Tag - osaka

 
 

OSAKA

Masako Akagi, wife of late Toshio Akagi, holds Toshio's picture and his glasses during a news conference in Osaka on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 7, 2025
Government accepts ruling backing disclosure of Moritomo documents
Moritomo Gakuen was once linked to the wife of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Naomi Osaka celebrates winning her second round match at the Australian Open over the Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on Jan. 15.
TENNIS
Feb 6, 2025
Naomi Osaka on tennis, motherhood and being Japanese
Osaka returned to the tour a year ago and has had mixed results overall. But there are early signs in 2025 that she's starting to "get her pink back."
The ruling coalition has put forward a plan to make public school tuition free, with costs of up to ¥118,800 yearly subsidized for all families regardless of income.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2025
Recent talks on education funding for all might be missing the point
As the government works to pass its budget without a majority, the issue of free education for all has become key to negotiations for support in parliament.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura (second from left) hands a letter regarding the 2025 Osaka Expo to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2025
Same-day ticket sales under consideration for Osaka Expo
As of Jan. 29, the number of advance tickets sold stood at some 7.66 million — about the half of the target number.
The area near the site where the remains of a dismembered body was found in the city of Higashiosaka, on Jan. 30.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 5, 2025
Osaka police identify dismembered body as ministry official
The deceased, 52-year-old Takamichi Kamioka, had been missing since late last year, prompting his family to file a missing persons report.
The Osaka Expo site on Yumeshima island in December. A survey of 3,000 people from across Japan conducted in October by the Mitsubishi Research Institute showed that just 24% of respondents expressed an interest in attending the Osaka Expo.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 4, 2025
Excitement for the Osaka Expo is low. Can organizers build hype?
A little over two months before it opens, the Osaka Expo is just about ready to welcome guests from Japan and the rest of the world — that is, if they are ready to come.
The front page of The Japan Times on Feb. 21, 1925, carried news of clashes in the streets over the debate of extending voting rights to Japanese males over the age of 25.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Feb 1, 2025
Japan Times 1925: Tokyo factions ready to fight over manhood suffrage bill in Diet
Objections from the country's 1% came as Japan debated extending voting rights to all men over the age of 25.
Lawyers representing Masako Akagi at a news conference in the city of Osaka on Thursday following an Osaka High Court ruling that revoked the Finance Ministry's decision not to disclose documents related to a document-tampering scandal
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 31, 2025
Court nixes Finance Ministry decision against document disclosure
The Finance Ministry has said that public disclosure in a document-tampering case would impede investigations.
Nippon Ishin no Kai leaders Hirofumi Yoshimura (left) and Seiji Maehara attend the party's executive meeting in the city of Osaka in December.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 30, 2025
Shared concerns could bring LDP and Nippon Ishin together on 2025 budget
Nippon Ishin's challenge is to get the LDP to secure free high school education and ensure support for the financially troubled Osaka Kansai Expo.
Tokyo is expected to lead the season with its first cherry blossoms on March 21, followed by Fukuoka, Kochi and Hiroshima prefectures as well as the city of Yokohama on March 22.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2025
Cherry blossom season predicted to begin in Tokyo on March 21
This year’s cherry blossom season is expected to align with or slightly precede historical averages in western and eastern Japan.
A prosecutor allegedly raped by her boss holds a news conference after submitting the petition on Monday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 28, 2025
Petition filed to investigate alleged rape of Japan prosecutor
While the defendant initially apologized at the first hearing, his lawyer later said his client had thought there had been consent.
"We want to welcome many people from all over the world, so we want to make Osaka a city where people feel safe with smoke-free streets," said Hideyuki Yokoyama, mayor of the city of Osaka, in early January.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2025
Osaka bans street smoking ahead of Expo 2025
Expo 2025 has struggled with slow ticket sales and public concern over the construction budget.
Smoke rises from a fire at a commercial building near Tsutenkaku Tower, in Osaka, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2025
Large fire breaks out near Osaka's Tsutenkaku Tower
The fire broke out in a game center on the first floor of a five-story building, and part of a two-story wooden building nearby was destroyed.
Tsutomu Ide speaks to reporters after the ruling in the city of Osaka on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2025
In first, Osaka increases compensation to family of disabled girl
It is the first ruling to calculate the potential future income of a disabled child in the same way as able-bodied people.
Experts in Japan emphasize the importance of supplementing a new legal framework with expanded opportunities for drug education targeted at young people.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2025
Many in Japan advocate for drug education to combat cannabis abuse
More than 80% of cannabis-related cases detected in Osaka in 2023 involved people in their 20s or younger, according to the Osaka prefectural police department.
Preparations for the 2025 Osaka Expo are underway on Yumeshima island in the city of Osaka ahead of the April 13 opening.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2025
Ishiba visits Osaka to inspect expo venue
Ishiba exchanged opinions with Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura and others about the progress of preparations for the international event.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba poses for a photo with Dimitri Kerkentzes (second left), visiting secretary-general of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions, at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2025
Ishiba vows to make Osaka Expo a success
"We will do our best to communicate (the attractions of) not only Osaka but also Japan as a whole to the world," Ishiba also said.
Naomi Osaka leaves the court after retiring from her match against Belinda Bencic with an injury during the third round of the Australian Open.
TENNIS
Jan 17, 2025
Naomi Osaka retires with injury during third round of Australian Open
Osaka pulled out of the Auckland final earlier this month due to an abdominal injury.
The families of the victims of sexual violence and others hold a news conference in the city of Osaka on Dec. 4 after submitting a petition to the Osaka Prefectural Assembly calling for the continuation of the Sexual Assault Crisis Healing Intervention Center Osaka, a one-stop support center within a hospital.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jan 17, 2025
Osaka sexual violence support center faces existential threat
SACHICO, Japan's first one-stop support center within a hospital setting for women affected by sexual violence, has been asked to leave Hannan Chuo Hospital.
Naomi Osaka is off to a strong start to the season and defeated Karolina Muchova on Wednesday to reach the third round of the Australian Open.
TENNIS
Jan 16, 2025
Naomi Osaka's Australian Open and the rediscovery of a tennis superpower
Osaka will play her first third-round match at a Grand Slam event since the 2022 Australian Open.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?