Kenji Asada is a New York–based correspondent for Nikkei, specializing in investigative reporting and data journalism. His core areas of expertise include the U.S. justice system, international relations—particularly U.S.–China relations and Latin America—and the U.S. economy. His reporting combines data analysis, court records, and cross-border investigation. His signature work is the investigative series “Fentanyl’s Hidden Routes” (Japanese title: Behind the U.S.–China “New Opium War”), which revealed that a Chinese organization involved in smuggling fentanyl precursor chemicals into the United States had established a base in Nagoya, Japan—an unexpected link in the global fentanyl supply chain.