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Yukana Inoue
Mount Fuji in November. For the first time, the government has released specific guidelines on how residents should act in the event that Mount Fuji erupts.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 21, 2025
Stay at home if Mount Fuji erupts, government panel says
Residents are recommended to store more than a week's worth of emergency supplies at home because volcanic eruptions can last longer than that.
Bags of the government's rice stockpile are shipped out of a warehouse in Saitama Prefecture on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2025
Portion of government rice stockpile to hit shelves as early as next week
In a bid to stop the surging price of rice, the government auctioned off a portion of its emergency stockpile.
Tokyo will soon require all companies in the city to make efforts to stop harassment by customers, such as by creating a manual on how to handle suspected cases.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 17, 2025
Tokyo gears up for April launch of law against harassment by customers
All companies in Tokyo must make an effort to eliminate such harassment, such as by creating a manual on how to handle suspected cases.
People in Japan appeared to have the smallest difference between the amount of sleep they get on weekdays and weekends, suggesting the lowest incidence of social jet lag.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 14, 2025
People in Japan get the least sleep, Pokemon study finds
Does that make Japan the land of the never-setting sun?
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds up a piece of paper with information about tariff rates at the White House on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2025
The U.S. says Japan has a 700% tariff on American rice. Is that the case?
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's accusation describes only a small portion of U.S. rice imported by Japan.
The government's stockpile of rice in Saitama Prefecture in February
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2025
For first time ever, government begins auction of rice stockpile
Rice from the stockpile is expected to hit shelves from around the end of the month.
Firefighters battle a wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2025
Wildfire slows in Iwate as government announces relief support
The city saw 26.5 millimeters of rain on Wednesday, far exceeding the 2.5mm total for the entire month of February.
Members of the media look out across the bay at smoke rising from a mountain in the rain as firefighters continue to battle a wildfire near the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2025
Iwate wildfire enters second week as rain offers hope of relief
As of Wednesday morning, 4,111 people had been evacuated from Ofunato, or about 13% of the city’s entire population.
Firefighters work to extinguish the forest fire in the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, in this screenshot of a video footage from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Mar 3, 2025
Why the latest Iwate wildfire is so difficult to extinguish
The unusually dry weather, strong winds, the prefecture's mountainous terrain — as well as what's known as a fire cycle — have made the situation worse than usual.
A screenshot from a video posted by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency on X on Friday shows firefighters trying to put out the fire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2025
Wildfire in Iwate rages on as unusually dry weather continues
The size of the affected area has doubled in less than two days.
A wildfire spreads in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Wednesday, prompting authorities to order more than 2,000 people to be evacuated.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2025
At least one dead, 84 homes destroyed in Iwate Prefecture wildfire
This is the third wildfire in Iwate Prefecture in the past week, as dry weather continues.
Passengers at a train station in Tokyo. Railway operators plan to expand the scope of chemicals and materials passengers will be banned from bringing onto trains starting in April.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2025
Railway companies to tighten restrictions on hazardous materials
The move comes as part of a push to bolster security ahead of the 2025 Osaka Expo.
The weak yen is often cited as one reason why many Japanese don't go abroad.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 25, 2025
Only 17% of Japanese people own passports, Foreign Ministry says
Around 3.7 million passports were issued domestically in 2024, a 8.8% increase from the year before but down 15.2% from prepandemic numbers in 2019.
Multinational victims of scam centers, who were allegedly trafficked into working in Myanmar and were sent to Thailand on Feb. 12 amid a mounting crackdown on scam centers operating along a porous border, queue to get food at a shelter in Tak province, Thailand, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 21, 2025
Japanese nationals returned from Myanmar as scam probe continues
The Japanese nationals are among hundreds of thousands of people who police say have been coerced into engaging in online scams.
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2025
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Lawyers including an attorney who fought alongside the journalist in a civil suit against her attacker have raised legal and ethical concerns over the film.
The Thai Royal Police held a meeting on Monday in Bangkok with representatives from 18 countries, including Japan, as well as international organizations like the United Nations regarding the transnational scam operation.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 18, 2025
Japanese nationals thought to be held captive at Myanmar-Thailand border
Foreign nationals from several countries have been held at the border and forced to participate in a variety of scams.
The government's stockpiled rice in Tokyo in 1999. Since 1995, the government has been stockpiling around 200,000 tons of rice from the annual harvest to ensure that there is enough to go around during emergencies.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2025
Government taps rice stockpile to reverse price increases
This will be the first time the stockpile has been used to reduce prices instead of due to emergencies.
People attend a vigil for a recently deceased 43-year-old Japanese woman in central Budapest on Feb. 4
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 13, 2025
Hungarian police discipline officers over Japanese woman’s death
Despite repeated claims of domestic abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, local police failed to follow up with an investigation until it was too late.
A new scam causing concern in Japan starts out simple, but when victims request to continue, they are instructed to set up an account on a certain app or website where they are to enter their personal information.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 12, 2025
Japan's consumer watchdog raises alarm over new social media scam
The deceptively innocent scheme requires users to do one simple thing to earn some extra cash: take screenshots of videos.
Giving out courtesy chocolates to coworkers on Valentine's Day is becoming obsolete.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 10, 2025
How giving chocolates on Valentine’s Day is evolving in Japan
One change is fewer people are handing out chocolates to others at work, which had been a widespread practice over the past few decades.

Longform

Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.
The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo