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July 05, 2026
 

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OSAKA

The sun sets on the Grand Ring on the final day of the Osaka Expo on Monday.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 13, 2025
After plenty of ups and downs, Osaka Expo concludes with message of unity
The 184-day event started on shaky ground amid concerns over the pace of construction and a lack of public interest but proved to be enormously popular.
Outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters inside the Japan Pavilion at the Osaka Expo on Sept. 17.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 13, 2025
As Osaka Expo comes to an end, so too does ‘expo diplomacy’ for Ishiba
The Osaka Expo was “a precious opportunity of diplomacy” for Japan, a senior Foreign Ministry official said.
Inna Ilina, vice president of the Ukraine Pavilion, says she is grateful her country was able to participate and send out a clear message: Ukraine and its democratic values are not for sale.
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2025
At Osaka Expo pavilions, staff recount ‘life-changing’ experiences
Nearly 160 countries and regions participated in the Osaka Expo, with each bringing staff from overseas to help run their respective pavilions during the six-month event.
Stuffed toys featuring Myaku-Myaku, the official mascot character of the Osaka Expo, line the shelves of a store at the expo site on Yumeshima island in the city of Osaka.
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2025
Sales of Expo mascot Myaku-Myaku goods to continue through March
The sales period has been extended by over five months thanks to an unexpected surge in the popularity of Myaku-Myaku.
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Oct 12, 2025
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
The mega-event was a resounding success, taking in some 25 million visitors over 184 days. But how its legacy will look in the decades to come remains a question mark.
The city of Izumisano, in Osaka Prefecture, has successfully challenged a decision by the central government to cut special tax grants based on its revenues under the <i>furusato nōzei</i> (hometown tax donation) system.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 10, 2025
Government cuts to Izumisano’s tax grants illegal, Osaka High Court rules
The city in Osaka Prefecture raised about ¥49.8 billion in donations in fiscal 2018, the most among the local governments under the hometown tax donation program.
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 10, 2025
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
The prefectural and city governments of Osaka have announced they will retain just a 200-meter portion of the world’s largest wooden structure.
Masayoshi Matsumoto, chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation and deputy chairperson of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, speaks during an interview on Wednesday in the city of Osaka.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2025
Local business leader vows to discuss Osaka Expo legacies
The new technologies shown off at the expo include flying cars.
As of Friday, a total of about 22 million admission tickets had been sold for the Osaka Expo, surpassing the break-even level of 18 million.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2025
Osaka Expo expected to post profit of up to ¥28 billion
Robust sales of admission tickets and goods related to the Expo’s official mascot, Myaku-Myaku, have pushed up revenue.
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and a distinguished professor of Osaka University, attends a news conference after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Suita, Osaka prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2025
With medical breakthrough, Japan’s latest Nobel winner bucked convention
Shimon Sakaguchi’s unwavering conviction in the validity of his research paid off with the discovery of immune-regulating cells — and a Nobel Prize in medicine.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visit the Future of Life pavilion featuring androids and robots at the Osaka expo on Monday.
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2025
Imperial couple make second visit to Osaka Expo
The emperor showed his fascination at an android modeled after Natsume Soseki (1867-1916), saying that the Japanese novelist “continues to live on.”
Rice that was about to be illegally imported, seized at the container inspection center of the Osaka Customs Nanko Branch Office on Aug. 8 in Osaka Prefecture
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 7, 2025
Osaka couple arrested for attempting to import rice illegally
The suspects are alleged to have tried to import some 45 tons of rice from Vietnam, claiming it as mung beans.
The team at Ryokukou Garden consists primarily of a single family, including Toshiki Tanisaki (second from right), who led the company's efforts at the Osaka Expo, Chikako Tanisaki (fifth from right), who performs daily maintanence at the expo, and Takeshi Tanisaki (fourth from right), who added a nursery to the family farm more than 50 years ago.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 4, 2025
How a family-run landscaper turned the Osaka Expo green
Run by three generations of the same family, Ryokukou Garden is behind the greenery for five major pavilions at the Osaka event.
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda left the door open to policy shifts by reiterating the bank's stance on interest rates, giving no clear signal on a possible rate hike ahead of this month's board meeting.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 3, 2025
BOJ’s Ueda keeps options open by avoiding clear hints for rates
Ueda refrained from telegraphing any policy changes after market speculation over an impending rate hike gained momentum in recent weeks.
Timber from the Grand Ring, a symbol of the 2025 Osaka expo, will be reused in public housing to support recovery efforts in Ishikawa Prefecture, which was hit by disasters last year.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2025
Osaka Expo’s Grand Ring timber to be reused for housing in Ishikawa
Suzu, an Ishikawa city heavily damaged in the disasters, will receive the dismantled timber from the world’s largest wooden architectural structure free of charge.
Nippon Ishin leader Hirofumi Yoshimura speaks to reporters at party headquarters in Osaka on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 30, 2025
Nippon Ishin draws up outline for secondary capital plan
The team defined the secondary capital as an economic center comparable to the Tokyo area that can function as the capital in the event that Tokyo becomes unable to do so.
The Osaka Expo in Osaka on Sept. 13. The daily number of visitors to the expo has topped 200,000 since mid-September as its Oct. 13 closing approaches.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2025
Osaka Expo visitors exceed breakeven point
Approximately 28.2 million people are expected to visit the Osaka Expo before it ends next month.
The Osaka Expo will release a wave a new products in October, including a limited edition Labubu Myaku-Myaku figurine.
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 27, 2025
Myaku-Myaku gets the Labubu treatment at the Osaka Expo
With just weeks left before its final day, Osaka Expo is dialing up the ugly cuteness of its beloved blobby mascot and tapping into the global Labubu craze.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during an interview on Sept. 20 at parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2025
LDP presidential candidate Hayashi sees need for backup of Tokyo
The idea has been championed by opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai, which is seeking to turn Osaka into a backup capital.
Prince Hisahito looks at the Grand Ring during his visit to the Osaka Expo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2025
Prince Hisahito inspects Osaka Expo’s Grand Ring
The 19-year-old prince looked around the Grand Ring’s architectural structure from underneath before making his way to the top to view the expo from above.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japanese police arrest nine over Sierra Leone-based special fraud
Japanese police have arrested nine individuals for their alleged involvement in a special fraud case using Sierra Leone as a base.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan&#039;s renewable goals.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
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.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
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.

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