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August 11, 2026
 

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Yusuke Maekawa
Pipelines at the Shirashima National Petroleum Stockpiling Base in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 28, 2026
Tokyo to boost financial support for overseas oil pipeline investments
The government will consider measures including risk-capital funding to promote Japanese firms¡¯ participation in such projects, a recently released document shows.
A rickshaw puller drinks a bottle of barley tea in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ electricity price hits highest in over three years on triple blow
With a triple whammy of blistering heat, yen weakness and escalating fuel costs, the nationwide day-ahead spot price surged to ?24.78 a kilowatt-hour on Wednesday.
Keisuke Yokoo, the incoming chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co., said he is open to forming alliances with firms outside of Japan as the nation¡¯s largest utility seeks to restructure its operations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 2, 2026
Incoming Tepco chair open to alliance partners outside of Japan
Yokoo¡¯s remarks to reporters come as the utility pushes ahead with a business plan unveiled in January.
Kenichi Hori, CEO of Mitsui & Co., speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2026
Mitsui seeks LNG investments as data centers boost power demand
Companies seeking clean energy to power artificial intelligence infrastructure are creating ¡°big additional demand¡± for LNG, Mitsui CEO Kenichi Hori said.
A subsidiary of Itochu will take over the Japan sales operations of U.S. medical equipment maker SunMed Group Holdings, which does business in the country as AirLife.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 20, 2026
Itochu expands healthcare business with takeover of AirLife¡¯s sales
The move comes as Â鶹´«Ã½ trading houses cement healthcare as a key pillar of their businesses, placing it alongside traditional mainstays such as oil, gas and metals.
¡°Areas connected to southern China such as Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam will be potential regions that the company will look into,¡± said Sojitz Chief Financial Officer Makoto Shibuya.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ Sojitz eyes Southeast Asia for new rare earths supply
The company will also consider India and other countries if suitable rare earths investment opportunities exist there.
Trade minister Ryosei Akazawa said at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday that there is no restriction on oil from Japan's national reserves being sold overseas if the drawdown exceeds domestic demand.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 13, 2026
Japan to sell oil from national reserves at pre-Iran war prices
The government ¡°expects refiners that purchase crude at low prices won¡¯t then sell their products at higher prices and pocket the profit.¡±
Workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ Fukushima cleanup offers a blueprint for nuclear recovery
The tsunami-devastated plant is taking a pioneering approach to the critical next phase of the world¡¯s most complex cleanup operation.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Chief Executive Officer Sultan Al Jaber at Adnoc headquarters in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 9
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2026
Adnoc boss and UAE minister Al Jaber meets Sanae Takaichi
¡°While your energy security continues to be our priority, we will not be able to do much if there is any distortion in the Strait of Hormuz,¡± Al Jaber said.
Workers prepare a bundle of steel reinforcing bar at a metal stock yard in Shanghai.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 20, 2026
Nippon Steel executive sees China-driven supply glut nearing end
Exporters in China were increasingly struggling to generate profits from overseas sales as the regional market had become oversupplied, Nippon Steel¡¯s CFO said.
The Chikyu, the deep sea drilling vessel operated by the Japan Agency for Marine Earth-Science and Technology, has been on a mission to pull metal-bearing mud from the seabed.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 12, 2026
Japan steps up deep-sea mining plan to cut rare-earth dependence
An ambitious initiative to accelerate a decade-old plan has been given extra impetus by the country¡¯s drive to cut reliance on Chinese supply.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant¡¯s central control room in the village of Kariwa in Niigata Prefecture on Jan. 21
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ biggest nuclear plant restarts second time after hiccup
Tepco, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant that suffered a meltdown accident in 2011, is facing public scrutiny to safely resume its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.
A JFE Steel plant in Kanagawa Prefecture. JFE will invest 157.5 billion rupees ($1.7 billion) in an equal joint venture with India¡¯s JSW Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2025
JFE Steel to form $3.4 billion venture with India¡¯s JSW Steel
Demand for steel in the South Asian country is surging, led by a push for infrastructure projects by the government and growing real estate construction.
Takahiro Mori, vice chairman of Nippon Steel, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo in June. Mori said in a recent interview that the firm will shortlist two or three states for construction of a major new plant in the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2025
Nippon Steel to shortlist two or three states for new U.S. plant
Â鶹´«Ã½ largest steel producer is seeking a site capable of supporting a plant with 3 million tons of annual capacity.
Â鶹´«Ã½ major trading houses face a prolonged slump in iron ore and coking coal prices as Chinese steel exports flood Asia, limiting profits for at least six months.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2025
Â鶹´«Ã½ trading houses brace for more pain from China steel glut
Â鶹´«Ã½ major trading houses are facing a prolonged slump in iron ore and coking coal prices as Chinese steel exports flood into Asia and beyond.
Wind turbines along a beach in Happo, Akita Prefecture, in September 2024
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2025
Akita urges quick resale of offshore wind sites after Mitsubishi pulls out
The fledgling offshore wind power industry is grappling with high interest rates and material costs, as well as a pushback against green policies in some countries.
Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 6, 2025
Â鶹´«Ã½ new leader to make nuclear center of energy strategy
A pro-nuclear stance would continue the policies of previous administrations, which have pushed to build new units and restart reactors.
America¡¯s cyberforces grapple with cluster of deaths by suicide
The U.S. Cyber Command building (center) stands on the National Security Agency campus at Fort Meade, Maryland.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
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.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
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.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
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.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.
Speaking Japanese at the movies with ¡®Chiikawa¡¯
A "Chiikawa The Movie" poster is seen at Toho Cinemas in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

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

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