Japan’s Japanese Population Falls Below 120 Million: What Is Already Fixed, and What Can Still Be Chosen
Japan's Japanese population fell below 120 million for the first time since 1984, while foreign residents passed four million. What the numbers actually show.
A Shindo 7 Quake in Kumamoto, and an Explosion at a Mall Ninety Minutes Later: The Hours After the Shaking Stops
A magnitude 7.1 quake hit Kumamoto on July 28, and about ninety minutes later an explosion tore through Aeon Mall Kumamoto. The cause remains under investigation.
Keigo Higashino Dies of Colorectal Cancer at 68: Why Japan Screens People Who Feel Perfectly Well
Japan's most widely read mystery novelist died of colorectal cancer at 68. The disease is nearly silent at first, which is why Japan screens people who feel fine: how the stool-test programme works, and where its chain breaks.
An 87-Year-Old Conjecture Fell to a Single Counterexample. Whose Job Is Discovery Now?
The 87-year-old Jacobian conjecture has fallen to an AI-generated counterexample, verified by mathematicians within hours. We trace what the AI actually did, how far the result has been certified, and how the division of labor inside discovery is shifting.
When a Strait Is No Longer Open to Everyone: The Houthi Red Sea Blockade and the Linking of Chokepoints
Yemen's Houthis declared a blockade of Saudi-bound shipping in July 2026, threatening the Red Sea route that had served as Saudi Arabia's detour around Hormuz. How two chokepoints became linked, and why shipping is shifting from efficiency to redundancy.
Does a Prime Minister Need Sleep? What Takaichi’s “0-3 Hours” Post Reveals About Crisis Management in the Kantei
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's post claiming zero to three hours of sleep since taking office split opinion in Japan and abroad. The real question isn't her work ethic, but whether the Kantei can protect her judgment and review what she publishes.
Why Japan’s Summer Heat Hits Visitors Harder Than the Temperature Suggests
Japan's rainy season ended on July 20 and central Tokyo hit 36.1C the same day. Why humidity, tropical nights, and walking-heavy itineraries strain visitors more than the temperature suggests, and how heat may push tourism dispersal.
How Long Do AI Moats Last? What Kimi K3 Tells Us About the Shrinking Head Start
China's Kimi K3 claims near-frontier performance and will release its weights on July 27. What a shrinking head start means for the moats, margins, and IPOs of OpenAI and Anthropic.
No New iPhone Under 100,000 Yen: What Japan’s Price-Only Hike Says About the Weak Yen
Apple raised iPhone prices across its entire lineup in Japan while US prices have stayed at $799 for six generations. What the Japan-only hike says about the weak yen, and why Japan's iPhone loyalty is starting to crack.