From fleet electrification to the Asian Games, Japan is moving through systems.
Fifteen new reports examine how institutions actually work: EV fleets, finance, logistics, satellite infrastructure, hospital AI, regional policy, disaster distribution, sports and culture. Today’s Art Choice is Maruyama Ōkyo’s 1773 Lady Chiyono.
Fujitsu and JA Mitsui Leasing Turn Real Fleet Data Into an EV Adoption Plan
A four-company EV Simulation Service uses telematics and a Social Digital Twin to model vehicle choice, fleet size, chargers, TCO and CO2—moving corporate electrification from a purchasing decision toward operating-system design.
Read the report →Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Four to Read Today
Technology · Local economy · Sports · Art
Business & Economy
Japan.co.jp · Wednesday, September 23, 2026Fujitsu and JA Mitsui Leasing Turn Real Fleet Data Into an EV Adoption Plan
A four-company EV Simulation Service uses telematics and a Social Digital Twin to model vehicle choice, fleet size, chargers, TCO and CO2—moving corporate electrification from a purchasing decision toward operating-system design.
Japan Post Bank Takes 22% Stake in Susten, Linking a Deposit Giant to Automated NISA Investing
The postal-bank giant has acquired 22.0% of susten Capital Management as the startup raises about ¥1 billion. The deeper story is distribution: automated NISA investing may soon connect to a 16.62-million-account banking app and Japan's nationwide post-office network.
Nippon Steel Kowa Completes Second U.S. Logistics Project as Japanese Capital Moves Deeper Into American Distribution
Three buildings, roughly 686,400 square feet. Nippon Steel Kowa's second U.S. logistics development has been completed northeast of Atlanta. The deeper story runs from warehouse design and the Port of Savannah to CBRE's Japanese co-investment platform and a LOGIFRONT business that began only in 2018.
Science & Technology
Japan.co.jp · Wednesday, September 23, 2026Axelspace and Pacific Consultants Aim to Make Satellite Data Part of Japan's Infrastructure-Maintenance Workflow
A microsatellite company and a 75-year infrastructure consultancy want to combine repeat observation from orbit with engineering judgment on the ground. The goal is not to replace inspection, but to help decide where inspection should go first.
Inside the Electronic Medical Record: How Nagai Hospital Is Turning Generative AI Into a Workflow System
A 199-bed regional hospital has connected AI agents to clinical data inside its EHR environment. The developer says one discharge-summary workflow fell from 37 minutes to three. The deeper story is two years of organizational change—and the security, measurement and responsibility questions that arrive when AI moves closer to the chart.
When a Hospital Says No: Dr.JOY Turns Emergency and Referral Calls Into Data With Ukeire Call AI
The system records calls from referring clinics, ambulance crews and after-hours patients, then asks AI to classify “accepted or declined—and why.” But the company's 213-facility figure belongs to its broader AI-phone business, not this newly launched product. The deeper story is what happens when the hospital's invisible front door becomes a dataset.
Communities & Society
Japan.co.jp · Wednesday, September 23, 2026
From Tourist to Someone Who Comes Back: Miura Peninsula Tests a 14-Day Working Holiday Model
All nine participants who completed the first two summer terms say they are considering a return; seven report a concrete plan or a return within six months. That is promising, not proof. Miura's real test is whether a two-week encounter is still a human and economic relationship after the novelty fades.
Can Kawasaki Prevent the Relief-Supply Last-Mile Failure? City Signs Deep Logistics Agreement With Yamato Transport
Kawasaki can ask Yamato for far more than shelter delivery: supply-hub operation, route planning, loading, personnel, equipment, logistics advice and feedback from evacuees are all in the agreement. For a city of 1.57 million planning push supplies around 240,000 evacuees, the question is whether the boxes can actually complete the last mile.
A Town of 6,704 People and ¥22.3 Billion in Donations: How Shiranuka Tries to Turn Furusato Nozei Into a Local Economy
From ¥1.94 million in fiscal 2008 to ¥22.329 billion in fiscal 2025. Japan's No. 2 recipient uses seafood and national e-commerce reach to finance a much broader regional strategy. But gross donations are not spendable cash, and the harder question is what survives if the system changes.
