On December 2, 2025, shockwaves ran through Japan’s port cities and tourism industry. Reports emerged that Adora Cruises, a Chinese state-backed cruise company, abruptly scrapped its planned port calls in Japan scheduled from December 2025 through January 2026, rerouting instead to South Korea and Southeast Asia.
On October 30, 2025, Japan’s energy policy reached a major turning point. Leading national dailies reported in unison that the government had decided to push through legal amendments to rein in the rampant development of large-scale solar power plants (“mega-solar”).
Russia's invasion of Ukraine shook the liberal international order of the 20th century as well as the confidence-building process in Europe since the end of the Cold War.