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JAPAN
Nov 12, 2023

Japanese island holds disaster drill in shadow of Taiwan threat

Yonaguni is only 110 km from Taiwan. In August last year, China fired missiles into nearby waters in response to a visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi.
A man, who said he was jailed for two years, speaks on condition of anonymity in temporary housing for former prisoners in Tokyo. Criminal recruits in Japan are being "exploited and disposed of as pawns" by gang leaders, the National Police Agency has said.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 24, 2023

Why Japan's gangs are recruiting online

For Japan's criminal underworld, social media offers an anonymous way to connect with anyone willing to commit crimes to earn money.
The shortage of a class of diabetes drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists is being driven in part by healthy people looking to use them for dieting purposes.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Nov 14, 2023

Japan tackles surge in off-label diabetes drug use for weight loss

Officials are aiming to ensure that the medications are prescribed for people with diabetes, and not for those seeking weight loss.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2023

Civil servants face different treatment at Kansai baseball parades

Kobe and Hyogo government workers working at the parades will be treated as being on duty, but those of the Osaka governments will not be.
Japan’s policy came under scrutiny during the COVID-19 pandemic, when vaccines approved overseas needed additional testing prior to their approval in Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 14, 2023

Japan set to scrap rule requiring testing of new drugs on Japanese

To sell a drug in Japan, pharmaceutical firms are required to conduct additional trials specifically targeting Japanese participants.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 14, 2023

Bill to legalize cannabis-derived drugs clears Japan’s Lower House

The bill was sent to the Upper House the same day. If approved there, changes stipulated in the bill will likely go into effect by the end of next year.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Nov 14, 2023

How an executive's arrest struck a blow to Japan-China business

The arrest of a Japanese company executive in China has had what some Tokyo officials described as a considerable chilling effect on business.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 15, 2023

Japan women prisoners suffer serious abuse: Human Rights Watch

Handcuffs during pregnancy, separation from newborn babies and insufficient care for elderly inmates are among the abuses suffered, the rights group said.
BASEBALL
Nov 16, 2023

Samurai Japan overcomes slow start to beat Taiwan in APBC opener

Shota Morishita got Japan going with a home run in the seventh inning.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida looks on during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Week summit in San Francisco on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2023

Japan ruling bloc shocked as Kishida's approval keeps falling

A Jiji Press survey for November on Thursday showed the Kishida Cabinet's approval at 21.3%, the lowest level since his inauguration in 2021.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a family photo during an APEC summit in San Francisco on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2023

Kishida and Xi aim for trade progress despite lingering tensions

Their talks signaled initial momentum toward a cautious detente, although the two countries appeared to prioritize an improvement in economic ties.
Overflowing trash next to a vending machine in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, which is popular with tourists, in March
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 18, 2023

Trash cans make techie comeback in Japan as tourists flood cities

This week, the tourist-heavy Dotonbori district in Osaka installed around 20 new technologically enabled garbage cans called SmaGO.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 18, 2023

Kishida to press China on Fukushima ban after deal on expert talks

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that China had agreed to expert-level talks aimed at addressing its ban on Japanese seafood.
BASEBALL
Nov 18, 2023

Japan routs Australia in Asia Professional Baseball Championship

Japan routed Australia to improve to 3-0.
A Ground Self-Defense Force marine takes part in a landing drill as a part of the country's nationwide 05JX military exercises on the island of Tokunoshima, in Kagoshima Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 19, 2023

Japanese marines drill on island seen as vulnerable to China

The joint exercises were meant to show the readiness of ground, sea and air forces to defend Japan's territory and infrastructure.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to face further headwinds at home, despite efforts to highlight his diplomatic achievements.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2023

Kishida focuses on diplomacy amid poor public support rates

Showing off his contribution to the discussions at the APEC summit, the prime minister expressed his eagerness to continue with diplomacy. 
U.S. President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office of the White House in June 1972
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 19, 2023

Nixon's 1953 trip to Okinawa and its lasting impact

Nixon’s trip to Okinawa 70 years ago this month planted seeds for his agreeing to its reversion when he became the U.S. president.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 19, 2023

China's imports of Japanese fishery products down 99% in October

China fully banning imports of fishery products from Japan from Aug. 24 when the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant water discharge started.
BASEBALL
Nov 19, 2023

Japan tops South Korea on sayonara single in 10th to win APBC title

Japan edged South Korea on a walk-off hit by Makoto Kadowaki.
Vehicle carriers operated by Nippon Yusen sit docked at the Port of Zeebrugge in Zeebrugge, Belgium, in March 2020.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 20, 2023

Japan confirms Nippon Yusen cargo ship seized by Houthis

The Nippon Yusen-operated vessel was captured by the Iran-linked group in the Red Sea as it was traveling south near Yemen.
BASEBALL
Nov 20, 2023

Hirokazu Ibata passes first test with Samurai Japan

Japan went through the Asia Professional Baseball Championship with a 4-0 record.
A man walks past a TV broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing a space rocket, at the main railway station in Seoul in August.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 21, 2023

North Korea says it could launch satellite as early as Wednesday

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s office said it had "strongly demanded" that North Korea halt preparations for the launch.
New Zealand's Richie Mo'unga in action against Argentina in the semifinals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, in Saint-Denis, France, on Oct. 20
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Nov 21, 2023

Mo'unga ready to forget All Blacks after Japan switch

Mo'unga has moved to Toshiba Brave Lupus on a three-year deal, meaning he cannot play for the All Blacks during that time unless eligibility rules change.
A North Korean rocket carrying a military spy satellite is launched in this undated photo released Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 22, 2023

North Korea calls spy satellite launch a success, but questions linger

A rocket carrying the payload passed over the Japanese archipelago late Tuesday, but Tokyo said it had not confirmed the veracity of Pyongyang's claims.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is running for re-election, visits the southern border in Edinburg, Texas, on Sunday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 22, 2023

Can Japan risk a Trump reelection?

A fundamental risk accompanying Donald Trump’s reelection is the doubts it would raise about American leadership in the world.
A Komeito delegation, including party leader Natsuo Yamaguchi, is visiting Beijing in a bid to improve China-Japan ties.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 22, 2023

Komeito delegation visits China to bolster frayed ties

A group led by Natsuo Yamaguchi has met with Cai Qi, head of the powerful Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
Self-driving vehicles featuring Level 4 capabilities, which means they can handle all driving tasks, in Eiheiji, Fukui Prefecture, in August
JAPAN / Society
Nov 23, 2023

Japan to start discussions on driverless transportation next month

The services are expected to be utilized in areas where declining populations and driver shortages are becoming a serious problem.
Protests in Shinjuku, Tokyo, last November, echoed demonstrations in several major Chinese cities that called for an end to Chinese President Xi Jinping's draconian “zero-COVID” policy.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 28, 2023

Chinese intellectuals increasingly attracted to Tokyo

An increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in the U.S. following the COVID-19 pandemic has driven some graduates to Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 24, 2023

Japan's parliament debates relief for Unification Church victims

The two separate bills being discussed are in part aimed at safeguarding and preventing the transfer of the church’s assets.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 25, 2023

Japan confirms season's first bird flu case in Saga

The Saga Prefectural Government has started to cull around 40,000 chickens raised at a farm in the city of Kashima.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.