Search - japan

 
 
Ministers gather for a Cabinet meeting on Friday at Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2023

Japan enacts bill to raise annual pay of PM and ministers

The prime minister's annual salary will be raised by ¥460,000 to ¥40.61 million.
Ichikawa Ennosuke IV bows in front of media after being released on bail in July.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 17, 2023

Ichikawa Ennosuke IV given suspended three-year prison term

The 47-year-old, whose real name is Takahiko Kinoshi, had been on trial over his role in a family suicide pact.
Daisaku Ikeda
JAPAN / Society
Nov 18, 2023

Former Soka Gakkai leader Daisaku Ikeda dies at 95

The former president of the lay Buddhist group, one of the largest religious groups in Japan, died of old age on Wednesday at his home in Tokyo.
Communicating over the phone, a necessity for businesspeople, is a headache for many young people.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Nov 27, 2023

Many young people in Japan scared of telephone calls

For some, their heart skips a beat when they hear phones ringing and they hesitate to make calls, fearing they might be considered a nuisance.
Cough medicine seized by police in connection with the case of unauthorized sales of the drug in the Toyoko area of Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 22, 2023

4 youths nabbed for unauthorized cough medicine sales

Reports indicate that more young people in Japan are overdosing on over-the-counter drugs such as cold pills and cough medicine.
Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto Prefecture hands out "blindfold" stickers that visitors can use to cover up their wishes written on wooden plaques.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 23, 2023

Privacy concerns prompt people to cover up Shinto prayer plaques

The plaques have been used to express wishes for centuries, and now some shrines are allowing them to be covered with stickers for privacy reasons.
A boar captured in a project to connect farmers and young hunters
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2023

Efforts underway to help license holders get hunting experience

Crop damage and and dangerous animal encounters are on the rise in Japan, but active hunters are dwindling.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Sanae Takaichi (center) and Taro Kono attend a Lower House session in Tokyo last week.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 29, 2023

Despite low approval ratings, Kishida likely to keep top job

While the situation around the government warrants no optimism, experts agree the prime minister has no reason to fret.
Yoshikazu Uchikawa, head lawyer representing plaintiffs of a lawsuit demanding that cuts in welfare benefits be revoked, speaks at a news conference in Nagoya on Thursday following a Nagoya High Court ruling.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 1, 2023

Japan high court revokes welfare benefit cuts

The plaintiffs argued that there was an error in the method for calculating the price index used as the basis for the reductions.
Overseas fish buyers participating in a business tour organized by the Japan External Trade Organization visit a fish market in the city of Aomori on Monday.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2023

Overseas fish buyers begin business trip in Japan

JETRO organized the tour to help fishery business operators find alternative buyers in the wake of China's ban on Japanese marine products.
There is a sense of caution in the credit market that the Bank of Japan will finally tighten its ultraeasy policy.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 4, 2023

Turmoil from BOJ policy bets shakes up Japan credit market

Companies rush to raise money to take advantage of low rates while they still can but investor demand for corporate bonds is weakening.
Osaka's Yumeshima island in November
JAPAN / Society
Dec 5, 2023

Osaka Expo woes weigh on city's casino resort project

Given the logistical and timing issues facing the expo, there are concerns over whether the casino resort can be built on schedule.
Gender-neutral names were more popular for Japanese babies born in 2023, a survey has found.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 5, 2023

Popularity of gender-neutral Japanese names rose in 2023

The annual ranking by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance, released Monday, showed that unisex names have risen in popularity.
The Lower House plenary session approves the relief bill in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 5, 2023

Bill for victims' relief in Unification Church case clears Lower House

The bill aims to prevent a religious organization's assets from being transferred overseas so that it can be set aside to provide relief.
Tokyo police had a veterinarian perform a postmortem on the hapless pigeon and determined its cause of death as traumatic shock.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 5, 2023

