Search - japan

 
 
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attend a New Year ceremony at the Imperial Palace on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 2, 2025

Emperor wishes for peaceful year for those affected by disaster

Emperor Naruhito expressed his wish on Thursday for a peaceful year for people affected by disasters, following a strong earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula a year ago.
The Japanese icebreaker Shirase arrived at Japan's Antarctic research base on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2025

Japanese icebreaker Shirase reaches Showa Station in Antarctica

Goods and fuel will be transported to the base from the Shirase using snowmobiles following the arrival.
A birth notification document issued by Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. Family registers, which record and certify citizens' familial relationships from birth to death, currently do not include the phonetic readings of names.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 2, 2025

Family registers to incorporate phonetic readings of names from end-May

Citizens who wish to register readings that differ from those listed on certificates of residence must notify municipal governments within a year.
Kenichi Tatsumi, 74, chairman of an association for people with visual impairment in the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, speaks during an interview in November.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 2, 2025

App helping visually impaired in disasters gains traction one year on

The service, which uses the app to read out the names of evacuation centers and other necessary information, was launched in April this year.
A massive ring-shaped roof at the venue of the Osaka Expo
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2025

Advanced medical and AI technologies to be showcased at Osaka Expo

The event is scheduled to kick off on April 13.
A United Steelworkers sign is seen outside the Great Lakes Works United States Steel plant in River Rouge, Michigan, in September.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 3, 2025

Biden to block U.S. Steel sale to Nippon Steel, source says

Biden's call to block the deal was taken despite contrary efforts by some senior advisers concerned that it could hurt U.S.- Japan relations.
Two people who were found Thursday in their relative's home in the city of Kobe had sustained wounds like they had been beaten.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 3, 2025

Three people found dead in Kobe home

Three people were found dead at a home in Kobe in an apparent dispute between relatives.
Asian tech leaders are spearheading AI's shift to robotics, with China, Japan and South Korea leading global innovation in hardware.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024

AI robots are coming, and they’ll be made in Asia

Citigroup projects that there would be 1.3 billion AI robots globally by 2035 and 4 billion by 2050, doing everything from household chores to delivering parcels.
Tomiko Itooka died of old age in a nursing home for the elderly in the city of Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 5, 2025

Tomiko Itooka, the world's oldest person, dies at 116

Itooka was born on May 23, 1908, in the commercial hub of Osaka — four months before the Ford Model T automobile was launched in the United States.
Former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks during a news conference in Ise, Mie Prefecture, on  Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 4, 2025

CDP chief Noda rejects grand coalition with LDP

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as LDP president, said Wednesday that there "should be an option to form" such a tie-up.
U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, Pennsylvania, in December 2019. The Biden administration blocked the $14 billion takeover of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel on Friday, citing grounds that the sale posed a threat to national security.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jan 5, 2025

Biden’s decision on Nippon Steel deal followed divide in his orbit

The split was emblematic of so many shifts in U.S. policy — including of Biden’s pledge to build trust with allies and the race against China.
A bluefin tuna from Oma, Aomori Prefecture, was sold for ¥207 million during the first auction of the year at Tokyo's Toyosu Fish Market on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2025

Bluefin tuna fetches ¥207 million at Toyosu's first auction of the year

The bid was around 1.8 times higher than last year's, and second only in price to 2019's top catch, which sold for ¥333.6 million.
On Sunday, authorities in Iwate Prefecture began culling some 50,000 chickens Sunday after an outbreak of bird flu.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2025

Bird flu outbreaks strike Iwate Prefecture farms

It is the 19th bird flu outbreak of the season in Japan, the agriculture ministry said.
Ritsumeikan University researchers succeeded in completely breaking down PFAS compounds, often called "forever chemicals" for their persistence in the environment.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 5, 2025

Japanese researchers develop method to break down PFAS 'forever chemicals'

Ritsumeikan University researchers succeeded in completely breaking down perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS.
Two people died and three others were missing after a fishing boat capsized off the coast of Ibaraki Prefecture early Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2025

Two dead, three missing after fishing boat capsizes off Ibaraki coast

The capsized vessel was carrying 20 crew members, including 15 Japanese citizens and five Indonesian nationals.
Jera has reportedly created a think tank to research domestic and international energy trends.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 6, 2025

