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Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 28, 2025

Japan unveils evacuation plan for Taiwan contingency

Under the plan, Fukuoka Prefecture will host the most evacuees, with 47,400 people.
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 2, 2025

U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan

The man has said the gun was for self-defense and that he had packed the firearm by mistake.
Lawyer Shoichi Ibuski (right) speaks during a news conference in Tokyo along with Wayomi, younger sister of Wishma Sandamali who died in 2021 while in detention.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 4, 2025

Family of Sri Lankan woman who died in custody to sue Japan for footage

Attorney Shoichi Ibuski, representing the family, told reporters that the government's refusal suggests there may be “inconvenient information for immigration authorities.”
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a joint press conference with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Feb. 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 7, 2025

Japan responds to Trump's tariffs with a polite phone call and request

The call was the first interaction between the two leaders since the U.S. president rolled out new tariffs targeting almost every country on the planet.
The 2025 Diplomatic Bluebook says that Tokyo will communicate closely with Washington over various issues facing the international community.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 8, 2025

Japan foreign policy report highlights importance of building ties with Trump

The 2025 Diplomatic Bluebook said that Tokyo will communicate closely with Washington over various issues facing the international community.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office. Hayashi has cited Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missile development programs as well as its abduction of Japanese nationals as reasons for Japan's extension of sanctions on North Korea.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 8, 2025

Japan to extend sanctions against North Korea for two years

Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missile development programs, and its abduction of Japanese nationals were cited as reasons.
A MQ-4C Triton drone taxis at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2025

U.S. to send long-range surveillance drones to Japan amid Taiwan tensions

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said that the drones will be sent to the U.S. air base in Kadena, on Okinawa Prefecture’s main island, in the coming weeks.
The Japan Coast Guard has introduced Starlink, a high-speed satellite internet service, on some of its patrol vessels.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2025

Starlink brings internet to Japan Coast Guard ships in bid for new blood

The JCG hopes the upgrade will help appeal to younger generations amid growing concerns over rising retirement numbers and declining recruitment.
The Japan Coast Guard officers raid the office of SGC Saga Aviation in the city of Saga on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2025

Japan Coast Guard raids operator of helicopter in fatal crash

A marine salvage company commissioned by SGC Saga Aviation began work Wednesday morning to lift the crashed aircraft out of the sea.
The Osaka Prefectural Police headquarters in the city of Osaka
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 11, 2025

Japan Post employee arrested for mailing used condom to post office

According to the police, the envelope was addressed to a female employee working at the targeted branch.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki may participate in a joint patrol in the prefecture by Japanese and U.S. officials, an official in the area said.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2025

Japan and U.S. to hold joint patrol after Okinawa sexual assaults

The one-off joint operation through busy areas until the early hours of the next day was proposed by the U.S. side.
Barbosa Anderson Robson
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 12, 2025

Brazilian man to face jury trial over murder of wife and child in Japan

The suspect, Barbosa Anderson Robson, is said to have stabbed his wife, Manami Aramaki, then 29, and their then 3-year-old daughter to death after discussing a divorce.
U.S. soldiers take part in a live-fire exercise as part of the Balikatan drills with Philippine troops, at Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, in May 2024.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2025

In a first, Japan will join major Philippine-U.S. drills as participant

The Self-Defense Forces will dispatch about 150 personnel and a warship to the multidomain Balikatan exercises, which begin next week.
U.S. military personnel join Japanese officials and residents for a one-off joint nighttime patrol on the streets of the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, late Friday in the first such joint operation since 1973, following sexual assault cases involving U.S. servicemen.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 19, 2025

Japan and U.S. patrol Okinawa streets after sexual assaults

In the first such joint operation since 1973, participants walked along a downtown street dotted with restaurants, bars and clubs near a U.S. airbase.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) meets with new U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 22, 2025

Ishiba meets with new U.S. envoy to Japan

The new U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass arrived in Tokyo last week.
A ceremony to open the Japan Institute for Health Security is held in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on April 4.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2025

Japan's new health institute gives first acute respiratory infection cases tally

This was the first tally of such cases since ARI was designated as a Category V disease under the infectious diseases control law.
Giant panda Rauhin at Adventure World in Wakayama Prefecture. She and her three daughters are expected to be sent to China in June.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2025

