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January 20, 2025
 

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Jessica Speed
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Ispace's Resilience lunar lander lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 15, 2025
Japanese space startup launches second bid for historic moon landing
A successful landing would make Ispace the first private Asian company to touch down on the moon.
Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada with the countdown clock for the launch of the startup's lunar lander, in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on Thursday
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 10, 2025
Japanese space startup readies for second lunar lander launch
Ispace's Resilience lander will lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A ceiling collapse at a demolition site in the city of Chiba trapped three workers in the rubble.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2025
Two dead after ceiling collapse at demolition site traps three workers
According to the fire department, the collapse caused debris to fall from the second floor to the ground, trapping the workers.
A portable charger containing a lithium-ion battery that overheated in an accident during a reenactment experiment in December at the Consumer Affairs Agency
JAPAN / Society
Jan 7, 2025
Consumer Affairs Agency warns of risks from battery-powered heated devices
Injury reports linked to lithium-ion battery-powered heating gear have surged over the last 10 years.
A falconer during the Suwa Falconry Preservation Society's event in Tokyo on Friday. Falconry predates recorded history, originating, scholars believe, when nomadic herders observed birds of prey hunting and recognized their potential as partners.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 5, 2025
Tokyo falconers keep ancient traditions soaring
While a recent showcase was all about fun and education, like other sports involving animals, falconry is also serious business for competitors at the upper echelons of the sport.
From Dec. 9 to Dec. 15, there were 94,259 flu cases reported across some 5,000 hospitals and clinics nationwide, according to the health ministry.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 24, 2024
Health ministry urges caution as flu cases rise nationwide
There were 94,259 cases of the flu reported across some 5,000 hospitals and clinics nationwide in the second week of December.
Fire trucks gather around a building in Sapporo’s Susukino entertainment district on Nov. 26.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2024
Sapporo arson suspect dies in hospital
Police still intend to submit the arson case to prosecutors and are committed to piecing together the events that led to the blaze.
A McDonald's outlet in Kitakyushu where two teens were stabbed, one fatally, on Saturday. Police arrested a 43-year-old suspect on Thursday morning.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 19, 2024
43-year-old man arrested over Kitakyushu McDonald's stabbings
Two junior high school students were stabbed in the weekend attack, with one dying from her injuries.
Police inspect the scene of a stabbing at Sannomiya subway station in Kobe's Chuo Ward on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 18, 2024
Police detain woman in Kobe stabbing incident　
The suspect, Yuko Yamamoto, of unknown address and occupation, was detained on the spot on suspicion of attempted murder, according to local media.
The Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture. Brennon Washington was stationed at the base when he abducted a minor on Dec. 24, 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 13, 2024
U.S. serviceman sentenced over sexual assault of underage girl in Okinawa
Brennon Washington persuaded the girl to get into his car under the pretense of cooking and watching a movie together at his home. Once there, he assaulted her.
Children eat at a <i>kodomo shokudo</i> in the city of Osaka. The number of such cafeterias, which provide free or low-cost meals to children in need, has surpassed 10,000 nationwide.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 13, 2024
Number of cafeterias for children in need hits record high in Japan
There are now more kodomo shokudo, which offer free or low-cost meals, than elementary and junior high schools.
Illegally cultivated cannabis plants uncovered by police at a home in Chiba Prefecture. Revised cannabis-related laws now criminalize the use of marijuana in addition to its possession and sale.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 12, 2024
Japan tightens cannabis laws amid rising youth usage
The use of marijuana has been criminalized, with the maximum penalty for possession, transfer and now usage set at up to seven years in prison.
Japan ranked second in both literacy and numeracy, and tied with Finland for first place in problem-solving in an international OECD survey of adult skills.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 11, 2024
Japan retains strong results in OECD’s adult skills survey
Overall, Japan’s scores exceeded the OECD average across all age groups though they tended to decline with age.
