Autumn 2026 has shown the first signs in more than four years of a weakening of the yen’s value. Massive intervention in currency markets by Japan and the United States and September statements from US officials appear to be pushing the yen higher once again; an economist specializing in currency issues looks at prospects for the exchange rate going forward.

Inside Keiō University’s magnificent red-brick Old Library, the cozy Café Hakkakutō offers refreshments including coffee milk, a drink enjoyed by the university’s founder, Fukuzawa Yukichi.

In 2026, Soai Kensō received a share of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on life’s building block molecules, becoming the tenth Japanese chemistry laureate.

Two years ago, Nihon Hidankyō, a Japanese grassroots organization of atomic bomb survivors, received the Nobel Peace Prize for its decades-long crusade against nuclear weapons. We talked to Hidankyō secretary general Hamasumi Jirō about the impact of the Nobel on the movement and efforts to pass the torch to a younger generation of activists.

Balls of velvety green algae called marimo are particularly associated with Lake Akan in Hokkaidō, where they can grow to up to 30 centimeters in diameter.