Search - japan

 
 
Agriculture minister Tetsushi Sakamoto shows a mock-up of a label for vegetables grown in a sustainable way at his ministry on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 1, 2024

Japan's farm ministry launches eco-labeling initiative for sustainable farming

The labels will serve as a visual cue for environmental efforts and are aimed at enhancing consumer awareness toward fostering a sustainable food system.
JAPAN / Society / First person
Mar 1, 2024

Ohtani is taken. It’s enough to make you cry.

It’s official, and it's over: Shohei Ohtani has left the future husband market and, in the blink of an eye, leveled a field of fairy-tale dreams.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 1, 2024

As ethics hearing unfolds, Diet falls into chaos over budget approval

The CDP sought to censure budget committee leader Itsunori Onodera over his decision to push through a final vote, and argued for more extensive debate.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2024

Japan bill would punish those who encourage unlawful gun ownership

The bill is also aimed at toughening requirements to qualify for possessing a so-called half-rifle hunting gun.
Business is booming for Japan's top airlines as the weak yen spurs the arrival of more foreign visitors, while local demand for international trips and domestic routes remains high.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2024

Japan’s top airlines to hire 3,700 workers in the next year

Business for the airlines is booming as the weak yen spurs the arrival of more foreign visitors.
Daihatsu saw its sales fall by about 60% in January amid a scandal over fraudulent testing.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2024

Japan auto sales down almost 20% in February

The decline reflected the effects of certification test scandals, with new vehicle sales at Daihatsu down roughly 80% and those at Toyota down about 30%.
Rina Gonoi, a former Self-Defense Forces member who accused colleagues of sexually assaulting her during her time in the military, speaks during an interview in Yokohama last December.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 2, 2024

Japanese ex-soldier wins U.S. award for fight against sexual harassment

The U.S. will honor former Self-Defense Forces soldier Rina Gonoi with the International Women of Courage Award.
The Japanese parliament building in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 3, 2024

Opposition again demands 32 Upper House members face ethics panel

Junichi Ishii, LDP parliamentary affairs chief in the Upper House, says the LDP intends to decide in early March on the plan to hold ethics panel hearings.
TSMC's new factory in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2024

Japan in the midst of a semiconductor plant construction rush

The government set aside ¥4 trillion between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2023 for subsidies for helping companies build semiconductor plants.
Japan's corporate spending on plants and equipment jumped 16.4% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, government data shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 4, 2024

Japan corporate capex jumps, paving way for BOJ exit from stimulus

Capital expenditure rose 16.4% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, and 10.4% on a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis.
SMBC Nikko Securities has set up an alumni organization for former employees to interact and share their experiences.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Mar 4, 2024

As more move midcareer, Japan firms tap former hires with alumni networks

As well as seeking business opportunities, companies also recognize the value of rehiring individuals with expertise and skills gained elsewhere.
Junior high school students from the inland town of Sumita, Iwate Prefecture, visit the Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum in the city of Rikuzentakata in December.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 4, 2024

Educational tours aim to preserve memory of Tohoku quake

Efforts are being made to ensure lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake are passed on to future generations.
The Fair Trade Commission will demand Nissan take measures to prevent a recurrence of unfair reductions in payments to subcontracting auto parts makers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2024

Japan FTC to warn Nissan over payments to parts suppliers

The reductions are estimated to total about ¥3 billion for more than 30 suppliers over the past several years.
A 2015 protest against the construction of military infrastructure in Okinawa Prefecture. Many residents are also worried about the impact of a Taiwan contingency on their islands.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 4, 2024

Okinawa’s peace movement carves its own path

Many Okinawans worry about a Taiwan contingency and are angered by U.S. base relocation: Grievances that have given impetus to the islands' own diplomacy.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during an Upper House Budget Committee session on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 4, 2024

Kishida denies intent to dissolve Lower House in April

The prime minister was grilled on his reason for rushing the passage of the government's fiscal 2024 draft budget last week.
The fishing vessel had engine trouble on Sunday off the Kozushima island in the Izu the archipelago.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2024

