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People gather around a heater at an evacuation center in the town of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Monday, following the powerful New Year's Day earthquake that hit the area.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2024

Japan warns of strong quakes over next month as number of missing triples

While the likelihood of another quake occurring with the same magnitude as the one on New Year's Day has decreased, seismic activity continues.
Fire hoses remain intact on Sunday in front of a collapsed structure near the site of a massive blaze in a central market in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2024

Photo essay: Inside the Ishikawa earthquake disaster zone

Over the three-day weekend, a team from The Japan Times reported from the hard-hit Noto Peninsula, witnessing a massive relief effort and speaking to evacuees.
The New York Times website lists the city of Yamaguchi among its "52 places to go in 2024."
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2024

Yamaguchi among New York Times '52 Places to Go' list for 2024

Noting its moniker as 'the Kyoto of the West,' NYT praised Yamaguchi's traditional charms and smaller crowds
Shu Kokaji (center) speaks with fellow volunteers on Saturday at Sunlife Plaza, an evacuation center in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture. At the facility, he aims to bring people joy in some aspects of evacuee life.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2024

Noto quake: 'In times of crisis, all we have is each other'

A team from Iwate Prefecture is just one of many grassroots campaigns mobilizing to support quake victims.
Yoshimi Yamashita is set to become the first woman to referee at the men's Asian Cup on Saturday.
SOCCER
Jan 12, 2024

Japan's Yamashita to become first woman to referee at men's Asian Cup

Yamashita, who was a fourth official at the 2022 men's World Cup, is one of five women who will serve as match officials at the tournament in Qatar.
Eleven of 21 sectors surveyed saw increases in winter bonus payments at major Japanese firms.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 13, 2024

Winter bonuses at major Japan firms see modest rise

The average increased for the second year in a row, though at a slower pace than the 7.77% growth marked in winter 2022.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (center, right) speaks with Shigeru Sakaguchi, mayor of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, and volunteers during his visit to an evacuation center in the city on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2024

Kishida makes first visit to Noto Peninsula after quake

Speaking to people at an evacuation center in Wajima, Kishida encouraged them to keep their hearts strong amid the difficult situation.
A wild bear spotted in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, in October 2022
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2024

Japan to bolster measures against bears waking up from hibernation

Each prefecture will be given ¥3 million to ¥5 million in financial resources to help with the measures.
Participants take part in a 'senior cafeteria' event at a nursing home in Tokyo's Meguro Ward on Dec. 14.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 21, 2024

‘Senior cafeterias’ gaining steam to support elderly

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government launched a subsidy program this fiscal year for municipalities promoting local dining events.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attend a ceremony marking the 150th anniversary of the Metropolitan Police Department's founding in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 15, 2024

Tokyo police mark 150th anniversary of founding

Founded on Jan. 15, 1874, Tokyo's MPD appointed as its first chief, who had studied European police systems and laid the foundation for Japan's modern law enforcement.
Shipping containers at a port in Lianyungang, eastern China's Jiangsu province, on Friday
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2024

Most Japanese firms don’t see China’s economy improving in 2024

More than 400 companies said they cut investment in China last year, according to a survey of 1,713 firms by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China.
Corporate bankruptcies with liabilities of at least ¥10 million increased 35.2% in 2023 from the previous year.
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2024

Business failures in Japan hit eight-year high in 2023

Failures rose in all 10 surveyed sectors for the first time in 31 years, due to rising prices, deepening labor shortages and the start of repayments of COVID relief loans.
A doctor and a nurse check on people affected by the New Year's Day quake in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 6.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2024

Doctors and nurses support families at morgues after Noto quake

Teams were sent after the 2016 quakes in Kumamoto Prefecture and a major mudslide in Atami in Shizuoka Prefecture in 2021.
Prosecutors raid the office of the Liberal Democratic Party's Abe faction in Tokyo on Dec. 19. The decision to not indict the faction leaders comes after all underwent voluntary questioning by the special investigation department of the Tokyo prosecutor’s office.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 16, 2024

Abe faction's seven senior members won't be prosecuted, reports say

Proving a criminal conspiracy between them and the group's treasurer to not report excess income from fundraising parties has been deemed too difficult by investigators.
Ryotaro Nakashima, the eighth-generation owner and tōji master brewer of Nakashima Shuzoten in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, speaks on Friday about how his brewery was devastated by the New Year's Day earthquake.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 17, 2024

Future unclear for 150-year-old sake brewery after Noto earthquake

After key facilities were badly damaged in the quake, eighth-generation owner and tōji master brewer Ryotaro Nakashima is struggling to see a way ahead.
People troubled by their parents' involvement with religions such as the Unification Church hold a news conference in Tokyo in December 2022 to announce the establishment of a support organization.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2024

