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Ichikawa Ennosuke IV bows in front of media after being released on bail set at ¥5 million in July.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 20, 2023

Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke pleads guilty to assisting parents' suicides

“The feelings of regret, remorse and gratitude (to my supporters) are something I will carry for the rest of my life,” Ennosuke said.
The land ministry plans to resume a subsidy program to help families with small children and young married couples build energy-efficient houses.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2023

Japan looks to resume aid to help build energy-saving houses

The land ministry aims to incorporate the program in the government's upcoming economic package.
EF Polymer CEO Narayan Lal Gurjar (right) and COO Kunihiro Shimoji at the company in Onna, Okinawa Prefecture, in August
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Oct 30, 2023

Organic polymer brings water to drought-hit farmlands

The India-born, Okinawa-nurtured product seeks to replace petroleum-derived polymers to promote sustainability.
Baby soap donated by sanitary products company Saraya to the city of Kashiwara, Osaka Prefecture, has been distributed at child care support facilities in the city.
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2023

Donation platform matches firms with local governments in Japan

The platform not only helps improve the welfare of residents, but also allows companies to make effective use of inventories.
Lawyers Kazuyuki Minami (left) and Masafumi Yoshida (right) representing a transgender woman show off signs that say "unconstitutional" and "sent back" to a lower court, during a news conference Wednesday in Tokyo after a Supreme Court decision.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 25, 2023

Supreme Court hands down landmark decision on transgender rights

A law requiring sterilization surgery to change a person's legal gender has been declared “unconstitutional."
Taro Yamada, parliamentary vice minister for education, speaks to reporters at the parliament building in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 26, 2023

Parliamentary Vice Minister Taro Yamada steps down over affair

The first Cabinet resignation since a mid-September reshuffle deals a blow to Kishida at a time when public support rates have plummeted.
Yayoi Kimura, mayor of Tokyo's Koto Ward, at a news conference to announce her resignation following allegations of election campaign violations.
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2023

Mayor of Tokyo ward to resign over alleged campaign violation

Koto Ward mayor Yayoi Kimura says she will resign following a probe by public prosecutors in connection with an alleged election law violation.
Medical staff administer a COVID-19 vaccination in Tokyo's Minato Ward in October last year.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 27, 2023

Tokyo promotes awareness of children's COVID-19 aftereffects

The leaflet shows a wide range of aftereffects seen among elementary and junior and senior high school students.
Takuya Matsunaga (right), who lost his wife and daughter in a 2019 crash in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, attends a news conference on Friday along with his father-in-law, Yoshinori Uehara.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 27, 2023

Ex-Japan bureaucrat ordered to pay damages over fatal 2019 crash

Kozo Iizuka had already been sentenced to five years in prison, after the car he was driving crashed into Mana Matsunaga, 31, and her daughter Riko, 3.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa has called for a halt in the fighting in Gaza for humanitarian purposes.
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2023

Japan's top envoy calls for halt to Gaza conflict

"The priority is to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza," Kamikawa said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida answers questions at a Lower House Budget Committee session on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 30, 2023

Kishida says tax hike and tax cut policies ‘don’t contradict’

“An (income tax cut) is a temporary measure until wages increase to a level that can cover rising prices," the prime minister said.
Ryo and Kaho Nagata greet a regular customer from the second floor of their cafe in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Nov 6, 2023

Young migrants bring vitality to rural Hiroshima

Some new residents found a place where they could try something new, as well as having cheaper rents for stores and homes compared to Tokyo.
Tsuneo Suzuki (center), the suspect arrested after a police raid of a post office in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, on Tuesday, is taken to a police station in the prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 31, 2023

Shooting suspect arrested after police raid Saitama post office

Two men were injured in the shooting at a hospital, while two female staff members of the post office were said to be unharmed.
Maritime Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Ryo Sakai speaks during a news conference Tuesday at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2023

Defense chief condemns ‘outrageous’ response in SDF harassment case

A male perpetrator of sexual assault was forced to apologize directly to the female victim despite her wishes not to see him.
A post office in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, on Wednesday, a day after a man barricaded himself inside with a firearm.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 1, 2023

Elderly Saitama hostage-taker had 'grudge' against post office

The 86-year-old man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of shooting into a hospital in Saitama Prefecture and taking hostages at a post office.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holds his glasses during an Upper House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 1, 2023

