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April 04, 2025
 

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JAPANESE

A young couple (Ryuya Wakaba and Mai Fukagawa) fulfill a lifelong dream of moving to the countryside, only to find their new community may have sinister intentions toward them in “Welcome to the Village.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2025
‘Welcome to the Village’: Tradition takes a twisted turn in the countryside
The ancient tradition of “murahachibu,” ostracizing community members as punishment, gets a contemporary twist in Hideo Jojo’s slow-burn thriller.
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino speaks during an interview in June 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2025
BOJ deputy signals more room to hike given negative real rates
The deputy governor cemented the BOJ’s message that the central bank is looking to hike rates further in the future.
Shukan Bunshun published an editorial from the editor-in-chief on Thursday apologizing for the inaccuracy in its reporting on the Masahiro Nakai scandal.
JAPAN / Media
Jan 30, 2025
Shukan Bunshun criticized by former Osaka governor for not being upfront about correction
Toru Hashimoto has been critical of how the magazine had not been upfront about the change, despite it being a core issue of the scandal.
The Dentsu Group's headquarters building (center) in Tokyo. Tokyo District Court ordered Dentsu Group to pay ¥300 million in fines on Thursday as sought by prosecutors over bid-rigging related to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in 2021.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 30, 2025
Dentsu Group ordered to pay ¥300 million over Tokyo Games bid-rigging
The Tokyo District Court also sentenced the former assistant head of the sports department of core subsidiary Dentsu to two years in prison suspended for four years.
The Finance Ministry raised its economic assessment for Hokkaido while keeping it unchanged for the remaining 10 of the country's 11 regions covered in the report.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2025
Japan's Finance Ministry raises its economic view for Hokkaido
On consumption, the ministry left its assessments unchanged for 10 regions, while upgrading its view for Hokkaido.
The latest projection underscores the growing financial strain Japan will likely face amid anticipated additional rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2025
Japan sees debt-service costs jumping 25% by 2028 as BOJ hikes
The latest projection underscores the growing financial strain Japan will likely face amid anticipated additional rate hikes by the central bank.
The Bank of Japan's phasing out of its fund-provisioning program underscores Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s determination to slowly but steadily proceed with the normalization of policy after more than a decade of radical monetary easing.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2025
BOJ to shrink balance sheet by around ¥77 trillion with end of loan program
All outstanding loans from the central bank's fund-provisioning program to stimulate bank lending are expected to be wiped off its books by March 2028.
Hideko Hakamata (second from left), Iwao Hakamata's sister, in the city of Shizuoka on Sept. 26 following a Shizuoka District Court retrial verdict finding Iwao Hakamata not guilty
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 30, 2025
Hakamata seeks ¥217 million in state compensation after acquittal
Under the criminal compensation law, those found not guilty in a retrial can claim compensation of up to ¥12,500 per day.
Though vegan restaurants have been on the upswing since 2017, Japanese vegans still lack a wide variety of options.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jan 29, 2025
In meat- and fish-loving Japan, veganism is making a comeback
Tourism, climate goals and animal rights concerns are sparking a plant-based renaissance in a country famous for sushi and pork ramen.
Nidec announced its takeover bid for machine manufacturer Makino Milling Machine without first making a proposal. Such nonconsensual takeover bids are increasing.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 29, 2025
Japanese ministry opens door to taboo corporate takeovers
It used to be common for takeover bids to be launched after both sides reached an agreement in behind-the-scenes negotiations.
Many workers at small companies continue to fall behind as wages fail to keep up with inflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 29, 2025
Smaller Japanese companies unlikely to meet wage-increase target for 2025
For this year’s spring negotiations, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation set hike targets of more than 6% for smaller firms.
People were more concerned about the direct and specific impact of the Bank of Japan's latest rate hike on their personal lives, according to an artificial intelligence-driven analysis of various platforms, including social media.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 29, 2025
Japan begins feeling the pain of BOJ rate hikes more concretely
As time goes on, the BOJ’s rate increases appear to be having a stronger impact on people’s everyday lives, shifting from more abstract concepts to more concrete effects.
A packed Fuji TV news conference on Monday in Tokyo
JAPAN / Media
Jan 29, 2025
Shukan Bunshun corrects article on scandal over former Fuji TV host
According to the correction, Masahiro Nakai was the one who invited the woman to the gathering, not the Fuji TV official.
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda during a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Oct. 31, 2014
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 29, 2025
BOJ policymakers divided over additional easing in Oct. 2014
The actions taken as a result of the meeting took market players by surprise, sending the yen lower against the dollar and Japanese stocks higher.
Daisuke Komatsu (center), who heads the Liberal Democratic Party group in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, bows at a news conference in Tokyo on Jan. 17 after the group's accountant was slapped with summary indictment.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 29, 2025
Tokyo Assembly LDP accountant fined ¥1 million over slush funds
LDP accountant Hidekatsu Yajima had been summarily indicted by Tokyo prosecutors for violating the political funds control law.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical executives bow their heads at a news conference in Osaka in March following a health hazard scandal involving the firm's supplements containing red fermented rice.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 29, 2025
Hong Kong fund to sue former Kobayashi Pharma execs
The fund will seek a total of roughly ¥11 billion in damages from former Chairman Kazumasa Kobayashi and six then-board directors.
Fuji TV adviser Hisashi Hieda in 2005
JAPAN / Media
Jan 29, 2025
Who are the key figures involved in the growing Fuji TV scandal?
Koichi Minato, who resigned as president of Fuji TV on Monday, will be one focus of a third-party probe, given his executive role when the incident occurred.
Members of the popular Japanese pop group SMAP, including scandal-plagued Masahiro Nakai (right), perform in Beijing in September 2011.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 29, 2025
A pop-star sex scandal shows the death throes of old Japan
As the leader of a now-defunct boy band SMAP, the 52-year-old Nakai has been a ubiquitous mainstay in Japanese life for decades.
Firefighters and others work to rescue a truck driver who fell into a sinkhole at a Saitama prefectural road intersection in Yashio on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2025
Massive sinkhole engulfs truck in Saitama, trapping driver inside
The sinkhole is believed to have been caused by an underground sewage pipe rupturing.
Yellowtail caught during the coldest period of the year is delicious enough — but paired with a classic method of marinade and pan-searing, it's divine.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Washoku Essentials
Jan 29, 2025
For two weeks only, cold-water yellowtail can give you chills
According to Japan’s hyperseasonal calendar, January brings with it the chance for yellowtail at the peak of flavor.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)
BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)

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