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Liberal Democratic Party candidate Nobuyasu Nikai speaks in front of a crowd in the district of Aridagawa, Wakayama Prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 25, 2024

Election wildcard in Wakayama puts rural district in national spotlight

Former LDP member Hiroshige Seko's decision to seek a Lower House seat as an independent candidate highlights the fractured state of the ruling party.
Japanese fans are signing up for expensive travel packages to watch the World Series, which will see the Los Angeles Dodgers — including Japanese players Yoshinobu Yamamoto (center) and Shohei Ohtani (right) — take on the New York Yankees.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 25, 2024

World Series sparks travel frenzy among fans in Japan

Travel agencies are having a hard time keeping up with demand from baseball fans fired up by “Ohtanimania.”
Watami CEO Miki Watanabe (right) during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2024

Izakaya chain buys Subway Japan in challenge to McDonald’s

The Subway franchise has historically struggled to gain footing in the Japanese market, with just 178 locations compared to nearly 3,000 for McDonald’s.
Suspect Shiho Hosoya enters the Asakusa Police Station in Tokyo on Friday. The handcuffs and waist ties are blurred for privacy reasons.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 25, 2024

Tokyo police rearrest couple suspected of multiple murders of family members

Investigators are looking at inheritance as the primary motive behind the string of murders.
Rare bottles of Suntory’s Hibiki 100th anniversary whisky can only be purchased duty-free in-flight on ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines are highly sought-after items among whiskey aficionados.
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2024

Rare whisky on sale duty free for first-class fliers in Japan

The rare bottles are highly sought-after items among whiskey aficionados and often sell for a lot more in liquor shops and online stores.
A guest room decked out in Shohei Ohtani and Dodgers gear at Yuko Hattori's Ohtani-senshu Ouen Minpaku (Guesthouse for Ohtani Fans) near Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 27, 2024

Los Angeles couple gives Japan guests a lodging experience fit for Ohtani superfans

A unique lodging near Dodger Stadium may be the ideal home base for anyone making the trip to Los Angeles to see the Japanese superstar.
A Tohoku Electric Power official explains the process of loading nuclear fuel into the No. 2 reactor of the Onagawa nuclear power plant in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, on Sept. 6.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 27, 2024

Onagawa No. 2 nuclear reactor set for restart amid mixed local reception

Some living around the power plant have expressed understanding for the restart while others are concerned over the possibility of an accident.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also LDP president, dissolved the Lower House only eight days after assuming office on Oct. 1
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2024

Why Ishiba’s strategy of a surprise battle backfired

His dissolution of the Lower House only eight days after assuming office and backtracking on previously touted policies left voters with little to base votes on.
Eiji Kidoguchi, fielded by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, won a by-election for the House of Councilors on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2024

CDP candidate wins Upper House by-election

Eiji Kidoguchi, elected to the chamber for the second time, focused his campaign on political reform.
Koichi Hagiuda thanks his supporters early Monday in Tokyo after his victory in Sunday's general election became certain.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2024

60% of 'slush fund' candidates lose in Japan Lower House poll

The severe outcome reflected renewed criticism against the LDP that arose in the final stage of the election campaign.
Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Sunday. Tamaki has not taken sides at the moment, saying only that his party will cooperate with those who are willing to cooperate with it to implement its policies.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2024

DPP's quadrupling of seats burnishes its potential as a coalition partner

The question now is whether it will join a battered Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition or work with a strengthened Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
A lawyer heads to the Fukuoka High Court on Monday to file a lawsuit concerning "vote disparity" in the Lower House election held the previous day.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2024

Lawyers file suits to nullify Lower House election results

The group have said that the poll was unconstitutional because it was carried out without correcting vote-value disparities.
A digital camera found near the tip of the Shiretoko Peninsula in August was identified as belonging to Yu Nudeshima, a passenger of the Kazu I tour boat that sank on April 23, 2022, with 26 people on board.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 28, 2024

Passenger's photos from Hokkaido boat accident retrieved 2½ years on

The images offer a glimpse of April 23, 2022 — the day the Kazu I tour boat sank off Hokkaido's Shiretoko Peninsula with 26 people on board.
Equipment for removing nuclear fuel debris is shown during a demonstration held in May. Work to remove debris from the No. 2 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 plant resumed Monday.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2024

Tepco resumes attempt to remove nuclear fuel debris from Fukushima plant

Its last attempt had to be suspended due to the need to replace two cameras attached to a debris-removal device that malfunctioned.
The volcano's snowcap begins forming on Oct. 2 on average, and last year snow was first detected there on Oct. 5.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2024

Delay in Mount Fuji snowcap formation breaks record

The volcano's snowcap begins forming on Oct. 2 on average, and last year snow was first detected there on Oct. 5.
PRESS
Nov 1, 2024

The Japan Times / The New York Times の広島県内全域での当日付の新聞配達を開始

株式会社ジャパンタイムズ(本社:東京都千代⽥区、代表取締役社⻑:末松弥奈⼦)は、The Japan Times / The New York Times の2024年11月12日付紙面より、広島県内全域でのこれまでの1日遅れでのお届けを解消し、当日朝刊時に配達できることとなりました。...
Terumi Tanaka, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, will give a speech at the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo on Dec. 10.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 29, 2024

In Nobel Peace Prize win, Nihon Hidankyo pays tribute to all hibakusha

The group commended hibakusha for consistently calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons through their testimonies of painful experiences.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, walks past a monitor displaying a live news broadcast showing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Oct 29, 2024

Without an LDP-Komeito majority, will Ishiba stay prime minister?

Opposition parties could band together and vote Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan chief Yoshihiko Noda into power, but this remains an unlikely scenario.
Akira Amari, a former economy minister, championed funneling large sums of public money into building up the country’s semiconductor capacity.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 29, 2024

Japan’s chip push loses key advocate after election defeat

Akira Amari had championed funneling large sums of public money into building up the country’s semiconductor capacity.
Taiwanese flags are seen at the Ministry of National Defense of Taiwan in Taipei on Dec. 26, 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 29, 2024

'Taiwan independence' explained

A brief look at the history of the island and its status in the world today.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba bows to Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday, a day after the party recorded disappointing results in the Lower House election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 29, 2024

A disastrous poll puts Japan politics on shaky path

The Japanese public was crying out for change, but Ishiba entirely failed to offer it, instead using warmed-over catchphrases from Kishida.
A team of lawyers head to the Osaka District Court on Tuesday to file a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, on behalf of their clients, who are victims of investment scams linked to fake advertisements on the social media platforms.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 29, 2024

Meta faces Japan lawsuits over fake ads linked to investment fraud

Those affected claim that the owner of Facebook and Instagram neglected to remove the ads from its social media platforms, which led to them being scammed.
The monthly report identified higher interest rates in the U.S. and Europe, and stagnation in Chinese real estate market as downside risks for the Japanese economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 29, 2024

Japan continues to see moderate recovery but cuts factory output view

The government reiterated the need to pay close attention to potential global economic risks and financial market volatility.
A bridge linking Izushima and the Oshika Peninsula in Miyagi Prefecture is scheduled to open in December.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 30, 2024

Onagawa nuclear plant's restart sparks concerns over evacuation routes

Residents, particularly those of islands close to the newly restarted plant, lament the limited options for escaping a disaster.
The Liberal Democratic Party's seats in the House of Representatives fell to 191 from 256 in Sunday's election.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 30, 2024

LDP will likely have a 2.5% cut in its subsidies from the government

The LDP's subsidies are expected to total ¥15.65 billion for the year.
Toyota's worldwide production fell for an eighth straight month in September, as both sales and output declined in its two biggest markets, the United States and China.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2024

Toyota sales fall in Japan and China, as hybrid demand grows in U.S.

Toyota’s sales in Japan shrank nearly 17% this year between January and September.
The Miyagi Prefectural Government Building in Sendai. The prefecture plans to expand the option for a four-day workweek to all prefectural employees from fiscal 2026.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2024

Miyagi Prefecture to introduce four-day workweek for all employees

The program aims to reduce rising turnover and attract more applicants to government roles in Miyagi, the prefecture said.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, also president of the Liberal Democratic Party, places a paper rose on an LDP candidate's name to indicate their a victory in the Lower House election, with LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 30, 2024

Signs of revolt against Ishiba emerging within LDP

The ruling camp of the LDP and Komeito fell short of a majority in the House of Representatives in Sunday's election.
The price of gold offered by Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo rose ¥173 from Tuesday to ¥15,104 per gram, including tax.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 30, 2024

Gold prices in Japan top ¥15,000 per gram for the first time

Concerns about political uncertainty following next week's U.S. presidential election is another reason for people to buy gold.
Maruti Suzuki, which is majority-owned by Suzuki Motor, will begin production of a new EV from spring 2025 at its plant in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2024

Toyota to get Suzuki's first-ever EV as partnership expands

Maruti Suzuki, which is majority-owned by Suzuki, will begin production of the EV from spring 2025 in Gujarat, India.

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