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Tokyo Weather 29¡æ
TOKYO
August 13, 2026
The Independent Voice in Asia
August 13, 2026
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Takaichi
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Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Yasny fish processing factory on Etorofu island, one of four islands in the contested chain known as the Kuril Islands in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
Putin visits disputed Etorofu island off Hokkaido, sparking protest from Tokyo
By Eric Johnston and Kanako Takahara
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described the visit as incompatible with Â鶹´«Ã½ position on the islands, which are an inherent part of Japanese territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Yasny fish processing factory on Etorofu island, one of four islands in the contested chain known as the Kuril Islands in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, on Thursday.
An electronic signboard shows the value of the yen just after the intervention in late July.
BUSINESS / Markets
Yen closes in on ?160 to the dollar as bears remain bold
By Kazuaki Nagata
The threat of a coordinated intervention is keeping the currency from breaking through.
A visit to Yasukuni Shrine by the Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi would almost certainly draw a strong reaction from China and pose a significant obstacle to holding a summit between the leaders of Japan and China.
JAPAN
Takaichi unlikely to visit Yasukuni Shrine on war anniversary
The Shinto shrine is regarded by neighboring Asian countries such as South Korea and China as a symbol of Â鶹´«Ã½ wartime militarism.
South Korean Ambassador to Japan Lee Hyuk speaks to The Japan Times at the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo on Aug. 4.
JAPAN / Politics
Closer ties with Japan an ¡®imperative of our time,¡¯ South Korea¡¯s envoy says
By Kenji Yoshida
Ambassador Lee Hyuk underlines the need for Seoul and Tokyo to boost ties in view of the commonalities they face in terms of the security situation.
Potential health care workers hoping to find work in Japan take Japanese language instruction in Jakarta. Not all applicants for permanent residency should be expected to reach this level of proficiency.
COMMENTARY / World
What Â鶹´«Ã½ language rules for permanent residency should look like
Midori Inagaki
The main question is how Japanese language ability will be assessed. Japan must avoid turning the Japanese Language Proficiency Test into a de facto national filter.
Potential health care workers hoping to find work in Japan take Japanese language instruction in Jakarta. Not all applicants for permanent residency should be expected to reach this level of proficiency.

JAPAN

Japan will be Pink¡¯s Hot Dogs¡¯ third Asia location.
Hollywood hot dogs bound for Japan with new Pink¡¯s flagship store
By Elizabeth Beattie
With a plan to differentiate itself through its wide range of toppings and offerings, the company is aiming for 20 stores in Japan by the end of 2030.
Staff members of the Vietnamese association in Kumamoto deliver relief supplies to foreign residents in the city of Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Aug. 6.
Foreign nationals support one another following quake in Kumamoto
Some?residents hesitate to go to evacuation centers or struggle to obtain information on relief supplies due to language barriers and cultural differences.
Crown prince declines to discuss revised Imperial House Law
Japan sees 60% rise in passport applications in July
Nearly half in Japan support plan to cut tax on food, survey shows
Kumamoto Castle reopens two weeks after massive quake

BUSINESS

Prices of imported pork and chicken rose due chiefly to the yen's weakening, leading to a rise in demand for domestic products and subsequently pushing their prices higher.
Pork, chicken prices in Japan hit record highs in August
Prices of imported products rose due chiefly to the yen¡¯s weakening, leading to a rise in demand for domestic products and subsequently pushing their prices higher.
An advance in Japan's producer price index in July was led by oil and coal products, chemical products and nonferrous metals.
Producer price gains maintain pressure on businesses as BOJ mulls rate path
By Yoshiaki Nohara
The measure of input prices rose 7.2% in July from a year earlier, slightly slower than the revised 7.3% in June, the Bank of Japan reported Thursday.
Google opens first directly run store outside U.S. in Tokyo
Â鶹´«Ã½ beverage makers introduce smaller, easy-to-carry bottles
Ice cream makers bet consumers still want treats, just healthier ones
By Alexander Marrow
U.S. president sued over plan to sell faster access to his posts on Truth Social

WORLD

Sigit Buludawa, 34, owner of a kitchen serving the National Nutrition Agency's free meal program, in the fishing village of Torosiaje, Gorontalo province, Indonesia, on July 27. Sigit is one of at least 400 investors who borrowed money to build over 1,500 kitchens in remote areas ?on reimbursement terms ?that have now been delayed or changed as the government seeks to reduce costs for the program.
Indonesia¡¯s flagship free meals initiative leaves kitchen investors deep in debt
By Ananda Teresia
Mounting debts are the latest blow for an initiative that has struggled with governance, supply chain problems, mass food-poisoning and financial cutbacks.
Chinese President Xi Jinping might secure a precedent-defying fourth term during next autumn¡¯s Chinese Communist Party leadership congress.
Xi¡¯s secretive graft purges spawn underground market for leaks
The groups are flourishing a year before the leadership congress where Xi could secure a precedent-defying fourth term.
Ukraine¡¯s farmers despair as Russia¡¯s Black Sea blockade traps their harvest
By Olena Harmash
Chinese state-linked observatory sought NZ site, spy agency says
By Lucy Craymer
India student protests disrupt parliament, put Modi on defensive
Italy¡¯s Meloni has a youth problem as election approaches

