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June 30, 2026
 

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SOCIAL MEDIA

Dry-cleaning professional Masakazu Shimura brushes a soft toy at Cleaning Yonmarusan in Fuefuki, Yamanashi Prefecture, on April 27.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2026
Japan cleaner goes viral with spa-like service for plushies
Videos of the meticulous care that cuddly toys receive at Cleaning Yonmarusan have mesmerized fans on social media, attracting customers from around the world.
Punch, a Japanese macaque known for clinging to a stuffed orangutan, looks on at Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba Prefecture, in March.
JAPAN / Society
May 9, 2026
Punch, the lonely monkey, is growing up. He’s still a star.
Punch has handled the limelight better than most young stars. Since first hitting the headlines, he has slowly integrated into his troop and made friends.
There are no approved vaccines or known cures for the hantavirus, which is usually spread from infected rodents and can cause respiratory and cardiac distress as well as hemorrhagic fever.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 9, 2026
Hantavirus scare revives COVID-era conspiracy theories
The misinformation resurged even as the World Health Organization insisted there was minimal risk to the general public from passengers of the MV Hondius.
Henna Virkkunen (second from left), executive vice president of the European Commission, and communications minister Yoshimasa Hayashi (third from left) at a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
May 6, 2026
Japan and EU to enhance cooperation on regulating social media
A joint statement called for cooperation in areas such as data flow and communications infrastructure, in addition to artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Hideko Hakamata (right), the elder sister of Iwao Hakamata who was acquitted of a 1966 murder, attends a rally in Tokyo on April 18 to oppose the Justice Ministry's bill to revise the retrial system, which would continue to allow public prosecutors to appeal decisions to start a retrial.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 5, 2026
Growing number of critical views expressed online over proposed retrial reforms
Many social media users took interest in the topic after the draft bill to revise the code drew severe objections — even angry outbursts — from some lawmakers.
The Manus decision comes just weeks before China’s Xi Jinping and the U.S. president are scheduled to meet at a high-profile summit.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 28, 2026
Xi tests China’s reach by blocking already-done Meta deal
The country’s powerful state planner decreed Monday that the deal must be canceled — four months after it was sealed.
Authorities are concerned that the spread of baseless information in the case of Yuki Adachi, whose father was arrested after the boy's body was found this month, could impede police investigations.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2026
Kyoto police warn of misinformation in case of arrested father and dead boy
Authorities are concerned that such baseless information circulating on social media could impede their investigation.
U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 24, 2026
Trump’s messaging blitz divides advisers as Iran talks waver
The president’s Truth Social posts have been detrimental to ongoing negotiations through mediators such as Pakistan, according to U.S. officials.
Immediately after a magnitude 7.7 quake off the Sanriku coast of northeastern Japan on Monday, many posts on X claimed the temblor was artificial.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2026
Misinformation spreads on social media after northeastern earthquake
Many posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, claimed that the temblor was artificial.
A logo of Meta AI outside Meta House on the opening day of the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2025
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2026
Meta to capture U.S. employee mouse movements and keystrokes to train AI
The new tracking software will run on work-related apps and websites and will also take occasional snapshots of the content on employees’ screens, according to an internal memo.
Police investigate a public bathroom in Nantan, Kyoto Prefecture, on Saturday where they suspect 11-year-old Yuki Adachi's body might have been temporarily placed.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 20, 2026
Kyoto suspect told others son was missing before school called home, police say
The suspect was arrested last week after admitting to killing his son in the high-profile investigation.
A giant screen broadcasts news showing Chinese President Xi Jinping shaking hands with Cheng Li-wun, chairperson of Kuomintang, Taiwan's largest opposition party, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 17, 2026
China’s information war turns Taiwan’s own voices against it
Taiwan’s defense ministry said it is countering a massive increase in Chinese “cognitive warfare.”
An experiment by a small city in Aichi Prefecture suggests that smartphone restrictions targeting only children are less effective than those targeting the entire family, as children’s screen habits closely mirror their parents.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 17, 2026
The parent problem: When smartphone rules end at the school gate
Children who exceeded two hours of daily screen time tended to have parents with similarly high usage. The relationship held across age groups.
The Nagoya District Court has sentenced Yuji Wada, a 42-year-old former elementary school teacher who started a group chat encouraging the sharing of indecent images of young girls, to two years and six months in prison.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 16, 2026
Ex-teacher who opened group chat for sharing indecent images gets jail
Yuji Wada, one of seven teachers who reportedly victimized more than 75 children, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison by the Nagoya District Court.
Johnny Somali received a prison sentence of six months with 20 days detention after repeated acts of disturbing the public in South Korea.
LIFE / Digital
Apr 15, 2026
‘Nuisance streamer’ Johnny Somali sentenced to six months in prison
The 25-year-old American influencer received a prison sentence from a South Korean court for repeated acts of disturbing the public.
Many women going through midlife are turning to strength training to combat age-related muscle loss and health risks, but the trend is being clouded by conflicting advice and influencer-driven misinformation.
COMMENTARY
Apr 12, 2026
The most valuable menopause fitness hack
Middle-aged women aiming to build muscle should be skeptical of “fitfluencers,” many of whom promote junk science and grifts.
A woman walks past an advertisement for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Nagoya. The Japanese Olympic Committee plans to fight back against online abuse of athletes during the upcoming event.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 9, 2026
You’re being watched: Japan battles online abuse of athletes
Japanese Olympic Committee officials tried to combat online abuse against athletes during the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics and plan to do so again at the Asian Games.
TikTok plans to invest €1 billion ($1.16 billion) to build its second data center in Finland in less than ​a year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 8, 2026
TikTok to build a second billion-euro data center in Finland
Finland has become a magnet ⁠for data centers ​as companies including Microsoft and Google look to curb energy ​costs and meet climate goals.
Participants at the Kinrin Utakai discuss tanka at the group’s gathering last month in Tokyo’s Ogikubo neighborhood.
CULTURE / Books / Longform
Apr 6, 2026
Why tanka poetry is clicking with a new generation
A centuries-old poetic form is being reshaped through everyday experiences, online exchange and a new generation of writers.
A month after Australia's social media ban took effect, the government reported in mid-January that 4.7 million suspected underage ⁠accounts had been deactivated.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 3, 2026
Under global spotlight, Australia plays hardball on social media ban
The Australian government is pleased with the overseas interest in the ban, but is also keen ‌to counter the news that many teens are still scrolling on their phones, experts say.
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.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
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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