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Tokyo's Ginza shopping district. In its revised estimates, the Cabinet Office cut its inflation-adjusted GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal year ending in March 2025 to 0.7% from 0.9% projected in July.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 1, 2024

Japan cuts growth forecast again for current fiscal year on weak exports

In its revised estimates, the Cabinet Office cut its inflation-adjusted GDP growth forecast for the year ending in March 2025 to 0.7% from 0.9% projected in July.
A staff member transfers baggage into a Cathay Pacific flight for departure at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture in September.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2024

The Japanese airport that says it never loses a bag

Kansai International Airport was ranked the World's Best Airport for Baggage Delivery by U.K.-based airport rating organization SKYTRAX in April.
A subcommittee of Japan's Fiscal System Council proposed Friday that the government provide efficient support over multiple years to the sector, which is growing in importance from the perspective of economic security.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 2, 2024

Japan panel calls for medium-term chip sector aid strategy

The subcommittee said the government provide efficient support over multiple years to the sector, which is growing in importance.
Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tetsuo Saito arrives at Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Oct. 1.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 2, 2024

Land minister Tetsuo Saito set to lead Komeito

Saito will be picked to head the party by its leadership on Thursday, before being formally elected on Nov. 9.
The top of the damaged No.1 reactor building at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2024

Nuclear fuel debris extracted from Fukushima No. 1 reactor

Tepco retrieved a device holding a small amount of fallen debris from the containment vessel of the plant's No. 2 reactor as part of experimental removal work.
Tohoku Electric Power officials explain on Sunday in Sendai a problem that occurred at the No. 2 reactor of the Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2024

Onagawa No. 2 reactor halted due to measuring instrument problem

No radioactive material has leaked out, Tohoku Electric Power said.
Masaaki Iene (left) watches as an architect from a local support center checks the level of damage at his house in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Oct. 15 to see whether previous assessments carried out by local government officials were appropriate.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 4, 2024

Noto quake-hit areas question home damage assessments

Many have noted inconsistencies in assessments and discrepancies between the results and the actual situations.
The Kanagawa Prefectural Police headquarters in Yokohama. Kanagawa police have arrested a 30-year-old woman from Tokyo’s Adachi Ward in connection with a robbery and murder of a 75-year-old Yokohama resident last month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 4, 2024

Tokyo woman arrested over Yokohama robbery-murder

Miho Kimoto, who is suspected of acting as a "collector" of stolen goods, is the second suspect arrested in connection with the case.
The Chiba Prefectural Police headquarters in the city of Chiba
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 4, 2024

28-year-old arrested on suspicion of violent robbery in Chiba

Yuta Kaneko told investigators he had searched for “part-time jobs” on X, where he was connected to someone who offered him ¥100,000 to “check on a package.”
Yuya Nagura is taken to the Tokorozawa Police Station in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, on Saturday after being arrested on suspicion of recruiting people to rob a house in the city.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 4, 2024

Alleged recruiter of Saitama burglary ring arrested

Investigative sources said that Yuya Nagura used social media to post adverts with phrases like "easy job" and "goods transport" to recruit individuals.
A Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency H3 rocket carrying a defense communication satellite is successfully launched Monday from the Tanegashima Space Center launch site in Kagoshima Prefecture.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2024

Fifth time’s a charm as H3 rocket puts defense satellite in orbit

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully launched the defense communication satellite, after four earlier launch dates were postponed.
An experiment by NITE shows an oil heater catching fire from leaked kerosene.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 5, 2024

Consumers urged to check heater safety ahead of winter accident surge

Past incidents typically surged in November and peaked in December, with elevated levels of heater-related accidents continuing through April.
A text message sent by a scammer tells a recipient that a refund can be made only through an electronic money transfer.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 5, 2024

Police warn of refund scams involving smartphone payment apps

Scammers are exploiting smartphone payment apps, particularly PayPay, and fake online discount stores to commit fraud.
Operators respond to telephone directory inquiries from Tokyo at a call center in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, in October 1997.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Nov 11, 2024

As NTT ends its Dial 104 service, Okinawa's call centers look elsewhere

Naha and Nago were home to Japan's biggest call center operations, receiving around 125,000 calls a day at their peak in 1999.
Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki (left) and his counterpart in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda, meet in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 5, 2024

Opposition parties band together to shape Lower House agenda

Four main opposition parties have agreed to jointly request the opening of a session of the budget committee and a special committee on political reform.
A screen grab taken from a live video stream broadcast by the Shizuoka Municipal Government on Wednesday shows Mount Fuji with a dusting of snow on its peak, seen from the Shizuoka side of the mountain.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2024

Snow seen on Mount Fuji after record time without snowcap

Photographs taken from different points around the mountain, where the skies were clearer early on Wednesday, showed a covering of snow on its peak.
The Kyoto Prefectural Police headquarters in the city of Kyoto. A 23-year-old university student from Kyoto sought help from police days before his alleged involvement in an attempted burglary in western Tokyo last month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024

Tokyo burglary suspect sought police help days before attempted heist

University student Masaki Saen told police that he had received threats after applying for a “dark” part-time job, or “yami baito.”
The Kanagawa Prefectural Police headquarters in Yokohama
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024

Woman claims husband asked her to collect stolen cash in Yokohama murder case

Police allege the suspect, Miho Kimoto, was involved in the October murder of a 75-year-old Yokohama resident who was found bound and beaten in his home.
Investigators from the Osaka Prefectural Police conduct a search last month at the high-end Japanese restaurant Tenhime, operated by Tateki Okuda, in the city of Osaka.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024

Osaka brothel owner arrested for allegedly forcing 150 into prostitution

The suspect, who had already been arrested for facilitating prostitution, was newly arrested along with four others for offering venues for prostitution.
Hyogo Prefectural Police investigators call on people at a station in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture, on Oct. 16 to provide information related to the 2007 murder of a girl in the city.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024

Inmate hints at involvement in murder of another girl in western Japan

Hyogo Prefectural Police plan to arrest the man soon on suspicion of attempted murder in another case.
The anterior cruciate ligament can be damaged when people play sports such as soccer and basketball, and does not heal on its own, requiring reconstructive surgery.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 7, 2024

Clinical trial to use cow tendons for ligament reconstruction

The number of patients who undergo anterior cruciate ligament surgery in Japan is about 19,000 annually, including many professional soccer players and sumo wrestlers.
Kunihiko Katsuta is taken to Hyogo Prefectural Police's Tatsuno police station on Thursday after he was arrested for an attempted murder.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 7, 2024

Murder inmate arrested for stabbing of another girl in Japan

The inmate has also hinted at his involvement in the 2007 murder of a 7-year-old girl in Hyogo Prefecture.
LDP Diet affairs chief Tetsushi Sakamoto (left) and his CDP counterpart, Hirofumi Ryu, at a meeting in the parliament building on Thursday
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 8, 2024

CDP lawmaker to chair Lower House budget committee

The agreement was reached after the ruling coalition failed to secure a majority in last month's election.
Rikuto Nagata was handed an indefinite prison term for his involvement in a total of six robberies in four prefectures in recent years.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 7, 2024

Man sentenced to indefinite term for serial robberies in Japan

Rikuto Nagata was indicted on charges including robbery resulting in death
Masayoshi Son (front, center) poses with the members of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks after the team won the Pacific League championship at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Sept. 23.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Nov 18, 2024

Masayoshi Son’s aim for SoftBank Hawks remains, 20 years after buyout

This year, the team became Pacific League champions for the first time in four years. But its owner has loftier goals.
Suspect Kunihiko Katsuta leaves Tatsuno Police Station in Hyogo Prefecture as he is sent to prosecutors on Friday. The waist strap and handcuffs are blurred for privacy reasons.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 8, 2024

Man arrested over 2006 Hyogo stabbing did not know victim, police say

Kunihiko Katsuta has confessed to stabbing the 9-year-old girl with a knife, but he has denied any intent to kill her, police say.
Police officers and a police vehicle in front of the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters on Oct. 19 following an attack by a man with Molotov cocktails
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 8, 2024

Police rearrest man over attacks on LDP headquarters and PM Office

Suspect Atsunobu Usuda, 49, allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at the party's headquarters and attempted to set fire to a vehicle in front of the Prime Minister's Office.
Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Itsunori Onodera (right) and his Democratic Party for the People counterpart, Makoto Hamaguchi, meet in Tokyo on Friday to discuss policies their parties could potentially agree on.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 8, 2024

LDP between a rock and a hard place in struggle to get DPP support

The opposition party wants to raise the threshold for tax exemptions from the current ¥1.03 million ($6,740), a move that would cost the government tax revenues.
Debris recovery equipment at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is seen during a public demonstration in May in Kobe.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2024

Nuclear debris from Fukushima reactor weighs 0.7 gram

The collected substance will be analyzed at four facilities for research toward full-scale extraction of nuclear fuel debris.
The education ministry plans to boost support for hiring more assistants to help truant students.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 10, 2024

Japan to enhance support for truant children

As the number of truant students continues to rise, the Education Ministry aims to secure more support personnel.

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