One dead, 24 rescued off Japanese fishing boat

Dramatic television footage showed the 56-meter vessel on its side being pounded by waves as the crew huddled on deck and a helicopter hovered overhead.
There have been cases of simultaneous lung and liver transplants from brain-dead donors overseas, but no such cases in Japan due to a lack of such donors, according to Kyoto University Hospital.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 4, 2024

World's first live lung and liver transplant performed in Kyoto

A boy with a genetic disorder received part of his parents' lungs and part of his grandfather's liver in the operation at Kyoto University Hospital.
Nippon Steel Executive Vice President Takahiro Mori, who is set to meet the United Steelworkers (USW) union chief this month, says the Japanese steel producer plans to uphold all of the current agreements between the union and U.S. Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2024

Nippon Steel exec to meet USW head to seek support for U.S. Steel deal

Winning the union's backing is a priority for the Japanese steel producer because then the acquisition will be "no longer a political issue."
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2024

Japan ministers deny report government thinking of calling end to deflation

Policymakers are focused on ensuring the economy doesn't revert to a protracted period of falling prices, they said.
Japan's service sector activity expanded in February, thanks to continued strong demand for inbound tourism.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2024

Japan's service activity grows on firm tourism

Inbound tourism is an important part of Japan's economy, with annual visitor spending exceeding ¥5 trillion for the first time last year.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group said it is already managing to enhance its tolerance to an anticipated rise in yen interest rates.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 6, 2024

Japan’s biggest bank readies for BOJ shift on rate policy within weeks

Hiroyuki Seki, head of global markets business at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, predicts that the BOJ will raise rates not once but twice by October.
Tokyo headquarters of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, more commonly known as the Unification Church
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2024

Japan panel OKs putting Unification Church under increased scrutiny

Once an organization is designated, it will be obliged to notify authorities of any disposal of its real estate assets at least one month in advance.
An unmanned robot navigates across a street during a demonstration of Uber Eats' robot delivery service in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 6, 2024

Uber Eats Japan begins deliveries with self-driving robots

The company has rolled out the service in Tokyo's Nihonbashi area and plans to introduce it in other places as well.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks at a forum in Tokyo on Tuesday. Tackling a bloated balance sheet is set to be a challenging hurdle for the central bank.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 6, 2024

Normalizing Bank of Japan's balance sheet will take nine years, says ex-official

Failing to issue guidance on the planned normalization could lead to high market volatility in yields, former Executive Director Kenzo Yamamoto warns.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, speaking at an Upper House budget committee session on Tuesday, said that if Japan is unable to sell the new fighter to other countries, the joint project’s success could be undermined.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 6, 2024

Fighter exports crucial for ‘favorable security environment’: Kishida

The prime minister is seeking the backing of Komeito to revise export rules for fighter jets that Tokyo is seeking to build with Britain and Italy.
Fisherman Masahiro Ishibashi (center) unloads a haul of tiger puffers in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, in February.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 6, 2024

Fukushima fishers strive to recover catches amid water concerns

The 2022 catch totaled 5,604 metric tons, roughly 20% of the yearly catch before the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 7, 2024

Possible Trump return causing concern for Japanese firms

Trump has already said that he would impose a 10% tariff on all imported products.
The Bank of Japan in January. The BOJ is monitoring wage trends closely for signs of a virtuous cycle linking higher pay with demand-led price gains.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 7, 2024

Japan wage growth beat forecasts in January, in fastest rise since June

The data comes as annual wage negotiations between firms and unions are reaching their climax, with the first results expected next week.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives for a meeting of a parliamentary ethics committee at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Feb. 29.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 7, 2024

Kishida's three challenges: Discipline, by-elections and Motegi

How the prime minister handles these matters could impact his political future as well as that of the Liberal Democratic Party.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 7, 2024

Osaka weighs 'entry fee' for foreign tourists in bid to combat overtourism

The proposed fee is separate from the lodging tax already in place for all tourists.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years