Aletheia Clinic had experienced rapid growth, peaking in the fiscal year ended April 2021 with annual revenue of ¥16.3 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2024
Hair removal clinic chain goes bust in Japan's biggest beauty collapse
It's "extremely unlikely" that customers of Aletheia Clinic will see their money returned, according to its trustee.
Starbucks Coffee Japan will replace paper straws with plant-based biomass plastic straws from next month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 6, 2024
Starbucks in Japan to ditch paper straws for plant-based biomass plastic in 2025
The coffee company says the new straws are fully biodegradable in seawater and soil, and will not soften like paper ones.
A screenshot taken from video footage posted on the Metropolitan Expressway's X account shows an electric scooter entering the highway on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 5, 2024
Electric scooter seen unlawfully entering Tokyo expressway
Officials released video footage of the incident on social media to warn riders of the extreme danger.
Naomi Watanabe, a comedian known for challenging gender and beauty norms in Japan's male-dominated comedy scene
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2024
BBC honors two Japanese in annual list of inspiring women
The theme this year was resilience, celebrating women who "are pushing for change and improving lives at community or global level."
The average price of osechi traditional food for the 2025 New Year stood at ¥27,826 ($185), a 1.3% increase — or ¥360 — compared with that for the 2024 New Year.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 2, 2024
Osechi ryōri prices climb for a third consecutive year
The latest increase, at ¥360 ($2.40), is the smallest in three years, at less than half the increase for the 2024 New Year.
Tokyo police have arrested six Chinese nationals on suspicion of unlawful confinement and attempted extortion involving a 23-year-old exchange student who had become involved in a financial dispute over a yami baito, or a “dark” part-time job.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 29, 2024
Tokyo police arrest six Chinese nationals over yami baito scheme
The six people are being held on suspicion of unlawful confinement and attempted extortion involving a 23-year-old exchange student.
The health ministry's free "catch-up vaccination" program for the human papillomavirus will be extended to March 2025 for the initial dose of the vaccine.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 28, 2024
Deadline for ‘catch-up’ HPV vaccination program extended until March
The revised timeline allows eligible women to receive their first dose by the end of March 2025 and complete the remaining two within the following year.
Chinese buyer of Okinawa island to make visit in summer
Yanaha Island in Okinawa Prefecture as seen from a ferry.
More bird flu cases found in Japan; 1.44 million birds to be culled
Officials with the agriculture ministry hold a news conference in Nagoya on Friday following an outbreak of avian influenza in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, earlier this month.
Top sumo pros to enter the ring in Paris in June 2026
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (right) alongside David Rothschild, the promoter of an upcoming tournament in Paris, on Sunday in Tokyo
Amid rising world hunger, a Japan-inspired group in Kenya is making a big impact
Wawira Njiru, the founder of Food4Education, serves food during the opening of a new kitchen in Mombasa County, Kenya, in 2022. The organization started in 2012 by feeding 25 children out of a single kitchen. Now it feeds nearly half a million every day.
LDP heavyweight Moriyama boosting profile within party
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama speaks to reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday.
As Trump returns, will Japan be able to weather the storm?
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo in May 2019.
Amid rising world hunger, a Japan-inspired group in Kenya is making a big impact
Wawira Njiru, the founder of Food4Education, serves food during the opening of a new kitchen in Mombasa County, Kenya, in 2022. The organization started in 2012 by feeding 25 children out of a single kitchen. Now it feeds nearly half a million every day.
From Tokyo to Manhattan, Takuma Watanabe stirs up a stiff drink
It's taken Takuma Watanabe little time to establish himself as one of New York's hottest bartenders.
For tourists in search of seasonal sights, Yamagata makes its case
For some time away from Tokyo's suffocating urban sameness, Yamagata Prefecture is home to a soothing array of natural abundance.
A slow dive into ‘a moment and an eternity’ with Ryuichi Sakamoto
From the mid-2000s onward, Ryuichi Sakamoto created a number of installation works, often in collaboration with Shiro Takatani, of multimedia art collective Dumb Type.

Podcast

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

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go
By Kazuaki Nagata and Richard Meyer

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