All four giant pandas at western Japan zoo to be sent to China

If no new additions join the zoo, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo would be the only remaining giant pandas housed in Japan.
Takahiro Fujii (center), the president of Try and E, and his lawyers speak during a news conference on Friday in Tokyo after a ruling was handed down in a case against Amazon Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2025

Tokyo court fines Amazon Japan ¥35 million over counterfeit products

Presiding Judge Yuko Shintani deemed Amazon’s response to the issue to be “indicative of willful misconduct, or at the very least, gross negligence.”
The transport ministry will consider administrative punishments for Japan Post after carrying out probes.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2025

Government begins probe of Japan Post over improper driver checks

The audit started after it was learned that 75% of post offices offering collection and delivery services across the country had improperly conducted mandatory alcohol checks.
The remains of three Ainu indigenous people kept at the University of Edinburgh will be returned to Japan and placed at the National Ainu Museum and Park in Shiraoi, Hokkaido.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2025

Remains of Ainu people in Britain to be returned to Japan

It marks the third time that Ainu remains that were taken abroad for research have been returned to Japan, following similar arrivals from Germany and Australia.
Visitors look at the preserved Atomic Bomb Dome in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in the city of Hiroshima in October.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2025

80 years on, Japan's government seeks testimonies from all hibakusha

It is the first time in 30 years that the government has sought cooperation from all hibakusha over testimonies.
Masaru Okawa (right), head of the Ainu association, receives ancestral remains from Peter Mathieson, principal of the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 1, 2025

Remains of Ainu people in Edinburgh to be repatriated to Japan

The remains, which had been kept at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, have been returned to the Ainu Association of Hokkaido and will arrive back in Japan on Saturday.
Elementary school children receive checkups from dental students in Tra Vinh, Vietnam, in March.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional voices: Chubu
May 19, 2025

Dentists pass Japan-style oral health care to children in Vietnam

Surveys show nearly 90% of elementary school students in Vietnam have tooth decay.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric will meet with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during his visit to Japan and will also inspect the World Exposition in Osaka.
JAPAN / Politics
May 7, 2025

Chilean President Gabriel Boric to make first visit to Japan

Boric will meet with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during his stay and will also inspect the World Exposition in Osaka.
U.S. Army Pacific commander Gen. Ronald Clark tours the force's Materiel Support Command-Korea at Camp Carroll in Waegwan, South Korea, on April 9.
JAPAN
May 7, 2025

U.S. Army looks to deploy agile new unit to Japan for exercises

The Pentagon has already established three such formations in strategic locations worldwide and is planning two more over the next two to three years.
The hermit crabs of Amami island are from a group of species designated as "national natural monuments" because of their cultural and scientific value.
JAPAN
May 8, 2025

Three arrested in Japan over suitcases stuffed with hermit crabs

The guests "had asked the hotel to watch their suitcases, and the suitcases made a rustling noise," a police official said.
Princess Kako smiles during the spring garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on April 22.
JAPAN
May 9, 2025

Japan's Princess Kako to visit Brazil from June 4

This will be Princess Kako's fourth official visit to a foreign country, following her visit to Greece in May 2024.
A stolen Kanzeon Bodhisattva statue in Daejeon, central South Korea, in January
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 11, 2025

Stolen Buddha statue handed over to Japan in South Korea

South Korea's Supreme Court recognized the Japanese temple's ownership of the statue in 2023, rejecting claims that it was stolen by Japanese pirates in the 14th century.
Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Michael Logico, who was involved in managing the latest iteration of the Balikatan U.S.-Philippine drills, told The Japan Times that he expects military ties with Japan to surge even further once Tokyo ratifies a key visiting-forces agreement with Manila.
JAPAN
May 12, 2025

Japan set for bigger role in Philippines after SDF’s debut in key drills

A top Philippine general has said he expects the Self-Defense Forces’ involvement in both bilateral and multilateral activities to grow substantially.
A bird flu outbreak in Brazil has prompted Japan to stop importing chicken from the country — a move that could affect the domestic meat market.
JAPAN
May 19, 2025

Japan halts some poultry imports from Brazil after bird flu outbreak

The ban took effect on Friday after Brazil confirmed its first outbreak of bird flu on a poultry farm.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight