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An advisory panel for the education minister has proposed a plan to check classroom hours at all public elementary and junior high schools as part of working style reform for teachers.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2023

Japan plans to monitor classroom hours to cut burden on teachers

Schools where annual lesson periods significantly exceed the standard under the guidelines should cut the excess from the next fiscal year.
Former Prosecutor-General Makoto Hayashi (center) and two other experts speak about their investigation into Johnny Kitagawa's sexual abuse allegations, in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 29, 2023

Expert team reports on decades of sexual abuse by Johnny Kitagawa

The team urged Johnny & Associates President Julie Keiko Fujishima to step down after the family-run business left the issue unaddressed for decades.
Mount Fuji has seen a large increase in the number of hikers, prompting a local government to devise new ways to control visitor numbers.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2023

Yamanashi governor proposes light rail system for Mount Fuji

The rail system, intended to address over-tourism, would replace the Fuji Subaru highway, which leads to one of the Mount Fuji’s fifth stations.
A Japanese junior high school student stares off into space while in the classroom. If your child is distracted or preoccupied during lessons, it may be time to speak with their teacher.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 3, 2023

School is back. Is it time to have a word with the teacher?

It’s important to know how to speak to your child’s homeroom teacher at school so you can keep an eye on how they are doing.
Iwate Gov. Takuya Tasso (right) receives flowers in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, on Sunday after winning a fifth term as governor.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 4, 2023

Iwate Gov. Takuya Tasso wins fifth term

Voter turnout rose to 56.63% from the record low of 53.46% logged in the previous election four years ago.
People line up Tuesday for a lottery to get a seat for the first trial hearing of Shinji Aoba, the suspect in the 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack, at the Kyoto District Court.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2023

Suspect in 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack admits setting blaze

The focus of the trial will now shift to the defendant’s motive and whether he can be held criminally responsible for the attack.
Yumeshima artificial island in Osaka Bay will house a casino resort, the opening of which is now slated to be pushed back to around autumn 2030.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2023

Osaka to delay opening of casino resort to autumn 2030

The delay came about because the plan did not win central government approval until April of this year.
A woman shops for medicine at a drugstore in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 5, 2023

More young women overdosing on over-the-counter drugs

In a country where illicit drugs are hard to obtain, many have begun to abuse cough and cold medications, which are legal and easily accessible.
Digital transformation minister Taro Kono (right) speaks during a news conference at the Digital Agency in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2023

Japan to test use of My Number cards for alcohol and ticket sales

The agency will work with private business operators to examining whether use of My Number cards will help improve the efficiency of identity checks.
A screenshot of the Nigetore app (left) five minutes after the start of practice evacuation using a 15-minute setting for “preparation time.” On the right, two screenshots show the outcomes of drills and a map indicating an evacuation route with tsunami inundation areas highlighted.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Sep 11, 2023

Tsunami evacuation app offers realistic quake preparation experience

Personal tsunami evacuation drill app Nigetore allows users to choose their own evacuation routes and evaluate their success.
The Kazu I tour boat is lifted from the surface of the sea off the coast of Shari, Hokkaido, in May 2022.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2023

Hokkaido tour boat sinking caused by safety gaps, report says

The operator of the Kazu I sightseeing tour boat, which sank off Hokkaido last year, had no safety management system, according to a government report
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (left), Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and LDP Vice President Taro Aso attend a party executive meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 8, 2023

Next LDP leadership race looms over Kishida's reshuffle plans

The prime minister looks set to retain two veteran Liberal Democratic Party leaders in their posts in a Cabinet and LDP leadership reshuffle.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel eats a peach as he visits Hamanoeki Fish Market and Food Court, as part of his trip to Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Aug. 31.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2023

Rahm Emanuel's protocol-busting China swipe stirs controversy

The comments conflict with the commonly observed practice of U.S. diplomats staying away from speculation on other countries’ domestic politics.
Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi (left), Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and economic security minister Sanae Takaichi attend a Cabinet meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 12, 2023

Kishida to shake up Cabinet, but keep veterans and rivals in key posts

Reports indicated that Kishida would replace Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and defense chief Yasukazu Hamada.
An earthquake simulation test machine shown at the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Tuesday
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2023