Police arrest Japan taxi driver after running over pigeon

Tokyo police had a veterinarian perform a postmortem on the hapless pigeon and determined its cause of death as traumatic shock.
The average price of whole Christmas cakes in Japan is up 7.8% from a year earlier, reflecting steep rises in prices of ingredients.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2023

Christmas cake prices jump 7.8% in Japan

According to a survey by Teikoku Databank, prices of Christmas cakes measuring 15 centimeters in diameter average ¥4,468.
Kirishima waves to fans as he celebrates his second Emperor's Cup, in Fukuoka last month.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Dec 6, 2023

Wild 2023 the storm before the calm for Japan’s national sport

The sport finished on a high this year, setting up enticing possibilities for 2024 as several potential stars emerge.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during the High-Level Segment for Heads of State and Government session at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai on Friday. Kishida spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday regarding the situation in Gaza.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2023

Civilian casualties should be minimized, Kishida tells Netanyahu

In response, the Israeli leader set out his country's position on the military operation in Gaza, the Foreign Ministry said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno attend a Cabinet meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 8, 2023

Kishida walks tightrope after new funds allegations against Matsuno

The top government spokesperson is believed to have received kickbacks from his faction totaling more than ¥10 million over the last five years.
Empress Masako turned 60 on Saturday
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2023

Empress expresses feelings of gratitude and hope as she turns 60

Empress Masako turned 60 on Saturday as she expressed her deep gratitude to all those who have helped her.
Interior and security ministers from the Group of Seven major countries meet in the city of Mito, in Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sunday to step up cooperation in the fight against cross-border organized fraud.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 11, 2023

G7 agrees in Japan to enhance cooperation against organized fraud

Ministers from the bloc agreed that their countries should strengthen support for developing countries from which fraudulent phone calls are made.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 11, 2023

Kishida likely to shake up Cabinet in wake of political funds scandal

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is reportedly considering removing all members of the faction once led by his late predecessor Shinzo Abe.
Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers on Tokunoshima island, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Nov. 19. The government plans to secure over ¥1 trillion in fresh defense outlays by raising corporate, tobacco and income taxes in stages, but it has yet to decide when to start increasing the taxes.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 11, 2023

Japan unlikely to hike taxes for defense boost in '25: LDP official

The decision on when to hike taxes will be delayed into 2024 amid an unfolding fundraising scandal involving many LDP factions and senior lawmakers.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a government meeting on child policies on Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2023

Japan to boost spending on measures to tackle low birthrate

The government will make official a program that will have nursery schools accept children even if both parents do not work, among other measures.
As many as 31 squirrels at the Inokashira Park Zoo in Tokyo are believed to have been accidentally killed with anti-parasitic medicine this month.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2023

Tokyo zoo probes suspected mass squirrel poisoning after 31 die

Keepers at the zoo injected the animals with anti-parasitic medicine earlier this month as part of a sanitary precaution.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno attend a Cabinet meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2023

Funding scandal deepens as parliament session draws to a close

The probe into a Liberal Democratic Party funds scandal looks likely to deepen in the coming days, making the political scene increasingly unpredictable.
Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Koichi Hagiuda (center) attends a party hosted by his faction, which was previously led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in May in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 13, 2023

Focus turns to replacements as scandal-hit LDP ministers face ax

In a news conference Wednesday evening, Fumio Kishida said he would make replacements the following day but declined to comment on the details.
A poster for a bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Sapporo in October
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2023

Sapporo to stop efforts to pursue Winter Games

Sapporo initially worked toward hosting the 2030 Games but abandoned this plan because of a lack of public support.
Yoichi Miyazawa, head of the Liberal Democratic Party's tax panel, speaks at its meeting at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 14, 2023

Japan's ruling coalition OKs tax reforms amid public skepticism

The schedule for planned tax hikes to boost defense spending was once again not made clear.
A site at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant where workers were splashed with water containing radioactive materials in October
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2023

Radioactivity detected in Fukushima worker's nose

Radioactive materials may have touched the worker's face on Monday as he took off a full-face mask after finishing his work.

Longform

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