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Fukushima Prefectural Police have arrested an alleged drunken driver who fatally struck a 19-year-old in Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2025

Drunken driver hits and kills 19-year-old student in Fukushima

The victim had traveled from her home in Osaka Prefecture to take a university entrance exam.
"We will demand more than in the previous year to fulfill our role as a leading industry in Japan," Masashi Jinbo, head of the union, said in a news conference in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 23, 2025

Japan's electronics unions to seek ¥17,000 pay hike

"We will demand more than in the previous year to fulfill our role as a leading industry in Japan," union group head Masashi Jinbo told a news conference.
The day care room for younger children at a multipurpose facility on Tonaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, has never been used since its establishment in 2019.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Feb 3, 2025

The harsh reality of migration outflow on Okinawa’s least populated island

Since Tonaki Island established its only day care center in 2019, not a single child has set foot inside.
Transparent Display installed at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
JAPAN / Society
Jan 31, 2025

Smoother communication breaking barriers in Tokyo with Transparent Display

The Transparent Display can translate and project the text in 32 different languages.
Japanese Communist Party leader Tomoko Tamura speaks at a Lower House session in Tokyo in December 2024.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 23, 2025

Japanese Communist Party's Tomoko Tamura faces leadership questions ahead of polls

Tamura is aiming for 6.5 million proportional representation votes, but experts say that's unrealistic.
The Bank of Japan is set decide to raise interest rates at a policy meeting on Friday, according to Jiji Press.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025

Bank of Japan set to raise rates on Friday, report says

The move would mark the central bank's first rate hike since July last year, when it increased rates to 0.25%.
TV star Masahiro Nakai abruptly announced his retirement Thursday as the fallout from sexual misconduct allegations against him continued to expand.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2025

Ex-SMAP member Masahiro Nakai to retire amid sexual misconduct allegations

The 52-year-old former SMAP member said his contracts had been wound up, and that negotiations with sponsors were in progress.
On Hiroshima Prefecture's Okunoshima island where more than 1,000 rabbits roam freely, 77 carcasses of the animal have been discovered since late November.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2025

On Japan's 'rabbit island,' bunnies are mysteriously dying one by one

Police have arrested a man for kicking a rabbit, which later died, as a probe continues over the deaths of more than 70 bunnies on Okunoshima island in Hiroshima Prefecture.
A business district in Tokyo. Japan plans to strengthen pre-screening measures for overseas investors that could potentially cooperate with foreign intelligence gathering efforts, addressing rising national security concerns.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2025

Japan to tighten investment pre-screening amid security concerns

While the updated regulations will impose an additional step for a broader range of investors, those who pass the screening can still invest in Japanese companies.
Imperial family members wave to well-wishers during a public appearance in Tokyo on Jan. 2.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 23, 2025

Parliament to resume discussions over imperial family succession this month

The two chambers of parliament plan to resume talks Jan. 31 on measures to secure a sufficient number of imperial family members.
Vegetables for sale at a local supermarket in Kyoto.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2025

Japan supermarket sales up for fifth year in 2024

Price increases of rice and vegetables such as cabbage pushed up overall sales while the number of purchased items continued to decrease as customers became thriftier.
A building in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, that houses the Naha District Public Prosecutor's Office
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2025

U.S. Marine not indicted in sexual assault case in Okinawa

After comprehensive consideration, the prosecutor's office determined that it is difficult to build a case against the marine.
Hokkaido Railway temporarily suspended train services after a 61-year-old Chinese tourist was fatally struck by a train in the city of Otaru, Hokkaido, on Thursday morning.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2025

Chinese tourist fatally struck by train in Hokkaido

The woman entered the Hakodate Line tracks near Asari Station in Otaru to photograph the ocean with her phone.
Sotatsu Yanase leaves the Oshima Police Station of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2025

Boyfriend of missing woman arrested after bones found on beach

The victim was identified as Shizuka Takase, a 37-year-old restaurant worker from Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture.
The government aims to reduce the average monthly overtime of teachers to 30 hours over the five years through the fiscal year beginning April 2029, down from the current 47 hours.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2025

Japan weighs obligatory programs to cut teacher overtime

Education boards would be required to report on the current work hours of teachers and detail measures to improve their working styles.
The share of university students who accepted job offers as of Dec. 1 dipped 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier, the first decrease in four years.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2025

Share of university students in Japan who accepted job offers falls

It is the first decrease in four years, as some students who received job offers from several companies apparently hesitated to pick one.
Fuji Television's poor handling of sexual misconduct allegations against celebrity Masahiro Nakai has led to an exodus of sponsors from the broadcaster.
JAPAN / Media / FOCUS
Jan 24, 2025

What are the real issues behind the Fuji TV scandal?

