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Police officers issue a warning to a person riding a modified bicycle during a traffic crackdown conducted in Tokyo's Nakano Ward in December.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 17, 2024

Police report surge in moped and powered bicycle violations

When questioned, many riders claim to be unaware of the requirement for a license to operate such vehicles.
Entrepreneurs Yusaku Maezawa (second from right) and Takafumi Horie (third from right) attend a study session on fake social media ads and investment scams at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on April 10.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 17, 2024

Police warn against investment scams on social media

Scammers are posing as prominent businesspeople to increase credibility and to lure victims into "get rich quick” schemes.
Members of the town assembly of Genkai, Saga Prefecture, discuss on Wednesday whether to accept a survey to examine the town's suitability for hosting a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2024

Saga town begins discussions on nuclear waste disposal site survey

If approved by the special committee and the full assembly, the town mayor will need to make the final decision on whether or not to accept the survey.
Children give a presentation on volcano studies during a workshop at Tairadate Elementary School in Hachimantai, Iwate Prefecture, in February.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Apr 29, 2024

Raising awareness over Mount Iwate eruption urged as memories fade

Interest in preparing for possible volcanic eruptions is difficult to muster in a nation prone to other natural disasters.
Ayuko Kato, minister in charge of children's policies (right), stands after a bill on expanding child-rearing allowances clears a Lower House committee on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2024

Lower House panel approves bill aiming to address low birthrate

The bill will expand child-rearing allowances, funded through a new system to collect additional fees on top of public medical insurance premiums.
The National Police Agency is planning to introduce driver's licenses for automatic transmission trucks and buses, as such vehicles accounted for about 90% of large buses and 70% of large trucks sold last year.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2024

Japan eyes automatic transmission licenses for trucks and buses

The move comes in response to the spread of AT vehicles and the issue of driver shortages.
CDP head Kenta Izumi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on April 13.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 19, 2024

Kishida and Izumi to campaign in must-win Shimane as by-election looms

For Kishida and the LDP, the Shimane race is a must-win contest, while the opposition is looking to gain ground in a ruling party stronghold.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks during an event in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 20, 2024

Japan finance chief issues fresh warning on excessive yen moves

Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki repeated his warning to investors against pushing down the yen too much.
Tochigi police have arrested a 25-year-old man over the disposal of corpses in the town of Nasu last week.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 21, 2024

Man, 25, arrested in connection with charred bodies found in Tochigi

Police had been questioning the unidentified man voluntarily since Wednesday, when he turned himself in.
Making your own sarada chikin is quite easy and economical, and a marinating ingredient that makes it especially tender and juicy is "shiokōji" — cooked rice inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae mold.
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Apr 26, 2024

Recipe: Japan’s diet-friendly ‘salad chicken’

You can add whatever herbs or seasonings you like to the marinade for a personalized, healthy dish.
Ryoken Hirayama, a construction worker arrested in connection with the discovery of the two charred bodies in Tochigi Prefecture, leaves a Tokyo police station on Monday. He has been handed over to prosecutors.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 22, 2024

Man held over charred bodies found in Tochigi says he didn't know victims

Police are investigating further following a disclosure by the man that he had acted on a request from an unnamed person.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a Lower House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 22, 2024

LDP to present political reform plan this week as pressure grows

The move will lay the groundwork for an amendment of the political funds control law in the current session of parliament slated to end June 23.
A dealer works in the trading room at a foreign exchange brokerage in Tokyo on March 28. An overwhelming majority of respondents who currently work remotely in some capacity say they wish to continue to do so.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2024

Hybrid work takes root in Japan, survey finds

While remote working has declined with the end of the pandemic, many of those who adopted a hybrid work model are sticking to it.
Demolition work is seen underway on a house damaged by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, last week.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2024

Quake-hit Ishikawa sees slow progress in housing demolitions

As of April 16, only three demolitions had been completed, despite 78,000 homes in the prefecture being damaged.
A crew member walks past an SH-60K helicopter on the deck of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Hyuga-class Ise helicopter carrier during a joint exercise between the U.S. and Japan in the Philippine Sea on Jan. 31.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2024

U.S. military and MSDF ocean observation ship to join hunt for crashed helicopters