State-of-the-art quake simulation test shown to media

The institute hopes that the machine will help uncover the mechanism of earthquakes in a natural setting in order to predict large quakes.
The headquarters of Johnny & Associates in Tokyo's Minato Ward
JAPAN / Society
Sep 14, 2023

Johnny's says it will work for free as firms cut ties over scandal

The talent agency says it will not receive management fees for advertisements and television appearances by performers for a year.
A price board at a gas station in Tokyo shows regular gasoline at ¥186 yen per liter on Aug. 30.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 13, 2023

Japan's pump prices fall for first time in 18 weeks

The decline has come after the national average rewrote a record high for the second consecutive week.
Over half of the respondents in a poll support the release into the sea of treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 14, 2023

Fukushima water release supported by 52.9% in Japan, poll shows

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, the operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, started the water release on Aug. 24.
An employee of Kirin Holdings demonstrates chopsticks that can enhance food taste using an electrical stimulation waveform that was jointly developed by the company and Meiji University's School of Science and Technology Prof. Homei Miyashita, in Tokyo in April 2022.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 15, 2023

Two Japanese win Ig Nobel Prize for tableware that changes taste

The researchers published a paper in 2011 that said the taste of food and drink changes with electrified chopsticks and straws.
Idemitsu Kosan's model facility in Yokohama offering an electric vehicle charging service
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 15, 2023

Japan moves to make more effective use of solar power

Efforts are being made to use surplus electricity generated during the daytime by solar power and to shift power demand according to supply.
New health minister Keizo Takemi is the son of Taro Takemi, a prominent physician who was dubbed “Emperor Takemi” due to the enormous and often dictatorial power he wielded over health care policy as president of the Japan Medical Association.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 15, 2023

Critics worry about new health minister's ties with lobby group

Keizo Takemi is the son of a former president of the Japan Medical Association, a political lobby mostly made up of doctors in private practice.
Wakako Yata, who was appointed as a special adviser to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday, shakes hands with him at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 16, 2023

Appointment fuels speculation of LDP-Komeito-DPP coalition

On Friday, Wakako Yata, a former lawmaker who previously served as vice president of the DPP, was named special adviser to the prime minister.
Yasutoshi Nishimura
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2023

Minister vows to counter misinformation over Fukushima water release

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings started to release the treated water on Aug. 24.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen drives during the Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Sep 18, 2023

Max Verstappen looks ahead to Japan after end of record win streak

"I think we will be quick in Suzuka," Verstappen told reporters after a race that also ended his team's run of 15 successive wins.
Astronomers focus on Jupiter because it’s big, making it easy to see and more likely to suffer the impact of cosmic debris.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 18, 2023

A fireball whacked into Jupiter, and astronomers got it on video

In August, stargazers in Japan recorded a bright flash on the giant gas planet. Scientists want to use data like this to study our solar system’s birth.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday after a major reshuffle of his Cabinet.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2023

Japan voters unhappy with Kishida's price policies, poll shows

About 77% of respondents to the survey said they didn’t rate his price policies positively, compared with 17% who said they did.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen (right) and AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda take part in a fan event in Tokyo on Wednesday, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, at the weekend.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Sep 21, 2023

Red Bull's march to the title in focus as F1 arrives in Japan

The team will be looking to secure a second straight constructors' championship on the home turf of its engine supplier, Honda.
Burnt olive groves following a wildfire in the village of Dikella, west of Alexandroupolis, Greece, on Aug. 29. Nature-based investment aims to back projects that tackle land degradation, rectify biodiversity loss and combat climate change.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 22, 2023

Japan an outlier as interest in nature-based investment grows

Such investments aim to back projects that tackle land degradation, rectify biodiversity loss and combat climate change.
Yusuke Hashimoto (center) leaves the Metropolitan Police Department in a police car on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 22, 2023

Former Japan cancer center doctor arrested over bribery

The doctor allegedly had Zeon Medical company pay ¥1.7 million into his bank account in 2021 in exchange for ensuring the usage of their products.
Fumitake Fujita, secretary-general of Nippon Ishin no Kai, speaks during a news conference at the Diet building in Tokyo on Wednesday. Fujita said the party instructed its lawmakers to check whether their secretaries held other jobs.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 22, 2023

Lawmakers' secretaries doubling as assembly members stir controversy

State-paid secretaries are allowed to hold other jobs if lawmakers judge that that will not affect the performance of their duties as secretaries.

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Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat