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July 02, 2026
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July 02, 2026
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Traders see little long-term relief from the Japanese government’s repeated warnings that it will take bold action to stem the yen's decline.
BUSINESS / Markets
Traders plot worst-case scenario for yen if currency crisis hits
By Ruth Carson and John Cheng
The yen sliding to a once-unthinkable 200 per dollar level is now a risk — albeit an extreme one — for some investors.

More coverage

Why is the yen so weak and what can Japan do about it?
First-half bankruptcies reach highest level since 2022 as weak yen takes toll
Traders see little long-term relief from the Japanese government’s repeated warnings that it will take bold action to stem the yen's decline.
A vessel in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
U.S., Iran talks conclude in Doha, focused on Strait
Sources said the two ‌countries discussed the Strait of Hormuz and financial incentives ​for Iran, two pillars of the initial agreement they signed in June.
Revisions to the laws meant to tackle the imperial family's dwindling numbers included clauses that throw succession rules into question.
JAPAN
Law revisions regarding imperial family invite controversy about succession
By Kanako Takahara
Revisions to the laws meant to tackle the imperial family’s dwindling numbers included clauses that throw succession rules into question.
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
JAPAN
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
By Yukana Inoue
Previously set at ¥1,000, the tax has risen to ¥3,000 for all travelers departing Japan, regardless of nationality.
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
By John Gunning
The latest banzuke offers more than just top-tier intrigue, with the July meet set to feature standout stories in every division of professional sumo.
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.

JAPAN

Self-Defense Forces personnel stand guard at the entrance of the Defense Ministry in Tokyo in April.
Japan weighs state ownership of defense plants to boost arms supply
By Kenji Yoshida
A draft of the government’s basic economic and fiscal policy guidelines calls for reviewing existing law to allow greater state involvement.
Masayo Tanabu, secretary-general of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and a senior Upper House lawmaker, speaks during an interview with The Japan Times in Tokyo on Friday.
Japan’s opposition faces a make-or-break choice over wider integration
By Kenji Yoshida
The Centrist Reform Alliance has yet to fully convince the public of its significance, said senior opposition lawmaker Masayo Tanabu.
Japanese police arrest nine over Sierra Leone-based special fraud
Chubu Electric suspected of nuclear plant data fraud cover-up
Former imperial family member views Japan’s adoption plan as ‘unrealistic’
Indian defense research institute head hails Japan’s lifting of arms export ban

BUSINESS

Increasing bankruptcies in Japan suggest the smaller firms that employ most of Japan’s workers are finding it difficult to withstand the yen’s prolonged weakness.
First-half bankruptcies reach highest level since 2022 as weak yen takes toll
By Erica Yokoyama and Takahiko Hyuga
Data suggests smaller firms that employ most of Japan’s workers are finding it increasingly difficult to withstand the currency’s prolonged weakness.
Tractor trailers at the Ysleta-Zaragoza International Bridge port of entry, on the US-Mexico border in Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico.
U.S. decides against renewing USMCA, shifting to rolling talks
By Alicia Diaz
Opting against renewal opens the door to contentious negotiations over the rules governing supply chains vital for automakers, farmers, retailers and energy companies.
An English furniture maker faces AI era of bots buying sofas
By Katie Linsell and Maddie Parker
Toyota and Hyundai sales rise on hybrid demand while GM sits out
By Gabrielle Coppola and David Welch
Thailand gets serious about chasing high-spending tourists
By Randy Thanthong-Knight
Apple seeks to buy Chinese-made memory chips by lobbying U.S.

