Search - japan

 
 
The U.S. Steel Mon Valley Works Edgar Thomson Plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2025

Nippon Steel wants 100% of U.S. Steel, not a minority stake, report says

Last week, the deal appeared effectively dead after a meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a session of parliament on Thursday afternoon.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 14, 2025

Budget talks intensify between ruling coalition and opposition parties

The minority government is looking to pass its budget by March 2 to give Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba some breathing room.
In a 2024 survey, a total of 14.7% of respondents said they had more or less friendly feelings toward China, up 2.0 percentage points from 2023, and 56.3% said they had such feelings toward South Korea, up 3.5 percentage points.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 14, 2025

Japanese sentiment on China and South Korea improves, survey shows

A total of 14.7% of respondents said they had more or less friendly feelings toward China while 56.3% said they had such feelings toward South Korea.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 15, 2025

Trump says new tariffs on autos coming around April 2

The auto threat offers to put some of the biggest brands in Japan, Germany and South Korea in Trump’s crosshairs.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House in Washington on Feb. 7.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2025

U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel were blindsided by Trump investment talk

The proposed investment following Donald Trump's meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba wasn’t communicated to either of the steelmakers beforehand.
The top lid of a tank at the "J9" area is removed at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Friday.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 15, 2025

Tepco takes on challenge of making space for Fukushima nuclear debris

Workers at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant have started dismantling water storage tanks to free up space for tons of nuclear debris.
One of the representatives of 2024 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, Terumi Tanaka, speaks during the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony in Oslo City Hall on Dec 10.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2025

Over 80% in U.S. unaware of Nihon Hidankyo's Nobel Prize: poll

The proportion of respondents who said that they knew of Nihon Hidankyo's award and the reason behind it stood below 10% in all seven countries polled.
The education ministry hopes that creating a system in which people can obtain licenses without completing a training course at the undergraduate level would help midcareer professionals enter the field of teaching.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2025

Japan to review teaching license system to help midcareer aspirants

It is currently impossible to obtain a license with credits from only graduate schools.
Two people have been arrested on suspicion of covering up a patient's murder at Michinoku Kinen Hospital in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 16, 2025

Former Aomori hospital head and doctor arrested over alleged murder coverup

The two brothers are accused of issuing a false death certificate saying the patient died of pneumonia when he was actually killed by another patient.
Hokkaido University Museum professor Yoshitsugu Kobayashi holds a news conference in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Dec. 18 about the launch of a crowdfunding campaign for dinosaur fossil excavation surveys.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2025

Crowdfunding raises ¥8.3 million for dinosaur fossil excavations

Through his excavation surveys, a Hokkaido University Museum professor aims to find out how dinosaurs survived cold winters and how they traveled to and from Asia.
The National Police Agency has been warning people that gambling on online casinos is illegal in Japan even if they are operating legally overseas.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 16, 2025

Police investigate comedians over alleged online casino gambling

Officials warn that online casinos are illegal in Japan even if they are operating legally overseas, but the number accused of using them continues to rise.
Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2025

Himeji Castle entrance fee to go up 2.5-fold for nonresidents

The city plans to use the resulting windfall for maintenance, online ticket sales, bag check services and guided tours for foreign visitors.
Tokio Marine Holdings and other large non-life insurers are facing pressure to sell cross-held shares to improve their governance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 17, 2025

Japan insurers sell $11 billion cross-held shares ahead of plans

The insurers are facing pressure to improve their governance after regulators fined them for coordinating adjustments in insurance fees in advance for companies.
An F-35B stealth fighter jet loaded in the hangar of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kaga destroyer
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 17, 2025

SDF's biggest ships are being converted into de facto aircraft carriers

The Izumo and Kaga, each about 248 meters in length and 38 meters in width, are the largest vessels in the MSDF.
Excess sugar intake — especially of sucrose, or table sugar — can lead to ailments such as obesity and diabetes.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 17, 2025

Researchers discover bacteria that can limit body’s sugar absorption

Researchers hope the findings will contribute to developing a new treatment method for obesity and diabetes.
Japan’s robo-adviser market, estimated to be worth around ¥3 trillion, has massive room for growth, says the CEO of robo-adviser Folio Holdings.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2025

