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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.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, a candidate in the LDP presidential election, speaks during a televised debate in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 15, 2024

LDP presidential front-runners Koizumi and Ishiba split on snap election

While the two front-runners vie to be Japan’s next prime minister, conservative firebrand Sanae Takaichi gains momentum in the polls.
An H2A rocket carrying an information gathering satellite is launched from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture in January. The latest launch of the rocket has been delayed for a second time.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2024

Mitsubishi Heavy cancels H2A rocket launch for the second time

Unsafe upper-level winds were behind the latest delay.
Hikers pass through a temporary gate set up at the fifth station of the Yoshida Trail on Mount Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture in July.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2024

Mount Fuji restrictions reduce dangerous overnight climbs

Around 200,000 people climbed Japan's tallest mountain in this year's season, down 10% from last year.
A ride-hailing service vehicle in Sendai. In times of disasters, such services will be available more widely.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2024

Japan to allow use of ride-hailing services in disasters

Demand for transportation tends to increase during disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons, as well as in the recovery and reconstruction process.
Sanae Tamura (right), whose guesthouse in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, was damaged by the Jan. 1 earthquake, reopened its doors in April.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 17, 2024

Music continues to play for Noto guesthouse after Jan. 1 earthquake

Tsuchi to Disco, which is run by a 35-year-old dance aficionado, began welcoming visitors again in April after three months of repairs.
Women in managerial positions at Japanese firms has topped 10%, but the figure still lags far behind those in European countries and the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 17, 2024

Women in managerial posts top 10% for first time in Japan

Women in managerial roles are slowly increasing in Japan, but the country remains far from the government's 30% target for this decade.
A United Steelworkers sign is seen outside the Great Lakes Works U.S. Steel plant in River Rouge, Michigan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 18, 2024

U.S. decision on Nippon Steel bid pushed back until after election

The move offers a ray of hope for the companies, whose proposed deal appeared set to be blocked on national security grounds.
University of Tokyo students speak to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday after submitting a petition opposing tuition hike plans.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 18, 2024

University of Tokyo students submit petition against tuition hike

Students submitted a petition with around 27,500 signatures along with a written request for the university to delay the decision.
Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a debate with other candidates in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2024

Takaichi's policy documents spark controversy in LDP leadership race

She argues that the materials are unrelated to the election and were mailed out before a ban was imposed, but some in the party describe them as "unfair."
The Liberal Democratic Party's suspected ties with the Unification Church have been little discussed in the ongoing leadership race campaign.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2024

Unification Church issue continues to haunt LDP amid leadership race

The Asahi Shimbun daily has published a photo purporting to show a meeting between then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a senior official of the religious group in 2013.
Health ministry officials inspect the Wakayama factory of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical in March after reports of health damage surfaced among people who took the firm's red yeast rice supplements.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 18, 2024

Puberulic acid confirmed as source of beni kōji health issues

The substance produced by blue mold was the cause of kidney problems suffered by consumers of the Kobayashi Pharma supplements, the health ministry said.
Komeito Secretary-General Keiichi Ishii
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2024

Ishii to head Komeito in first leadership change in 15 years

Keiichi Ishii will be appointed the new Komeito leader at a party convention on Sept. 28.
Data was falsified for wheelsets on Tokyo Metro train cars.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2024

Tokyo Metro maintenance subsidiary falsified wheelset data

Data was altered for 233 axles of 161 subway cars, out of a total of 11,000 axles of some 2,700 cars owned by Tokyo Metro.
A survey shows former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda currently has the most support among Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's lawmakers in the party's leadership race.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

Noda front-runner in CDP leadership race, with Edano close behind: survey

The situation is still fluid as many respondents in both surveys said they had not decided yet on whom to vote for in the leadership election.
A police officer explains with a loudspeaker the correct way of interacting with the deer on July 25 at Nara Park in the city of Nara.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 20, 2024

Nara urges respect for sacred deer after viral abuse video sparks outcry

A video showing a man kicking a deer began circulating on social media in late July, resulting in the lodging of over 100 police reports.
Rice in a field in Tambasasayama, Hyogo Prefecture in August. Rice prices jumped 28.3%, posting the largest increase since September 1975.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2024

Japan core consumer prices up 2.8% in August

Rice prices shot up 28.3%, electricity rates soared 26.2% and city gas rates 15.1%, following an end of government subsidies.
A man holds a new iPhone 16 at an Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2024

Apple's iPhone 16 released in Japan

The Japanese version of Apple Intelligence will be launched next year.
A U.S. Marine aircraft at Futenma Air Station in Okinawa
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 21, 2024

U.S. marine in Okinawa indicted for alleged sexual assault

The suspect has denied part of the charges, claiming that he had consent, investigative sources said.
Rescue personnel search for missing people in debris washed away from flooding along the Tsukada River following heavy rain in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2024

Death toll in Ishikawa rains hits seven as search for missing continues

Search operations for those missing in torrential rains that inundated the quake-hit Noto Peninsula area were continuing.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba reacts during a news conference ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election in Tokyo on Sept. 6.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 24, 2024

Why is Shigeru Ishiba so unpopular among his LDP peers?

The former defense minister is highly regarded among the public and local chapters of the ruling party, but it's a different story when it comes to LDP lawmakers.
An unearthed Nazca Lines geoglyph in southern Peru
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 25, 2024

AI research uncovers 300 ancient etchings in Peru's Nazca desert

Researchers found the geoglyphs through field surveys conducted at sites selected with artificial intelligence technology from aerial photographs.
A total of 509 patients in Japan had to give up on organ transplant operations last year because hospitals were unable to carry out such procedures, according to a health ministry survey.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 25, 2024

Hospital shortcomings forced 509 patients to abandon organ transplants

A lack of hospital staff and insufficient space in intensive care units needed for such operations were among the reasons.
Police officials search for missing people and those unaccounted for in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2024

Death toll on Noto Peninsula rises to 9 after heavy rain and flooding

Two people remain missing and six unaccounted for after the end of the crucial 72-hour window since a heavy rain emergency warning was issued Saturday morning.
Digital minister Taro Kono, who is contesting the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, shows a board saying "accomplishment of reformation" during a debate in Tokyo on Sept. 14.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 25, 2024

How Taro Kono lost his mojo

Recent polls have shown the digital minister trailing behind his eight other rivals in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito after the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly passed a no-confidence motion against him on Sept. 19 
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2024

Hyogo governor to seek reelection after automatically losing his seat next week

Motohiko Saito, who has been at the center of a series of controversies, announced his decision at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
Masaki Uotani, a volunteer from the city of Takaoka in neighboring Toyama Prefecture, helps to sort out debris from damaged temporary housing in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 26, 2024

Volunteers step in as lifeline for Noto flood survivors

Some had previously volunteered during the Noto Peninsula earthquake on New Year’s Day and formed close ties with survivors.
A container carrying spent nuclear fuel is unloaded from a ship at a port in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2024

Interim storage facility in Aomori receives spent nuclear fuel

The start of the storage facility's operations is expected to give a boost to the government's plans to promote nuclear power generation.

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Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat