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Komeito, the junior partner in Japan's ruling bloc, has begun preparations to replace Natsuo Yamaguchi as its leader, in what would be the first change in party leadership since 2009.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2024

Komeito chief Natsuo Yamaguchi set to be replaced as leader

Yamaguchi, whose term expires on Sept. 28, will likely be succeeded by Secretary-General Keiichi Ishii, in the first change in party leadership since 2009.
Digital transformation minister Taro Kono speaks at a news conference on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2024

LDP leadership hopefuls campaign across Japan

Six LDP members have declared their bids for the party presidency so far, with more expected in the coming days.
Japan's Tokito Oda (L) reacts after beating Britain's Alfie Hewett in the men's singles gold medal match of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Saturday.
PARALYMPICS
Sep 8, 2024

Tokito Oda becomes youngest Paralympic men's wheelchair singles champion

Oda prevailed in just over 2 1/2 hours, in front of a virtually sell-out crowd at Roland Garros, in a great advertisement for the event.
Four candidates in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's leadership election participate in a debate at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2024

CDP leader candidates vow to challenge all scandal-hit LDP lawmakers

The four CDP lawmakers, speaking in a televised debate, said their party will field candidates in the next House of Representatives election to challenge all LDP members.
Fireworks are fired on the Stade de France roof during the closing ceremony of the Paris Paralympics on Sunday.
PARALYMPICS
Sep 9, 2024

Paris Paralympics close with festive ceremony as France celebrates 'historic' summer

International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said the Paris Paralympics had shown that "change starts with sport."
Thinly sliced puffer fish sashimi. The dish is often served at high-end restaurants in Japan, where chefs must hold a license proving they can safely slice around organs that contain a lethal poison.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2024

Japanese 10-year-old passes test for preparing deadly fugu

Fifth grader Karin Tabira passed a test this summer that certifies her to slice and gut the fish for consumption.
Komeito Secretary-General Keiichi Ishii
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

Keiichi Ishii set to replace Natsuo Yamaguchi as Komeito chief

The move would mark the first change in party leadership since 2009.
A white hood believed to have been worn by the Sengoku Period warlord Uesugi Kenshin
JAPAN / History
Sep 15, 2024

Repair work begins for hood linked to warlord Uesugi Kenshin

The white hood is expected to be exhibited to the public in 2028 or 2030.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito, accused of workplace bullying, testifies to an investigative panel in Kobe on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

Nippon Ishin calls on Hyogo governor to resign over bullying claims

Nippon Ishin’s move is expected to be a politically fatal blow for Motohiko Saito, as he had the party’s support when he was elected as an independent.
Redevelopment of the Meiji Jingu Gaien district has trees in the area marked according to their status — trees marked in red were to be cut down in the original plan while those in blue were to be transplanted. In the updated plan, trees marked in red will no longer be felled, and those in blue will remain where they are.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 9, 2024

Updated Meiji Jingu Gaien redevelopment plan to keep more trees

Fewer trees will be felled and more new ones planted, while construction will also take place further away from the park's iconic ginkgo trees.
Kazakhstan's Raushan Koishibayeva competes in the women's para powerlifting up to 73kg gold final on Saturday
PARALYMPICS
Sep 9, 2024

In pictures: Paralympics’ end brings hope for more diversity

Scenes from 11 days of thrilling competition, in which Japan bagged 14 gold medals, 10 silver and 17 bronze.
Michikazu Takao, a 52-year-old unemployed man who has been arrested over the theft of a safe from a beauty salon, wears a cap adorned with three crow feathers.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 10, 2024

Man with crow-feathered cap arrested over theft of safe at beauty salon

Michikazu Takao, 52, told police that he believes crows possess special powers and that he carried the feathers as a protective charm.
Rapidus' semiconductor foundry construction site in Chitose, Hokkaido
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2024

Japan’s Rapidus seeks another ¥100 billion in chipmaking push

The proceeds will help finance the construction of Rapidus’ foundry in Hokkaido, sources said.
About 30 students from Biwako Seikei Sport College who had gone kayaking in Lake Biwa on Monday failed to return to shore on time. It wasn’t until hours after sundown that all the missing students returned to shore on their own.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 10, 2024

Students reported missing while kayaking in Lake Biwa all accounted for

Having failed to return to shore before sundown, the group of university students finally made it back hours later after three of their kayaks capsized.
Growing moves by companies to pass on higher costs to consumers amid accelerating inflation are believed to have led to the decrease in bankruptcies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2024

