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Brighton & Hove Albion's Kaoru Mitoma (left) in action with Arsenal's Ben White at Emirates Stadium in London on Aug. 31
SOCCER
Sep 17, 2024

Japanese players in vogue as British clubs widen horizons

"It feels like there is more interest in Japanese players from around the world," says Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo.
A ride-hailing service vehicle in Sendai. In times of disasters, such services will be available more widely.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2024

Japan to allow use of ride-hailing services in disasters

Demand for transportation tends to increase during disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons, as well as in the recovery and reconstruction process.
Sanae Tamura (right), whose guesthouse in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, was damaged by the Jan. 1 earthquake, reopened its doors in April.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 17, 2024

Music continues to play for Noto guesthouse after Jan. 1 earthquake

Tsuchi to Disco, which is run by a 35-year-old dance aficionado, began welcoming visitors again in April after three months of repairs.
Women in managerial positions at Japanese firms has topped 10%, but the figure still lags far behind those in European countries and the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 17, 2024

Women in managerial posts top 10% for first time in Japan

Women in managerial roles are slowly increasing in Japan, but the country remains far from the government's 30% target for this decade.
The Bank of Japan is holding its policy board meeting this week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 17, 2024

Japan set to hold rates steady as yen rallies and LDP candidates stump

A rate hike by the Bank of Japan right after an expected cut by the Federal Reserve would cause more turbulence, UBS Securities' chief Japan economist says.
A mongoose on a road in Nago, northern Okinawa, in December 2022. The mongoose was first introduced to Japan in Naha in 1910 for the purpose of exterminating the local habu snakes and rats.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Sep 23, 2024

After Amami-Oshima success, Okinawa's mongoose eradication in focus

Okinawa island's much bigger resident population makes it a challenge to get rid of the animal.
A re-creation of a scene in which an electric wheelchair tire has become stuck in a gutter
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2024

Deaths among elderly people using electric wheelchairs on the rise

Accidents usually occur at railroad crossings, roadside ditches and on slopes, especially when elderly wheelchair-users are alone outdoors.
A United Steelworkers sign is seen outside the Great Lakes Works U.S. Steel plant in River Rouge, Michigan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 18, 2024

U.S. decision on Nippon Steel bid pushed back until after election

The move offers a ray of hope for the companies, whose proposed deal appeared set to be blocked on national security grounds.
University of Tokyo students speak to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday after submitting a petition opposing tuition hike plans.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 18, 2024

University of Tokyo students submit petition against tuition hike

Students submitted a petition with around 27,500 signatures along with a written request for the university to delay the decision.
Rapidus' new semiconductor plant under construction in Chitose, Hokkaido, in July
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 18, 2024

New high-profile chip plants driving up nearby land prices across Japan

Expectations for growth in demand for semiconductors has boosted demand for commercial and industrial plots, and housing.
Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a debate with other candidates in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2024

Takaichi's policy documents spark controversy in LDP leadership race

She argues that the materials are unrelated to the election and were mailed out before a ban was imposed, but some in the party describe them as "unfair."
The Liberal Democratic Party's suspected ties with the Unification Church have been little discussed in the ongoing leadership race campaign.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2024

Unification Church issue continues to haunt LDP amid leadership race

The Asahi Shimbun daily has published a photo purporting to show a meeting between then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a senior official of the religious group in 2013.
Liberal Democratic Party presidential election candidates after a campaign event in Nagoya on Saturday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 18, 2024

LDP leader candidates split on separate surnames for married couples

While party conservatives worry about damaging family unity, others say it’s time to push through a legislative change.
Health ministry officials inspect the Wakayama factory of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical in March after reports of health damage surfaced among people who took the firm's red yeast rice supplements.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 18, 2024

Puberulic acid confirmed as source of beni kōji health issues

The substance produced by blue mold was the cause of kidney problems suffered by consumers of the Kobayashi Pharma supplements, the health ministry said.
Komeito Secretary-General Keiichi Ishii
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2024

Ishii to head Komeito in first leadership change in 15 years

Keiichi Ishii will be appointed the new Komeito leader at a party convention on Sept. 28.
The estimated number of overseas visitors to Japan rose 36.0% from a year before to 2,933,000 in August, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2024

