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July 24, 2026
 

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Kantaro Komiya
SpaceX's Starship rocket prototypes at the SpaceX Starbase in Brownsville, Texas, in August 2023
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2026
With SpaceX Starship, Japan¡¯s Ispace provides ride-share to the moon
Tokyo-based Ispace has bought 500 kilograms of capacity for $50 million ?on a Starship that would land on the moon as soon ?as 2030.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference after a BOJ policy meeting in Tokyo, on April 28.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2026
BOJ Gov. Ueda hospitalized and will miss June meeting
The governor will submit a written statement on ?his view on policy but will ?not participate in next week¡¯s vote, the BOJ said in a statement.
Digital minister Hisashi Matsumoto
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Jun 5, 2026
Japan could end up an ¡®AI colony¡¯ if it falls behind, digital minister warns
Japan¡¯s push to keep pace with the global AI race reflects a broader anxiety among governments worldwide, fearful of becoming ever more dependent ?on foreign technology.
A model of lunar lander "Resilience," operated by ispace, is displayed at a venue where ispace employees monitored the company's attempt to land on the moon, in Tokyo, on June 6.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Mar 27, 2026
Japan¡¯s Ispace delays NASA-sponsored moon landing to 2030
The announcement highlights a murky outlook for the venture, as the U.S. revamps missions with commercial and international partners to send ?astronauts to the moon before China.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings¡¯ Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant stands along the seaside in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Dec 22, 2025
Tepco prepares to restart world¡¯s biggest nuclear plant, 15 years after Fukushima
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, located about 220 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, was among 54 reactors closed after the 2011 earthquake and ?tsunami crippled the Fukushima No. 1 plant.
The Firefly Aerospace mission operations center in Leander, Texas
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 18, 2025
Firefly Aerospace eyes Japan rocket launches for Asia market
The plan could make Japan the first launch site in Asia for Firefly, the Texas-based rival to Elon Musk¡¯s SpaceX.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2025
Taiwanese rocket fails to achieve Japan¡¯s first foreign launch
The rocket lifted off at 11:40 a.m., but within a minute its trajectory turned wobbly and it went into free fall.
Innovative Space Carrier CEO Kojiro Hatada poses with a model of the planned spaceplane ASCA 3 at JFE Engineering¡¯s factory in Yokohama on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025
Japanese reusable rocket startup ISC eyes U.S. test launch in December
Innovative Space Carrier said its ASCA 1.0 reusable launcher will conduct a 100-meter flight and landing test.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency President Hiroshi Yamakawa speaks at a press briefing in Tokyo on Friday.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Science & Health
May 17, 2025
Japan remains committed to moon missions as Trump cuts NASA budget, JAXA chief says
U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s proposed a $6 billion cut to NASA¡¯s budget could upend the Artemis program to return people to the moon.
Tokyo-based satellite maker Axelspace's initial public offering is expected to be approved by the Tokyo Stock Exchange later this month, people with knowledge of the matter said.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 8, 2025
Axelspace is latest Japan space startup to seek IPO, sources say
If successful, it would be the fifth such listing of a Japanese spacecraft venture over the last two years.
While car production helped transform Germany, Italy and France after World War II, its influence in East Asia has been even more profound.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Mar 28, 2025
U.S. auto tariffs take aim at pillar of East Asian economies
Automakers form the nucleus of vast networks of group companies that impact almost every facet of working life in Japan and South Korea.
Eddie Kato, president and managing director of Astroscale Japan, at the company's office in Tokyo in February
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 21, 2025
Japan¡¯s space debris firm Astroscale to tie up with Indian companies
India has opened the country¡¯s space sector to private players beyond the state-owned Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada says the company believes joint lunar missions between United States and Japan will remain on course after the leaders of the two countries met last week.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2025
Ispace upbeat as Trump keeps Artemis lunar missions with Japan
Launched last month, Ispace¡¯s Resilience lander will approach the moon in about three months for the company¡¯s second lunar touchdown.