Japan business failures log first drop in 29 months in August

The figure stood below 800 for the first time in four months.
The Aichi Prefectural Police headquarters in Nagoya. Police are investigating how an 18-year-old high school student in the city of Ichinomiya produced explosives found in his possession as well as the motive behind it.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 11, 2024

Aichi teen arrested over possession of high explosives

The arrest of the 18-year-old high school student stemmed from an investigation into a purchase of potassium nitrate made under his name.
A gate at the fifth station of Mount Fuji's Yoshida Trail in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, is closed Tuesday as this year's climbing season ended.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 11, 2024

Authorities say cap on Mount Fuji hikers achieved goals as season ends

Yamanashi introduced a daily limit of 4,000 climbers and ¥2,000 fee this season, in hopes of clamping down on "bullet climbing" and easing congestion.
Tamotsu Shiiki, 58, is accused of sexually assaulting a first-year junior high school girl at a karaoke parlor in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district on Aug. 20. He has denied the charge.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 11, 2024

Ex-lawmaker held over alleged sexual assault in Tokyo karaoke parlor

Tamotsu Shiiki, a former Lower House lawmaker of Nippon Ishin no Kai, denies sexually assaulting the first-year junior high school girl.
A U.S. F-35B stealth fighter lands on the MSDF's destroyer Izumo off the coast of Japan's Shikoku region in October 2021.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2024

Maritime Self-Defense Force's 'Flattop' to undergo tests with U.S. fighters

The helicopter-carrying destroyer has been undergoing work to become an aircraft carrier for use with F-35B stealth fighters to be adopted by the Air SDF.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa announces her candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 11, 2024

Yoko Kamikawa banks on overseas experience in LDP leadership race

Her candidacy could increase attention on foreign policy questions in a race so far dominated by party reform and domestic economic issues.
A child consultation center in Fukuoka Prefecture. Households frequently relocating within short periods experienced a lack of proper handovers of child abuse cases between local governments.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 12, 2024

Over 40% of fatal child abuse victims under age of 1, survey shows

Excluding cases of murder-suicide, the number of children in Japan who died from abuse stood at 56.
A court sketch shows Saki Sudo in her first hearing for her murder case at the Wakayama District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 12, 2024

Former wife pleads not guilty to murder of 'Don Juan of Kishu'

The outcome of the trial may affect the treatment of inheritance money left by Nozaki, which is said to total more than ¥1.3 billion.
Nine candidates, including Toshimitsu Motegi at the podium, attend a kick off event on Thursday for their campaigning in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 12, 2024

Ishiba and Koizumi speed ahead as LDP presidential race kicks off

Despite a decline in the LDP’s image due to a large-scale political funds scandal, Ishiba and Koizumi have remained surprisingly popular with the public.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito responds to questioning in Kobe on Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2024

LDP and other parties demand Hyogo governor's resignation

All 86 members of the prefectural assembly have now called for Saito's resignation.f
The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau in Tokyo's Chuo Ward
JAPAN / Society
Sep 13, 2024

Chief priest of Tokyo shrine allegedly took ¥250 million from amulet sales

The priest and the corporation that runs the shrine have been hit with additional taxes, including penalties, worth about ¥130 million.
Aiko Kato (left) touches the stump of a sacred tree at Sakataru Shrine in June in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, which was cut off after it fell down due to the Jan. 1 earthquake
JAPAN / Society
Sep 13, 2024

Crowdfunding for damaged Noto shrine raises 10 times target

The shrine offered gifts to donors, including a special soda infused with the essence of its fallen sacred tree.
The government is considering asking more people age 75 or over to pay 30% of their medical costs.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 13, 2024

Japan may require more elderly people to foot 30% of their medical costs

Currently, those age 75 or older pay in principle 10%, while those with preretirement levels of income pay 30%.
An event to support Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures is held in Sendai in March, with booths offering local specialties.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Sep 30, 2024

Nearly 40% of Fukushima municipalities want hometown tax system revised

Some want the central government to implement measures to establish a system that narrows disparities among municipalities.
Nippon Steel may be interested in buying the troubled Italian steel plant formerly known as Ilva, Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Saturday, without saying where it got the information.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 14, 2024

Nippon Steel may bid for Italy’s ex-Ilva plant, report says

Representatives of Italy’s government and Japan’s embassy discussed the potential offer last week, the newspaper said without revealing its source.
From October, patients who choose the original versions of drugs with expired patents over their generic counterparts will shoulder higher costs.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 15, 2024

Out-of-pocket costs for off-patent drugs to rise in October

Moisturizing ointments and patches are among the 1,095 items to be affected by the revision.

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