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Four candidates in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's leadership election participate in a debate at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2024

CDP leader candidates vow to challenge all scandal-hit LDP lawmakers

The four CDP lawmakers, speaking in a televised debate, said their party will field candidates in the next House of Representatives election to challenge all LDP members.
Customers try peaches from Fukushima Prefecture at Harrods in London on Saturday.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2024

Harrods starts selling Fukushima peaches

The sale is part of a campaign by Tokyo Electric Power Company to promote food from Fukushima, an effort to help the prefecture recover from the March 2011 earthquake.
Fireworks are fired on the Stade de France roof during the closing ceremony of the Paris Paralympics on Sunday.
PARALYMPICS
Sep 9, 2024

Paris Paralympics close with festive ceremony as France celebrates 'historic' summer

International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said the Paris Paralympics had shown that "change starts with sport."
Elementary school student Yugo Hirata, who uses a wheelchair, swims with the assistance of Edogawa-ku General Gymnasium staff member Michiyo Tominaga at a dedicated facility for people with disabilities in Tokyo on June 22.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 15, 2024

Projects eye better sports facility access for people with disabilities

Efforts are being made to create a network linking specialized sports facilities for people with disabilities with general public facilities.
Thinly sliced puffer fish sashimi. The dish is often served at high-end restaurants in Japan, where chefs must hold a license proving they can safely slice around organs that contain a lethal poison.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2024

Japanese 10-year-old passes test for preparing deadly fugu

Fifth grader Karin Tabira passed a test this summer that certifies her to slice and gut the fish for consumption.
Komeito Secretary-General Keiichi Ishii
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

Keiichi Ishii set to replace Natsuo Yamaguchi as Komeito chief

The move would mark the first change in party leadership since 2009.
A white hood believed to have been worn by the Sengoku Period warlord Uesugi Kenshin
JAPAN / History
Sep 15, 2024

Repair work begins for hood linked to warlord Uesugi Kenshin

The white hood is expected to be exhibited to the public in 2028 or 2030.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito, accused of workplace bullying, testifies to an investigative panel in Kobe on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

Nippon Ishin calls on Hyogo governor to resign over bullying claims

Nippon Ishin’s move is expected to be a politically fatal blow for Motohiko Saito, as he had the party’s support when he was elected as an independent.
Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

Sanae Takaichi unveils LDP president bid with call for party's rebirth

In an announcement laden with detailed policy proposals, the economic security minister says the party needs to be “reborn” in the wake of its slush funds scandal.
Redevelopment of the Meiji Jingu Gaien district has trees in the area marked according to their status — trees marked in red were to be cut down in the original plan while those in blue were to be transplanted. In the updated plan, trees marked in red will no longer be felled, and those in blue will remain where they are.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 9, 2024

Updated Meiji Jingu Gaien redevelopment plan to keep more trees

Fewer trees will be felled and more new ones planted, while construction will also take place further away from the park's iconic ginkgo trees.
Kazakhstan's Raushan Koishibayeva competes in the women's para powerlifting up to 73kg gold final on Saturday
PARALYMPICS
Sep 9, 2024

In pictures: Paralympics’ end brings hope for more diversity

Scenes from 11 days of thrilling competition, in which Japan bagged 14 gold medals, 10 silver and 17 bronze.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike poses with Liberal Democratic Party members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on July 8, following her win for a third term in the gubernatorial election the previous day.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 10, 2024

After Tokyo governor poll, eyes turn to 2025 assembly election

Both the Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan are under pressure to regroup ahead of the quadrennial metropolitan assembly election.
Michikazu Takao, a 52-year-old unemployed man who has been arrested over the theft of a safe from a beauty salon, wears a cap adorned with three crow feathers.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 10, 2024

Man with crow-feathered cap arrested over theft of safe at beauty salon

Michikazu Takao, 52, told police that he believes crows possess special powers and that he carried the feathers as a protective charm.
Rapidus' semiconductor foundry construction site in Chitose, Hokkaido
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2024

Japan’s Rapidus seeks another ¥100 billion in chipmaking push

The proceeds will help finance the construction of Rapidus’ foundry in Hokkaido, sources said.
Masato Kanda, Japan's former top currency diplomat, led massive bouts of yen-buying intervention in the currency markets in 2022 and 2024.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 10, 2024

Japan nominates ex-currency diplomat Kanda to head ADB

Since its 1966 founding, the ADB's top post has always gone to a Japanese national, making Kanda a strong candidate.
About 30 students from Biwako Seikei Sport College who had gone kayaking in Lake Biwa on Monday failed to return to shore on time. It wasn’t until hours after sundown that all the missing students returned to shore on their own.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 10, 2024

Students reported missing while kayaking in Lake Biwa all accounted for

Having failed to return to shore before sundown, the group of university students finally made it back hours later after three of their kayaks capsized.
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader and prime minister, Fumio Kishida, attends a campaign event with then-LDP candidate Junko Mihara and lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi (left) in Kawasaki in July 2022. Koizumi is viewed as a potential front-runner in the party's upcoming leadership contest.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 10, 2024

Japan’s public wants change. Can the ruling party deliver?

The LDP's upcoming leadership contest features a diverse field of candidates, including Shinjiro Koizumi, who is viewed as a potential front-runner.
This handout photo from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings taken in July shows a set of pipes used for removing radioactive debris from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in the town of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 10, 2024

Tepco starts extracting radioactive fuel debris at Fukushima No. 1 plant

The move is a key step in the decommissioning of nuclear reactors crippled by a triple meltdown in the wake of the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi announces his decision not to seek reelection in his party's Sept. 28 presidential election, in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2024

Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi announces decision to step down

The decision not to seek reelection marks the end of an era for the party and raises questions on how it might impact the LDP's presidential race.
Growing moves by companies to pass on higher costs to consumers amid accelerating inflation are believed to have led to the decrease in bankruptcies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2024

Japan business failures log first drop in 29 months in August

The figure stood below 800 for the first time in four months.
The Aichi Prefectural Police headquarters in Nagoya. Police are investigating how an 18-year-old high school student in the city of Ichinomiya produced explosives found in his possession as well as the motive behind it.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 11, 2024

Aichi teen arrested over possession of high explosives

The arrest of the 18-year-old high school student stemmed from an investigation into a purchase of potassium nitrate made under his name.
A gate at the fifth station of Mount Fuji's Yoshida Trail in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, is closed Tuesday as this year's climbing season ended.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 11, 2024

Authorities say cap on Mount Fuji hikers achieved goals as season ends

Yamanashi introduced a daily limit of 4,000 climbers and ¥2,000 fee this season, in hopes of clamping down on "bullet climbing" and easing congestion.
Crown Princess Kiko (second from left) visits an embroidery exhibition in Tokyo with her daughter Princess Kako (left) on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2024

Crown Princess Kiko turns 58

The Crown Princess has missed some of her engagements this year, after feeling unwell from the end of last year, but says she is getting better.
Tamotsu Shiiki, 58, is accused of sexually assaulting a first-year junior high school girl at a karaoke parlor in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district on Aug. 20. He has denied the charge.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 11, 2024

Ex-lawmaker held over alleged sexual assault in Tokyo karaoke parlor

Tamotsu Shiiki, a former Lower House lawmaker of Nippon Ishin no Kai, denies sexually assaulting the first-year junior high school girl.
A U.S. F-35B stealth fighter lands on the MSDF's destroyer Izumo off the coast of Japan's Shikoku region in October 2021.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2024

Maritime Self-Defense Force's 'Flattop' to undergo tests with U.S. fighters

The helicopter-carrying destroyer has been undergoing work to become an aircraft carrier for use with F-35B stealth fighters to be adopted by the Air SDF.
Signs expressing opposition to the University of Tokyo's proposed tuition hikes are displayed at the university's Komaba campus in Tokyo in July.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 11, 2024

University of Tokyo plans to raise tuition fees by 20% in 2025

The university expects to make the proposal official by the end of September, barring unforeseen issues.
The share of online brokerages in the publicly offered investment trust market rose above 20% for the first time at the end of June as younger investors do deals on their smartphones and laptops.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 11, 2024

Online brokers are taking Japan market share from bigger rivals

The popularity of an expanded tax-free investment account program called NISA has encouraged its users to do deals on their smartphones and laptops.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa announces her candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 11, 2024

Yoko Kamikawa banks on overseas experience in LDP leadership race

Her candidacy could increase attention on foreign policy questions in a race so far dominated by party reform and domestic economic issues.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, is one of two contenders who have consistently outperformed other candidates in the Liberal Democratic Party leadership race in recent polls conducted both among the general public and LDP supporters.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 11, 2024

Nine hopefuls vie for LDP presidency in complex election

The leadership race is the most crowded in the ruling party’s history and one of its most unpredictable in decades.
Pen-chan, a female Cape penguin born and raised in captivity, is seen on Sept. 8 in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, two weeks after escaping from an event in the area. The bird's keeper, Ryosuke Imai, described her return as a "miracle."
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2024

'Miracle' penguin found two weeks after escape

Pen-chan had never swum in the open sea before or fended for herself.

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