The Yen’s Three-Way Policy Test
予算編成の入口
September 3 · Business & Economy
After the currency again crossed ¥160 to the dollar, Japan faces a test spanning BOJ rates, foreign-exchange intervention, U.S. pressure and fiscal credibility.
Read the lead story →Start Here: Four Stories
Yen policy, nanomaterials, Aomori sport, Hokusai
Today’s 16 Stories
15 new reports + Today’s Art Choice
Business & Economy
Business & Economy · 01–03
The Yen’s Three-Way Policy Test
After the currency again crossed ¥160 to the dollar, Japan faces a test spanning BOJ rates, foreign-exchange intervention, U.S. pressure and fiscal credibility.
Read the story →
The Map Before the Mud
Japan is pooling machinery telematics from five manufacturers and about 2,000 participants. Can finding excavators before a storm shorten the road to recovery?
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Nature Enters the Credit Committee
Japan’s new voluntary guide separates measurable nature-positive finance from the broader work of putting nature into ordinary investment and lending.
Read the story →Science & Research
Science & Research · 04–06
Japan’s Next Vaccine Campaign May Start at 53%
An analysis of 24,577 people maps a movable middle and shows why evidence, affordability, medical advice and access must be ready before the next crisis.
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Iron, Water and Sound Make Magnetic Nanoparticles
Tohoku University used acoustic cavitation to convert iron powder and water directly into magnetic spinel-type iron-oxide nanoparticles.
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The Tube Remembers Its First Twist
Isotope time stamps show that 88% of 158 analyzed carbon nanotubes kept their structure as catalysts and growth rates changed.
Read the story →Communities & Society
Communities & Society · 07–09
Tamura Built the Hospital. Now the Network Must Work
The 50-bed facility and central kitchen are complete. After the November 4 opening, staffing, transfers, recovery care and public accountability face the real test.
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Can Suo-Oshima Give Children a Reason to Return?
A one-year public-private experiment asks whether student voices can move beyond workshops into budgets, projects and accountable decisions.
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Before the Match, Hiroshima Is Listening
Six unmarried residents will hold their final small-group meeting on September 5, testing a shift from arranging encounters to understanding hesitation.
Read the story →Sports & World
Sports & World · 10–12
North Korea’s Team Crosses a Political Divide
More than 100 North Korean athletes are expected at Aichi-Nagoya 2026. Their visit tests Japan’s sporting exception, border rules and unresolved diplomacy.
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The Japan Games Begin on Sand
Forty-eight youth teams and 96 athletes open Aomori’s beach-volleyball tournament on September 3—37 days before the main ceremony.
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A World Cup Ticket, Not an Olympic Shortcut
Japan finished the Asian Championship 5–1 and qualified for the 2027 World Cup, but one semifinal loss denied it the direct Asian berth for LA28.
Read the story →Culture & Arts
Culture & Arts · 13–15
Hiroshi Yoshida at 150: The Artist Who Rebuilt the Light
MOA Museum of Art opens the show September 4 with the Japan premiere of the rediscovered watercolor Highway and Horse, alongside oils and artist-supervised woodblocks.
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Yuichi Hirako Brings 300 Works to Hibiya
HUMAN AND NATURE opens September 5, moving from a new exhibition hall into Hibiya Park and making Tokyo’s managed greenery part of the argument.
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A Look Back Poster Enters Japan’s Schools
The Agency for Cultural Affairs will send a film tie-in poster nationwide. It is not a screening or curriculum—and that distinction shapes what the campaign can do.
Read the story →16. Today’s Art Choice
Katsushika Hokusai · Ejiri in Suruga Province · 1831–34
Hokusai Makes the Wind Visible at Ejiri
A hat flies, papers scatter, a tree bends and travelers stagger. In the distance Mount Fuji does nothing—and becomes monumental.
Read the art essay →Edo-Tokyo Museum collection image via Tokyo Museum Collection. Public Domain.
Six Selected from September 2
Budget, defense, prices, batteries, students, heritage
¥143 Trillion Is an Opening Request, Not a Budget
Japan’s ministries submitted record FY2027 requests. The real decisions come as the Cabinet turns that total into a year-end proposal.
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What ¥8.9 Trillion Says About Unmanned Defense
Japan’s record defense request layers drones, AI, missiles and command systems into a changing force design.
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4,923 Food Price Hikes Arrive in September
Japan’s largest monthly wave of announced food-price increases in 2026 will reach shelves at different times as inventories turn over.
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Small Crystals Preserve Performance
A Hokkaido University team used rapid heating and cooling to form α-Li3PS4 while retaining the fine crystallites that support conductivity.
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Every Japanese Entrant Wins Gold or Silver
Japan’s four high-school representatives returned from the International Earth Science Olympiad with two golds and two silvers.
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Ueno Opens Doors Usually Kept Closed
An autumn cultural festival offers limited access to Tokugawa memorial sites, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen Station and other heritage spaces.
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