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Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2025

Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo

Lawyers including an attorney who fought alongside the journalist in a civil suit against her attacker have raised legal and ethical concerns over the film.
A sinkhole in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, on Feb. 5
JAPAN / Society
Feb 21, 2025

Japan to promote digital transformation for water systems

This move follows a road collapse incident in Saitama Prefecture, last month, believed to have been caused by a broken sewage pipe.
Cat-related sweets sold by 7-Eleven in Tokyo. Employees of 7-Eleven have helped develop 23 types of cat-related products this year, compared with just five last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 21, 2025

Japan's Cat Day sees companies capitalize on 'a-meow-zing' economic boon

This year, products and services related to cats are estimated to generate ¥414.50 billion more than last year.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks to reporters on Thursday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 21, 2025

Japan yields fall as Ueda warns BOJ can step in to smooth market

Bond yields fell and the yen weakened following Ueda’s comments.
Education minister Toshiko Abe (right) receives a report on higher education from an advisory panel on Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025

Japanese panel seeks to tighten screening of new universities

The number of people going to university in the country is estimated to fall to some 460,000 in 2040 from about 630,000 last year.
A bear that appeared in the city of Sapporo in June 2021
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025

Japan to approve shooting of wild bears that wander into town

After the amended law is enacted, brown and black bears will be designated as "dangerous animals" along with wild boars under a government ordinance.
Students make speeches in Japanese at Linguist, a school in Irpin, near Kyiv, earlier this month.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025

Kyiv school seeks peace through language education

In 2024, the Japanese government provided about 1 million textbooks to Ukraine as grant aid through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Without the well-developed road infrastructure of many parts of Honshu, it has never been easy to be a truck driver in Hokkaido, Japan’s second-largest island but largest prefecture in terms of landmass-
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Mar 3, 2025

Hokkaido trucking industry faces challenges from overtime cap

Without the well-developed road infrastructure of many parts of Honshu, it has never been easy to be a truck driver in Hokkaido.
Prince Hisahito heads to greet the Emperor and Empress on the occasion of his 18th birthday in Tokyo on Sep. 6.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025

Japan's Prince Hisahito to hold first news conference on March 3

It is customary for Imperial Family members to hold a press conference when they reach the age of majority.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in parliament on Friday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 21, 2025

LDP and opposition lock horns over Japan budget

Mindful of how much the ruling coalition needs their support, Nippon Ishin no Kai and the Democratic Party for the People are digging their heels in.
An electric vehicle factory in Rayong, Thailand. Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to President Donald Trump's economic grievances — but also well-placed to make deals to minimize their exposure.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 22, 2025

How Trump’s tariffs could reorder Asia trade and exclude the U.S.

Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to Trump's economic grievances — but also well-placed to make deals to minimize their exposure.
Japanese investors are estimated to have increased holdings of Chinese bonds by 53% last year, the most among the markets that make up the World Government Bond Index, according to Bloomberg analysis of Japanese balance-of-payments data.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 22, 2025

Tokyo fund buys China bonds for first time on Japanification bet

"Our long-term view is that it’s inevitable for China to follow the path of Japan,” said Hikaru Tanaka, fund manager at Asset Management One.
The weather agency warned of major traffic disruptions in flat areas in the northern part of the Noto region in Ishikawa.
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2025

Heavy snow warning issued for Ishikawa

The weather agency warned of major traffic disruptions in flat areas in the northern part of the Noto region in Ishikawa.
Yuko Obuchi, head of the LDP's Party Organization and Campaign Headquarters, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2025

LDP to actively use social media for election victory

Achieving a victory in the election for the upper chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament, is the most important challenge for the party this year.
Forever Young wins the Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Race Course in Riyadh on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
Feb 23, 2025

Japan's Forever Young wins world's richest race

Forever Young passed Romantic Warrior 50 meters from the post to claim victory.
Emperor Naruhito speaks to reporters on Thursday. He turned 65 on Sunday.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2025

