Search - japan

 
 
As Japan grapples with its population's rapid aging, supporting people who live and age alone is looming larger on the policy agenda.
JAPAN / Society
May 14, 2024

In Japan, 68,000 people over 65 projected to die alone at home this year

In the first official tally of solitary deaths, the National Police Agency said a total of 21,716 people had died alone at home from January through March.
A tofu business summit is held in Nagoya in October.
JAPAN / Society
May 15, 2024

Tofu shops in Japan at crossroads amid rising costs

The number of tofu producers has been declining at an annual rate of 400 to 500 in recent years
The National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 15, 2024

Rare kidney cancer mutation found in 70% of Japan patients, study shows

Its cause of the mutation, found in a type of cancer also prevalent in parts of Europe, is unclear, prompting scientists to consider unknown factors.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (right) meets with Taro Aso, a former Japanese prime minister, in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 16, 2024

Taipei mayor meets Japanese ruling party officials in Tokyo

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an met with Japanese ruling party officials in Tokyo in his first visit to Japan since assuming office in 2022.
Work is underway to restore water supply pipes in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, in February.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 16, 2024

Japan centralizes water supply and sewage administration

The infrastructure ministry aims to advance integrated initiatives covering both water supply and sewage systems in addressing aging infrastructure.
A new system under which bicycle riders pay fines for minor traffic violations to escape criminal punishment is expected to be introduced in Japan no later than 2026.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 17, 2024

Japan passes bill to introduce 'blue ticket' fines for cyclists

The new system will be applied to offenders aged 16 and above who breach traffic regulations.
Legislation that allows the option of joint custody of children after divorce is passed at the Upper House plenary session on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 17, 2024

Japan changes law to allow joint custody after divorce

For decades in Japan, one parent — almost always the mother — has been granted legal custody when a marriage ends.
The Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee approves legislation to introduce a new training scheme for foreign workers on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 17, 2024

Japan parliamentary panel OKs bill on training foreign workers

It will replace the foreign technical intern program with a new training scheme to allow foreigners to work in Japan for the medium to long term.
Representatives of the ruling bloc and opposition parties meet in Tokyo on Friday to start discussions on possible relaxations of the imperial family's strict succession rules.
JAPAN
May 17, 2024

Lawmakers begin talks on Japan's dwindling imperial line

Japan currently has only one heir: Emperor Naruhito's 17-year-old nephew Prince Hisahito.
The proportion of recent graduates in Japan who have worked as interns have experienced sexual harassment during their internship was 30.1%, according to a labor ministry survey, up 4.6 percentage points from the previous survey in fiscal 2020.
JAPAN / Society
May 18, 2024

Japan survey finds 30% of student interns experience sexual harassment

The proportion of such respondents was 30.1%, up 4.6 percentage points from the previous survey in fiscal 2020.
Visitors view a CV-22 Osprey on display during a friendship event at the U.S. military's Yokota Air Base in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN
May 19, 2024

U.S. Osprey displayed in event at Yokota base in Tokyo

In November last year, a U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey crashed off the island of Yakushima in Kagoshima Prefecture, killing all eight people on board.
Members of the Self-Defense Forces are dispatched to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in January after a massive quake. The SDF will conduct a week-long quake drill in Hokkaido starting Monday.
JAPAN
May 19, 2024

Japan SDF to conduct drill for quake in Pacific trenches

The drill includes about 12,000 SDF members, U.S. troops in Japan and Australian military personnel and the Hokkaido prefectural government.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) views My Number card readers during an inspection of Nihonkai General Hospital in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN
May 19, 2024

Kishida inspects hospital in northeastern Japan

The Prime Minister said that it's important to increase the use of the My Number cards in order to offer better medical services.
People who have experienced becoming lay judges take part in a meeting to exchange views at the Tokyo District Court on March 6. Japan's lay judge system marks its 15th year on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 20, 2024

Number of lay judges falls as Japan marks system's 15th year

While there were more than 10,000 lay judges in the system's first few years, their numbers have fallen to around 6,000 in recent years.
Kazuma Kaya reacts after his routine on the parallel bars during the men's apparatus finals at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp on Oct. 8.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
May 21, 2024

Team Japan in Paris will be strongest, says gymnastics medalist Kaya

To date, Japan has a haul of seven Olympic gold medals in the team discipline, the most of any country.
A worker installs a mesh barrier to block the view of Mount Fuji emerging from behind a convenience store in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Tuesday. The measure follows complaints of bad behaviors by tourists seeking the perfect photo at the location.
JAPAN / Society
May 21, 2024

