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Yukana Inoue

Many Japanese dating apps have ways to detail specific interests that can be as narrow as one particular TV show, game or an artist.

JAPAN / Society

Jan 7, 2025

Swiping in Japan: How Gen Z is changing the dating app game

The once-stigmatized apps are flourishing as a new normal for dating among Gen Z in Japan, albeit with a different approach to before.

Children at a traditional festival in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday. A forecast made by Tohoku University professor Hiroshi Yoshida estimates that Japan will be left with just one child on Jan. 5, 2720, based on current birthrate trends.

JAPAN / Society

Jan 6, 2025

2720 — the year when Japan is left with just one child

An expert on the graying of society has warned that the nation will be left with just one child age 14 and below in 695 years if its birthrate continues to decline.

Tonoike Sake Brewery has been gearing their brewery toward tourism since the late 1980s, attempting to lure tourists to the town of Mashiko.

LIFE / Travel

Jan 3, 2025

Traveling for sake's sake: The emergence of brewery tourism in Japan

While sake consumption has declined in Japan, breweries across the nation are taking advantage of a rise in overseas interest to promote themselves as tourist destinations.

A bear trap in Hokkaido Prefecture. Bears have recently been found inside homes and shops.

JAPAN / Society

Dec 27, 2024

Increasing number of Japanese bears find human dwellings ‘just right’

Cases of bears making their way into homes and shops are on the rise across the country as the animal's natural food sources become scarce.

Japan Airlines jets at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in August. On Thursday, JAL announced its systems had been targeted in a cyberattack.

JAPAN

Dec 26, 2024

Japan Airlines reports cyberattack on system, impacting flights

JAL's systems appeared to have returned to normal after the router believed to have been causing the disruption was temporarily shut down.

A North Korean hacker group is believed to have planted a virus on the computer of an employee at Ginco — a company that was entrusted with the deposit and withdrawal of DMM Bitcoin’s virtual currency — through a fake job recruitment message sent via LinkedIn.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Dec 24, 2024

North Korean hacker group behind DMM Bitcoin’s cryptocurrency leak

The hacker group is believed to have planted a virus on an employee's computer using a fake job recruitment message sent via LinkedIn.

The Japanese antitrust watchdog said that Google forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices, sources say.

BUSINESS / Tech

Dec 23, 2024

Japan accuses Google of violating antimonopoly law

The Japanese antitrust watchdog said the U.S. company forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices.

For language learners under 40 in Japan, AI tools such as ChatGPT are now preferred over in-person classes or radio language programs.

JAPAN

Dec 19, 2024

AI services growing in popularity among younger language learners in Japan

The number of people using AI language tools grew by more than 80% in 2024, a recent survey showed.

Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida (left) and Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe hold a news conference in Tokyo in March. Both automakers have been working together for months on a deal of some sort.

BUSINESS / Companies

Dec 18, 2024

Honda and Nissan might combine to form world’s No. 3 auto group

Mitsubishi, which has been working closely with Nissan since 2016, also might join the grouping.

The East Japan Railway Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. Within the next 10 years, JR East will develop automated walk-through gate technology so that passengers can enter the train platform without having to tap their Suica card or phone on the ticket gates.

BUSINESS / Companies

Dec 11, 2024

JR East announces 10-year plan to drastically overhaul Suica

Dubbed the "Suica Renaissance," the plan involves redesigned ticket gates, new payment features and a subscription service.

Incumbent Mayor Shuhei Azuma announces the opening of applications for a possible successor at a news conference on Sept. 25.

JAPAN / Politics

Dec 11, 2024

City in Osaka Prefecture looks for new mayor using job search site

The idea is to encourage more people to get involved in local government in Japan, but questions have emerged about the project and its implications.

Miho Nakayama rose to stardom in 1985 after the release of her first single “C,” which established her popularity as an idol.

CULTURE

Dec 9, 2024

Miho Nakayama, known for 'Love Letter' and her music, dies at 54

Nakayama had a solo Christmas show scheduled in Osaka on Friday, but had canceled the show in the morning, citing health reasons.

Sake bottles are displayed at the 19th World Cultural Heritage Conference, as sake was added to UNESCO'S Intangible Cultural Heritage list, in Asuncion, Paraguay on Wednesday.

JAPAN / Society

Dec 5, 2024

Japanese sake brewing added to UNESCO intangible heritage list

Traditional sake brewing marks the 23rd Japanese entry on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list, joining other culturally significant arts such as washoku and kabuki.

Sadao Abe, who played the role of a time-traveling Showa Era teacher transported to present day in a popular TV drama, receives the 2024 buzzword of the year award for the word "futehodo," the nickname of the series.

JAPAN / Society

Dec 2, 2024

Japan’s 2024 buzzword of the year urges a reevaluation of past norms

“Futehodo” — a nickname for a TV drama that depicts the generational gap between the Showa and Reiwa eras — has been crowned the most trending word of 2024.

High-rise buildings in Tokyo. Through faking documents and passports a criminal group conspired to pose as the owner of a real-estate plot and buildings in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward in 2017, defrauding Sekisui House of ¥5.5 billion.

JAPAN / Crime & Legal

Nov 28, 2024

Real-life ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ ordered to pay ¥1 billion in damages

The Tokyo District Court ruled that the defendants knew they were engaging in a fraudulent scheme in their dealings with Sekisui House.

Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, followed by Princess Aiko and Princess Kako, prepare to attend a funeral service for Princess Yuriko at Toshimagaoka Cemetery in Tokyo on Tuesday.

JAPAN / Society

Nov 26, 2024

Funeral held for Princess Yuriko at Tokyo cemetery

The princess had been hospitalized since early March due to a stroke and pneumonia. She died of natural causes on Nov. 15 at age 101.

A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.

JAPAN / Society

Nov 21, 2024

Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps

Ease of meeting a wide range of people is likely the biggest appeal of app use, underscoring a major shift in how young people meet their partners.

A rubber-tired tram system, tentatively called the “Fuji Tram,” would run along magnetic markers, reducing environmental damage, according to the Yamanashi Prefectural Government.

JAPAN / Society

Nov 19, 2024

Why Yamanashi gave up building a light-rail system on Mount Fuji

As an alternative, the governor proposed a new plan to use a rubber-tired tram system.

Princess Yuriko in May 2023

JAPAN

Nov 15, 2024

Princess Yuriko, sister-in-law of Emperor Showa, dies at 101

The oldest living member of the imperial family, Princess Yuriko died due to natural causes.

In the past two weeks, developer DeNA has raked in over $50 million for the Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket app, a free-to-play game that charges for premium features.

BUSINESS / Tech

Nov 14, 2024

Gotta collect 'em all: New Pokemon trading card game becomes big hit

The novel yet nostalgic app has amassed over 30 million downloads worldwide in the first two weeks of its release.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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.

By Tomoko Otake

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