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Ryugo Watanabe (second from right), mayor of Sado, Niigata Prefecture, celebrates Saturday in New Delhi after the UNESCO World Heritage Committee unanimously decided in a meeting in the Indian capital to register the Sado Island Gold Mines as a World Cultural Heritage site.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 28, 2024

Tokyo-Seoul negotiations lead to Sado Gold Mines' UNESCO listing

South Korea argued that the mines used forced labor from the Korean Peninsula during WWII, and that Japan should reflect the whole history of the site.
Daiki Hashimoto competes in the parallel bars event during the qualification round at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jul 28, 2024

China has early edge on Japan as Olympic gymnastics springs into action

Daiki Hashimoto, seeking to emulate his compatriot Kohei Uchimura by securing back-to-back titles in male gymnastics' premier event, was not at his best on Saturday.
Tomokazu Harimoto in action alongside Hina Hayata during their shock defeat at the hands of North Korean pair Jong Sik Ri and Kum Yong Kim on Saturday at the Paris Olympics.
OLYMPICS
Jul 28, 2024

Japan's Olympic mixed doubles table tennis team stunned in first round

The 49-minute match ended in a shocking defeat for the Japanese pair, who were considered top contenders for the title and challengers to the Chinese team.
Sora Shirai trains at the Olympic skateboarding venue in Paris on Thursday.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Jul 28, 2024

Will these sensational skateboarding tricks win Japan Olympic gold?

Japanese skateboarders like Yuto Horigome and Sora Shirai are creating some of the most difficult tricks in the history of the sport, and landing them in high style.
The latest research indicates that heat stress is likely to worsen the condition of people with Alzheimer’s disease — which accounts for over half of all dementia cases in Japan — by making them more irritated or exacerbating their cognitive decline.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Boiling Point
Jul 29, 2024

For aging Japan, a troubling link between heat and dementia

The latest research indicates that heat can exacerbate cognitive decline and worsen dementia symptoms.
Japanese players celebrate after their comeback group-stage win over Brazil on Sunday in Paris.
OLYMPICS
Jul 29, 2024

Japan late show stuns Brazil in Olympic women's soccer

Japan scored two goals in stoppage time to stun Brazil and boost its hopes of advancing to the knockout stage.
Haruka Nakamura (left) celebrates with teammate Kohane Ushioku during the women's gymnastics qualification round for the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 29, 2024

Japan's gymnastics team puts in solid performance despite missing captain

The teenage athletes' Olympics journey had got off to an inauspicious start after 19-year-old captain Shoko Miyata was sent home just days before the Games.
A man cools himself in a water mist spray in Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Multiple regions topped 40 degrees Celsius for the first time this year on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 29, 2024

Multiple places in Japan see mercury top 40 C for first time this year

Notable readings include a peak of 41 degrees Celsius in Sano, Tochigi Prefecture, as well as 40.2 C in the city of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture.
Japan's Yuto Horigome competes in the Olympic men's street skateboarding final at La Concorde in Paris on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Jul 30, 2024

Japan's 'savage' Horigome retains Olympic street skateboarding crown

His compatriot Sora Shirai just missed out on the medals, coming in fourth.
Team Japan celebrates after winning gold in the men's team gymnastics event at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jul 30, 2024

Japan rallies past China to win gold in men's team gymnastics

Hashimoto completed the comeback in the team event with a golden performance on the horizontal barJapan passed China in the final rotation to win gold.
Footballer Kaishu Sano has been released after being arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 30, 2024

Japan footballer Kaishu Sano released after sexual assault arrest

It is not clear whether the case against the 23-year-old, who recently signed for top-flight German side Mainz, has been dropped.
Bronze medalists Kazuma Tomoto, Toshiyuki Tanaka, Yoshiaki Oiwa and Ryuzo Kitajima celebrate on the podium with their medals Monday in Versailles.
OLYMPICS
Jul 30, 2024

Japan earns first equestrian medal in 92 years

The last time Japan won an equestrian medal was in the 1932 Los Angeles Games, when Col. Takeichi Nishi won gold.
Harley-Davidson motorcycles on display in Tokyo. Japan's antitrust watchdog has raided the manufacturer's Japan unit for allegedly imposing excessive sales quotas on its dealers.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2024

Harley-Davidson's Japan unit raided after quotas force dealers into hardship

The motorcycle manufacturer's unit in Tokyo is also suspected of having dealers buy Harley-Davidson models that they did not want.
Upper House lawmaker Muneo Suzuki speaks to reporters in Moscow on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2024

Pro-Moscow lawmaker Muneo Suzuki visits Russia again

The Upper House member defied the central government by flying to Moscow for talks with senior Russian officials.
As of March 2023, there were 86 medicines that had been approved in Europe or the United States but remained unavailable in Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 30, 2024

