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Coal piles at Jera's Hekinan thermal power station in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, in October 2021
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jul 8, 2024

Japan should phase out coal power by 2035, climate group says

The nation should adjust its national targets and slash emissions by two-thirds by the middle of the next decade, according to the Japan Climate Initiative.
Police examine a cash transport vehicle (left) outside a local bank branch in Kodaira, Tokyo, in October 2001.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 9, 2024

Iranian man arrested over 2001 Tokyo cash truck attack

The suspect is accused of firing three shots on Oct. 3, 2001, breaking a security guard's leg and stealing six bags with ¥102.2 million in cash.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a meeting of a government panel on information related to economic security last month as economic security minister Sanae Takaichi looks on.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jul 9, 2024

New security clearance system to bring Japan in line with other G7 nations

Individuals qualified to handle classified information will receive certification from the government, facilitating easier participation in global research and business.
A mystery-solving event with clues embedded in constellations projected on a dome is held at a planetarium in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on June 7.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2024

Japan's planetarium operators shoot for the stars with new events

The number of planetarium visitors in fiscal 2022 totaled 7.9 million, recovering to about 90% of the level before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Police Agency's National Cyber Unit has arrested a man who is believed to be the mastermind behind a group involved in fraudulent transfers exceeding ¥120 million.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 10, 2024

Japan's National Cyber Unit makes first arrest

The suspect, Yohei Yano, is believed to be the mastermind behind a group involved in fraudulent transfers exceeding ¥120 million.
A stone pillar at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, on which the word "toilet" was found spray-painted in May
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 10, 2024

Chinese man arrested over vandalism at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine

Police have also obtained arrest warrants for two other Chinese nationals, after an incident involving graffiti and urination was recorded as a video and posted online.
A meeting on judicial issues facing Pacific island countries was held in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2024

Japan to help Pacific island nations promote rule of law

The ministry has been supporting Southeast Asian countries in improving their judicial systems since the 1990s.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games' opening ceremony, which will be held outside of a stadium for the first time in history, has attracted a lot of interest from Japanese fans.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 10, 2024

Japan fans shun pricey Olympics tickets even as top-tier packages sell out

Travel agencies report a noticeable drop in demand for Paris Olympics tours amid a weakening of the yen and the introduction of a new booking system.
Plaintiffs in a series of lawsuits over forced sterilization and their lawyers hold banners that read "victory ruling," after the Supreme Court ruled in their favor in Tokyo on July 3.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 10, 2024

Amid discrimination, Japan's eugenics missteps could be repeated, expert warns

After a landmark ruling that finally declared Japan's defunct eugenics law unconstitutional, some may ask how Japanese society openly endorsed eugenics.
Many second-generation Indian migrants decide to leave Japan for higher education — with Indians making up less than 1% of the country’s student population — but there is evidence that this cohort’s interest in attending Japanese universities is growing.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 10, 2024

Do university-bound Indian migrants actually stay in Japan?

Can Japan retain second-generation Indian migrants who are seeking a college education? The evidence is mixed, showing an uptick that still has a long way to grow.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday before leaving for Washington for NATO meetings.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 11, 2024

Kishida and Yoon vow cooperation over Russia-North Korea ties

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a mutual defense pledge with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.
International talks on Pacific bluefin tuna catches began in Kushiro, Hokkaido, Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2024

International talks on bluefin tuna catches begin in Japan

Japan is seeking to more than double the annual quota for large bluefin tuna in the central and western Pacific and increase the quota for smaller fish by 30%.
An empty street in Fukiya, Okayama Prefecture. Japan may be both experiencing overtourism in some places and witnessing the opposite in others.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2024

Japan doesn't have too many tourists, statistics suggest. It just feels that way.

The country received 0.2 tourists per capita in 2023, compared with France's 1.5, Greece's 3.4, Portugal's 2.5 and Spain's 1.8.
Ground Self-Defense Force troops conduct a military drill on the uninhabited island of Irisuna in Okinawa Prefecture in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 12, 2024

Japan’s new defense white paper delivers strongest words yet on Taiwan

Tokyo pins the blame squarely on China's large-scale military exercises around the democratically ruled island for continued tensions in the region.
A Yamato Transport delivery center in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. Japan's parcel delivery firms are expanding drop-off services amid a rise in their redelivery rate and a shortage of truck drivers.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2024