Sports

The future Fujinokawa (third from left) and Ikarigata (right) compete against each other at ages 5 and 3, respectively.
Ikarigata closer to emulating older brother Fujinokawa than many think
By John Gunning
While many expect Ikarigata to reach juryo in the near future, there¡¯s less confidence in his ability to match his older brother¡¯s achievements, which could be a mistake.
Hockey Canada upholds suspensions for four players acquitted of sexual assault charges
Paris St. Germain beats Aston Villa to retain UEFA Super Cup
Deshaun Watson to start at QB in Browns preseason opener
Triple-double king Russell Westbrook announces retirement

Opinion

A U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet prepares to launch from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operation Epic Fury¡¯s attack on Iran from an undisclosed location on March 14.
Are we on the verge of World War III?
Brad Glosserman
Still, historians are quick to see parallels to the situation before 1914.
Ukraine¡¯s drone war has a lesson China cannot manufacture
By David Kim
New York will regret going into the grocery business
By Allison Schrager
Western allies are about to fail Ukraine, again
By Marc Champion
Why Takaichi can¡¯t be the next Shinzo Abe
By Yuichi Hosoya

ENVIRONMENT

An ice block floats in the sea waters near a cemetery in Nuuk, Greenland, on Jan. 29.
¡®Imposing ignorance¡¯: U.S. climate science under siege
By Issam AHMED
President Donald Trump¡¯s latest move against science documenting the impacts of climate change is causing concern among experts.
Inventories and farming method gains bolster food system against ¡®super¡¯ El Nino
Italy¡¯s record-low Po River forces farmers to weigh crop switch
By Alberto Brambilla
Scientists turn to sharks to improve hurricane predictions
By Marta Serafinko
British Columbia declares state of emergency as more than 20,000 flee wildfires

CULTURE

Naoki Shimizu, president of Creativeman Productions, has learned many lessons while overseeing the growth of Summer Sonic over the past 25 years.
The man behind 25 years of Summer Sonic
By Patrick St. Michel
Naoki Shimizu reflects on 25 years of Summer Sonic, from Green Day and broken AC to 300,000 fans.
Wagner Moura and Greta Lee fight for survival in new thriller ¡®The Last House¡¯
By Francesca Halliwell
How war shaped the manga of Tadao Tsuge
By Marta Fanasca
Too much music, not enough weekend: A guide to Summer Sonic 2026
By Patrick St. Michel
A Yukio Mishima stage adaptation pulls genre-bending strings
By Kris Kosaka

LIFE

At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
By Gabrielle Doman
It might sound like pseudoscience, but there could be more to the idea of brewing with music than meets the ear.
?6,000 for shaved ice: Is luxury ¡®kakig¨­ri¡¯ worth it?
By Weiwen Lin
Locked up in luxury at the new Hoshinoya Nara Prison hotel
By Owen Ziegler
How Â鶹´«Ã½ racehorses find second careers away from the track
By Rachel Teo
Speaking Japanese at the movies with ¡®Chiikawa¡¯
By Yuko Tamura

COMMUNITY

Volunteer Vicky Parthasarathy (right) believes that people from various cultures can understand each other better through food.
This children¡¯s cafeteria in Shikoku serves up free meals and global perspectives
By Jacob Meyer
As immigration becomes an increasingly contentious issue in Japan, a children¡¯s cafeteria in Shikoku is bridging cultural gaps, one hot meal at a time.
This pup has a new take on life
How foreign workers became an essential part of Â鶹´«Ã½ ubiquitous konbini
By Yumi Wijers-Hasegawa
The 180-day locals: Life on Â鶹´«Ã½ digital nomad visa
By Mai Yoshikawa
A friendly ¡®peaches-and-cream¡¯ fellow

Editors' Picks

JAPAN
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
By Mai Yoshikawa
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
SUMO
Ikarigata closer to emulating older brother Fujinokawa than many think
By John Gunning
The future Fujinokawa (third from left) and Ikarigata (right) compete against each other at ages 5 and 3, respectively.
COMMUNITY
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
By Yumi Wijers-Hasegawa
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
COMMUNITY
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
By Jessica Speed
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
ENVIRONMENT
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
By Tomoko Otake
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

JT Directory Service

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COMFACTS

Japanese Microalgae Meets American Formulation Science at Chicago¡¯s IFT FIRST
Japanese Microalgae Meets American Formulation Science at Chicago¡¯s IFT FIRST
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WHAT¡¯S TRENDING

JAPAN
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
COMMUNITY
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
By Jessica Speed
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
BUSINESS
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
By Paul Sonne, Alina Lobzina and Oleg Matsnev
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company's warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
JAPAN
Severe tropical storm Chan-hom makes landfall near Tokyo
Severe Tropical Storm Chan-hom made landfall around Ibaraki Prefecture, near Tokyo, on Tuesday night.
COMMENTARY
What Â鶹´«Ã½ language rules for permanent residency should look like
By Midori Inagaki
Potential health care workers hoping to find work in Japan take Japanese language instruction in Jakarta. Not all applicants for permanent residency should be expected to reach this level of proficiency.