The search effort is ramping up as officials work to narrow down the cause of the deadly crash.
Hirotada Ototake interacts with voters during a campaign stop in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Sunday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 23, 2024

Man arrested over assault of Tokyo by-election campaign staffer

The suspect allegedly pushed a male staff member of candidate Hirotada Ototake, resulting in minor injuries.
Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 23, 2024

Japanese minister Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine

She signed a visitors' book as a minister and made a ritual offering at her own expense.
Gustavo Caruso (second from right) of the International Atomic Energy Agency meets with officials from Tepco and the Japanese government in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2024

IAEA begins second review of water release from Fukushima plant

The mission is slated to conduct an on-site survey of the nuclear plant and exchange views with Tepco and Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority.
Wrestlers prepare for the start of a bout at the 2023 Sumo World Championships in Tokyo. Starting this month, placing one hand on the clay first is no longer allowed.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Apr 24, 2024

For amateur sumo, a fresh start offers hope against time-wasting and gamesmanship

Among the measures is an emphasis on wrestlers putting both hands down at the same time, with punishments including disqualification for noncompliance.
Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced in March that he would not run in the next Lower House election to take responsibility for the political funds scandal that rocked his party and his own faction.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 24, 2024

LDP veteran Nikai's youngest son expected to succeed him in Wakayama

Nobuyasu Nikai, who serves as secretary to his 85-year-old father, has been asked to stand for election by local leaders in the prefecture.
The parking lot of a convenience store in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward where Ryoken Hirayama, a 25-year-old construction worker, told police he had lent his car to two acquaintances to handle the matter involving the couple on the instructions of a certain individual.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2024

New details emerge over two burned bodies found in Tochigi

Police say that Sachiko and Ryutaro Takarajima may have been assaulted at a house in Tokyo hours before their deaths.
Members of the Generation Z division at the Kitakyushu municipal government in Fukuoka Prefecture discuss ways to attract more young people to live in the city.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 25, 2024

Local governments setting up unique divisions to revitalize economy

Kitakata in Fukushima Prefecture has created a ramen division and soba division to promote local cuisine.
Shintaro Wakiyama, mayor of Genkai, Saga Prefecture, speaks to reporters last week.   Jiji
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024

Saga town committee to OK petition to accept nuclear waste survey

The mayor of Genkai, Shintaro Wakiyama, has taken a cautious stance on the issue.
The planned extension of the Hokkaido Shinkansen to Sapporo will be delayed until after fiscal 2030 due to difficulties relating to tunnel construction, according to sources.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024

Hokkaido Shinkansen extension to be delayed beyond fiscal 2030

According to sources, tunnel construction for the section has proven challenging.
People observe a moment of silence for the victims of a JR Fukuchiyama Line train crash in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, Thursday morning on the 19th anniversary of the accident.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024

Victims of JR West train crash mourned 19 years on

The president of JR West and other officials observed a moment of silence at 9:18 a.m., the time of the crash, which killed 106 passengers.
The National Police Agency in Tokyo. Under an NPA plan, the minimum amount of state benefits paid to bereaved families of crime victims will be raised from ¥3.2 million to ¥10.6 million.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024

Japan to increase benefits for crime victims' families

The National Police Agency aims to carry out the revision in June after seeking public comments.
Check-in counters at Narita International Airport are crowded with travelers on Dec. 30, 2023.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024

Passengers at Narita Airport soar 72% in fiscal 2023

The operator forecast that during the Golden Week holiday period, international passengers would total 835,200, up 33.6% from the same period last year.
Police have arrested a Nigerian man on suspicion of smuggling stimulant drugs from Britain and tricking his romance scam victim into picking it up.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 26, 2024

Nigerian nabbed in Japan for drug smuggling through romance scam

Police say similar cases of romance scam victims being tricked into helping smuggle illegal drugs continue to occur.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (left), Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe (center) and Ontario Premier Doug Ford walk in the company's automotive assembly plant in Alliston, Ontario, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 26, 2024

Honda to spend $11 billion on electric vehicle strategy in Canada

The move is meant to tap long-term demand in North America and pushes the automaker toward having electrified cars account for 100% of sales by 2040.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attend an event in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2024

Imperial couple to visit Britain in June in first trip to country since '22

The visit will be the first trip to Britain by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako since they attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

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