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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.
The maglev shinkansen line was originally scheduled for opening in 2027.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2023

JR Central changes opening date of maglev shinkansen line

The line will open "no earlier than 2027" due to uncertainties over when drilling works for a tunnel in Shizuoka Prefecture can commence.
Construction work is conducted in the Henoko coastal area in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2023

Okinawa promotion spending to fall to ¥267.8 billion in fiscal 2024

The outlay would stand below ¥300 billion for the third successive year, according to a government estimate.
Water tanks containing treated radioactive water on the grounds of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in October
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2023

Tepco's Fukushima No. 1 victim compensation costs set to rise

Factors in the increase includes pay outs to fishery operators due to the releases into the ocean of tritium-containing treated wastewater from the plant.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 15, 2023

Kishida's approval rate falls into dangerous territory amid scandal

The rate is the worst figure for a prime minister from the Liberal Democratic Party in more than a decade.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2018
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Dec 17, 2023

A made-in-Japan solution for space junk that goes against the grain

As space junk clogs Earth's orbit, a Kyoto University team has a new solution: wooden satellites.
Ten or more lawmakers of the LDP's largest faction, including former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, may have received over ¥10 million each in kickbacks, according to the sources.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2023

Ten or more Abe faction members may have received over ¥10 million in kickbacks

Among other LDP factions, Shisuikai, led by former party Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, is also suspected of failing to report fundraising revenues .
A participant writes during a New Year calligraphy contest in Tokyo on Jan. 5, 2023.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2023

Japan to propose nation's calligraphy for UNESCO heritage list

In response to a Cultural Affairs Council recommendation, the government will submit a proposal to the U.N. body by next March.
Prosecutors head to the office of the Liberal Democratic Party faction led by former Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 19, 2023

Prosecutors search sites linked to scandal-hit LDP factions

Prosecutors searched the biggest faction, once led by late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and another led by former LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai.
The government is considering scrapping the idea of expanding the range of older residents who must pay out of their pockets 20% of the costs of elderly care services provided under public insurance.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2023

Japan to scrap idea of raising elderly care user fees

Many ruling lawmakers have expressed cautious opinions on the proposed expansion.
Medical fees will be lowered by 0.12% in fiscal 2024, marking the fifth consecutive reduction in the fees that are reviewed every two years.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2023

Japan fees for medical services and drugs to be lowered by 0.12%

The government will raise its official fees for nursing and disability welfare services by 1.59% and 1.12%, respectively, in fiscal 2024.
The Shimbashi area of Tokyo's Minato Ward is crowded with office workers on Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2023

Pubs in Japan thriving again as year-end parties return

On Friday night, many drinking places in the Shimbashi district of Tokyo's Minato Ward were packed with customers.
Inspectors analyze saliva collected with test kits at SalivaTech.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Jan 8, 2024

Tohoku startup offers way to detect cancer early using saliva

SalivaTech's SalivaChecker is a test kit that provides high-precision analysis of around 10 types of salivary metabolites.
Former education minister Kisaburo Tokai, who has been tapped as Liberal Democratic Party policy chief, speaks to reporters Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 21, 2023

Kishida makes more LDP leadership changes in bid to restore trust

The changes come a week after he dismissed four key members of his Cabinet who were also Abe faction members suspected of receiving unreported funds.
Gummy products containing hexahydrocannabihexol, which resembles a cannabis compound.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 22, 2023

Japan bans sale of 38 goods with synthetic cannabis compounds

The ban applies to items containing any of five substances, including hexahydrocannabiphorol and tetrahydrocannabiphorol acetate.
A court sketch made at the courthouse of Vesoul, eastern France, on Thursday shows defendant and Chilean national Nicolas Zepeda (center) standing to hear the verdict during the final day of his appeal trial for the alleged murder of his Japanese ex-girlfriend, Narumi Kurosaki.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 22, 2023

French appeals court jails Chilean for murder of Japanese student

A lower court had sentenced Nicolas Zepeda to 28 years in prison for killing Narumi Kurosaki in December 2016.
Digital minister Taro Kono (second from right) and health minister Keizo Takemi hand out leaflets to promote the use of My Number cards as health insurance certificates at Jikei University Hospital in Tokyo last month.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 22, 2023

Japan to scrap health insurance cards from December next year

The government aims to streamline administration and improve health care services by integrating the function of the cards into My Number cards.
Children take part in Christmas activities in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Saturday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 25, 2023

Japan to open nursery places to all children by fiscal 2025

At the moment, typically only children from families where both the parents are working are admitted to day care.
Koichi Hagiuda (left), the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s former policy chief, has been questioned by Tokyo prosecutors over a political funds scandal.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 26, 2023

Prosecutors question former LDP policy chief over funds scandal

Koichi Hagiuda has become the latest veteran lawmaker to be questioned on a voluntary basis over the political funds scandal.
A group of 19 host club owners in Kabukicho who own most of the host clubs in the area have pledged to ban the pay-later system by April and prohibit entry to those under 20 years old from January.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 26, 2023

How Japan's host clubs trap young women under mountains of debt

False promises of love — and even marriage — lead to huge bills for some as young as 18, who are often then coaxed into sex work to make repayments.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gives a speech in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2023

Kishida vows to improve political funds transparency

As president of the LDP, Kishida has unveiled a plan to establish a new intraparty organization early next year to discuss political and party reforms.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi took office on Dec. 14 after his predecessor quit over a political funds scandal.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2023

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi vows to tackle distrust

Hayashi, who took office after his predecessor quit over a funding scandal, says revising the relevant law is related to freedom of political activity.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left) and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visit the cenotaph for atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima on May 21 during the Group of Seven summit. Zelenskyy’s visit to one of the two cities attacked with a nuclear weapon came amid Russia’s veiled threats to use its nuclear arsenal in its war against Ukraine.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2023

Images of 2023: Japan

Outside of the successful G7 summit, the year was not kind to PM Fumio Kishida's unpopular administration. A kickback scandal provided one final headache.
A JFE Steel plant in the city of Chiba. JFE Steel plans to buy more coking coal on the spot market to increase the liquidity of the market and to reflect true demand and supply.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 29, 2023

Japan's JFE takes new tack to tame volatile coking coal prices

Japan's No.2 steelmaker plans to buy more coking coal from the spot market to boost activity and make prices more transparent.
Junya Hiramoto and Shimon Ishimaru, members of Johnny's Sexual Assault Victims Association who claim to have been sexually abused by the late founder of Johnny & Associates, hold a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo in September
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 30, 2023

More men seek sex abuse consultations after Johnny's scandal

According to Tokyo police, consultation requests from male victims surged in September after the agency admitted its founder had abused entertainers.
The Alumy website, which offers a service for companies that want to connect with individuals who have quit their jobs
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 31, 2023

More Japanese companies move to rehire former employees

Previously, it had been widely believed that quitting a job means completely severing the relationship with the employer.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and Princess Aiko pose for a photo at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Dec. 1.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 1, 2024

Japan emperor hopes for expanded support for needy people

Emperor Naruhito, in a New Year's message on Monday, expressed his wish that support will expand for people facing difficulties.
Tomoyoshi Taniguchi (left), Ryuko Neya (center) and Taiko Minami with pets at the Misogichiku Community Center in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture. Pet owners were told they could not enter the shelter room and had to stay in hallways and the entrance hall.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 4, 2024

In Ishikawa, shelter for people but not four-legged friends

One pet owner's experience in quake-hit Ishikawa highlights the many challenges facing such people in times of disaster, and is a recurring issue.
Ryoyu Kobayashi on Saturday in Bischofshofen, Austria, added the 2024 Four Hills title to triumphs in 2019 and 2022.
MORE SPORTS / Ski jumping
Jan 7, 2024

Japan's Kobayashi clinches third Four Hills ski jump crown

Kobayashi added the 2024 title to triumphs in 2019 and 2022 after finishing in second place in the last of the four events at Bischofshofen in Austria.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a meeting at the disaster response headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2024

Japanese government to give preferential treatment to quake victims

The government also plans to designate the earthquake as a disaster of extreme severity to raise its subsidy rate for restoration projects conducted by local governments.

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