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NHK plans to start charging online viewers in October of next year.
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2024

NHK to charge monthly online viewer fee of ¥1,100 starting next year

The fee will be collected from people who sign up only for the online service.
Shonannoumi hits the dirt at the hands of Kotozakura during a bout in Tokyo in May. Shonannoumi is among the many top wrestlers who have dropped out of this month's regional tour due to injury.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 9, 2024

Spate of sumo tour dropouts highlights need to rethink wrestlers' health

While it would be foolish not to capitalize on sumo’s surging popularity, expanded tour schedules cut into recovery time and push wrestlers to their physical limits.
SV League players and Chairman Masaaki Okawa (front, holding a volleyball) during a news conference in Tokyo last month.
MORE SPORTS / Volleyball
Oct 9, 2024

Japan's new volleyball league has big dreams as it gets set to launch

The SV. League replaces the V. League as Japan's top volleyball league and aims to eventually become the best volleyball league in the world.
Members of an International Atomic Energy Agency team look at fish caught off Fukushima Prefecture in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2024

IAEA team catches fish samples off Fukushima

A similar survey was conducted by the IAEA and third-party countries last year to examine marine products off Fukushima.
Coal-fired power plants in Bataan, the Philippines, in June 2023. A third of the 158 agreements signed under the Japan-led Asia Zero Emission Community are linked to fossil fuel technologies, a recent study by a climate research group has found.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Oct 9, 2024

Japan pushes fossil fuel tech in Asia carbon neutrality initiative

A third of the 158 agreements signed under the Japan-led Asia Zero Emission Community are linked to fossil fuel technologies, according to a report.
The University of Tokyo is ranked 28th in the latest World University Rankings, advancing one place from the previous rankings.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 9, 2024

University of Tokyo moves up a spot to 28th in World University Rankings

Many of Japan’s top universities moved up in the latest rankings announced on Wednesday, with five of them in the top 200.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba listens as Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda (right) speaks during a one-on-one debate in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2024

Opposition clashes with Ishiba over political reform

Political reform and the LDP slush fund scandal took center stage during the prime minister's showdown with opposition party leaders.
New economic revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa speaks during an interview on Tuesday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 10, 2024

Japan is aiming for a growth-oriented economy, new minister says

The new minister also underlined his resolve to attain the government's target of raising the weighted average of minimum wages in the 2020s.
Hikone Castle in Shiga Prefecture may meet a criterion for inscription on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2024

Hikone Castle could merit world heritage listing, UNESCO panel says

The castle from the Edo Period could being assessed as bearing a unique testimony to a disappeared cultural tradition or civilization.
Osaka police arrested a 30-year-old man Wednesday on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old girl whose body was found in a hotel room in the city of Osaka last month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 10, 2024

Police arrest 30-year-old man over 17-year-old girl’s murder in Osaka

Shunsuke Fukui was apprehended on Wednesday as he left an internet cafe in Yokohama.
Of the potential candidates at present, more than 1,060 are preparing for battle in 289 single-seat constituencies.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 10, 2024

Over 1,170 people plan to seek Lower House seats

Over 1,170 people are currently planning to run in the Oct. 27 election for the House of Representatives.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is the largest foreign issuer of yen bonds this year, raising a record ¥545.1 billion.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 10, 2024

Berkshire issues bonds worth ¥282 billion, sparking Japan investment hopes

The seven-part bond deal is Berkshire’s biggest yen-denominated deal since 2019, and makes it the largest foreign issuer of yen bonds this year.
 Megumi Hirose, former Upper House member
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 10, 2024

Campaigning begins for Upper House by-election in Iwate

The by-election follows the resignation of Megumi Hirose over allegations public funds were misused.
The Consumer Affairs Agency is warning against fake websites that lure consumers into purchasing unrelated or counterfeit products.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 10, 2024

Consumer watchdog warns against fake electronics sites

The sites, often promoted via social media ads, are luring consumers into purchasing unrelated or counterfeit products.
A U.S. military helicopter made an emergency landing on a beach in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2024

U.S. helicopter makes emergency landing on Chigasaki beach

Around noon, a report was received through the fire department that a U.S. helicopter made a “precautionary landing” on a beach in the city.
Masakazu Tokura
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2024