Overseas visitors hit record high for August at 2.9 million

The figure was up 16.4% from the same month in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The H3 rocket, built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, lifts off from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Feb. 17.
BUSINESS
Sep 18, 2024

Mitsubishi to provide H3 rockets for France's Eutelsat from 2027

The deal is a major overseas win for Japan's ¥220 billion ($1.55 billion) state-backed H3 rocket project.
Data was falsified for wheelsets on Tokyo Metro train cars.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2024

Tokyo Metro maintenance subsidiary falsified wheelset data

Data was altered for 233 axles of 161 subway cars, out of a total of 11,000 axles of some 2,700 cars owned by Tokyo Metro.
Shiretoko Yuransen President Seiichi Katsurada (center) in Shari, Hokkaido, in May 2022. Katsurada admitted to having little knowledge of ships in an interview before his arrest on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2024

Hokkaido boat operator in 2022 fatal sinking had little knowledge of ships

He made himself the company's safety and operational manager despite lacking the necessary qualifications after dismissing key employees during the pandemic.
A survey shows former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda currently has the most support among Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's lawmakers in the party's leadership race.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

Noda front-runner in CDP leadership race, with Edano close behind: survey

The situation is still fluid as many respondents in both surveys said they had not decided yet on whom to vote for in the leadership election.
The percentage of alcohol-related accidents involving electric scooters was far higher than that for accidents involving bicycles and mopeds.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2024

17% of kick scooter accidents caused by drunken drivers

Some 70% of the drink-driving accidents took place between midnight and before 6 a.m.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito speaks during a prefectural assembly session on Thursday in Kobe. A motion of no confidence against Saito, who is accused of workplace bullying, was submitted to the prefectural assembly on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

Hyogo assembly passes no-confidence motion against embattled governor

The extremely rare move forces Gov. Motohiko Saito, who is accused of workplace bullying, to either step down or dissolve the assembly within 10 days.
A police officer explains with a loudspeaker the correct way of interacting with the deer on July 25 at Nara Park in the city of Nara.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 20, 2024

Nara urges respect for sacred deer after viral abuse video sparks outcry

A video showing a man kicking a deer began circulating on social media in late July, resulting in the lodging of over 100 police reports.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Analysts polled ahead of Friday were in agreement that the BOJ would choose not to make any rate adjustments.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 20, 2024

Bank of Japan leaves rates unchanged as Ueda signals pause

The central bank on Friday kept the uncollateralized overnight call rate steady at 0.25% following a two-day meeting of its Policy Board.
Rice in a field in Tambasasayama, Hyogo Prefecture in August. Rice prices jumped 28.3%, posting the largest increase since September 1975.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2024

Japan core consumer prices up 2.8% in August

Rice prices shot up 28.3%, electricity rates soared 26.2% and city gas rates 15.1%, following an end of government subsidies.
A man holds a new iPhone 16 at an Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2024

Apple's iPhone 16 released in Japan

The Japanese version of Apple Intelligence will be launched next year.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the 43-year-old son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, announces his candidacy for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency in Tokyo on Sept. 6.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 20, 2024

The second act of the Koizumi theater

Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s style and rhetoric echo those of his father, but there are key differences between the two men.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan presidential candidates Harumi Yoshida (far left), Kenta Izumi (center left), Yukio Edano (center right) and Yoshihiko Noda pose at a news conference in Tokyo on Sept. 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 20, 2024

CDP leader hopefuls must bridge internal and external differences

Once elected, the leader of the main opposition party must both unify the different groups within and choose who to work with to win the next general election.
A car is seen in a crevice that opened up in a road amid heavy rains in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2024

'Unprecedented' rains in quake-hit Ishikawa leave at least one dead

Rain across a swath of the Noto Peninsula — still recovering from the Jan. 1 earthquake — triggered floods and landslides that also left a handful of people missing.
A U.S. Marine aircraft at Futenma Air Station in Okinawa
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 21, 2024

U.S. marine in Okinawa indicted for alleged sexual assault

The suspect has denied part of the charges, claiming that he had consent, investigative sources said.

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