Japan to use ex-believers' help for Unification Church victim aid

Some will participate as instructors in the training of consultation staff, to help them understand the feelings of victims.
A clock thrown away at a trash site in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Monday shows the approximate time that an earthquake hit the area on Jan. 1.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 19, 2024

Nanao mayor says Line group chat was essential to relief efforts

The group chat consisting of 300 municipal leaders nationwide allowed Yoshitaka Chatani to directly communicate with other mayors who were eager to help.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s sudden announcement on Thursday regarding the dissolution of his Liberal Democratic Party faction came after the group became caught up in a slush funds scandal that continues to shake his administration and the party.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 19, 2024

LDP turmoil continues as three major factions announce dissolution

Lawmakers from the 98-member political faction that was previously led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the decision during a meeting Friday night.
South Korea's Kim Tae-Hwan (left) battles with Jordan's Anas Al Awadat during Asian Cup group stage play on Saturday in Doha.
SOCCER
Jan 21, 2024

South Korea salvages Asian Cup draw as Bahrain leaves it late

One day after Iraq beat tournament favorites Japan, the Koreans needed an injury-time own goal to salvage a point.
Takahiro Taya, the 10th-generation representative of lacquerware shop Taya Shikkiten in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, holds a lacquerware bowl discovered from a workshop destroyed by a quake on New Year's Day.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 22, 2024

Wajima-nuri shop resolved to protect craft after quake

When the shop started a crowdfunding campaign, donations — and many encouraging messages — came quickly from all over the country.
Former LDP Policy Research Council head Koichi Hagiuda (right) speaks in Hachioji, Tokyo, late Sunday night after Kazuo Shiyake won the city's mayoral election.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2024

Ruling bloc-backed candidate wins Hachioji election

The win comes despite the LDP being embroiled in a high-profile slush funds scandal linked to its factions' fundraising parties.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a rally in advance of the New Hampshire presidential primary election in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2024

Trump references atomic bombings to argue for presidential immunity

A federal court ruled last year that immunity would be lost upon leaving office, opening up former presidents to be punished for crimes committed during their tenures.
According to Hitoshi Matsumoto’s lawyer, he is suing Bungei Shunju, the publisher of the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine over an article that was published in the magazine and online on Dec. 27.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2024

Comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto sues publisher over sexual assault article

The Downtown member is suing Bungei Shunju, the publisher of the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine, for defamation.
Toshiya Ikehata (center) helps prepare rice balls at a community kitchen in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 7. Ikehata runs a fine-dining restaurant in the city, which was among the hardest-hit areas in the Noto Peninsula earthquake.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2024

Shattered lives, unbroken spirits: Chefs step up to serve Noto communities

Fine-dining chefs rise to the challenge of feeding disaster victims in the hardest-hit areas of Ishikawa Prefecture.
A man prays on July 19, 2019, outside the Kyoto Animation building where 36 people died in a fire caused by Shinji Aoba the previous day.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2024

Possible death penalty looms for Kyoto Animation arson suspect

The trial shed light on his upbringing, the emergence of his grudge against the studio and how he went ahead with his plan of attack despite some hesitation.
Omicho Market, "the kitchen of the Kanazawa people," has seen very small numbers of visitors, with some restaurants still closed.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2024

Cancellations hit tourist-favorite Kanazawa after Noto quake

Tourism industry professionals are calling on tourists to "visit Kanazawa to back up the Noto region."
A prison officer looks around Tokushima prison in Tokushima in March 2018. The Justice Ministry announced Wednesday that male prisoners in Japan are to be allowed to have certain skin care products.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 24, 2024

Japan to allow male prisoners to use same skin care items as women

Under previous rules, the in-prison purchase and gift acceptance of the toiletry items were allowed only for female inmates.
Nippon Steel's plant in Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture. The firm submitted a cash offer to acquire U.S. Steel for $55 a share on Dec. 16.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 25, 2024

Sweetened offer in final hours clinched U.S. steel deal for Nippon

Nippon Steel executives submitted a sweetened cash offer to acquire the Pittsburgh-based company for $55 (¥8,120) a share on Dec. 16.
A courtroom sketch shows Shinji Aoba at the Kyoto District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 25, 2024

Kyoto Animation arsonist given death penalty over 2019 mass murder

A Kyoto court found Shinji Aoba guilty of setting a studio on fire because of a grudge he held against Kyoto Animation, in one of Japan's deadliest mass murders.
A Kubota M96S tractor is shown at the 47th Annual World Ag Expo in Tulare, California, in February 2014.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 27, 2024

Kubota hit with $2 million penalty over false 'Made in USA' claims

In addition to the penalty, Kubota will be prohibited from making deceptive claims, according to a court order filed by the U.S. Justice Department.

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