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Wrestlers prepare for the start of a bout at the 2023 Sumo World Championships in Tokyo. Starting this month, placing one hand on the clay first is no longer allowed.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Apr 24, 2024

For amateur sumo, a fresh start offers hope against time-wasting and gamesmanship

Among the measures is an emphasis on wrestlers putting both hands down at the same time, with punishments including disqualification for noncompliance.
Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced in March that he would not run in the next Lower House election to take responsibility for the political funds scandal that rocked his party and his own faction.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 24, 2024

LDP veteran Nikai's youngest son expected to succeed him in Wakayama

Nobuyasu Nikai, who serves as secretary to his 85-year-old father, has been asked to stand for election by local leaders in the prefecture.
The parking lot of a convenience store in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward where Ryoken Hirayama, a 25-year-old construction worker, told police he had lent his car to two acquaintances to handle the matter involving the couple on the instructions of a certain individual.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2024

New details emerge over two burned bodies found in Tochigi

Police say that Sachiko and Ryutaro Takarajima may have been assaulted at a house in Tokyo hours before their deaths.
Members of the Generation Z division at the Kitakyushu municipal government in Fukuoka Prefecture discuss ways to attract more young people to live in the city.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 25, 2024

Local governments setting up unique divisions to revitalize economy

Kitakata in Fukushima Prefecture has created a ramen division and soba division to promote local cuisine.
Shintaro Wakiyama, mayor of Genkai, Saga Prefecture, speaks to reporters last week.   Jiji
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024

Saga town committee to OK petition to accept nuclear waste survey

The mayor of Genkai, Shintaro Wakiyama, has taken a cautious stance on the issue.
The planned extension of the Hokkaido Shinkansen to Sapporo will be delayed until after fiscal 2030 due to difficulties relating to tunnel construction, according to sources.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024

Hokkaido Shinkansen extension to be delayed beyond fiscal 2030

According to sources, tunnel construction for the section has proven challenging.
A family prepares to plant eelgrass seedlings during a project to restore the natural ecosystem in Yokohama on April 13.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 25, 2024

Battling climate change, Japan looks to seagrass for carbon capture

Japan, the world's fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has some of the longest coastlines in the world.
The government, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange in particular, have been pushing for better governance among the country’s 3.7 million companies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2024

Japan’s retail investors care about governance too, poll shows

Investors are increasingly aware of the need to hold corporate boards and executives to high standards.
Japan Times
PRESS
Apr 26, 2024

ニュースで学べる 初級者向け英語学習プログラム「The Japan Times Alpha J」サービス開始

株式会社ジャパンタイムズ出版(本社:東京都千代田区、取締役社長:伊藤秀樹)は2024年4月26日、週刊英語学習紙『The Japan Times Alpha』(以下Alpha)の姉妹商品として、新たに英語ニュース学習プログラム「The Japan Times Alpha J」(以下Alpha...
People observe a moment of silence for the victims of a JR Fukuchiyama Line train crash in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, Thursday morning on the 19th anniversary of the accident.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024

Victims of JR West train crash mourned 19 years on

The president of JR West and other officials observed a moment of silence at 9:18 a.m., the time of the crash, which killed 106 passengers.
The National Police Agency in Tokyo. Under an NPA plan, the minimum amount of state benefits paid to bereaved families of crime victims will be raised from ¥3.2 million to ¥10.6 million.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024

Japan to increase benefits for crime victims' families

The National Police Agency aims to carry out the revision in June after seeking public comments.
Check-in counters at Narita International Airport are crowded with travelers on Dec. 30, 2023.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024

Passengers at Narita Airport soar 72% in fiscal 2023

The operator forecast that during the Golden Week holiday period, international passengers would total 835,200, up 33.6% from the same period last year.
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 25, 2024

Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other

In a departure from boys' club politics, candidates including four women, a writer and an ex-martial artist are making their case for a seat in parliament.
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 26, 2024

Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism

An official said some visitors leave litter behind and ignore traffic regulations.
Police have arrested a Nigerian man on suspicion of smuggling stimulant drugs from Britain and tricking his romance scam victim into picking it up.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 26, 2024

Nigerian nabbed in Japan for drug smuggling through romance scam

Police say similar cases of romance scam victims being tricked into helping smuggle illegal drugs continue to occur.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (left), Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe (center) and Ontario Premier Doug Ford walk in the company's automotive assembly plant in Alliston, Ontario, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 26, 2024

Honda to spend $11 billion on electric vehicle strategy in Canada

The move is meant to tap long-term demand in North America and pushes the automaker toward having electrified cars account for 100% of sales by 2040.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said he has instructed his ministry to investigate whether or not there have been any further incidents.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 26, 2024

Five senior SDF officers punished for mishandling secret info

They passed on secret information to personnel within their units who were not cleared to handle such data.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attend an event in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2024

Imperial couple to visit Britain in June in first trip to country since '22

The visit will be the first trip to Britain by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako since they attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
An estimated 835,200 people were due to travel through Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture during the 11-day Golden Week period — about 77% of the number during the same period in 2019, before the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 27, 2024

Travelers flock to train stations and airports as Golden Week begins

Japan kicked off its Golden Week holidays, which run through May 6, on Saturday, with many people heading to resorts or their home towns.
An ammonia tank at JERA's Hekinan thermal power station in Aichi Prefecture. JERA is looking to invest in hydrogen and ammonia projects in the Middle East.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 28, 2024

Japan’s JERA looks to invest in Middle East hydrogen projects

Some of the world’s biggest planned blue ammonia plants, which capture carbon dioxide emitted in the production process, are located in the Middle East.
A Japan Airlines' flight from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled last week after its captain got drunk at a local hotel.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2024

JAL cancels international flight after captain gets drunk at Dallas hotel

Japan Airlines canceled a flight last week from Dallas to Tokyo after its captain got drunk at a hotel in the U.S. city and was warned by local police.
JR East says it will not yield to unreasonable demands by customers who harass its employees.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2024

JR East says it will not respond to customer harassment

According to the policy, the company will not respond to customers who engage in harassment, such as physically or psychologically attacking employees.
LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (center) speaks to reporters as election strategy committee chair Yuko Obuchi (left) and Deputy Secretary-General Hiroshi Kajiyama look on at party's headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday night.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 28, 2024

Main opposition CDP sweeps three Lower House by-elections in blow to LDP

The results were seen as a setback for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and could accelerate talks within the LDP about his political future.
Yuto Katsuragawa competes at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Apr 28, 2024

Katsuragawa shoots 63 to win on DP World Tour's return to Japan

The 25-year-old had seven birdies and no bogeys to finish on 17-under par after equaling the course record.
When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Apr 29, 2024

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

Among official records in Japan, the "koseki" is key to discovering where you came from. However, it's not without controversy.
Hikaru Sasaki enters the Metropolitan Police Department's Osaki police station in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward on Monday after being arrested on suspicion of disposing of two bodies found in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, earlier this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 29, 2024

Man, 28, arrested in Okinawa over burned bodies found in Tochigi

The man is an acquaintance of the construction worker who earlier turned himself to the police over his possible involvement in the case.
The processing plant and warehouse of Minamidani Yoshie Shoten in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, are seen damaged due to cracks on the ground left behind by the New Year's Day earthquake.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 29, 2024

Wajima market's youngest stallholder taps crowdfunding to preserve heritage

A woman is looking to revive her family's fish sauce business and preserve the culinary heritage of her hometown in the wake of the Noto Peninsula quake.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's Natsumi Sakai (center) celebrates with other CDP officials and supporters on Sunday in Tokyo's Koto Ward after being announced as the winner of the Tokyo No. 15 district by-election.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 29, 2024

Election trouncing a blow to Kishida, but snap election unlikely

The PM might order a Cabinet reshuffle and make leadership changes within the LDP to boost his popularity ahead of the party's presidential election.
Japan's vice minister of finance for international affairs, Masato Kanda, poses for a photograph during an interview at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo in January 2022.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 30, 2024

Japan forex authorities ready '24 hours,' top currency diplomat Kanda says

Masato Kanda again declined to comment on whether the Finance Ministry had intervened to prop up the yen a day earlier.
Customers look at chocolate bars at Cacao Store, a specialist chocolate store, in Tokyo. Japan is a large market for high-value confectionery and it sources about 75% of its cocoa imports from Ghana.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 30, 2024

Chocoholics in Japan set for sticker shock after cocoa price surge

Crop declines in top suppliers Ivory Coast and Ghana leave buyers struggling for beans and prices more than doubling since the start of the year.

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