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July 11, 2026
 

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OIL

A vessel sails in the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman’s Musandam province, on Sunday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2026
Trump’s blockade of Iran ports risks dangerous escalation cycle
While the U.S. is capable of enforcing a blockade, it would entail substantial costs and risks.
The Toto Museum in Kitakyushu. Toto has suspended new orders for its prefabricated bathrooms due to a shortage of materials.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 13, 2026
Toto halts bathroom orders after Iran war upends supply chain
The firm joins a growing list of Japanese manufacturers who have cut production or hiked prices due to tightening supplies of naphtha.
A vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman’s Musandam province, on Sunday
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 13, 2026
Japan ‘closely monitoring’ U.S. plans to blockade Strait of Hormuz
U.S. President Donald Trump again assailed Tokyo and other U.S. allies for not helping secure the strait, saying that the lack of aid “amazes” him.
Oil storage tanks in the Keihin industrial area in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. Japan’s chemical manufacturers and other oil-dependent sectors face extreme vulnerability as the Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2026
High oil prices force Japan equity analysts to slash forecasts
Japan’s chemical manufacturers and other oil-dependent sectors face extreme vulnerability as the Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked.
The Yehliu headland in northern Taiwan has long served as both a fishing ground and a strategically defended area, with natural rock formations and coastal cliffs historically used to monitor maritime routes approaching Taipei.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 13, 2026
Taiwan plans drills to break potential Chinese energy blockade
A blockage would not be just Taiwan’s problem but that of the entire region, the island’s deputy interior minister says.
A Chinese-flagged oil tanker is moored at an oil terminal at Tsing Yi port in Hong Kong on March 19.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2026
China’s energy strategy pays off as Mideast war cramps supplies, analysts say
China is a net importer of oil, and more than half of its seaborne crude came from the Middle East last year.
People walk past a wall mural along the roadside in Tehran on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 13, 2026
Trump vows to blockade Hormuz after U.S.-Iran peace talks fail
The blockade will be enforced “impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas,” the U.S. military said.
A map showing the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command claimed that two of its warships transited the Strait of Hormuz to begin clearing Iranian-laid mines — a claim Tehran has denied.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 12, 2026
U.S. says warships transit Strait of Hormuz in mine clearance op
Trump called the operation “a favor” to countries such as China, Japan and France that “don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves.”
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring meetings signage outside the IMF headquarters in Washington on April 9.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 12, 2026
World finance chiefs head to IMF with a sense of deja vu
Ahead of the meetings IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva warned that the international community is becoming less able to respond to shocks.
Pedestrians cross Enghelab Square in Tehran, near a billboard showing Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader, in the Iranian capital on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2026
The Indo-Pacific price of a hasty war with Tehran
The allies are not abandoning the U.S.; they are recoiling from a war that lacks a defined strategy.
An oil tanker off the shore of Singapore on March 17.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 12, 2026
Australia turns to Asia for fuel and security as U.S. distracted
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his ministers have been in close contact with key Asian trading partners in order to maintain fuel shipments amid global supply disruptions.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda holds at news conferece in Tokyo on March 19.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 11, 2026
Bank of Japan wary of inflation pressure amid war in Middle East
The BOJ is expected to face difficulties steering its monetary policy, as raising interest rates to contain inflation could cool the economy.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance walks alongside Pakistani Chief of Defence Forces Asim Munir and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar after arriving for talks with Iranian officials in Islamabad on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 11, 2026
U.S. and Iran teams in Pakistan for peace talks amid doubts over possible deal
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon threatened to complicate negotiations.
Iran cannot locate all of the mines it laid in the Strait of Hormuz and lacks the capability to remove them, the U.S. says, one reason Tehran has not been able to quickly comply with the Trump administration’s admonitions to let more traffic pass through the waterway.
WORLD
Apr 11, 2026
Iran unable to find mines in Strait of Hormuz, U.S. says
The development is one reason Iran has not been able to quickly comply with the Trump administration’s admonitions to let more traffic pass through the strait.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One on his way to Virginia, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 11, 2026
U.S. asks allies for quick plans to secure Hormuz after pact
A U.K.-led coalition of more than 40 countries, which includes many European nations, Japan and Canada, has pledged to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
A worker harvests rice in Vietnam's Dong Thap province on March 25.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 11, 2026
Fuel shortages from Iran war threaten Asia’s biggest food staple
Across Southeast Asia, tens of millions are struggling to find affordable crop nutrients as well as the diesel needed for operating machinery.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi raises her hand to answer questions regarding the situation in the Middle East at an Upper House Budget Committee session at parliament in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 11, 2026
Confusion over naphtha supply hits industries and households
Japan relies on the Middle East for about 40% of its naphtha consumption. Additionally, about 40% of domestically produced naphtha is refined from crude oil mainly from the region.
Cargo ships in the Persian Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in the United Arab Emirates, on March 11
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Apr 11, 2026
Iran’s chokehold on Hormuz Strait has White House on defensive
Allies, military analysts and skeptics of the U.S. strategy have been asking how Iran was allowed to seize and maintain control of the passage in the first place.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, dressed in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps uniform, chairs a session in Tehran on Feb. 1.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 11, 2026
Revamped Iranian leadership wary as U.S. peace talks set to begin
The upgraded seniority in each side’s delegation is a signal that they both mean business, analysts say.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday, as he departs for Pakistan for talks on Iran.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 11, 2026
Vance emerges as Trump’s Iran closer, a task fraught with risk
The talks’ outcome could determine whether a tenuous two-week ceasefire turns into a lasting peace or ultimately unravels and plunges the region into further conflict.
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.
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
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.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Japan’s southwestern islands on high alert as Typhoon Bavi approaches
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 largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
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.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
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.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

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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