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July 02, 2026
 

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ENERGY

Industry minister Ryosei Akazawa speaks during an online gathering of officials of Group of Seven leading industrialized nations on Monday. Akazawa has been named Japan’s critical-materials czar by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2026
Akazawa appointed critical-materials czar in response to conflict in the Middle East
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the industry minister is tasked with reviewing the supply situation and developing policy responses.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi exchange bows during a news conference following their summit in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 31, 2026
At Japan-Indonesia summit, energy security takes center stage amid war in Middle East
The two Asian nations’ leaders on Tuesday pledged to coordinate closely on this issue, as oil and gas prices soar due to the ongoing war.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 1.7% in the capital from a year earlier in March, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 31, 2026
Tokyo inflation cools for now as BOJ monitors Mideast impact
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 1.7% in the capital from a year earlier in March, marking the smallest increase since April 2024.
An aerial view shows tugboats helping a crude oil tanker to berth at an oil terminal, off Waidiao Island in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, China, in 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 31, 2026
China puts home energy needs above cooperation as Mideast war halts supplies
China is the world’s second largest fertilizer ‌exporter and also ‌a large supplier of fuel, with imports from China a major source of supply for many countries in Asia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on March 25
WORLD / Politics
Mar 31, 2026
Allies sent Ukraine ‘signals’ on reducing strikes on Russian oil, Zelenskyy says
The Ukrainian president said Kyiv is ready ​to reciprocate if Moscow stops attacking the Ukrainian energy system, and that Kyiv is open to an Easter ceasefire.
The yen traded above ¥160 to the dollar over the weekend — a threshold that some investors and traders see triggering government intervention. 
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 30, 2026
Tokyo stocks decline to a 2026 low after yen breaks ¥160 to the dollar
Brent crude is up and trading above $115 per barrel on supply concerns related to the war in the Middle East.
Some utilities, for instance, tout that the utility costs will be cheaper under their plan without accounting for a variable fuel adjustment charge.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2026
Utility contract complaints persist nearly a decade after deregulation
Consumer officials are urging caution as complaints over electricity and gas contracts remain almost 10 years since Japan opened its utility markets.
A “not available” sign is posted on a fuel dispenser at a gas station amid fuel shortages, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Quezon City, Philippines, on March 26.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2026
This is what happens when the gas runs out
Countries in Asia are bracing for a complete cutoff in coming days of Middle Eastern LNG, a fuel that underpins power generation and industrial output across much of the region.
Cars line up at a gas station in Seoul on March 9.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 30, 2026
South Korea weighs first driving curbs in 35 years on oil crunch
The country has already imposed driving restrictions on civil servants, curbing how often they can access government buildings by car.
Fuel pumps at a Cosmo Oil gas station in Tokyo on March 16
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 29, 2026
One month on, Iran conflict fuels worries for Japanese firms and households
Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has driven up crude oil prices, hitting businesses such as farms, bathhouses and public transportation operators.
The Takasago Thermal Power Plant in Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture. Japan will increase the use of coal-fired power plants to strengthen energy supply amid the Middle East energy shock.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2026
Japan to allow more coal-fired power to cope with energy shock
Japan is joining other nations that have shifted course to use the dirtiest fossil fuel more in the wake of of the war.
A maze of crude oil pipe and equipment at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Texas. While U.S. officials have said the spike in oil prices during the war with Iran will be short-lived, other nations aren't so convinced.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Mar 27, 2026
Trump officials tout U.S. energy dominance as global oil executives warn of supply crisis
The contrasting messages relayed to industry leaders at the annual CERAWeek conference in Houston reflected the different political realities in the U.S. and the rest of the world.
Tanker trucks line up at an oil terminal in Yokohama earlier this month amid surging oil prices due to the Iran conflict.
EDITORIALS
Mar 27, 2026
Iran war exposes the global economy’s vulnerability
Oil is the Achilles heel of the global economy. Skyrocketing gasoline prices get considerable attention with good reason, but their real impact is more extensive than imagined.
At 10:59 a.m. on Thursday, the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security commenced the release of about 400,000 kiloliters of oil from the Kikuma National Petroleum Stockpiling Base in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 26, 2026
Oil starts flowing from Japan’s national reserves
The release is part of the country’s 80-million-barrel contribution to a coordinated global intervention.
A hydrogen-powered hotel in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, on Wednesday
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2026
World’s first hydrogen-powered hotel opens in Fukushima Prefecture
The town where the hotel is located is also home to one of the world’s largest hydrogen production bases.
The energy crisis caused by the war in Iran is strengthening the case for electric vehicles for some consumers. Chinese carmakers are expected to be the big winners.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2026
The oil shock is accelerating Asia’s EV revolution
EVs have already hit solid double-digit market shares in multiple emerging markets, as falling battery costs and tax incentives helped undercut conventional cars.
People queue to fill their two-wheelers in Ahmedabad, India, on March 23.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 26, 2026
Asia braces for worst-case energy scenarios as Iran war drags on
In the weeks since the Middle East conflict began, nations have shifted into emergency footing, highlighting the Strait of Hormuz’s importance to global energy flows.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol pose at the beginning of their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2026
Takaichi asks IEA chief to prepare additional ‘coordinated release’ of oil
The head of the International Energy Agency has said he is “ready to move forward” with an additional release of oil reserves “if and when necessary.”
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a national energy emergency late Tuesday, saying there is an "imminent danger of a critically low energy supply.”
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 25, 2026
Philippines declares emergency as energy supplies run short
There is an “imminent danger of a critically low energy supply,” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in an executive order late Tuesday.
An oil tanker anchors off Muscat, Oman, on March 7, as regional tensions amid the U.S.-Israeli-Iran conflict have virtually closed off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 25, 2026
War in the Persian Gulf means volatility in the global energy market
Japanese companies have long assumed a stable future energy supply. That assumption is no longer secure.
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
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.
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.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Reform panel calls for easing data center building standards
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi emphasized that the government will promote reforms of regulations and systems that fit the artificial intelligence era.
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.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.

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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