Japan unveils plan to improve access to foreign drugs

The road map to address what is known as "drug loss" envisions that development of in-demand medicines will start by April 2026.
An expert panel discusses the creation of a database for all civil court rulings, on Monday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2024

Japan expert panel calls for database of all civil court rulings

The ministry plans to submit a related bill during next year's ordinary session of parliament, with a view to launching the database in fiscal 2026.
Victor Wembanyama of France battles Japan's Josh Hawkinson (left) and Yuki Kawamura during France's overtime win over Japan at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday in Lille, France.
OLYMPICS / Basketball
Jul 31, 2024

France edges Japan in overtime in Olympic men's basketball after four-point play

The teams were neck-and-neck for nearly the entire four quarters at Pierre Mauroy Stadium.
A worker at a supermarket in Tokyo's Nerima Ward puts up a sign on July 25 saying rice purchases are restricted to one bag per customer.
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2024

Japan's rice stocks shrink to record low amid high demand and heat woes

An 18 percentage point decline in the share of 2023's crop rated first-grade led to a decrease in rice on the market, while demand saw the first rise in a decade.
Traditional soap cakes are manufactured in Aleppo in northern Syria in February.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 31, 2024

Japanese importer fights to preserve traditional Aleppo soap

It is said that Aleppo has upheld the tradition of soapmaking for approximately 1,000 years, using olive and laurel oil with alkali made from charcoaled desert shrubs.
Teammates swarm Daiki Hashimoto after his gold medal-clinching performance on the horizontal bar on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jul 31, 2024

How Japan's gymnasts picked each other up and toppled China

With hope of a gold medal fading, the Japanese men's gymnastics team rallied around each other and simply refused to give up.
Kuninori Matsuda, Japanese ambassador to Ukraine, speaks during an interview in Kyiv on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2024

Japanese ambassador to Ukraine urges continuing of aid

Kuninori Matsuda said that Japan should not feel that it has no direct stake in the conflict, as Ukrainian aid helps protect the international order.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shakes hands with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol as U.S. President Joe Biden looks on alongside other members of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders week in San Francisco in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2024

Japan to co-lead crisis response branch of the global trade initiative IPEF

Japan will be vice chair of the Crisis Response Network, a body under the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity.
Japan midfielder Yui Hasegawa is challenged by Nigeria's Rasheedat Ajibade during their Olympic group stage match on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Aug 1, 2024

Japan to face U.S. in women's soccer after both nations advance

Japan finished second in its group after beating Nigeria 3-1 in Nantes, with Maika Hamano, Mina Tanaka and Hikaru Kitagawa scoring goals.
Members of the Nuclear Regulation Authority discusses regulatory screening of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant's No. 2 reactor, in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2024

Japanese nuclear regulators to hear from operator over reactor

The standards do not allow important nuclear facilities such as reactor buildings to be built on active faults.
Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki said Israel will not be invited to the city's annual peace ceremony this year.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2024

Israel is not invited to Japan's Nagasaki peace ceremony

Nagasaki sent a letter to the Israeli embassy last month calling for an "immediate cease-fire."
Yuto Horigome defended his Olympic title in men's street skateboarding on Monday to continue Japan's dominant run in the event.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Aug 1, 2024

Why Japan is so dominant in street skateboarding

Skateboarding has only been a part of the Olympics for two editions, but the sight of Japanese skaters on the podium in the street competition is already a familiar one.
People cross a street in Tokyo's Harajuku district on Wednesday. In July, the deviation from the average temperature between 1991 and 2020 — a period when warming was already well underway — was 2.16 degrees Celsius.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Aug 1, 2024

Japan experienced its hottest July on record

The number of “extremely hot days” — those where the highest temperature hits 35 C and above — was the largest figure for a July.
Digital transformation minister Taro Kono (left)
JAPAN / Society
Aug 2, 2024

Japan to digitize national qualifications processes

Individuals of certain professions will be able to obtain digital qualification certificates online by using their My Number cards.
A health ministry panel has approved Eli Lilly's donanemab drug for Alzheimer's patients.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 2, 2024

Japan's health ministry set to approve second Alzheimer's drug

Donanemab, developed by U.S. pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, has been backed by a ministry panel.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government is working hard to enhance Japan's global and regional influence through strategic defense reforms and international partnerships.
EDITORIALS
Aug 2, 2024

Japan’s defense reforms and diplomacy boost regional security

Considerable progress was made this week in a series of meetings with Tokyo's counterparts in various endeavors, the heart of which is the Japan-U.S. alliance.

Longform

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