Fuji TV's handling of sexual misconduct allegations against TV personality Masahiro Nakai led to a firestorm of public disapproval. Where did it go wrong?
Advertisements on Threads will come from a "handful of brands” and appear only in the U.S. and Japan to start, according to a post Friday from Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, who called the move a "test.”
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 25, 2025

Meta’s Threads to show ads for the first time in U.S. and Japan

It’s not clear what the revenue potential for Threads will be long term, but the service will benefit from Meta’s existing pool of advertisers.
Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi prior to a Champions League match against Young Boys in Glasgow, Scotland, on Wednesday
SOCCER
Jan 25, 2025

Celtic boss braces for life without Japan star Kyogo Furuhashi

Furuhashi, 30, has been strongly tipped to join French club Rennes as he seeks new challenges.
A Nagano Prefectural Police official speaks during a news conference in the city of Nagano on Sunday following the arrest of a suspect in a deadly stabbing days earlier.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 26, 2025

Police arrest suspect in deadly Nagano stabbings

The suspect, a man in his 40s, is believed to have fatally stabbed one person and injured two others in front of Nagano Station days earlier.
Giant salt blocks posted on Mercari by the town of Higashiura, Aichi Prefecture
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2025

Giant rock salt posted on Mercari by Aichi town finally sold at ¥420,000

The blocks attracted a lot of media attention when the town first posted them on the app in April of last year.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance (left) swears in Pete Hegseth (center) as U.S. secretary of defense during a ceremony in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 26, 2025

New U.S. defense chief pledges to work with allies in message to Pentagon

Pete Hegseth appeared to try and dispel concerns in allied capitals that the U.S. could again see a more transactional approach to foreign policy under President Donald Trump.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference after the central bank's policy meeting in Tokyo on Friday. The BOJ raised its rate by a quarter-point to 0.5% that day.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2025

Japan’s central bank drops the drama and wins on rates

The quarter-point increase, which took the main rate to 0.5%, was probably the most telegraphed this century.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 27, 2025

Ishiba carefully considering release of war anniversary statement

Conservative members of the prime minister's ruling Liberal Democratic Party oppose releasing such a statement.
Mieko Yoshimura, a 73-year-old independent, became the first woman in Japan to be elected prefectural governor for five or more consecutive terms.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 27, 2025

Yamagata Gov. Mieko Yoshimura wins fifth term

Yoshimura, a 73-year-old independent, became the first woman in Japan to be elected prefectural governor for five or more consecutive terms.
People pray for the victims of a deadly stabbing attack outside Nagano Station, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 27, 2025

Nagano stabbing suspect sent to prosecutors after deadly attack

The apparently random stabbing follows two other similar attacks, including the high-profile killing of a teenage girl at a Kitakyushu McDonald's last month.
Fuji TV President Koichi Minato (left) and Chairman Shuji Kanoh, also chairman of the broadcaster's parent company Fuji Media Holdings, bow during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday. The two have announced their resignations.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 28, 2025

Fuji TV president resigns over handling of Masahiro Nakai scandal

Koichi Minato has been the target of criticism following the revelation that he became aware of the incident involving Nakai right after it occurred in June 2023.
"We want to welcome many people from all over the world, so we want to make Osaka a city where people feel safe with smoke-free streets," said Hideyuki Yokoyama, mayor of the city of Osaka, in early January.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2025

Osaka bans street smoking ahead of Expo 2025

Expo 2025 has struggled with slow ticket sales and public concern over the construction budget.
An Asian black bear preys on a live deer caught in a trap in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, in May, in this image from video footage shot by researchers.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2025

Black bear caught on camera attacking trapped deer in rare footage

The discovery suggests that if bears learn to associate traps with easy prey, the risk of encounters with humans could rise.
Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence arrives before the inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2025

Trump should uphold TikTok ban and allow Nippon Steel deal, Pence says

Both positions are more in line with traditional Republican orthodoxy.

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