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Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani ranked second in the list of ideal male bosses for the second straight year, according to a survey of people who are starting their careers this spring.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2025

Comedian Uchimura and announcer Miura remain ideal bosses, survey finds

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, who achieved over 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases last season, ranked second in the male boss category.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan head Yoshihiko Noda speaks at the party's convention in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 26, 2025

Is time running out for CDP in budget talks with the ruling coalition?

Concerns have emerged that the main opposition party might have lost its bargaining chip after Nippon Ishin no Kai clinched a deal with the minority government.
Passengers at a train station in Tokyo. Railway operators plan to expand the scope of chemicals and materials passengers will be banned from bringing onto trains starting in April.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2025

Railway companies to tighten restrictions on hazardous materials

The move comes as part of a push to bolster security ahead of the 2025 Osaka Expo.
Researchers from Osaka University (center) have developed a new method to test for pancreatic cancer.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 26, 2025

Osaka University develops new method for pancreatic cancer testing

If put into practical use, the method would make it easier to detect pancreatic cancer early, which is often very difficult.
Komeito head Tetsuo Saito speaks at a party meeting in Tokyo on Jan. 28.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2025

Policy differences push Komeito to tread carefully in LDP coalition

Komeito is likely to emphasize where it stands apart, but it isn't preparing for a breakup with the ruling party.
Japan has already seen 24 takeover bids so far in 2025. If that pace is sustained, they may exceed 100 this year for the first time ever.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 27, 2025

Stock investors in Japan hunt for takeover targets with new fund

Japan has already seen 24 takeover bids so far in 2025.
The number of fatal bicycle accidents and those causing serious injury that were attributed to cyclists' mobile phone use totaled 28 in 2024, a record high. Similarly, the number of such accidents involving cars driven by drivers distracted by mobile phones rose to the highest on record, at 136 cases.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 27, 2025

Accidents caused by distracted drivers hit record high in 2024

A total of 136 fatal car accidents and those resulting in serious injury due to mobile phone use were recorded last year, the highest since at least 2007.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture, on Nov. 1, 2022
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2025

Tepco's antiterrorism facility completion delayed at Niigata nuclear plant

The completion date will be pushed back significantly to August 2029.
A woman who works at a private university in Fukuoka Prefecture as a part-time lecturer is still negotiating with the university over a cut in the number of classes she teaches.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Mar 10, 2025

'Highly educated working poor': Part-time lecturers lament stagnant wages

Many worry that raising their voices could lead to a reduction in classes, which impacts pay, or even dismissal.
Yoshiaki Nakano (center), head of the Mebuki residents’ association, comprising residents of the Moniwa No. 2 municipal-run housing complex in Sendai’s Taihaku Ward, addresses a board meeting on Feb. 2.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Mar 10, 2025

Public housing residents' associations in Sendai struggle to find leaders

Those age 65 and older account for 43.9% of the residents in such housing, 18.7 percentage points higher than the ratio of elderly in the city.
According to a tally released on Thursday, some 1,416 labor unions under the umbrella of the Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Union requested a monthly base salary gain of ¥14,149 ($94.84) on average in talks expected to culminate with a deal next month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2025

Japan's metalworker unions demand record pay hike

The demand by Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Union is an early sign of continued momentum for pay growth in the country.
Prince Hisahito in the city of Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, on Feb. 12
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2025

Prince Hisahito's coming-of-age ceremony set for Sept. 6

The event will be the first coming-of-age ceremony for a male member of the imperial family since that of Crown Prince Akishino 40 years ago.
Toshinori Yashiki, director-general of the Financial Services Agency’s strategy development and management bureau, speaks during an interview on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 28, 2025

Japan to crack down on booming market for JGB-backed loans

The Financial Services Agency will scrutinize banks that have increased purchases of Japanese government bonds that are repackaged into loans over the past year.
Keio University in Tokyo's Minato Ward. The university's ethics committee has approved clinical research that would lead to the first uterine transplant procedure in Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 28, 2025

Keio University ethics panel OKs uterus transplant clinical trial

The university will consider whether to carry out the research, which would be the first uterine transplant procedure in Japan.
The Nippon Professional Baseball Organization revealed on Thursday that 14 people from seven teams had patronized online casinos after February 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 28, 2025

14 people from seven NPB teams admit to patronizing online casinos

The voluntary admission of the 14, who include players and team officials, follows an announcement by Orix Buffaloes that its pitcher took part in an online poker tournament.
Security footage provided by a neighbor shows two men walking near the scene of the burglary in Tokyo's Nerima Ward a few hours beforehand. The surroundings have been blurred for privacy reasons.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 28, 2025