Weary of overtourism, Japan town blocks one popular view of Mount Fuji

The large mesh barrier was put up at the popular photo-taking spot in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, in response to misbehaving tourists.
A visitor to the Japan Olympic Museum walks past a display of the Olympic Rings on a wet day in central Tokyo on May 1.
JAPAN
May 26, 2024

Japan wrestles with legacy of graft-stained Games in Paris warning

Cost overruns, corruption and COVID-19 all tarnished the Japanese public's memory of the Tokyo Olympics.
Toyota Land Cruisers bound for shipment at Yokohama port
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2024

Surge in luxury car thefts in Japan spurs call for preventative measures

Stolen vehicles are often illegally exported, leading authorities to call for increased vigilance.
Akira Miyagi (center) and other members of Japanese-Brazilians with ties to Okinawa Prefecture hold a news conference in Sao Paulo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
May 23, 2024

Brazil to mull apology for persecution of Japanese immigrants

If the federal government apologizes, it will be its first over the country's treatment of Japanese immigrants.
Science and technology policy minister Sanae Takaichi (center) speaks at a meeting of the government's AI Strategy Council on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 23, 2024

Japan to discuss AI regulations as early as summer

The government's AI Strategy Council will discuss the introduction of legislation that will work alongside guidelines drawn up in April for AI business operators.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a House of Councilors Budget Committee meeting on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2024

Japan's parliament begins talks on bills to amend political funds law

The envisioned law revision, proposed in response to a political funds scandal, is a key topic of the parliament session.
Many drugmakers that have entered the generic drug market are producing a wide range of medicine in small quantities, resulting in an inefficient system, the health ministry panel noted.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 23, 2024

Health ministry panel urges consolidation in Japan's drug sector

In an effort to tackle an ongoing shortage of generic drugs, a health ministry panel says smaller drugmakers should merge with bigger companies.
A transport ministry probe into Japan Airlines on Friday targeted daily operations pertaining to flight operations and safety management at company facilities near Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, including JAL's safety promotion headquarters.
JAPAN
May 24, 2024

Emergency probe of Japan Airlines carried out following incidents

The on-site investigation comes after the wings of two JAL planes collided while the aircraft were on Haneda Airport’s parking apron.
The increase in foreign student numbers in Japan came after the government started to gradually lift its COVID-19 travel restrictions in 2022.
JAPAN / Society
May 24, 2024

Foreign student numbers in Japan grew in 2023

A survey found 279,274 foreign students in the country as of May 2023, up 20.8% from a year earlier but still below prepandemic levels.
Frequent hydration and the use of parasols are believed to be needed more than usual this year to weather out the expected heat spell.
JAPAN
May 25, 2024

Japan set to suffer another scorching summer

Depending on weather conditions, this summer may be catastrophically hot, matching the heat last summer.
Japan's saury catches fell to roughly 18,000 tons in 2022, hitting a record low for the fourth straight year, before picking up slightly to around 25,000 tons last year.
JAPAN
May 25, 2024

Saury fading from Japan's dining tables amid poor catches

Catches of saury are mired in a prolonged slump with no signs of recovery in sight, and those that are caught are often lean and expensive.
A North Korean rocket carrying a spy satellite is prepared for launch in a location given as North Gyeongsang province in this image released on Nov. 21.
JAPAN
May 27, 2024

North Korea announces plans to launch satellite by June 4

The announcement came hours before top leaders from Japan, South Korea and China gathered for a rare trilateral summit in Seoul.
Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome can be caused by bacteria called group A streptococcus.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 27, 2024

STSS infections growing at record pace in Japan

The patient tally this year had reached 851 as of May 12, with the figure being 2.8 times higher than a year before.
Opposition parties' senior lawmakers discuss political reform in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 28, 2024

Japan's parties ramp up reform discussions as clock ticks for legal revision

While lawmakers have agreed to expedite discussions, gaps remain on some contentious issues.
Yasukazu Hamada, parliamentary affairs leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who is also former Defense Minister, will chair a nonpartisan lawmaker group that will request the government to form an organization to investigate UFOs.
JAPAN / Politics
May 28, 2024

Japan lawmakers to create group for government probes into UFOs

The group will hold its founding general meeting on June 6 after Tuesday's preparatory meeting, which was held in parliament.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell