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Kyohei Yamasawa scores a try for the Wild Knights during the team's 36-24 win over Brave Lupus on Saturday at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Mar 9, 2024

Wild Knights beat Brave Lupus in blockbuster League One clash

A 4-3 try-scoring advantage and four penalties from playmaker Rikiya Matsuda helped the Wild Knights hand the first loss of the campaign to Brave Lupus.
Hokuriku Electric Power's Shika nuclear power plant in Ishikawa Prefecture. After the Noto Peninsula earthquake, data from at least 18 monitoring posts to measure radiation levels around the Shika plant became unavailable.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 10, 2024

Nuclear power policy to be major focus in parliament after Ishikawa quake

The New Year's Day earthquake occurred near Hokuriku Electric Power's Shika nuclear power station, raising concerns over another nuclear disaster.
A hiker walks toward Asahidake in Hokkaido. The health and environmental issues around PFAS could be a particular problem for Japan, which boasts a number of globally renowned outdoor brands and related suppliers.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Mar 10, 2024

Japan’s revered outdoor brands face down PFAS challenge

Outdoor apparel consumers are generally more environmentally conscious, but are likely to be using products that have a big environmental footprint.
Two of the country’s four major makers of alcoholic beverages are reportedly going to stop releasing new products with alcohol content of 8% or more, citing health concerns.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 10, 2024

Japan asks when a stiff drink is a bit too stiff

Two of the country’s four major makers have taken the unusual step of retreating from a lucrative and growing market: strong premixed drinks.
Japan revised economic data higher, reversing a quarterly contraction in October-December 2023 into positive growth and avoiding a technical recession.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 11, 2024

Japan’s economy avoids recession one week before BOJ meeting

The government made an upward revision to capital investment figures to reflect 2% growth, which in turn sent the country's GDP into positive territory.
Dai Karasawa, president of SSE Pacifico K.K., a joint venture of U.K. energy group SSE and Japan's Pacifico Energy, speaks about their plan to develop offshore wind farms in Japan during an interview in Tokyo, last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 11, 2024

SSE's Japan unit aims to develop 6GW offshore wind farms

Japan is aiming to become a major offshore wind power producer, with the government targeting 10 GW by 2030 and up to 45 GW by 2040.
A Daiso shop in New York in September 2022. While Daiso originally entered the U.S. in 2005, it has scaled these efforts up over the past few years — the retailer now has about 120 stores across seven states.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 11, 2024

Daiso banks on ‘brand Japan’ for U.S. expansion

The discount store chain plans to open 65 stores in the U.S. in 2024, and over 100 next year.
A backdrop of a broadly soaring stock market and signs of long-awaited wage and price growth is drawing bets that the BOJ might back away from its ultraeasy policy settings as soon as its next meeting in a week's time.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 11, 2024

Bank of Japan skips ETF buying, stoking policy speculation

It was not clear why it did not buy the listed funds even as the Topix index slid 2% — a mark that generally draws a response.
The men's soccer teams of North Korea and Japan clash in the East Asian Football Championship in Tokyo in December 2017.
SOCCER
Mar 12, 2024

Japan-North Korea World Cup game to stay in Pyongyang, says JFA

The JFA said it had been informed that the game on March 26 would be played at the 50,000-capacity Kim Il Sung Stadium.
Chojuro Kawarasaki plays Kuranosuke Ooishi in Kenji Mizoguchi’s 1941 film “Genroku Chushingura” (The 47 Ronin). The story, sometimes told with 46 retainers, has fascinated Japanese audiences since first being performed as a puppet play in 1748. 
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Mar 15, 2024

Edo samurai spirit: From the battlefield to the stage

Life under the Tokugawa shogunate wasn't exactly freedom but neither was it constant war. The Japanese instead sated their bloodlust with theater.
Connor O'Leary competes during an event in Huntington Beach, California, in 2019.
OLYMPICS / Surfing
Mar 13, 2024

Japan picks Aussie-born O'Leary for bonus Olympic surfing spot

O'Leary, who was raised in the south Sydney suburb of Cronulla, was granted a third men's spot by the Nippon Surfing Association.
A Costco store in Illinois
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 13, 2024

Costco’s Japan unit warned by FTC after cutting subcontractor payments

Bakery and food suppliers saw their compensation reduced by ¥33.5 million from 2021 to 2023, the agency has said.
Japan aims to have 10 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power projects by 2030 and up to 45 GW by 2040, to replace fossil fuels including coal and liquefied natural gas in its energy mix — for which floating offshore wind is essential.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 13, 2024

Japan to expand offshore wind development to exclusive economic zones

Global energy companies have been urging Japan to make investments more attractive, amid soaring costs and growing competition between suppliers.
Japan rugby head coach Eddie Jones attends a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Mar 13, 2024

