March 11. Discussions in Tokyo about escorting Japanese vessels have centered on whether this would require parliamentary or Cabinet approval.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 17, 2026
How Tokyo politicians view the Iran war
While government officials deny the possibility of an immediate Self-Defense Forces deployment, U.S. calls for support mean discussions are sure to intensify.
A gasoline tanker truck at an Idemitsu Kosan gas station in Tokyo on Monday. Curbs on production of petrochemical products by multiple Japanese firms point to a brewing crisis that could stunt pressure sectors from food to technology.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 17, 2026
Limited supplies of naphtha an underrecognized supply chain risk in Japan
Curbs on production by multiple Japanese petrochemical firms point to a brewing crisis that could stunt pressure sectors from food to technology.
Traffic lights along the coastline of Havana during a blackout on Monday
WORLD
Mar 17, 2026
Trump vows to ‘take’ Cuba as island reels from oil embargo
The Caribbean island of 9.6 million people is grappling with yet another major power cut.
A vessel sits at anchor at Sultan Qaboos Port in Muscat, Oman, on Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2026
Gulf importers race to reroute as Hormuz closure jolts supply chains
The closure has logistics companies racing to overcome the headaches of changing vessel destinations and keeping perishable items from spoiling.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during an Upper House Budget Committee meeting on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 16, 2026
Takaichi says no current plan to deploy SDF for Hormuz escort mission
The prime minister said such an operation would be legally “very difficult,” adding that Japan had not been asked to join a coalition to help secure vessels in the waterway.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping talk as they leave after a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 16, 2026
Trump threatens Xi summit delay if China doesn’t help in Hormuz
Trump stressed China’s dependence on oil from the Middle East in an interview with The Financial Times, as he reiterated a demand for Beijing to help unblock the key waterway.
Tanks at an oil refinery in Yokohama in February. Japan said Monday it began to release strategic oil reserves.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 16, 2026
Japan begins its largest-ever oil release from strategic reserves
Crude oil prices have soared as the Strait of Hormuz, through which most Japan-bound oil passes, remains effectively closed.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House after arriving on Marine One in Washington on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 16, 2026
Trump says he’s asked seven countries to join coalition to police Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. president insisted that nations relying heavily on oil from the Gulf have a responsibility to protect the strait.
A drilling platform near Stord, western Norway, in 2017. Already Europe's largest supplier of natural gas since Ukraine began, Norway hopes to use the war in the Middle East to get EU blessing to drill in the Arctic.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2026
Middle East turmoil revives Norway push for Arctic drilling
Norway — which is not an EU member but is closely aligned on many issues — has often extolled the virtues of stable energy supplies from a peaceful, democratic country.
A tanker sits anchored in Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat, Oman, on March 12.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2026
Lured by profits, some shipowners brave mines and missiles to sneak oil past Iran
Tactics deployed by shipowners so far include switching off AIS ship-tracking transponders in the hope that vessels become less visible to Iran’s military, and traveling at night.
Italian Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2026
Italy explores nuclear return after 40 years as energy costs hit
A pivot to nuclear is central to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s plan to thwart Italy’s rising energy prices, which are among the highest in Europe.
Industry minister Ryosei Akazawa addressed an Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum on Saturday, calling on regional leaders to diversify their energy supply.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2026
Akazawa implores Asian partners to diversify energy suppliers
The industry minister said that the region depends on imports for more than 80% of its energy compounding the damage caused by the conflict between U.S.-Israeli forces and Iran.
Smoke rises from the direction of an energy installation in the Gulf emirate of Fujairah on Saturday.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 15, 2026
Toxic pollution from Iran war will spread and last for decades
Missiles and bombs contain heavy metals and other toxic pollutants, which are released into the air, soil and water lingering often for decades and posing health risks.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during the National Defense Academy's graduation ceremony in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 15, 2026
Trump’s call for Japan to send warships to Strait of Hormuz heaps pressure on Takaichi
The U.S. president’s push for a “team effort” to reopen key waterway comes less than a week before Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is due in Washington for a summit with Trump.
Tankers sail in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.
WORLD
Mar 15, 2026
Trump urges Japan and other countries to send warships to reopen Strait of Hormuz
Tehran’s ability to stop shipping through the strait, a major channel for oil and gas shipping, could give it enormous leverage over the U.S. and its allies.
Doug Burgum, Secretary of Interior, delivers speech at the reception of the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Tokyo on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 14, 2026
U.S. says it can provide ‘reliable’ energy supply to Asia-Pacific
Oil and gas prices have surged since U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran killed its supreme leader and plunged the Middle East into war.
A High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) conducts live-fire missions during "Operation Epic Fury" at an undisclosed location earlier this month in this U.S. Army image released on Friday.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Mar 14, 2026
Iran unleashes oil shock to blunt U.S. firepower
With the Gulf’s main export artery in the crosshairs, Tehran has turned the region’s greatest economic asset into its most powerful deterrent.
‘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. 
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
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.
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.
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.

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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