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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Kioxia stock halved in July 2026 even as profit rose 30-fold. Japanese reactions on X, the margin-buying unwind, and what it says about the AI bubble.