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July 08, 2025
 

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Jessica Speed
A video by the National Police Agency warns about fake scams.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 8, 2025
Scams involving police impersonation surge
Victims lost over ¥30 billion to such fraud cases in the first five months of 2025.
Yoshiomi Tamai
JAPAN / Society
Jul 7, 2025
Philanthropist Yoshiomi Tamai dies at 90
Tamai was the founder and longtime president of the Ashinaga Foundation, which has supported over 110,000 orphaned students.
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2025
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
The recent swarm marks the most intense seismic activity in the quake-prone region since 1995.
Reito Watanabe, who allegedly stabbed his coworker, Daiki Yoshino, to death in a Tokyo law office, is escorted by police on Tuesday in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 2, 2025
Suspect in Tokyo law firm stabbing held grudge against victim, police say
The 50-year-old man, who is an employee of the firm, said unpleasant experiences at work involving the victim, his coworker, had brought him to his limit.
Japan’s flagship H2A rocket lifts off for the final time early Sunday from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 29, 2025
Japan’s H2A rocket retired after successful final launch
The rocket’s 50th and final mission carried the GOSAT-GW, a government-developed hybrid environmental observation satellite.
Investigators say the group chat members were using pseudonyms to hide their identities, suggesting they were largely unaware of each other’s true backgrounds.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 27, 2025
Teachers sharing indecent photos of girls in a group chat elicits outrage in Japan
The coordinated voyeurism of the teachers came as a strong shock, undermining people's confidence in those in the role.
In a statement on their official website, Tokio said it had decided to disband following a compliance violation by Taichi Kokubun, without providing details as to what the violation entailed.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 26, 2025
Japanese pop-rock band Tokio announces disbandment after 31 years
The group said it will bring an end to its activities as Tokio following a compliance violation by member Taichi Kokubun but did not disclose details.
A group of tourists drive go-karts in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on April 18, 2024. The ward will introduce new regulations on go-kart rental operators starting July 1.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025
Shibuya to regulate popular street kart rentals amid tourist boom
Go-kart-style vehicles have become a staple part of Tokyo’s inbound tourism scene, but they have also drawn complaints from locals.
Models of the lunar lander Resilience (left) and the lunar rover Tenacious (right) operated by Japanese private company Ispace are displayed at the moon landing event venue in Tokyo on June 6. Japan's hopes of achieving its first soft touchdown on the moon by a private company were dashed on June 6, when the mission was aborted after an assumed crash-landing, the startup said.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 24, 2025
Ispace reveals cause of second lunar lander crash
Ispace concluded that the laser range finder failed to provide accurate data in the final phase of landing, leaving the lander unable to slow down in time.
Citing challenges such as a declining workforce and rising costs, four major newspapers will discontinue their Saturday evening editions from August, in a shift away from a publishing tradition that has endured for decades in Japan.
JAPAN / Media
Jun 18, 2025
Four newspapers in Japan to cease Saturday evening editions from August
The announcements mark a shift away from a publishing tradition that has endured for decades in Japan, where evening newspapers had been a staple of the media landscape.
Nihonbashi bridge, long overshadowed — literally — by an elevated expressway, is at the center of a multidecade project to relocate the highway underground in hopes of restoring the scenery around the historically significant bridge.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2025
Tokyo moves to restore open skies over historic Nihonbashi bridge
The elevated expressway is set to be completely removed in fiscal 2040 under a project expected to cost ¥320 billion ($2.2 billion).
In an annual gender gap report, Japan recorded its strongest gains in economic participation, where its score climbed to 61.3% from 56.8% in 2024.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 12, 2025
Japan ranks 118th out of 148 countries in gender gap report
Japan's gender parity ranking was unchanged from a year ago and is still the lowest among Group of Seven countries.
People walk in the rain at the Osaka Expo site on Monday. Most regions in Japan have entered the rainy season.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2025
Rainy season officially underway across most of country
Authorities are urging residents to remain on alert for landslides, river overflows and flooding in low-lying areas such as underpasses.
From left: CTO for Ispace Ryo Ujiie, founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada, CFO and director Jumpei Nozaki speak at a news conference in Tokyo. The company said it had aborted a mission to the moon after losing contact with its lander Resilience during a daunting final descent.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 6, 2025
Japanese space startup Ispace fails in second moon-landing mission
The firm had been aiming to become the first private company outside the United States to achieve a soft landing on the moon.
A tax-free shop in Kyoto in April 2024. Last week, members of a Liberal Democratic Party study group drafted a proposal seeking to scrap the country's tax-free shopping system altogether.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 5, 2025
Japan eyes tougher rules for foreign residents and tax hike for tourists
Ideas range from stricter driver's license tests for foreign nationals to increasing taxes on foreign visitors.
Lawson plans to sell 1-kilogram and 2-kg bags of rice it bought from the government's stockpile at ¥360 ($2.50) and ¥700 respectively.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2025
Aging rice? Lawson prefers to call it 'vintage.'
As convenience stores prepare to sell government stockpiled rice from older harvests to consumers, Lawson says it will offer rice balls made of "vintage rice."
Save the Children Japan in May 2022 began its Hello! Baby Box initiative to provide essential items for newborns, with the aim of reducing the burden of child care costs for women in dire situations.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2025
Most expecting and new mothers in poverty lack funds for basic necessities: survey
State support is often diverted to cover essential day-to-day costs and consumables needed for child-rearing, a survey found.
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of Ispace. The Resilience lunar lander could become the company's first to touch down on the moon on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 2, 2025
Japanese startup Ispace prepares for lunar lander to touch down on the moon
The goal is to achieve a soft landing near the Mare Frigoris, or Sea of Cold, in the moon’s northern hemisphere.
Iris Ohyama began sales of government-stockpiled rice at a home center location in Chiba Prefecture on Saturday morning.
JAPAN
May 31, 2025
Japanese customers brave the rain to line up for cheap stockpiled rice
Lines formed in the early hours of Saturday morning at an outlet in Chiba Prefecture as people clamored to purchase 5 kilogram bags of rice for ¥2,000.
Stockpiled rice arrives Thursday at a rice-milling factory operated by a subsidiary of household appliance company Iris Ohyama in the town of Watari, Miyagi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
May 30, 2025
Some retailers hesitant to buy stockpiled rice on quality concerns
Smaller shops in Japan are worried that older batches might not taste as good, which could cause customers to take their business elsewhere.
Heatstroke alert issued for 19 prefectures as Japan enters 'once-in-a-decade' heat wave
Japan will experience a heat wave through mid-July on a “level only seen once in a decade,” the Meteorological Agency said on June 30.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
Trump announces new tariff rate on Japan — and extension of deadline to Aug. 1
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a trade letter sent by the White House to Japan during a news conference at the White House in Washington on Monday.
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
Lawson to let visitors use larger parking lots as paid car campsites
A Lawson convenience store in Yachiyo, Chiba Prefecture. A new service from the company comes amid the rise in inbound tourists, making hotels and inns harder to book and more expensive.
The future is bright inside the visionary mind of architect Sou Fujimoto
The exhibition of Fujimoto’s architecture surveys his career to date, as well as looks ahead as shown in his proposal of a future floating city designed in collaboration with data scientist Hiroaki Miyata.
A tiny mountain hamlet keeps traditional log rafting afloat
Once a way to transport lumber from the mountains to the coast, log rafting is now Kitayama's biggest attraction.
A furever friend: Tips for responsible dog ownership in Japan
Dog ownership may seem daunting in Japan, but with the right tools and logistical knowledge, you can ensure a healthy, happy life for your pet.

Podcast

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

Longform

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By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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