Eddie Jones aims to make Japan a top four side and find rugby's Ohtani

Jones takes over Japan for a second spell after a calamitous, short-lived stint with Australia.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is also LDP president, told an Upper House budget committee meeting that the government would put in place rigorous hurdles that must be cleared before the fighter jet’s export is approved.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2024

Kishida agrees on need for strict rules to export of fighter jet

Concessions by the LDP president could pave the way for a deal with junior coalition partner Komeito on a revision to Japan's defense export guidelines.
Wakana Nukui has been described as having a knack for storytelling and vividly sharing her vision with those around her.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Mar 24, 2024

A social entrepreneur who is determined to lift Cambodian women's status

Wakana Nukui has fostered new talent in design while opening shops dedicated to local products.
Despite Japan's still-nascent domestic winemaking scene, wine drinkers in the country have long enjoyed an obsession with obtaining certifications around the beverage.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 17, 2024

What’s driving Japan’s love affair with wine certifications?

Studying wine is an extremely popular pastime in Japan — despite the number of students without a professional need to do so.
The Biden administration has regularly sent warnings about Nippon Steel's proposed purchase of U.S. Steel and has steadfastly sided with the United Steelworkers over the sale of a once-iconic firm based in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 14, 2024

Biden to express concern over Nippon Steel's deal for U.S. Steel, source says

U.S. officials and lawyers have drafted a statement of concern and the White House has privately informed Tokyo of Biden's move, according to reports.
Czech Republic's Ondrej Satoria pitches against Japan during the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome on March 11.
BASEBALL
Mar 14, 2024

Ondrej Satoria reflects on electric WBC showdown against Shohei Ohtani

Satoria, an electrician by day, struck out the Japanese superstar during the World Baseball Classic.
Plaintiffs of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a ban on same-sex marriage and their supporters hold a banner calling for authorities to allow such unions in front of the Tokyo District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 14, 2024

Ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, Sapporo High Court rules

This is the first such ruling by a high court in Japan in favor of plaintiffs challenging the ban.
A Sapporo municipal official uses a telephone relay service at the city office in April last year.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 14, 2024

Phone relay service helps hard of hearing government staff

The service facilitates communication for workers hard of hearing and those with speech impediments by connecting them with operators online.
U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday that United States Steel should be domestically owned, coming out against Nippon Steel's plan to acquire the company as support from labor unions is becoming more significant for his re-election bid.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2024

Nippon Steel determined to complete U.S. Steel deal

The firm has promised no layoffs or plant closures until at least September 2026.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government holds an event in Tokyo in November to increase people's awareness for fraud and 'dark' part-time jobs. Recruitment ads for such jobs formed some 90% of deletion requests made to internet service providers last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 15, 2024

Nearly 3,000 postings for 'dark' part-time jobs removed from internet in 2023

Recruitment ads for such jobs formed the bulk of deletion requests made to Japanese internet service providers last year.
Investors will be heaping ever more scrutiny on Japanese assets, with negative rates potentially relegated to history.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 15, 2024

BlackRock and Man Group reveal big Japan bets before BOJ decision

Snap up more Japanese stocks and keep buying the yen — these are some of the most popular calls from big-name money managers.
Satoshi Fujii (second from right), head of a subcommittee of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, speaks at a news conference on Thursday about the potential costs of an inland quake hitting the Tokyo region.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2024

Economic losses from massive Tokyo-area quake estimated to top ¥1 quadrillion

Engineers predict that indirect losses, including suspended production activities due to broken roads and bridges, will reach ¥954 trillion.
Residents remove snow from rooftops together with workers from a snow removal company in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, in January 2021. In fiscal 2022, 49 people in Japan died during activities related to the clearing of snow. Of these, 39 people — or roughly 80% — were age 65 or older.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 15, 2024

Land ministry goes digital to prevent snow-clearing accidents

The system is aimed at assessing the risks associated with snow removal at individual houses to avert mishaps, particularly ones involving the elderly.
Pickleball courts in New York's famed Central Park
MORE SPORTS
Mar 15, 2024

Amid boom overseas, when will pickleball land in Japan?

Over the past few years, pickleball has emerged as the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., but it has yet to take off in Japan.
The results of wage negotiations between companies and labor unions are written on a whiteboard at the office of the Japan Council of Metalworkers' Unions in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2024

Japan’s labor unions win big pay raises for members

The preliminary figure for the average hike stands at a 33-year high of 5.28%, according to Japan’s largest labor organization.
Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi speaks to reporters about the new system to train foreign workers in the parliamentary building on Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2024

Government OKs bill for new foreign worker training system

The new system is expected to begin as early as 2027 if the legislation is enacted.
A woman takes pictures with Kawazu cherry blossom trees, one of the earliest to bloom in Japan, in Tokyo's Sumida district on Monday.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 15, 2024

Economic impact of hanami expected to double this year

Higher tourist numbers and prices, along with a depreciation of the Japanese currency, are among factors contributing to the larger economic impact.

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