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June 30, 2026
 

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WATER

Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Jun 28, 2026
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
With research on microplastics and the health of coral reefs, the crew of the Tara are making a difference as the world’s environmental issues mount.
With copper prices rising in recent years, a single water meter is believed to fetch roughly ¥1,800 ($11.50) to ¥2,000 when resold.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 7, 2026
Water meter thefts spread across Japan as copper prices rise
Experienced thieves can remove a meter in under a minute, according to a water bureau official.
A hot spring facility in the city of Tomioka, Gunma Prefecture, has suspended the operation of its open-air baths since March.
JAPAN
May 3, 2026
Water shortages hit tourist spots in Japan during Golden Week
Sightseeing boats, operators of hot springs and other businesses have been forced to reduce service hours.
People wait to fetch drinking water at a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip on April 10
WORLD
Apr 28, 2026
Israel using water access as ‘weapon’ in Gaza, report says
Doctors Without Borders has warned that Israeli authorities are systematically depriving people in Gaza of water.
Farmers separate wheat grains from husks at a farm on the outskirts of Varanasi, India, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 15, 2026
India’s green fuel plans collide with farmers’ water fears
India, which imports 80% of its oil and gas, has made ethanol central to its clean energy plans and, as war in the Mideast impacts the price and supply of oil, its energy security.
Workers monitor the water at the Sea Water Desalination Plant in Fukuoka.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Apr 9, 2026
Waste water to clean energy: Japanese engineers harness the power of osmosis
Engineers in the city of Fukuoka and their private partners have opened what is only the world’s second osmotic power plant.
Water utilities will be required to conduct PFAS tests every three months in principle under new tap water quality standards that will take effect next month.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2026
Japan to mandate inspections for PFAS in water from April
The Environment Ministry aims to assess PFAS concentrations in water supplies nationwide.
A boy fills a water tank from a truck outside his family home in Diwaniya, Iraq, on Oct. 20, 2022. Desalination plants are essential to the economy and drinking water supplies in the Middle East.
WORLD / EXPLAINER
Mar 23, 2026
Water emerges as a dangerous new war target
Iran has threatened to target desalination plants in the Middle East, which are essential to one of the driest regions in the world.
A monument to Russian Czar Alexander III on the embankment of the Siberian Ob River in Novosibirsk, Russia. Climate change is undermining Central Asia’s water supply by shrinking glaciers and rivers, prompting interest in the river as a potential source to meet the region’s needs.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2026
A Soviet-era water scheme returns as a Eurasian lifeline
The convergence of climate, economic and geopolitical crises has transformed this once-impractical proposal into an urgent policy priority.
Water coming from an underground artesian well through brass pipes
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 10, 2026
Government panel to compile groundwater report that includes users’ nationalities
In response to whether the panel might consider restricting foreign nationals’ access to groundwater, a land ministry official said discrimination was not the goal.
An anonymous donor has gifted Osaka with gold bars worth ¥566 million ($3.6 million) to help repair the city’s aging water pipes.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 27, 2026
A Japanese city received 21 gold bars with instructions: Fix your water pipes
Osaka says it will honor the anonymous donor’s wishes by using the money from the gold bars — worth ¥566 million — on the city’s pipes, which are some of the oldest in Japan.
Residential towers beyond the Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System Link under construction in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on Sept. 23, 2024. The state of Johor where Johor Bahru is located is Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing data center hub.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 8, 2026
Malaysia draws first data center protest over pollution and water
The country is emblematic of growing social unease with data centers worldwide, despite their crucial role in powering the internet and ChatGPT searches.
Avanti Mehta, 32, India's youngest water sommelier, talks about different brands of packaged water at a tasting event.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 31, 2026
India’s wealthy embrace a new luxury symbol: water
Premium water is a $400 million business ‍in the ⁠world’s most populous nation and is growing bigger alongside a spreading ‍wellness craze.
The Jaguari-Jacarei dam during a drought in Joanopolis, Sao Paulo state, Brazil. Three-quarters of the world’s population — about 6.1 billion people — now live in countries where freshwater supplies are insecure or critically insecure, according to U.N. report.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jan 23, 2026
Water ‘bankruptcy’ era has begun for billions, scientists say
Chronic overuse of groundwater, forest destruction, land degradation and pollution have caused irreversible freshwater loss in many parts of the world.
Water bottles and flavored beverages, including Evian, Volvic and Font Vella. Mineral water is big business, and companies are constantly vying to win market share.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2026
Can water sommeliers convince us to pay more for premium H2O?
Mineral water is big business, and companies are constantly vying to win market share.
Women use a pipe to fill water from a bore well in a village in Alwar, Rajasthan, India.
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2025
India’s water crunch brews risks for beverage giants
The challenges for the brewers in Rajasthan mirror a wider crisis across India, which holds 17% of the world’s population but just 4% of its freshwater.
A water processing facility at TSMC's plant in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, is shown to media on Nov. 12. Numbers and maker names on the devices have been blurred upon the company's request.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2025
TSMC Kumamoto plant leaves concerns over water impact
About 75% of up to 30,000 metric tons of water used at the plant per day is recycled water, according to the company.
Iranian women perform a prayer for rainfall at the Saleh Shrine in Tehran on Nov. 14. The country is suffering from severe water shortages.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2025
When communism is the only option
Iran’s flailing response to a nationally destabilizing water crisis should be a warning to everyone.
U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in the city of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, in 2023
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2025
U.S. military rejects Okinawa access requests over PFAS findings
PFAS have been found in nearby rivers and other sites, raising concerns about potential effects on drinking water.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Emperor Naruhito in the Imperial Palace on Thursday
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2025
Emperor meets with Kazakh president at Imperial Palace
The emperor expressed sympathy over the damage caused to Kazakhstan by last year’s floods in the Central Asian nation.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
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.
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.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
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."
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.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

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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