On December 29, 2025, while the rest of Japan was wrapped in the calm atmosphere of the year’s end, a tragic accident occurred on Mount Fuji, the nation’s most iconic symbol.
On December 15, 2025, a major policy shift that will likely be etched into the history of Japan’s energy policy was decided at the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headquarters in Nagatacho, Tokyo.
Japan now stands at a critical crossroads in its relationship with wild animals. In 2025, the number of people injured or killed by bears has reached an all-time high since statistics began, an unprecedented and abnormal situation.
On November 4, 2025, Japan’s Ministry of the Environment announced that the number of bear sightings nationwide in the first half of the fiscal year (April–September) had reached 20,792 cases (preliminary figure).
In the autumn of 2025, Japan was gripped by an unprecedented sense of fear. Human injuries caused by wild bears surged at the fastest rate since records began, shocking Japanese society.
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”).
Mount Fuji is not merely Japan’s highest mountain. Revered since ancient times and a wellspring of artistic inspiration, it was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage list in 2013 as “Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration.” Drawn by its universal value and easy access from the Tokyo metropolitan area, visitors from Japan and abroad have flocked there in great numbers.
With Honda winning its first F1 title in 30 years, new light is shed on the Japanese corporate culture and mentality, quite different from those in the West.
On October 24, 2025, Japan’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, delivered her inaugural policy speech before the National Diet. Defining herself as someone who “never stops believing in the strength of Japan and its people,” she declared her slogan, “Japan’s Rebirth.” The speech laid out a comprehensive vision spanning the economy, national security, and social policy.