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July 01, 2026
 

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CITIES

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 23, 2026
Takaichi and JIP agree to pass bill on backup capital this parliamentary session
The Japan Innovation Party has long sought a backup capital plan, agreeing to join the ruling coalition last year in exchange for passing legislation on it.
Employed people walk more than those without jobs, a study from the University of Tokyo found, suggesting factors beyond the environment also shape how much people walk.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2026
Study finds large gap in daily steps people in Japan take, depending on area
The study from the University of Tokyo found average step counts tended to be higher in municipalities with environments more conducive to walking.
Dubai, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, showed huge growth, but its "pulse" appeared to be highly speculative.
BUSINESS
Jun 19, 2026
Satellite observations detect ‘urban pulse’ of six global cities
Researchers looked at Dubai, Lagos, Mexico City, Mumbai, Seattle and Shenzhen using a new way to document dynamic changes unfolding in each ​of these cities in near real-time.
Hirofumi Yoshimura (left), head of the Japan Innovation Party, and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is also Liberal Democratic Party president, during a meeting at the Diet in Tokyo on March 17
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 15, 2026
Bills on JIP’s signature policy goals in limbo as parliamentary session nears end
The party, also known as Nippon Ishin no Kai, continues to push for the creation of a secondary capital and a reduction of seats in the Lower House.
Japan's National Diet Building in Tokyo. Japan has released an online visualization tool that makes it easier to analyze the fiscal conditions of local governments.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2026
Japan releases tool to visualize local government finances
Users can examine revenues, expenditures and fiscal indicators of local governments through graphs and color-coded maps.
Hebikubo Ginza street — now Sangen-dori street — is pictured in the 1930s, when Tokyo was rapidly urbanizing alongside the expansion of rail infrastructure.
JAPAN / History / Greater Shinagawa Area
Jun 2, 2026
The many lives of Shinagawa
A journey through the ancient settlements, ports, railways and redevelopments that shaped Tokyo’s southern gateway.
The Osaka Municipal Assembly passes a proposal on Wednesday to establish a statutory council to discuss what has become known as the Osaka metropolis plan.
JAPAN / Politics
May 28, 2026
Osaka Municipal Assembly approves proposed council to discuss metropolis plan
The council may hold its first meeting as soon as next month if its establishment is greenlit at the prefectural assembly’s plenary meeting next Wednesday.
A policewoman controls traffic in Pyongyang in 2017. North Korea’s capital is experiencing a surge in passenger cars, creating traffic jams for the first time and necessitating new parking lots.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 12, 2026
Even in North Korea, someone’s in your parking spot
North Korea’s capital is experiencing a surge in passenger cars, creating traffic jams for the first time and necessitating new parking lots.
Monuments of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the U.S.S.R., are an awkward reminder of an era that no longer fits with the times in Central Asia.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 5, 2026
Soviet architecture vanishes as Central Asia drifts away from Moscow
Over the past decade, the region has shown little interest in preserving its Soviet heritage.
The morning commute in Mumbai, with the Altimus tower in the background.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 17, 2026
Mumbai’s skyline is soaring. So is the pressure on housing.
These days, prices for some apartments are on par with parts of New York, and developers are putting in amenities to make analysts and traders feel at home.
Japan Innovation Party policy chief Alex Saito (left) and Ichiro Miyashita, a Lower House member of the Liberal Democratic Party, speak to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 1, 2026
LDP and JIP agree to drop special ward requirement for secondary capital
The move opens up the role to prefectures other than just Osaka.
An electronic board in Tokyo displays the Nikkei stock average on Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2026
Tokyo reenters Global Financial Centres Index’s top 10
Other key cities in Asia are also ranked highly, while Osaka rose several spots.
Chinese President Xi Jinping during the closing session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of People in Beijing on March 12
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 24, 2026
Xi renews push to develop new high-tech city outside Beijing
The Chinese leader said the development zone, located some 100 kilometers southwest of the capital, should drive growth through reform and innovation.
Across the Global South, a growing crisis of overheating cities is impacting the health and livelihoods of more than 1 billion people living in informal settlements, a figure expected to increase sevenfold by 2050, a new report said.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 6, 2026
Extreme heat hurts work, health and sleep in Africa slums, report says
A growing crisis of overheating cities is impacting the health and livelihoods of more than 1 billion people living in informal settlements.
People gather at a market in Bengaluru, India, on Feb. 12. India’s cities remain unsafe and unlivable because delayed local elections leave administrations unaccountable despite rising national wealth.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2026
India is getting richer, but its cities are unlivable
India has failed to give city residents the basics: uncontaminated water, breathable air and a government they can vote out if it fails them.
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.
Hirofumi Yoshimura makes a campaign speech in the city of Osaka on Thursday to seek reelection as Osaka governor.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2026
Campaigning begins for Osaka gubernatorial election on Feb. 8
The previous governor, Hirofumi Yoshimura, resigned in an attempt to revive the so-called Osaka metropolis plan.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura (left) in Tokyo in December
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 13, 2026
Osaka governor mulls stepping down to pave way for secondary capital designation
Both the governor and mayor of Osaka are considering resigning from their posts to pave the way for the city to become a backup capital.
The Presidential Palace in the planned new capital city of Nusantara, in East Kalimantan province, Indonesia, on Aug. 17, 2024
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 13, 2026
Prabowo affirms commitment to new Indonesian capital in first visit as president
Analysts say the president may not have fiscal space to fund key programs as well as Nusantara, which his predecessor envisioned as a futuristic capital surrounded by forest.
Shinsekai, the renowned culinary district of Osaka. Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura has called for the creation of a secondary capital in prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 9, 2026
Race to become Japan’s secondary capital heats up
As the Japan Innovation Party works to get Osaka designated the country’s secondary capital, other municipalities are looking to muscle in.
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.
Yen hits 40-year low against the dollar, breaking ¥162 level
Japan's currency broke ¥162 to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.
Japan falls in gut-wrenching fashion as Brazil strikes late to win World Cup clash
Brazil's Gabriel Martinelli (right) shoots past Japan defenders Shogo Taniguchi (left) and Takehiro Tomiyasu to score in the second half of a match in the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Houston on Monday.
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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