Hotly debated tax cuts risk backfiring on Kishida administration

When Kishida announced plans to cut income and residence taxes to ease the hit from inflation, there was a chorus of skepticism rather than joy.
New Zealand's openside flanker and captain Sam Cane (right) walks on the field with his silver medal after South Africa won the France 2023 Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand in Saint-Denis, France, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Nov 3, 2023

All Blacks captain Sam Cane to join Suntory

Cane has taken a sabbatical option in his New Zealand Rugby contract.
Seiko Noda (right), head of a suprapartisan group of lawmakers discussing assisted reproductive technology, addresses the group's general meeting held in the Diet building on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2023

Bill on sperm and egg donors seeks disclosure of some information

The draft seeks to allow information that is not personally identifiable, such as height, blood type and age, to be disclosed without donor's consent
The Metropolitan Police Department and other police departments across Japan are increasingly using a kit to test for date rape-drugs.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 9, 2023

Japanese police increasingly using date-rape drug testing kit

The kit can detect in a matter of minutes whether a date rape drug has been used on someone.
With water drawn from sources in upstate New York, new sake brewing facilities in the Empire State back by Niigata Prefecture's Hakkaisan will be producing bottles by 2024.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 12, 2023

Hakkaisan and New York brewer to produce U.S.-based sake by 2024

The water for sake will come from upstate New York, while rice will come from California and Arkansas.
A bill that would raise the pay for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Cabinet ministers and some civil servants was passed by the  Lower House Cabinet Committee on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 10, 2023

Bill that would hike Kishida and Cabinet's pay clears Lower House committee

The plan has been met with fierce backlash from opposition parties, with lawmakers lambasting the government for its “poor political judgment.”
Japanese state-backed fund INCJ has sold all but a token portion of its stake in semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 10, 2023

Japan fund INCJ sells ¥279 billion of Renesas shares

The shares have primarily been sold to overseas institutional investors, INCJ said.
Cosmo Energy is calling another shareholder vote on Dec. 14 to seek approval to discourage an activist group, led by Yoshiaki Murakami, from increasing its stake to 24.56% from the current 20%.
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2023

Japan's Cosmo braces for 'poison pill' anti-activist vote

The refiner is calling another shareholder vote on Dec. 14 to seek approval to discourage an activist group from increasing its stake.
China upholds the 12-year prison sentence for a Japanese national accused of espionage, sources said Saturday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 12, 2023

China confirms 12-year jail sentence for Japanese man in spying case

In China, 17 Japanese people have been detained under the anti-espionage law that went into effect in 2014.
The government aims to have 50% of new fathers take child care leave by 2025 and 85% by 2030.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 13, 2023

Japan panel proposes child care plan covering 100% of income

The 100% allowance would only be offered for up to 28 days, with the amount for any further leave being around 80% of income.
Kenshi Koba, chairman of the Takarazuka theater group, bows his head in apology during a news conference in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 14, 2023

No link to bullying in Takarazuka theater actress's suicide: panel

Although there was no evidence of harassment in the all-female musical theater troupe, the actress was most likely under immense pressure, the panel said.
A Tsuruha Holdings store in Otaru, Hokkaido. The drug store chain is considering selling the entire company for about $4 billion or even more, sources said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 15, 2023

Japan’s Tsuruha weighs sale after proxy battle with Oasis

The company is working with an adviser on the potential transaction and has reached out to some private equity firms to gauge their interest.
Members of the ruling parties announce a proposal on Unification Church asset protection in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 15, 2023

Lawmakers submit proposal to revise law on Unification Church assets

A group of lawmakers has submitted proposals to amend existing laws governing religious organizations, aiming to prevent the outflow of church funds.
People with triple-negative breast cancers account for 10% to 20% of all breast cancer cases in Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 16, 2023

Heart failure drugs may help prevent breast cancer relapse: Japanese study

The study, conducted by a team of Japanese researchers, could lead to the future development of a therapy for patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
Mio Sugita
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2023

LDP lawmaker Mio Sugita under fire again over Ainu comments

In September this year, the Sapporo Legal Affairs Bureau found that her blog post about the Ainu people in 2016 violated their human rights.

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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