A Panasonic Energy factory in the city of Kinokawa, Wakayama prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025
Panasonic Energy says cutting China supply for U.S. business a ¡®No.1 objective¡¯
Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s pledge to raise tariffs on imported Chinese goods has forced companies around the world to reassess their manufacturing processes.
Makino Milling Machine's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 27, 2024
Japan¡¯s Nidec takes aim at Makino Milling with $1.6 billion unsolicited bid
Nidec said Makino¡¯s board had not agreed to the ?11,000 per share offer, a 42% premium to Thursday¡¯s closing share price, as it had not proposed the bid before announcing it.
A United Nations panel on space traffic coordination in late October said that urgent action was necessary to track and manage objects in low Earth orbit because of the rapid increase in satellites and space junk.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2024
Japan and India startups to study using lasers to tackle space debris
Japan¡¯s Orbital Lasers is building a system that will use laser energy to stop the rotation of space junk by vaporizing small parts of its surface.
Takao Doi, a former astronaut and professor at Kyoto University, holds an engineering model of LignoSat wooden satellite during an interview at the university on Oct. 25.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Nov 5, 2024
World¡¯s first wooden satellite, developed in Japan, heads to space
The palm-sized satellite is tasked to demonstrate the cosmic potential of the renewable material as humans explore living in space.
The H3 rocket, built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, lifts off from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Feb. 17.
BUSINESS
Sep 18, 2024
Mitsubishi to provide H3 rockets for France¡¯s Eutelsat from 2027
The deal is a major overseas win for Japan¡¯s ?220 billion ($1.55 billion) state-backed H3 rocket project.
Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in April 2023, after the firm's first attempt to land on the moon failed.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Science & Health
Sep 12, 2024
Ispace aims for December launch of second moon landing mission
The Hakuto-R Mission 2 spacecraft will be delivered by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida and attempt a lunar touchdown after four to five months of spaceflight.
The Kestrel I Suborbital Launch Vehicle, operated by AtSpace, sister company of Taiwanese rocket startup TiSpace, at an AtSpace facility in Queensland, Australia, on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Jul 25, 2024
Taiwanese rocket startup may bolster Japan¡¯s space hub ambitions
A planned launch has faced regulatory hurdles and delays amid questions over whether Japan should embrace overseas business as it works to grow its space industry.
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer¡¯s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ¡°seed¡± that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ¡°Peak 1 amyloid beta,¡± as seen in a mouse's brain.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" ¡ª an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Low-income families in Japan cut food and air conditioning during summer break
Yumiko Watanabe, the chairperson of nonprofit Kidsdoor, explains the results of a survey in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1.
Iran strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role
Iranian drones are displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on Jan. 13, 2025.U.S. officials have acknowledged that Russia has ?provided targeting ?and other support for Iran in its drone strikes on U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf region.
Intervention is the word after yen moves beyond ?163 and sits there
The government could prop up the yen at any moment, though its signaling is hard to read.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan¡¯s digital nomad visa
Christopher Flinn works remotely from Tokyo earlier this month. Japan issued 646 digital nomad visas in 2025, but tourism officials are hoping to increase that figure in the coming years, with Japan's relatively cheap cost of living and the weak yen seen as potential draws for young professionals.
Japan reveals hint of new defense spending target in fiscal blueprint
The Self-Defense Forces' Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires during a joint live-fire drill with U.S. Marines as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on June 28.
Summer has arrived in Japan and so have hot sleepless nights
Amid the heat and humidity in Japan, a good night¡¯s sleep is growing increasingly elusive without the heavy use of air conditioning.
Maya Ongaku¡¯s DIY dream is getting bigger
The members of Maya Ongaku ¡ª (from left) Tsutomu Sonoda, Shoei Ikeda and Ryota Takano ¡ª grew up on the Shonan Coast south of Tokyo and have been friends since their school days.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

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