Inside Kumamoto’s Second Night
Rescue Teams Dig as the Ground Keeps Moving
At a shattered paper mill, an exploded shopping center and damaged homes, crews withdraw when the earth moves and return when engineers give the word. Today’s edition brings together 15 new reports, four selected stories from July 30 and a Takamatsuzuka Tomb-inspired Art Choice spanning disaster, economics, technology, medicine and history.
Four Stories to Read First
Kumamoto rescue, lifelines, explosion inquiry, Kyushu supply chains
Four Selected From July 30
The preceding rescue day, monetary policy, kei EVs, Kofun culture
Today’s News: 19 Stories
15 new reports + four selected from July 30
Inside Kumamoto’s Second Night: Rescue Teams Dig as the Ground Keeps Moving
Crews at a paper mill, shopping center and damaged homes stop for aftershocks, then return to the rubble.
When the Air Stops Moving: Kumamoto’s Heat, Water and Power Emergency
Extreme heat, water shortages and electricity failures are turning the earthquake into a public-health emergency.
Fifty Minutes After Evacuation: Inside the Aeon Mall Kumamoto Explosion Inquiry
Investigators are examining a possible LPG leak, employee re-entry and the safeguards that operated before the blast.
When Silicon Island Stopped: The Quake Tests Japan’s Auto-Chip Supply Chain
Toyota, Honda, Sony, Renesas and TSMC assess disruption to factories, cleanrooms, suppliers and logistics.
Typhoon Dolphin Turns West: Reading Japan’s Most Dangerous Forecast
The rapidly intensifying storm raises questions for Ogasawara and western Japan—but the forecast still contains wide uncertainty.
The Same 120 Million, Moving the Other Way: Japan Crosses a Demographic Line
Japan’s population of Japanese nationals fell below 120 million as foreign-resident numbers reached another record.
The ¥55 Line: Japan’s Minimum Wage Heads to ¥1,176
The central wage council recommends lifting the national weighted average by ¥55 to ¥1,176 an hour.
The Seven-Yen Promise: Japan Advances a 1% Food Tax
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi advances a two-year cut from 8% to 1%, intensifying the fiscal-policy debate.
The Lens Sony Wants to Own: Inside the Tamron Proposal
Sony has made a non-binding proposal to acquire Tamron and turn the lens maker into a wholly owned subsidiary.
Rakuten and HP Put Japanese AI Directly Inside PCs
A hybrid desktop combines Japanese-language on-device processing with Rakuten’s cloud agents.
Leqembi’s ¥29.3 Billion Quarter
Preliminary April–June global sales reached ¥29.3 billion as Eisai builds a broader Alzheimer’s treatment franchise.
A Vaccine Built from Ebola’s Missing Gear
The University of Tokyo reports Phase I safety and immune-response results for its replication-deficient iEvac-Z vaccine.
A Plastic Atlas of the Newborn Brain
Tissue clearing and light-sheet microscopy map size-dependent nanoplastic distribution in newborn mouse brains.
Where Japan Learned to Become a State
UNESCO inscribes the Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara as Japan’s 27th World Heritage property.
The Castle Where Fear Learned to Wear Armor
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s first samurai film opens in the United States, carrying his language of dread into a sixteenth-century castle.
Kumamoto Rescue Enters Day Two as Aftershocks and Heat Close In
The preceding report follows rescue operations, damage checks and the lessons carried forward from the 2016 earthquakes.
Katayama’s “Normal and Smooth” Claim: The Tightrope Linking the BOJ, Debt and Yen
Japan’s policy balance runs between central-bank independence, enormous public debt and a persistently weak currency.
Into Japan’s Small-Car Kingdom: BYD’s Racco Challenges Kei-Car Orthodoxy
BYD launches its Japan-only Racco kei EV from ¥2.145 million and enters one of the country’s most distinctive markets.
The Warrior in Clay Meets the Man Beneath the Ash
A Gunma exhibition unites the armored man of Kanai with the National Treasure Haniwa Warrior in Keikō Armor.
20. Today’s Art Choice
Takamatsuzuka Tomb / Asuka Courtiers / Star Chart
The One-Meter Room That Held the Universe: Takamatsuzuka Tomb Murals
Sixteen courtiers, three surviving directional guardians, the sun, moon and a gold-leaf sky turned a chamber too low to stand in into a complete universe. The accompanying essay follows the Asuka figures, East Asian exchange, ancient mineral pigments and the difficult history of discovering and preserving the murals.
Read the Art Choice →