Emperor turns 65, renewing wish for peace 80 years after end of WWII

At a news conference held at the Imperial Palace ahead of his 65th birthday, the emperor said he is grateful that Japan has been without war for 80 years.
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., says he is looking to increase ownership in Japan’s five largest trading houses.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2025

Berkshire set to gradually raise stakes in Japan trading houses

The shares of the five — Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, Sumitomo and Marubeni — have benefited over the longer term from Buffett’s interest.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba replies to a question from Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara at a Lower House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Feb. 17.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 23, 2025

Party heads' love of trains could keep budget talks from derailing

The leaders of Nippon Ishin no Kai and Komeito both share Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's passion for locomotives.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako greet people gathered at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Sunday to celebrate the emperor's 65th birthday that day.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2025

Over 20,000 visit the Imperial Palace for the emperor's 65th birthday

A total of 23,019 people visited the Imperial Palace on the day, according to the Imperial Household Agency.
Efrat Machikawa (center) and others protest in white near the Knesset in Jerusalem on Feb. 14, advocating for the safe return of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 24, 2025

The terror, the protests and the reunion: Efrat Machikawa's life since the Israel-Hamas war

The family of Machikawa's uncle, 80-year-old Gadi Moses, taken hostage from southern Israel by Hamas in their October 2023 attack, waited nearly 500 days for him to return home.
Prices of fresh vegetables in January climbed 36% year on year, with prices of cabbage shooting up about three times.
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2025

Vegetable prices continue surging in Japan

Prices of vegetables and rice have been soaring in Japan due to unfavorable weather and rising production costs.
Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks at a party convention in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2025

CDP to accelerate election preparations after party convention

The CDP adopted a program of activities for fiscal 2025 that positions a change of government as its top goal.
Warren Buffett's plans to increase holdings in Japanese trading houses are seen as a stamp of approval for the undervalued sector.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 25, 2025

Buffett’s fervor for Japan trading firms sparks share rally

Buffett praised Japan’s trading firms for increasing dividends when appropriate and for being less aggressive in their executive pay than U.S. counterparts.
Daiwa Securities has stationed "inheritance consultants" at its headquarters and all branch offices to advise clients on inheritance tax planning and the importance of having a will.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Feb 25, 2025

Japan's traditional brokers shift focus to inheritance business

As the population ages, a growing number of individuals are concerned about end-of-life planning.
A section of an exterior wall at the Okawa Elementary School Ruins in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, fell off last December.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 25, 2025

14 years later, fight to preserve ruins of 3/11 continues

Local governments hope to teach future generations about the destructive nature of the tsunami that followed the March 2011 quake, but the ruins are continuing to erode.
The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition said that the same-day tickets for the Osaka Expo will be sold every day in front of the entrance gate.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2025

Same-day tickets to be introduced for Osaka Expo: Ishiba

The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition said that the same-day tickets will be sold every day in front of the entrance gate.
Nippon Steel spent much of 2024 trying to gain approval for its planned takeover of U.S. Steel, facing regulatory and political hurdles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 25, 2025

Nippon Steel sticks with U.S. Steel takeover after investment call

The comments from Nippon Steel President Tadashi Imai on Tuesday are the first from an executive of the company since Trump said the steelmaker was considering an investment.
U.S. President Donald Trump's officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron and ASML engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, according to people familiar with the matter.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 25, 2025

Trump team seeks to toughen Biden’s chip controls over China

The move is an early indication the new U.S. president plans to expand efforts that began under Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess.
Hidehiro Asada, the director of Woodcore, shows the firm's laminated wood at its plant in the town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, in December.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 26, 2025

Osaka Expo centerpiece a ‘symbol of Fukushima's reconstruction’

Materials for the expo's Grand Ring are being supplied by a wood-processing company in the prefecture, which bore the brunt of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 26, 2025

Japanese authorities raise alarm over rise in fake police phone scams

Tokyo police rearrested a man suspected of being involved in multiple scams and released a voice recording in hopes of raising awareness.

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