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July 11, 2026
The Independent Voice in Asia
July 11, 2026
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Some analysts have said that the Bank of Japan is not raising rates fast enough.
BUSINESS / Markets
Yields hit three-decade highs as BOJ behind-the-curve narrative debated
By Kazuaki Nagata
Some analysts argue that the central bank is not being overtaken by the market even as the 10-year yield crosses 2.9%.
Some analysts have said that the Bank of Japan is not raising rates fast enough.
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
JAPAN
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
By Yukana Inoue
Solving the issue is crucial to developing tourism sustainably as a strategic industry for Japan, the government said in a white paper released Friday.
Koichi Hagiuda, one of the five leading figures of a now-defunct faction once led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe mired in a slush fund scandal, is regaining power within the party.
JAPAN / Politics
Power struggle unfolding among ex-Abe faction members
Those who were considered to be the five leading figures of the faction, which was at the center of the LDP’s slush fund scandal, have regained power under Takaichi.
A woman walks out of a shop with duct-taped windows to prevent damage from Typhoon Bavi as it approaches, in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Japan’s southwestern islands on high alert as Typhoon Bavi approaches
By Joseph Campbell and Kim Kyung Hoon
Authorities have warned of violent winds, torrential rain, landslides and ​flooding in what could be the region’s ‌most ‌destructive storm in years.
A customer checks eyeglasses in a section featuring limited-edition eyeglasses available only at the Jins Shinjuku store in April.
BUSINESS / Economy
Shoppers splurge on specs in Japan as deflation-era mindset fades away
By Reed Stevenson
As inflation reshapes behavior, Japanese eyeglass company Jins is working to prove higher prices are justified by delivering better materials, sharper designs and improved quality.
A customer checks eyeglasses in a section featuring limited-edition eyeglasses available only at the Jins Shinjuku store in April.

JAPAN

A woman walks out of a shop with duct-taped windows to prevent damage from Typhoon Bavi as it approaches, in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, on Thursday.
Japan’s southwestern islands on high alert as Typhoon Bavi approaches
By Joseph Campbell and Kim Kyung Hoon
Authorities have warned of violent winds, torrential rain, landslides and ​flooding in what could be the region’s ‌most ‌destructive storm in years.
Japan faces the need to foster an environment conducive to women's recurrent education, the government's white paper on gender equality said.
Housework and childcare barriers to women’s recurrent education, government says
The annual white paper said recurrent education will become increasingly important in light of rapid technological innovations such as artificial intelligence.
Government registers ‘Japanese tea’ under brand protection system
Bills on preservation of imperial family pass Lower House
By Kanako Takahara and Kenji Yoshida
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
By Jessica Speed
Japan’s first saury of the season fetch record price

BUSINESS

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has encouraged households and pension funds to buy more yen-denominated assets.
Yen gains after finance minister urges pension funds to invest more at home
By Erica Yokoyama
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama’s remarks caught markets off guard, leading to a jump in the yen and a drop in bond yields.
Japan’s corporate goods prices rose 7.1% in June from a year earlier, the Bank of Japan reported Friday.
Japan’s producer prices rise at fastest pace since early 2023
By Molly Smith
The measure of input prices for Japanese firms rose 7.1% in June from a year earlier, the Bank of Japan reported.
Mizuho targets South Korea, India hires to join top dealmaking ranks
By Sheryl Tian Tong Lee and Chanyaporn Chanjaroen
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
By Taiga Uranaka and Hideki Suzuki
Seven & I raises profit outlook, bolstering turnaround hopes
By Koh Yoshida
World’s first fully sealed vertical-farming facility opens in Tokyo

WORLD

Smoke rises from an oil refinery following a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow last month. Kremlin insiders say recent Ukrainian strikes have strengthened Russian President Vladimir Putin's resolve to keep fighting.
Putin likely to escalate Ukraine war, despite Trump peace push, sources say
Ukraine’s recent drone strikes on Russia’s oil refineries and ports have strengthened his resolve to keep fighting for now.
Former Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai was among former and current Chinese officials who have turned to American experts in recent months to discern the White House’s intentions toward China.
China taps ex-officials to discern Trump’s aims and U.S. elections
Their visit to the U.S. underscores how much uncertainty remains around the truce the two sides signed last year.
Eleven dead, 19 missing as Spain wildfire roars through village
By Daniel Silva
China successfully tests sea-based rocket booster recovery system
By Shi Bu, Ethan Wang and Ryan Woo
Cuban lives cut short as health system flatlines
By Lisandra COTS
NATO weathers another Trump storm but braces for more after Ankara summit
By Andrew Gray and Lili Bayer

Sports

Hoshoryu at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Sept. 2
Uncertain health of main stars sets the stage for wild ride in Nagoya
By John Gunning
It won’t be until a few days into the upcoming meet that we’ll really know whether or not the two yokozuna, or now-sekiwake Aonishiki, will be in the title race.
Ostapenko, Arevalo fight back to win Wimbledon mixed doubles title
Revamped Ireland wary of ‘bang in form’ Japan
Silencing World Cup hotshot Haaland vital, says England’s O’Reilly
By John WEAVER
Mbappe and Dembele fire France past Morocco into World Cup semifinals
By Rob Woollard

Opinion

U.S. President Donald Trump attends a news conference at the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday. The U.S. leader's approach to alliances means American security guarantees can no longer be taken for granted.
Trump just made Japan’s security dilemma more urgent
Imran Khalid
Japan should respond to growing uncertainty over U.S. security commitments by taking greater responsibility for protecting its own maritime and strategic interests.
Takaichi wants to make Japan Inc. great again
By Gearoid Reidy
China’s missile test exposes Beijing’s misdirection
The Bezos-backed $25,000 EV that should worry Detroit and probably Musk
By Liam Denning
Beware of government by AI
By Gabriela Ramos and Emilija Stojmenova Duh

ENVIRONMENT

A view of the dried up Loire River in France on Thursday amid a heat wave affecting a large part of the country.
Climate models become more precise even as political attacks sharpen
By Akshat Rathi
Climate researchers have operated under political duress for decades, but improved resources and understanding in recent years have made findings more useful to policymakers.
Strengthening El Nino likely to ‘rank among largest’ on record, U.S. agency says
Cambodia wants to bring back tigers, but should it?
Europe’s third major heat wave raises grid and water risks
By Joe Wertz
Faster, fiercer wildfires are testing evacuation plans
By Todd Woody

CULTURE

Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
By Jennifer Pastore
An international exhibition for a book about Japanese women in the photographic arts has its homecoming in Tokyo.
‘Why Wait, Just Die’: A dead-eyed investigator takes on an unsolved murder
By James Hadfield
‘AnyMart’: A surreal parable about the dark side of convenience stores
By Mark Schilling
Japanese dancers win ballet prizes in Moscow
Sachiko Kazama’s art bites back at a cruel society
By Jennifer Pastore

LIFE

Students take part in a tournament leading up to last year's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu Competitive Karuta All-Japan High School Championship.
Japan’s top high school ‘karuta’ players head to their own Koshien
By Yuko Tamura
Classical poetry meets lightning-fast reflexes in one of Japan’s most unique competitions for teenagers.
Stripped of Michelin stars, Sezanne embraces a changing of the guard
By Phoebe Amoroso
La & Le brings a slice of Paris cafe culture to Tokyo
By Weiwen Lin
Japanese nail salons are tourists’ new obsession
By Gabrielle Doman
Japan’s first standalone ramen shop reopens in Asakusa
By Weiwen Lin

COMMUNITY

Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
By Megha Wadhwa
From classrooms in India’s northeast to nursing homes in Japan, an emerging labor corridor hopes to improve lives in both countries.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
By Mai Yoshikawa
Two furry siblings seek their forever home
How a U.S. author found — and helped build — community in a Japanese hot spring town
By Michele Laudig
In Japan, Nepalese students navigate a growing study-to-work pathway
By Mai Yoshikawa

Editors' Picks

CULTURE
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
By Alicia Haddick
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
CULTURE
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
By Gabriella Geisinger
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
BUSINESS
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
By Yukana Inoue
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
COMMUNITY
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
By Elizabeth Beattie
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
ENVIRONMENT
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
By Robert Bociaga
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.

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

JT Directory Service

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SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Destination Restaurants 2026 award ceremony report
Destination Restaurants 2026 award ceremony report

COMFACTS

Space Seed Holdings and Three Partners File Core Patents for “SpaceAgent”
Space Seed Holdings and Three Partners File Core Patents for “SpaceAgent”
SPACE SEED HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

WHAT’S TRENDING

BUSINESS
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
BUSINESS
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
By Taro Fuse and Taiga Uranaka
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
BUSINESS
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
By Taiga Uranaka and Hideki Suzuki
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
JAPAN
Trump says ‘Japan’ instead of Iran at meeting in Ankara
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference during a NATO leaders&#039; summit in Ankara on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
World’s first fully sealed vertical-farming facility opens in Tokyo
Fully sealed units are stacked on top of each other at Plantx&#039;s vertical-farming facility in Tokyo&#039;s Koto Ward on Wednesday.