WORLD

Members of the Chinese (left) and Russian delegations, led by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, respectively, hold talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on July 3, 2024.
Russia approved secret China military training at top level, sources say
China’s covert military training of Russian forces last year was personally approved by Russia’s defense minister and directly involved at least four Russian and Chinese generals.
A group of civilian volunteers searches for survivors in a collapsed building in La Guaira, Venezuela, on Saturday.
Venezuela quake death toll nears 2,000 as aftershocks ease
Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who is stuck in Panama after unsuccessful attempts to reenter the country, has vowed to return as quickly as possible.
‘In case of emergency’: Taiwan’s rising rich flock to Singapore
Russia strikes Ukraine capital with missiles and drones, wounds five
Vietnam unveils ‘baby bonus’ after scrapping two-child policy
Germany charges Ukrainian over Nord Stream pipeline blasts

Sports

Harry Kane (third from left) celebrates with his teammates following England&#039;s win over Congo during the World Cup round of 32 in Atlanta on Wednesday.
England coach says team overcame past demons with comeback win over Congo
England is aiming to end a 60-year wait to win a major tournament.
Stylish Naomi Osaka cruises into third round at Wimbledon
Jalen Brown saga ends as Celtics reach deal to trade star to Sixers
Mexico sees off Ecuador to break 40-year World Cup curse
Clippers dealing Kawhi Leonard back to Raptors

Opinion

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders gather during the Group of Seven summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on June 16.
China’s export controls target Japan to split the Group of Seven
Christopher Nye and Charles Sun
Why Japan and why now? Tokyo raised the first question itself: Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara protested that controls singling out Japan depart from international practice.
Soccer’s Asian century is still just a distant dream
By Gearoid Reidy
Greenspan deflated one bubble — his own authority
By John Authers
Is the tide turning against Russia in Ukraine?
By Sergei Guriev
Mark Carney has given Canadians something to celebrate
By Stephen R. Nagy

ENVIRONMENT

Yana Hrynko, senior researcher of The National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, shows a bird&#039;s nest made with fragments of optic fiber, which was found by a Ukrainian service member on the front line and then passed to the museum in Kyiv on June 23.
Bird nests of fiber-optic cables show war’s impact on Ukraine
The nests demonstrate how the more than 4-year-old conflict is reshaping the natural environment, researchers say.
NATO project tests perennial grass to clean Ukraine’s war-hit soil
Industrial firms warn EU carbon overhaul could benefit polluters
By Kate Abnett
World’s oceans break June heat record: EU monitor
U.K. grid issues another supply warning as heat tests network
By Eamon Akil Farhat

CULTURE

Anime thumbnails adorn the sonic creations on YouTube channel Norinori Core, like this one from the Norinori Remix of Iruka&#039;s 1976 track "Nagoriyuki."
Japan’s first great AI music trend is gloriously wrong
By Patrick St. Michel
Norinori Core turns old J-pop into dopamine-fueled divisive dance music.
Strange bedfellows: Manga and lesbian sex work agencies team up for storytelling
By Marta Fanasca
Singer and actor Kazuya Kamenashi to marry Minami Tanaka
How a private collection of queer books became a cultural hot spot
By Mike Fu
Trooper Salute marches to its own beat on dazzling debut album
By Patrick St. Michel

LIFE

From January 2028, PlayStation games will release only as digital downloads, calling into question protections about ownership over software and the long-term playability of older titles released on discs.
Sony to end video game disc production in January 2028
By Owen Ziegler
The gaming giant says the move toward digital-only games aligns the company with consumer trends toward online marketplaces.
Smash tacos with bear-approved veggies
By Simon Daly
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
By Aarohi Narain
Summer in Japan: The language and flavors of staying cool
By Eric Margolis
‘A little funky’: Japanese ‘nattō’ disgusts and delights the world
By Tomohiro Osaki & Sarah Lai

COMMUNITY

James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
By Mai Yoshikawa
Beyond the paperwork and the language barrier, James Benstead says the hardest part about adopting in Japan was the waiting.
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
Fear and uncertainty for foreign business owners after Japan revises rules
By Elizabeth Beattie

Editors' Picks

JAPAN
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
By Jessica Speed
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
JAPAN
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
By Elizabeth Beattie
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.
COMMUNITY
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
By Mai Yoshikawa
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
ENVIRONMENT
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
By Elizabeth Beattie
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
LIFE
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
By Robbie Swinnerton
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

JT Directory Service

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SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency
New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency

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

JAPAN
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
By Yukana Inoue
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
JAPAN
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men&#039;s restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
COMMUNITY
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
By Mai Yoshikawa
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
JAPAN
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
By Elizabeth Beattie
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.
JAPAN
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
By Kyoko Hasegawa
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.