Two Taiwanese men arrested over burglary in Tokyo

Lin Yu-hung, 31, and Lin Chun-ku, 43, were arrested on suspicion of burglary resulting in injuries.
The luxury Seven Stars in Kyushu train trades the hyper-efficiency of typical rail travel in Japan for a slower, more decadent version.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 1, 2025

Aboard Japan’s most luxurious train, the journey is the destination

For those with yen to burn, the Seven Stars in Kyushu is one of the most luxurious ways to experience some of southern Japan’s best hidden gems.
The site of a sinkhole in Yashio City, Saitama Prefecture, on Tuesday as recovery work continues.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2025

A month on, still no timeline for Saitama sinkhole restoration work

With efforts to find a driver who fell in expected to take about three months, there is no concrete timeline in place on when such work can begin.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks to the press in October in Tokyo. Ueda told parliament on Feb. 12 that the central bank is aware that food price increases are negatively affecting households.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 28, 2025

Odds of early rate rise increase as inflation becomes the fight in Japan

Hawkish signals sent by Bank of Japan officials over the past month or so point to such a possibility.
A screenshot from a video posted by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency on X on Friday shows firefighters trying to put out the fire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2025

Wildfire in Iwate rages on as unusually dry weather continues

The size of the affected area has doubled in less than two days.
Democratic Party for the People head Yuichiro Tamaki speaks at the party's convention in Tokyo on Feb. 11.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 28, 2025

DPP goes on offensive after failing to secure budget deal with LDP-Komeito

The opposition party plans to oppose the ruling coalition's budget proposal after talks between them broke down.
People take photos of the Shinjuku Alta building on Friday evening.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 28, 2025

Shinjuku Alta closes its doors after 45 years

The shopping complex near the JR Shinjuku Station served as a de facto meeting point for many in one of Tokyo’s busiest entertainment districts.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (center) at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday. The Cabinet has decided to spend an additional ¥106.8 billion ($710 million) from its fiscal 2024 budget reserve funds on disaster relief for areas hit by the Noto Peninsula earthquake last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 28, 2025

Japan to spend additional ¥106.8 billion on aid for quake-hit Noto

The latest relief, using reserve funds from the fiscal 2024 budget, takes the total of financial aid for the peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture to more than ¥820 billion.
Monta Mino, who hosted many television shows in Japan, died in the early hours of Saturday. He was 80.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2025

Famed Japanese TV host Monta Mino dies at 80

Mino, whose real name was Norio Minorikawa, joined Nippon Cultural Broadcasting in 1967.
Bic Camera paid ¥557 million less than originally agreed to 51 contract makers of its private-label products including home appliances between July 2023 and August 2024, according to the Fair Trade Commission.
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2025

Japan FTC urges Bic Camera to pay subcontractors in full

Bic Camera is believed to have begun underpaying subcontractors in 2020, when it began selling items under its own name.
The higher cost of food is forcing Japanese consumers to scrimp and bargain hunt as their purchasing power drops.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 3, 2025

Japan’s consumers hunt for bargains as food inflation bites

The prices of staples such as rice, eggs and cabbage have all surged in the past 12 months.
The entrance to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, in the city of Hiroshima, on Feb. 22
JAPAN / Society
Mar 3, 2025

Annual visitors to Hiroshima museum top 2 million for the first time

The total number of visitors since the museum's opening is expected to surpass 80 million by the end of this month.
Journalist Kazuyoshi Konishi says many men lack a sense of ownership and responsibility over issues such as women's empowerment and child-rearing, leading to such policies being overlooked.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 3, 2025

Male participation key to solving gender issues, journalist says

Gender inequality in the household is a large barrier to women’s participation in politics, creating a vicious cycle that delays progress, Kazuyoshi Konishi says.
The "Ishinomaki Kokeshi" created by craftsman Takatoshi Hayashi to promote his hometown are not confined to the traditional designs of the simple Japanese wooden dolls.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 3, 2025

Ishinomaki craftsman promotes hometown with unique wooden dolls after 3/11

Starting out as a complete amateur, Takatoshi Hayashi now receives orders from abroad for his “Ishinomaki Kokeshi” as his renown spreads online.
JX Advanced Metals' shares will be offered at ¥810 to ¥820 each after feedback from investors, the firm said in a filing in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 3, 2025

JX Metals cuts price of Japan’s biggest IPO since SoftBank

The shares will be offered at ¥810 to ¥820 each after feedback from investors, JX Metals said in a filing in Tokyo on Monday.

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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