Sports
Japan.co.jp · Wednesday, September 23, 2026First Gold in Gamagori: Takumi Hojo Extends Japan's Asian Games Men's Triathlon Streak to Five
Fourth after the swim and fifth after the bike, Takumi Hojo made the difference over the final five kilometers to win in 52:56. His victory delivered the Games' first gold and extended Japan's men's individual Asian Games streak to five; Manami Hayashi's bronze and the next day's relay silver completed a medal in every triathlon event for Japan.
From Nine Goals Up to Four: Japan Opens Asian Games Handball With a Win—and a Warning Against China
Japan led 16–12 at halftime and 24–15 eleven minutes into the second half, yet China closed the gap to four. Naoki Sugioka scored eight while reaching 100 international appearances and 200 goals. For a team pursuing Japan's first Asian Games men's handball title, 31–27 was both a win and a warning.
Japan Women's Futsal League Sets Its Upper Six—and Every Champion in League History Is There
Urayasu and defending champion Nishinomiya finish 9-1-0 and level on 28 points. The final upper-group place goes to Maruoka over Hokkaido after both finish on 13 and draw 0–0. The resulting six includes every club ever to win the pre-tournament or official national league.
Culture & Living
Japan.co.jp · Wednesday, September 23, 2026
How Liberty Has Looked at Japan: Kyoto Exhibition Reopens 150 Years of British-Japanese Design Exchange
Liberty began in 1875 selling textiles and objects from Japan and Asia. An 1889 journey, a circa-1903 cherry-blossom-like archive textile, collaborations with eight contemporary Japanese artists and Marusen's Tango chirimen now converge in Shōsei-en, a 17th-century Kyoto garden.
The Goldfish Is Not Alive—Yet It Swims: Riusuke Fukahori Brings Layered Illusion Into Historic Nagoya
Why does a fish made only from transparent resin and paint appear alive? From Fukahori's “Kingyo Sukui” turning point and 2.5D Painting to Yatomi's goldfish industry, a ceramics exporter's historic residence, a tatami crane and an Instant House, Kingyo no Uta makes the site itself part of the art.
London Theatre, Another Audience: Kichijoji Odeon Gives Three National Theatre Live Productions a New Tokyo Run
All My Sons from Oct. 2, The Playboy of the Western World from Oct. 30, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses from Jan. 8, 2027. A cinema founded in 1954 gives three completed London stage productions a new Tokyo audience—one week at a time.
16 · Today’s Art
When the Moon Fell Out of the Bucket: Maruyama Ōkyo Makes Absence the Subject
The bucket breaks. The reflected moon disappears. According to legend, Chiyono awakens. Ōkyo responds by refusing to paint the moon or the water at all, leaving most of the scroll open so that what has vanished becomes the subject.
Read the report →Six Selected From the September 22 Edition
Read in the context of their original publication
Has Japan’s Rice Price Really Fallen? From 60-Kilogram Wholesale Lots to the 5-Kilogram Bag at Home
August negotiated wholesale prices and supermarket shelf prices tell different parts of the story. We separate crop year, contract terms, milling and retail data to understand what households are actually paying.
Tracing Where Antarctic Meltwater Goes: Japanese Researchers Reconstruct Freshwater in Three Dimensions
Using ocean observations around two East Antarctic ice shelves, researchers estimate where meltwater spreads and examine what carbon signals can—and cannot—tell us.
Animal Welfare Week Asks a Harder Question: Who Will Care for the Pet Later?
Japan’s September 20–26 observance opens a practical conversation about lifelong care, aging animals, owner hospitalization, disasters and community support.
Hirotaro Naito Wins His First Regular-Tour Title in Year 21 as a Professional
At 44, Naito captured the ANA Open with a tournament-record 25-under total, closing a journey that ran through the developmental tour, family support and years of persistence.
Weaving Antarctica: JAXA Satellite Images Become Issey Miyake Denim
A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE turns imagery from the Shikisai Earth-observation satellite into jacquard-woven denim, linking remote sensing to the long history of textile innovation.
Beyond the Cloth: Reiko Sudo and NUNO Bring Textile Experiment to LACMA
Metallic surfaces, kibiso silk and regional production techniques frame more than four decades of collaboration between designer Reiko Sudo, NUNO and Japanese manufacturing communities.
The 15 news-story illustrations use the September 23 Maruyama Ōkyo visual theme. Today’s Art reproduces or references the selected public-domain artwork as identified on its report page. The six carryovers retain their original edition imagery; none should be read as documentary photography unless the article says otherwise.