Japan’s top LNG buyer creates think tank to watch market trends

Jera Global Institute will aim to follow the example of Shell’s scenarios team, which produces long-term forecasts.
Nagoya University researchers used processed images of newts overlaid with snake scales to determine how long it took three Japanese macaques born in captivity to differentiate a scaled newt from snakes as they did to find a snake among such newts.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 6, 2025

Primates’ fear of snakes may be linked to reptiles’ scales, study finds

Nagoya University researchers conclude that snakes’ scales, rather than their elongated bodies, are what trigger fear among humans and monkeys.
Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel sued the U.S. government Monday for blocking the merger of the two companies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025

Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel sue U.S. government for blocking deal

The suit argues that the two companies were denied due process and that the $14.9 billion transaction was blocked for political reasons.
A monuments of a plastic model of an armor worn by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, is seen in the city of Shizuoka on Dec. 6.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jan 6, 2025

In Shizuoka, plastic models are not just child's play

Monuments of plastic models are found throughout the city to showcase its model-making industry, which traces its roots to skilled craftsmen of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Solaris secured about €100 million ($103 million) from SBI Holdings for the stake.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025

Japan’s SBI said to agree to take majority stake in Solaris

Germany’s economic struggles have placed a greater burden on the country’s larger fintech companies.
A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism official explains a new system for detecting vacant houses, on Dec. 23.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2025

Government developing AI-based system to detect vacant houses

The aim of the system is to spot such properties at an early stage and make them available for sale or rent, or demolish them before they collapse.
Runaway youths have recently been gathering in areas such as the Toyoko area of the Kabukicho entertainment district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, where they often get into trouble.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2025

Japan to allow youths to stay at shelters without parental consent

Those under the age of 18 will be able to use shelters even if obtaining prior consent from those with parental authority is expected to be difficult.
Nippon Steel CEO Eiji Hashimoto speaks to reporters about its lawsuit against the U.S. government on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025

Nippon Steel committed to long-shot lawsuit against U.S. government

Eiji Hashimoto, the steelmaker's CEO, says he is convinced that litigation is the “best course of action” in response to the blocking of its acquisition of U.S. Steel.
Actor Ryo Yoshizawa at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 2021
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2025

Japanese actor fired from beer ad after drunken escapade

Ryo Yoshizawa was "drunk" and "accidentally made his way into an apartment room next to his," his talent agency Amuse said in a statement.
Prototypes for Honda 0 Series EVs, set to launch in 2026, were revealed on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 8, 2025

Honda showcases U.S.-made EVs as it considers slowing investments

The firm plans to introduce 30 new electric vehicles globally by 2030.
Voters take pictures and videos of a candidate campaigning for the Tokyo gubernatorial election in Tokyo's Chuo Ward in June.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 8, 2025

Japanese political parties struggling to use social media effectively

Social media proved to be a powerful campaign tool in 2024 elections, shocking political parties that had stuck to old-fashioned campaigns.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama speaks during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2025

LDP to start talks on selective dual surname system soon

Some of the party's members oppose the idea, fearing it will lead to the collapse of the family system.
While many patients showed improvement in Fanconi syndrome, 87% still had kidney function indicators below standard levels despite two months having passed since Kobayashi Pharmaceutical urged consumers to stop taking the supplement.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 8, 2025

Tainted beni kōji supplement linked to persistent kidney damage, study finds

The Osaka University study analyzed data from patients who reported health issues between late March and late April 2024.
Terunofuji performs during a ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Tuesday.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 8, 2025

Questions linger over Terunofuji's health ahead of year's first tournament

During the Yokozuna Deliberation Council's practice session on Monday, Terunofuji’s latent power, but also his physical decline, were on full display.
Manabu Sasaki, a 39-year-old CEO of a painting company, have been rearrested on suspicion of assaulting his former employee, 56-year-old Osamu Takano, before allegedly orchestrating his death in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward in December 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 8, 2025

Trio who allegedly orchestrated coworker's death rearrested in Tokyo

Police investigating the events leading to the death of 56-year-old Osamu Takano uncovered new evidence of his abuse at the hands of his colleagues.

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