Availability of parcel drop-off services increasing in Japan

The services are expected to help reduce redeliveries to lessen the heavy burden on delivery vehicle drivers.
The Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture. Brennon Washington, a 25-year-old U.S. Air Force serviceman based at Kadena, on Friday pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 12, 2024

U.S. serviceman in Okinawa pleads not guilty to sexual assault

Brennon Washington, who is stationed at the Kadena Air Base, said he did not kidnap or assault an underage girl in December.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speak to reporters in Berlin on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 13, 2024

Japanese and German leaders deepen ties with new economic security framework

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaz Scholz agreed on the new mechanism during the Japanese leader's first visit to the country as PM.
About 100 of the roughly 200 species of snails in the Kinki region of Japan are threatened with extinction, researchers have warned.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 14, 2024

Snails becoming rarer in Japan, facing risk of extinction

About 100 of the roughly 200 species of snails in the Kinki region are threatened with extinction, researchers warn.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 15, 2024

Can Kishida's diplomacy boost support at home?

Facing calls to step down even from within the LDP, the Prime Minister apparently hopes to shore up support through his latest meetings overseas.
An Air Force CV-22 Osprey at U.S. military's Yokota base in Tokyo in May. U.S. forces in Japan plan to deploy the Navy's CMV-22 Osprey at Yamaguchi Prefecture's Iwakuni base.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2024

U.S. to deploy Navy Ospreys at Iwakuni base

The CMV-22 Ospreys will replace C-2 transport planes that are currently stationed at the base in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Japan's annual quotas for Pacific bluefin tuna catches were raised at an international meeting held in Hokkaido on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2024

Japan's Pacific bluefin tuna catch quotas set to rise

The bluefin tuna population has been recovering in recent years from overfishing.
People lay flowers before the two year anniversary of the shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the city of Nara on July 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 16, 2024

Trump shooting reminds Japan of similar attacks on politicians at home

The attack on the former U.S. president evoked memories of similar incidents involving Japan's prime ministers.
Police said four people were injured after a man set fire to a city hall in Aichi Prefecture, with local media reporting he had been arrested.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 16, 2024

Four injured after man sets fire to Japan city hall

At around 3:00 pm, a man with what appeared to be a knife in his hand set fire to the city hall in Takahama, Aichi prefecture, a police spokesman said.
The number of teachers in their 20s on leave due to mental conditions has risen, highlighting the need to reduce burdens on young teachers.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 17, 2024

Japan to boost support for young teachers to secure staff

The package addresses concerns about a decline in interest in teaching jobs among young people and aims to reduce teachers' overtime work to 20 hours per month.
Professional soccer player Kaishu Sano has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman in her 30s at a Tokyo hotel.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 17, 2024

Japan soccer player Sano arrested for alleged sexual assault

The 23-year-old and two acquaintances were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in her 30s at a Tokyo hotel.
Japan's Hikaru Kitagawa dribbles past a defender during an Olympic qualifying match against North Korea at National Stadium in Tokyo in February.
OLYMPICS / Football
Jul 17, 2024

After Tokyo Olympic disappointment, Nadeshiko Japan look for redemption

For many, a disappointing effort on home soil in 2021 was a marker of just how far Japan's women's soccer team had fallen. Now the squad has its sights set on redemption.
Cochlear's hearing implants will be used for a program to train hearing aid experts in Shizuoka Prefecture, as Japan tries to lower the age when children can receive a cochlear implant.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 17, 2024

Australian government funds Japanese hearing implant program for children

Public health experts In Japan want to lower the threshold and the age when children can receive a hearing implant, currently at one year old.
The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association says AI-assisted online search services offered by Google and Microsoft is highly likely to not only infringe news organizations' copyrights but damage their trustworthiness.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2024

Japan news media association demands consent and accuracy from generative AI

Without regulation, generative AI will erode media content, harming democracy and national culture, according to the association.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the Cook Islands' Prime Minister Mark Brown shake hands during 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting on Thursday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 18, 2024

With eye on China, Japan deepens ties with Pacific islands at Tokyo summit

Collaborations have been agreed in seven fields, including technology and connectivity, climate change, people-centered development and security.
The government is considering introducing a new preclearance system for foreign visitors, starting with tourists from Taiwan, to help shorten the time taken for entry procedures on arrival.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2024

Japan to speed up entry process as tourist wave hits new record

The government will introduce a new preclearance system from January, starting with tourists from Taiwan, NHK has reported.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?