NEC and New York University estimate that flood defenses on the Rockaway Peninsula could avoid up to $800 million in losses, pricing everything from transit disruption to residents' mental health in a bid to pull private money into climate adaptation.
Japanese nine-member group JO1 heads to North America this October for a five-city tour tied to its US debut EP. Here are the venues in Toronto, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and exactly how the tickets work.
New York-trained Japanese soul singer Nao Yoshioka releases her new album 'self' on July 17, with 13 artists from across the global soul scene, including Philadelphia legend Bilal. A world tour follows in October, with four Japan dates. Here is her journey from the Apollo Theater stage to the world, and a look at the Japanese soul scene most listeners abroad have never heard about.
Japanese izakaya group Watami has acquired a 51% stake in Onigilly, a San Francisco onigiri chain — a bet on America's rice-ball boom. But the buyer is also a company long known in Japan as a symbol of 'black company' overwork culture. We unpack the deal, why onigiri became a healthy, photogenic US lunch, and who Watami really is.
Takara Tomy's Licca-chan is back in the US after 40-plus years. We unpack why it lost to Barbie as LISA in 1980, why the rival is now Labubu's kidult collectible market, and whether the anime-led comeback can work.
Japan-born global group XG will throw the first pitch at Dodger Stadium on May 31. We break down the newly announced seven North American dates of the XG WORLD TOUR: THE CORE — venues, tickets, and the TikTok-and-Billboard fanbase that made an arena tour possible.
Yellow Magic Orchestra co-founder Haruomi Hosono will release his 23rd studio album 'Yours Sincerely' on September 11, 2026, via Ghostly International, and play his first U.S. shows in seven years—Radio City Music Hall in New York on September 16 and the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on September 20, both with Toro y Moi. Here's why a 78-year-old Japanese musician is one of the most quietly influential figures in global pop.
NEC has completed the East Micronesia Cable System (EMCS), a 2,250-kilometer optical submarine cable that gives three Pacific island nations their first-ever fiber connectivity. For Tarawa, Nauru, and Kosrae — roughly 100,000 people who had only known the 600-millisecond delay of satellite internet — the upgrade is transformative. The backstory is equally striking: in 2018, China's HMN Tech (formerly Huawei Marine) underbid NEC and Alcatel Submarine Networks by more than 20%. A 2020 US diplomatic warning to Micronesia, the World Bank's withdrawal, and a 2021 Japan-US-Australia rescue plan rewrote the project. Five years later, the cable is in the water.
Japan's Environment Ministry confirmed PFAS contamination above national limits at 629 sites across 26 prefectures in fiscal 2024 — including locations near U.S. military bases, factories, and Self-Defense Force facilities. A UN special rapporteur has voiced 'most serious concern,' while Japan's standards lag far behind those of the U.S. and EU.
Creepy Nuts will join The Weeknd's record-breaking After Hours Til Dawn Stadium Tour as special guests across five Asian dates, starting September 20 at Japan's Belluna Dome. The tour has grossed over $1 billion globally — the highest-grossing tour ever by a male solo artist — and this is the Japanese hip-hop duo's biggest international stage to date.
Subaru cut its FY2026 operating profit forecast by 900 billion yen to just 40 billion yen, a 90% year-on-year plunge announced May 11. Beyond US tariffs, a North American cold wave, Middle East shipping disruptions, and EV asset impairment from Trump's environmental rollback all hit at once. Why does Subaru—with 80% North America sales reliance—suffer most among Japanese automakers?
Honda's Zero EV brand launches its first model—the 0 Alpha compact SUV—in India by early 2027, exporting back to Japan. After cancelling three North American EVs and posting record losses, Japan's #2 automaker is betting on Rajasthan over Ohio. We unpack the gamble, the rivals waiting in India, and why this could rewrite Japanese EV strategy.
On May 8, 2026, the US Department of War launched war.gov/UFO and released 162 UAP files in one go—including a football-shaped object filmed near Japan by Indo-Pacific Command in January 2023, Apollo 12 and 17 lunar surface photos, and orange orbs agents compared to the 'Eye of Sauron'. We break down what is actually in the release and how Japan is reacting, from yakisoba puns to distraction-theory skepticism.
On April 13, 2029, the 450m asteroid Apophis will pass just 32,000 km above Earth. Japan and Europe are joining forces on RAMSES, the next planetary defense mission after NASA's DART. JAXA provides the infrared imager, solar panels, and H3 rocket launch as a rideshare with DESTINY+, stepping up as US budget cuts threaten its own Apophis mission.
Sushiro, the king of Japan's revolving sushi industry with 13 consecutive years as the top earner, is finally making a real run at the US market. The Times Square flagship opens this fall — but rival Kura is already at 83 US stores and listed on NASDAQ. Inside Japan's three-way sushi war and Sushiro's last frontier.
SEGA and RGG Studio just dropped the theme song for STRANGER THAN HEAVEN, and the lineup is wild: Snoop Dogg, Ado, Official Hige Dandism's Satoshi Fujihara, and Tori Kelly on a single track. We break down Ado's record-breaking Hibana world tour (500,000 fans across 33 cities), Higedan's anime-fueled global rise via Spy x Family and Tokyo Revengers, Snoop Dogg's long history of collaborating with Japanese artists, and how international gaming and music communities are reacting to this Pacific-spanning collision.
On May 7, 2026, the Nikkei 225 surged 3,320 yen (5.58%) to close at 62,833, setting an all-time record for the largest single-day gain in points. The previous record of 3,217 yen from August 2024 was surpassed amid optimism over a U.S.-Iran ceasefire memo and AI semiconductor buying. Yet the percentage gain doesn't even crack the historical top 20, revealing how rising index levels are reshaping what 'record' means. Trading volume hit a post-Prime-market record of 10.8 trillion yen.
Japan's vacuum equipment leader ULVAC is reshoring production of vacuum melting furnaces for rare earth magnets, with orders from US and European manufacturers projected to roughly triple. With over 70% global share in continuous vacuum furnaces, Japan's equipment dominance becomes a geopolitical asset.
North West, the 12-year-old daughter of Kanye West, sampled Kikuo's Vocaloid track 'Aishite Aishite Aishite' on her debut EP N0rth4evr, released May 1. Kikuo replied: 'of course it's approved, and welcome even unauthorized.' A close read of why this is structurally unprecedented for Vocaloid in American hip-hop.
Sanrio, the global owner of Hello Kitty and Kuromi, is investigating whether a managing director who also led its U.S. subsidiary received hundreds of millions of yen in undisclosed compensation over multiple years. A special probe has been launched and the full-year earnings announcement postponed. The case exposes a structural gap in Japan's corporate governance: the parent's compensation committee never had jurisdiction over subsidiary CEO pay.