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July 02, 2026
 

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Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hopes to break away from "Japan’s long-standing trend of underinvestment” by setting a target for growing the economy to a value of $6.8 trillion in nominal GDP by 2040.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2026
Takaichi sets target for nominal GDP of $6.8 trillion in 2040
The projections are in line with Cabinet Office estimates based on the premise that the government’s growth strategy is successfully implemented over the next 14 years.
Wu Feng-chiao, 72, harvests gelidium algae, locally known as "stone flowers," from rocks along Taiwan's northeastern coast in the Magang fishing village near New Taipei City on June 16.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 1, 2026
Taiwan’s aging seaweed harvesters hope younger women will wade in
There are no more than four women in the Magang fishing village in Taiwan who still regularly collect Gelidium algae, and all of them are in their 70s or older.
Japan spent ¥11.7 trillion ($73 billion) between late April and late May to prop up the weak yen.
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2026
Why is the yen so weak and what can Japan do about it?
The yen has tumbled past a 40-year low against the U.S. dollar, prompting the Japanese government to vow “appropriate action at any time.”
The revelation of the defense funding gap blindsided Andy Burnham and his team on Tuesday, one source said.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2026
U.K. defense plan blows £5 billion hole in Burnham’s budget
How Andy Burnham will approach defense is a topic of intense speculation as Westminster prepares for him to assume leadership of the governing Labour Party as soon as July 17.
Officials from tech companies and South Korea’s government after a public briefing on the development vision for advanced industry in Gwangju on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 1, 2026
Samsung and SK Hynix’s mega South Korea chips gamble tests optimism of AI cycle
The tech giants won praise from President Lee Jae Myung after throwing their weight behind the government’s semiconductor push.
Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard (right) and guard Kyle Lowry celebrate winning the NBA Championship over the Golden State Warriors after Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, in June 2019.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jul 1, 2026
Clippers dealing Kawhi Leonard back to Raptors
The deal, pending ⁠physicals, will send Leonard back to the franchise he led to the 2019 NBA championship.
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 / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 1, 2026
Japan’s opposition faces a make-or-break choice over wider integration
The Centrist Reform Alliance has yet to fully convince the public of its significance, said senior opposition lawmaker Masayo Tanabu.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Confidence among large manufacturers rose to the highest level since 2018, supporting the BOJ’s stance to keep raising interest rates.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 1, 2026
Japan’s manufacturer mood improves to highest level since 2018
Inflation expectations climbed, supporting the Bank of Japan’s stance to keep raising interest rates.
Serena Williams (top) shakes hands with Maya Joint after their first round match at Wimbledon in London on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Jul 1, 2026
Serena Williams beaten at Wimbledon in first singles match in four years
Williams has captured the imagination of the sports world with her sensational comeback, but there was no storybook chapter to add to her astonishing career.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe speaks during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on April 6.
WORLD
Jul 1, 2026
CIA chief compares cutting-edge AI to nuclear weapons
John Ratcliffe’s comments form a tacit defense of Washington’s recent hard line on controlling the release of the most powerful AI technology.
Fans react to a World Cup match in Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul, on June 24. JoongAng Group, which made a big bet on World Cup rights, is facing financial trouble after a series of missteps.
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2026
Failed World Cup bet sinks South Korean media giant’s Disney dream
A South Korean content powerhouse’s mistimed global expansion and ill-judged bets on World Cup soccer and Olympic rights ended up derailing its dream.
Yana Hrynko, senior researcher of The National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, shows a bird'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.
WORLD
Jul 1, 2026
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.
Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring France's third goal against Sweden at New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Tuesday.
SOCCER / World cup
Jul 1, 2026
Mbappe and Haaland fire France and Norway into World Cup last 16
Kylian Mbappe took his tally for the tournament to six goals, making him joint top-scorer alongside Lionel Messi.
Toyota became the largest shareholder of Joby Aviation last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 1, 2026
Toyota sets up manufacturing joint venture with U.S. air taxi-maker Joby
The joint venture is part of a growing partnership between the carmaker and Joby, which makes electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles.
Members of the South African Police Service monitor the crowd during a demonstration by the "March and March" movement marking an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups for foreign nationals who entered the country illegally to leave, in Durban, South Africa, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jul 1, 2026
Antimigrant protests draw thousands across South Africa
The protests have stoked fears of xenophobic violence on a scale that erupted in South Africa in 2008, when 62 people were killed in a wave of attacks.
Electronic boards display the foreign exchange rate of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar at a foreign exchange brokerage in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 1, 2026
Yen’s slide puts market on lookout for Japan’s next red line
Strategists have increasingly pointed to ¥163 and beyond as the next levels to watch.
Conveyor-belt sushi operator Kura Sushi, which has been established in the U.S. since 2009, faces a new challenge as Sushiro enters the market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 1, 2026
Kura Sushi to accelerate U.S. growth to fend off rivals’ expansion
The chain is targeting about 300 locations in the U.S. over the longer term, keeping a pace of 20% growth in store numbers each year, its U.S. operations CEO has said.
U.S. President Donald Trump's worth is an estimated $7.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2026
Trump reports at least $1.4 billion in 2025 crypto earnings
The crypto haul was by far the largest source of U.S. President Donald Trump’s income, according to his latest annual financial disclosure.
A group of civilian volunteers searches for survivors in a collapsed building in La Guaira, Venezuela, on Saturday.
WORLD / Society
Jul 1, 2026
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.
Members of the League of United Latin American Citizens gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court after a decision on birthright citizenship in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2026
U.S. Supreme Court backs birthright citizenship in blow to Trump
In response, the U.S. president said on social media “we could easily make it up in Congress through Legislation.”
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Belgium in 2025.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2026
Turkey says NATO adjusting to security landscape, U.S. not withdrawing
Turkey has NATO’s second-largest army and has developed one of the world’s leading defense industries.
A draft statement for next week’s NATO summit in Ankara does not currently mention ‌holding the ‌next gathering in Albania, despite a previous declaration that it would take place there, according to sources.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2026
Next NATO summit in Albania in doubt amid U.S. reluctance and low defense spending
The ​move comes as European NATO members seek to show Washington that they have made progress on defense spending pledges.
The front page carries news of a former prime minister's arrest as the Lockheed scandal expands.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jul 1, 2026
Japan Times 1976: Ex-Prime Minister Tanaka arrested
From Tanaka’s dramatic arrest to the Akashi stampede, Japan confronted tragedy and accountability.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
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.
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.
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.
Reform panel calls for easing data center building standards
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi emphasized that the government will promote reforms of regulations and systems that fit the artificial intelligence era.
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.
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.

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