SBI-backed Japan robo-adviser Folio targets swing to profit and IPO

Japan’s robo-adviser market is estimated to be worth around $19.8 billion.
Lower House Budget Committee Chairperson Jun Azumi (center) and others at the committee's executive meeting on Tuesday in the Diet building
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Ex-LDP accountant to testify on slush funds on Thursday

Junichiro Matsumoto served as chief accountant of the now-defunct faction once headed by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Atsuko Sato holds her shiba inu, Neiro, alongside the bronze statue of her shiba inu Kabosu, in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, in December.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2025

Shiba inu Kabosu continues to be loved after death

Atsuko Sato received many letters from Kabosu fans across Japan on the dog's birthday last November, six months after her death.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda says that his party aims to revise the budget for fiscal 2025 by a scale of ¥1 trillion ($6.6 billion).
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

CDP may not approve fiscal 2025 draft budget, Noda says

Its approval depends on how far the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition accepts the opposition party's proposed amendments.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba replies to Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara at a Lower House budget committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Government makes slow progress on budget concessions

Opposition parties are making known their policy demands, and even seeking legal guarantees, in return for their support in passing the budget for fiscal 2025.
The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau found the tax nonpayment after asking information, such as a list of companies, from the tax authorities of Singapore based on the Japan-Singapore tax treaty and analyzing the collected data.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2025

Tokyo tax bureau seizes ¥1.8 billion from Hong Kong game firm over unpaid tax

The company, which operated its Mafia City online game via a platform based in Singapore, failed to pay consumption tax associated with revenue from in-game spending.
Ryuji Kimura in the city of Wakayama in April 2023
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 19, 2025

Kishida attacker sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempted murder

Kimura maintained through the trial that he did not intend to harm anyone, adding that he threw the explosive to draw attention to his 2022 lawsuit.
Murata Manufacturing President Norio Nakajima
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025

IPhone parts maker Murata eyes supply chain shift toward India

The company sees growing demand in India and is running simulations for what it would take to dial up its pace of investment there.
The Osaka District Court sentenced former hospital employee Tomoya Yanagimoto, 28, to life in prison on Tuesday for raping and injuring 10 girls between the ages of 8 and 12 over a six-year period from March 2016.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 19, 2025

Osaka court jails former hospital employee for life for raping 10 girls

Tomoya Yanagimoto, 28, raped and injured the girls — who were 8 to 12 years of age — between March 2016 and May 2022.
After U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to impose tariffs of 25% on automobile imports to the United States, Japanese automakers are cautiously looking for ways to handle the situation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025

Major Japanese automakers wary of Trump tariffs

The U.S. president says he plans to impose tariffs of 25% on automobile imports to the U.S., though he has not said which countries would be subject to them.
Japan head coach Eddie Jones looks on during the warm up before his team's match against France on Nov. 9, 2024.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Feb 19, 2025

Eddie Jones hails Japan 'tour of a lifetime' with Ireland and Wales games

Jones has made an underwhelming start since returning for his second stint as Japan coach in January last year.
Liberal Democratic Party parliamentary affairs chief Tetsushi Sakamoto (left) and Hirofumi Ryu, his counterpart in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, during a meeting at the parliament building in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 19, 2025

Accountant's testimony on LDP slush fund scandal postponed

The LDP and CDP agreed to delay Lower House Budget Committee questioning of the Abe faction's former chief accountant.
Cabbage prices have risen to 2.6 times their five-year average in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 20, 2025

Japan’s food inflation is becoming harder for BOJ to overlook

The level of fresh food prices has risen 71.9% since 2010, about five times more than that of inflation excluding it.
Flower bouquets outside the Shenzhen Japanese School following the death of a 10-year-old child who was stabbed by an assailant on the way to the school, in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, on Sept.19, 2024
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 20, 2025

Death sentence over murder of Japanese boy in China to be finalized

The sentence is expected to be finalized after it is examined by a high court in Guangdong and approved by China's Supreme Court.
Prime Minister Shiger Ishiba waits for the Lower House Budget Committee session to begin in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025

Dispute over funds scandal questioning delays budget talks as CDP seeks leverage

Veering off schedule, even for a day, is detrimental to securing passage of the fiscal 2025 budget in the Lower House by March 2 — a priority for the government.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo