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April 25, 2025
 

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Fiscal 2024 supermarket sales in value terms grew on higher prices including for food, especially rice and vegetables, but sales in volume terms continued to decline as consumers remained reluctant to spend.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2025
Japanese supermarket sales up for fifth straight year in fiscal 2024
Sales in value terms grew on higher prices including for food, especially rice and vegetables, but sales in volume terms continued to decline.
Parliament on Friday in Tokyo
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2025
LDP plans to submit pension reform bill in mid-May
Pension system reform is a key issue in the second half of the ongoing ordinary parliament session.
While Nissan slightly raised its sales forecast late Thursday, its statement warned that its net loss could be ¥700 billion to ¥750 billion.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2025
Nissan sees $5.3 billion red hole as restructuring losses mount
While Nissan slightly raised its sales forecast late Thursday, its statement warned that its net loss could be ¥700 billion to ¥750 billion.
The Tokyo District Court has ordered the government to pay ¥4.4 million ($30,850) in damages to a former female journalist who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a now-deceased secretary of an Upper House lawmaker.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 24, 2025
Government ordered to pay over sexual assault by lawmaker's ex-aide
A Tokyo court ordered the ¥4.4 million ($30,850) payment to a former female journalist who was allegedly assaulted by the now-deceased government-paid secretary.
In March alone, the number of non-Japanese international passengers using Narita Airport rose 11% from a year earlier to 2,003,482, a record high for the month.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2025
Narita Airport reports 16% increase in passengers
The airport's overall passenger count in fiscal 2024 totaled 40,774,055, topping 40 million for the first time in five years.
Under new rules, those who use smartphones while riding a bicycle would be subject to the maximum fine of ¥12,000.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 24, 2025
Japan set to fine cyclists on the spot for rule violations from 2026
Until now, police have usually responded to cycling violations by issuing verbal warnings or handing out red tickets that can lead to prosecution.
Regional lenders Daishi Hokuetsu Financial Group and Gunma Bank have entered into an agreement to consolidate their businesses in 2027.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Regional lenders Daishi Hokuetsu and Gunma Bank agree to consolidate
The banks have entered a memorandum of understanding to integrate their businesses under a holding company structure on or around April 1, 2027.
Toyota Motor’s sales rose 8% from a year earlier to 231,336 units, while Honda Motor recorded a 13% jump, according to data released Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Japanese carmakers’ U.S. sales surge ahead of Trump tariffs
Toyota Motor’s sales rose 8% from a year earlier to 231,336 units, while Honda Motor recorded a 13% jump, according to data released Thursday.
Japan is planning to implement by March 2029 a new online screening system in which foreign visitors who don’t need a visa apply for a certification before entering the country.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2025
Japan brings forward deadline for electronic travel authorization system
In fiscal 2028, Japan aims to introduce the system for certifying foreign visitors who don't need a visa ahead of their arrival in the country.
A Sudanese soldier prays in front of a burned-out armored vehicle in Khartoum, Sudan, on March 28.
WORLD
Apr 24, 2025
'No one else will': Sudan's journalists risk all to report the war
Since fighting erupted between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, at least 28 reporters have been killed, according to Sudan's journalist union.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato is is expected to meet with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 24, 2025
U.S. indicates no hard target for yen ahead of key trade talks
The United States has argued that the yen is too weak, making its value against the dollar a top agenda item in trade discussions.
Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward is expected to be the top pick in the NFL draft on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Apr 24, 2025
Titans expected to take QB Cam Ward with top pick of NFL draft
Ward threw for 4,313 yards and 39 touchdowns for Miami last season.
Former rugby league player Jordan Mailata won the Super Bowl with the Eagles last season.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Apr 24, 2025
Australians eye NFL draft in hopes of finding next Jordan Mailata
Mailata's ascent to the pinnacle of the game was big news in Australia.
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
The tariffs add another layer of uncertainty for consumers already hesitating due to the yen's weakness and inflation.
The Celtics' Kristaps Porzingis is helped off the court after suffering a cut during the second half against the Magic in Boston on Wednesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Apr 24, 2025
Celtics beat Magic in physical battle in Game 2
The Celtics took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
KDDI President and CEO Hiromichi Matsuda is interviewed in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
KDDI aims to use direct satellite link for drones
A direct link with satellites will make it easier to operate drones in mountainous areas and other regions where radio waves are hard to reach
Henriette Jaeger crosses the finish line win a women's 400-meter heat at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, on March 7.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Apr 24, 2025
Norwegian athletes advised to avoid meat in China over doping fears
The 2025 World Athletics Relays will take place in early May at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Guangzhou, while the Diamond League event in Shanghai is scheduled for May 3.
Japan Post conducted a nationwide survey after it was revealed in January that a post office in Hyogo Prefecture had neglected to perform the required checks.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2025
Improper alcohol and health checks on drivers found at 75% of Japan Post offices
The irregularities included fabricating records without conducting the checks.
Cardinals stand, on the day of the translation of Pope Francis' body, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Apr 24, 2025
Who will be the next pope? Some hints to watch for
The process to choose a new pope is long and secretive, with most of the world's 252 cardinals coming to Rome to take part.
New vehicles for sale at a Toyota dealership in El Centro, California. Toyota is planning to spend $88 million at an engine factory in West Virginia to widen its manufacturing footprint in the United States.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2025
Toyota to invest ¥12.5 billion in West Virginia plant amid Trump tariff push
The spending will secure the continued employment of some 2,000 workers at the factory, but a spokesman said it won’t result in any new jobs.
The 50th two-stage H-2A rocket is stored at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Tobishima plant in Aichi Prefecture.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2025
Final H-IIA rocket to be launched in June
After the launch, the H-IIA rocket series will be retired and replaced by the more advanced H3 series.
A Nucor steel factory in Blytheville, Arkansas. Foreign competition isn't the biggest challenge for steel companies — it's finding workers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Steelmakers already short-staffed as Trump pushes for U.S. factory revival
The U.S. stopped training factory workers decades ago, and retirements and immigration crackdowns are draining the pool of labor available.
Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks during an event in Chicago earlier this month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 24, 2025
Federal Reserve at a policy and political crossroads poses global risks
A divergence between the Fed and other central banks could stress dollar funding markets and make financing more expensive for less-developed countries.
Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan set to fine cyclists on the spot for rule violations from 2026
Under new rules, those who use smartphones while riding a bicycle would be subject to the maximum fine of ¥12,000.
Naked man’s rampage in Saitama linked to one fatality and 10 injured
Police believe Daisuke Nishimura may have been involved in roughly 20 incidents in the 90 minutes leading up to his arrest, including a fatal hit-and-run and multiple assaults.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.
Cases of epidural use in labor rise in Japan alongside concerns
Of the 721,000 childbirths reported in 2024 in Japan, 13.8% involved the use of an epidural, according to the Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Nothing sells like Shohei Ohtani, MLB’s marketing megastar
People walk past an advertisement featuring Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani outside Tokyo Dome on March 18.

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