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December 21, 2024
 

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Yukana Inoue
For language learners under 40 in Japan, AI tools such as ChatGPT are now preferred over in-person classes or radio language programs.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2024
AI services growing in popularity among younger language learners in Japan
The number of people using AI language tools grew by more than 80% in 2024, a recent survey showed.
Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida (left) and Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe hold a news conference in Tokyo in March. Both automakers have been working together for months on a deal of some sort.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 18, 2024
Honda and Nissan might combine to form world’s No. 3 auto group
Mitsubishi, which has been working closely with Nissan since 2016, also might join the grouping.
The East Japan Railway Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. Within the next 10 years, JR East will develop automated walk-through gate technology so that passengers can enter the train platform without having to tap their Suica card or phone on the ticket gates.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2024
JR East announces 10-year plan to drastically overhaul Suica
Dubbed the "Suica Renaissance," the plan involves redesigned ticket gates, new payment features and a subscription service.
Incumbent Mayor Shuhei Azuma announces the opening of applications for a possible successor at a news conference on Sept. 25.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 11, 2024
City in Osaka Prefecture looks for new mayor using job search site
The idea is to encourage more people to get involved in local government in Japan, but questions have emerged about the project and its implications.
Miho Nakayama rose to stardom in 1985 after the release of her first single “C,” which established her popularity as an idol.
CULTURE
Dec 9, 2024
Miho Nakayama, known for 'Love Letter' and her music, dies at 54
Nakayama had a solo Christmas show scheduled in Osaka on Friday, but had canceled the show in the morning, citing health reasons.
Sake bottles are displayed at the 19th World Cultural Heritage Conference, as sake was added to UNESCO'S Intangible Cultural Heritage list, in Asuncion, Paraguay on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 5, 2024
Japanese sake brewing added to UNESCO intangible heritage list
Traditional sake brewing marks the 23rd Japanese entry on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list, joining other culturally significant arts such as washoku and kabuki.
Sadao Abe, who played the role of a time-traveling Showa Era teacher transported to present day in a popular TV drama, receives the 2024 buzzword of the year award for the word "futehodo," the nickname of the series.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 2, 2024
Japan’s 2024 buzzword of the year urges a reevaluation of past norms
“Futehodo” — a nickname for a TV drama that depicts the generational gap between the Showa and Reiwa eras — has been crowned the most trending word of 2024.
High-rise buildings in Tokyo. Through faking documents and passports a criminal group conspired to pose as the owner of a real-estate plot and buildings in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward in 2017, defrauding Sekisui House of ¥5.5 billion.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 28, 2024
Real-life ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ ordered to pay ¥1 billion in damages
The Tokyo District Court ruled that the defendants knew they were engaging in a fraudulent scheme in their dealings with Sekisui House.
Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, followed by Princess Aiko and Princess Kako, prepare to attend a funeral service for Princess Yuriko at Toshimagaoka Cemetery in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 26, 2024
Funeral held for Princess Yuriko at Tokyo cemetery
The princess had been hospitalized since early March due to a stroke and pneumonia. She died of natural causes on Nov. 15 at age 101.
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 21, 2024
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
Ease of meeting a wide range of people is likely the biggest appeal of app use, underscoring a major shift in how young people meet their partners.
A rubber-tired tram system, tentatively called the “Fuji Tram,” would run along magnetic markers, reducing environmental damage, according to the Yamanashi Prefectural Government.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 19, 2024
Why Yamanashi gave up building a light-rail system on Mount Fuji
As an alternative, the governor proposed a new plan to use a rubber-tired tram system.
Princess Yuriko in May 2023
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2024
Princess Yuriko, sister-in-law of Emperor Showa, dies at 101
The oldest living member of the imperial family, Princess Yuriko died due to natural causes.
In the past two weeks, developer DeNA has raked in over $50 million for the Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket app, a free-to-play game that charges for premium features.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 14, 2024
Gotta collect 'em all: New Pokemon trading card game becomes big hit
The novel yet nostalgic app has amassed over 30 million downloads worldwide in the first two weeks of its release.
A village school bus drives along an empty street in the village of Tenei, Fukushima Prefecture, in March 2023. In rural areas, more single-member households will emerge from an aging population and the eventual death of spouses in two-person households, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 12, 2024
1 in 5 people in Japan age 65 and older will be living alone in 2050
The trend resulting from rapid depopulation will affect both metropolitan and rural areas, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research says.
Princess Yuriko in May 2023. At 101 years old, she is the oldest member of the imperial family.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2024
Imperial family members visit ailing Princess Yuriko at hospital
The health condition of the 101-year-old princess — the sister-in-law of the late former Emperor Hirohito — worsened suddenly on Friday.
The topics nominated for this year’s buzzwords of the year ranged from new banknotes and Olympian quips to political scandals and rice shortages.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 5, 2024
From cat memes to Olympians with too much rizz, these are Japan's 2024 buzzword nominations
The buzzword of the year, along with the top 10 picks, will be decided from the 30 nominated terms on Dec. 2.
A man waits for a train at Ebisu Station in Tokyo on Oct. 4.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 29, 2024
Japan's rail fans disapprove of new Seishun 18 tickets
Train enthusiasts are up in arms over changes to the iconic and inexpensive all-you-can-ride pass that will limit how and when it can be used.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, walks past a monitor displaying a live news broadcast showing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Oct 29, 2024
Without an LDP-Komeito majority, will Ishiba stay prime minister?
Opposition parties could band together and vote Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan chief Yoshihiko Noda into power, but this remains an unlikely scenario.
According to Fujikyu Railway, a group of around 10 people, who appear to be foreign nationals, boarded a train at Fujikyu-Highland Station on Oct. 16 and filmed themselves dancing onboard before they got off at Otsuki Station.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 25, 2024
Fujikyu Railway weighs legal action over foreign tourist dance video
The video, made by a group that appears to be a New York-based dance troupe, features dancers sliding on the floor and asking for a hand from nearby passengers.
An 18-year-old American tourist arrested in Tokyo on suspicion of committing arson has denied the charge against him.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 24, 2024
18-year-old U.S. tourist arrested in Tokyo over arson
The police are currently investigating the suspect’s ties to a further six arson attacks.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
A year after going private, structural reforms bearing fruit for Toshiba
Toshiba's Corporate Senior Executive Vice President Koji Ikeya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
A screen shot from YouTube user @lagelda shows the simplicity of going viral in Japan in 2024: A cat dancing to EDM in front of a green screen.
With rare Asia carrier deployment, France seeks greater interoperability
The flight deck of the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier during a stop at Changi Naval Base in Singapore in May 2019

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
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