2025 Expo head expects ticket sales to speed up

Around half of the 14 million advance tickets that the organizer aims to sell by the start of the Expo have been sold.
The Gifu Prefectural Police headquarters in the city of Gifu
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 11, 2024

Yakuza member arrested over insurance fraud after cutting off own finger

The arrest stems from an incident in which a yakuza member allegedly cut off his own finger but reported it as an accidental injury to medical personnel in Tokyo.
The Aichi Prefectural Police headquarters in Nagoya. Aichi police have arrested a 36-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of murder following the death of a couple, believed to be his parents, in their apartment in Nagoya's Midori Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 11, 2024

Nagoya man arrested after death of couple believed to be his parents

Police are working to confirm the victims' identities and are investigating suspect Keisuke Kita’s possible involvement in both deaths.
National Police Agency Commissioner General Yasuhiro Tsuyuki addresses a meeting of top prefectural police officers at the agency in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 11, 2024

Police chief wants key election personalities fully protected

National Police Agency Commissioner General Yasuhiro Tsuyuki urged prefectural police chiefs to "execute every single measure" ahead of the Oct. 27 general election.
The Bank of Japan's surprise rate increase on July 31 led to Japanese stocks plummeting into bear-market territory, with the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei average falling 12.4% on Aug. 5 alone.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 11, 2024

Bank of Japan vows better messaging to avoid more market turmoil

There is "strong will" within the central bank to learn from what had happened during its last rate increase, BOJ Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino.
The Tokyo District Court
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 11, 2024

Ex-Daiichi Sankyo employee faces 18 years for allegedly poisoning wife

The indictment states that Keisuke Yoshida intentionally poisoned his 40-year-old wife, Yoko, by having her ingest methanol at their home in Tokyo.
An office worker inside a commercial building at night in Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Oct 11, 2024

Widespread overwork and stress found in Japan's arts and health sectors

In the arts and entertainment sector, over 40% of technical staff and stage directors worked 60 hours or more in a week, a health ministry survey found.
The Finance Ministry plans to suspend Nomura from the primary group of Japanese government bond dealers for a month from Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 11, 2024

Japan suspends Nomura from bond auctions after manipulation

The action is another setback for Nomura after the revelations led several companies including Toyota Finance to take their bond underwriting business elsewhere.
Nanako Fujita made her debut in 2016.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
Oct 11, 2024

Star female jockey Nanako Fujita retires following suspension

Fujita was suspended for using a smartphone for outside communication on the day before a race.
A manager of a go-kart rental company allegedly rented out karts without properly verifying the driver's licenses presented by two foreign tourists.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 11, 2024

Tokyo go-kart rental manager sent to prosecutors over traffic law violation

The 40-year-old man allegedly rented out karts to two foreign tourists without valid licenses.
Toshiyuki Mimaki, the co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, speaks at an event held in November at United Nations headquarters in New York on the sidelines of the second meeting of state parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2024

Nihon Hidankyo awarded Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to achieve nuclear-free world

The organization was given the honor for its work to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.
Justice Minister Hideki Makihara speaks during a joint interview with media outlets at his office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 11, 2024

Justice minister says he has severed all ties with Unification Church

Hideki Makihara has promised to follow the Liberal Democratic Party’s commitment on ceasing ties with the group moving forward.
A Starlink satellite communication system installed on the training ship Kashima of the Maritime Self-Defense Force for test operations at the Harumi Pier in Tokyo on May 15.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2024

Japan's MSDF eyeing Starlink for better internet connectivity at sea

Hoping to create an environment where MSDF members can freely use the internet while at sea, the MSDF plans to introduce the Starlink service on its vessels.
The remains of the Prefectural Industry Promotion Building after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima in September 1945.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 12, 2024

Nobel Prize is a warning to a world on the nuclear brink

The awarding of the prize to Nihon Hidankyo — a group of atomic bomb survivors — reflects a widely held fear that nuclear war is now closer than ever.
Keidanren Chairman Masakazu Tokura at a news conference in Sapporo on Oct 8.
BUSINESS
Oct 12, 2024

Japan's top business lobby proposes maximum use of nuclear energy

The proposal noted that Japan has been facing the toughest energy challenges since the oil crises in the 1970s and 1980s.

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