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Shintaro Suzuki stands by a stone monument that marks the beginning of the pole-and-line bonito fishing method in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Aug 4, 2025

Miyagi city marks 350 years of bonito fishing method

In 1675, fishermen from what is now called Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture, taught a village in present-day Miyagi Prefecture a revolutionary technique to catch bonito.
Government Pension Investment Fund President Kazuto Uchida says there is no need to change the fund's portfolio even after a trade deal was reached between Japan and the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 25, 2025

Japan’s top pension fund keeps strategy amid volatility

As it seeks to ride out the turmoil, the Government Pension Investment Fund aims to enhance portfolio rebalancing with futures and analyze correlations between different assets.
Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya celebrates after winning women's marathon gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games at Sapporo Odori Park in Hokkaido, Japan on Aug. 7, 2021.
OLYMPICS / Athletics
Jul 25, 2025

Tokyo Olympic champion Jepchirchir relishes Japan return

Jepchirchir has been named as one of three Kenyan women in the marathon squad for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on September 13-21.
The University of Tokyo. International students are increasingly flocking to Asia, with affordability being a particularly important metric.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 25, 2025

Tokyo is the No. 2 choice for international students

Amid rising costs of living, affordability is a key factor for students when deciding where to study abroad.
The number of scrambles by Japanese fighter jets against Chinese aircraft rose by 17 in the April-June period from a year before to 122, according to the Defense Ministry.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2025

Japanese fighter jets scramble 157 times in April-June period

The scrambles were mostly in response to Chinese and Russian aircraft.
Pancreatic cancer, the third-leading cause of cancer death in Japan, has the lowest five-year survival rate of any cancer at just 8.5%.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 25, 2025

Kyoto University researchers find mechanism behind malignant pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer death in Japan.
A screenshot of the National Police Agency's crime victim support portal website, Gyutto Channel
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 25, 2025

Police in Japan set up website to support crime victims

The website was created following comments that the previous information on support on the National Police Agency's homepage was difficult to understand.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 25, 2025

Various tactics to force Ishiba out of power emerge within the LDP

The LDP has been thrown into a political power game between those who want Ishiba ousted immediately and those supporting him staying on.
Opposition party policy chiefs discuss a gas bill in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 25, 2025

Move to abolish gasoline tax is LDP-Komeito coalition’s first post-election test

The minority government of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is under pressure to quickly decide on how to respond to the opposition push.
The average life expectancy of Japanese citizens in 2024 is 81.09 years for men and 87.13 years for women, according to the health ministry.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 25, 2025

Japan's average life expectancy in 2024 almost unchanged from 2023, data shows

The life expectancy of Japanese men was sixth globally in 2024, while that of Japanese women remained in the top spot.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 26, 2025

'#Ishiba don't quit': Unlikely support grows for embattled PM

Despite Ishiba insisting that he has not discussed his resignation with members of his Liberal Democratic Party, multiple reports say that it is just a matter of time.
By 2040, demand for cancer surgeries in Japan is projected to decrease by 5% by 2040, while that for radiotherapy is projected to increase by 24%.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 25, 2025

Health ministry panel calls for consolidating cancer care provision

A health ministry panel has called for consolidating surgeries and radiotherapies for cancer treatment, citing such reasons as the dwindling number of surgeons in Japan.
Personal Information Protection Commission Chairman Satoru Tezuka in Tokyo on July 15
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 26, 2025

Privacy safeguards needed to help fuel AI growth in Japan, panel chair says

A law revision was postponed during this year's ordinary parliamentary session amid strong opposition from business circles toward a system involving fines.
A supporter (center right) of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba holds up a placard reading "Don't quit Ishiba" as he takes part in a rally across the street from the Prime Minister's Office in central Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 27, 2025

Stay or go? Key events give Ishiba time to ponder his future.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has pledged to stay in office — in defiance of growing calls for him to step down after the LDP's poor showing in the Upper House election.
Among elderly people age 65 and over, the share of single-person households jumped from 5.0% to 12.1% between 1995 to 2020.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 27, 2025

Use of deceased's person's savings for cremation allowed without heirs' consent

The move is aimed at reducing the financial burden on municipalities, which have often shouldered burial or cremation costs.
Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Terumi Tanaka (left) and Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes during a news conference in Tokyo on Sunday
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2025

Nobel committee chair calls for listening to voices of hibakusha

Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes emphasized the importance of passing on hibakusha's memories.
Mutsuko Sano shows a booklet containing her wartime experiences during an interview in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / History
Jul 28, 2025

80 years on, Iwate woman recalls naval bombardment

More than 5,000 shells were fired into Kamaishi, which had a large iron mill, on July 17 and Aug. 9, 1945, killing a total of 782 people, mostly civilians.
Saga Prefectural Police officials speak during a news conference held in the city of Imari, Saga Prefecture, early Monday following the arrest of a Vietnamese man a day earlier on suspicion of murder.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 28, 2025

Vietnamese technical intern arrested over Saga murder

The 24-year-old man is suspected to have broken into a Japanese language teacher's house, where he allegedly robbed and killed her.
A screenshot of a health ministry website shows an application form to submit documents for approval of a regenerative medicine program.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 28, 2025

Health bureaus' inconsistencies on regenerative medicine plans spark outcry

In one case, a regional health and welfare bureau immediately approved a regenerative medicine program but a different bureau rejected the same treatment plan.
Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes holds a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2025

Hibakusha's stories will change the world, Nobel committee chair says

Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes also stressed the importance of maintaining nuclear taboo, saying a fear of nuclear weapons would not bring about any solutions.
Prolonged high prices for food and other goods have pushed down consumer sentiment and real wages, according to the Annual Report on the Japanese Economy and Public Finance for fiscal 2025.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 29, 2025

Japan should take all possible measures to raise wages, white paper says

Prolonged high prices for food and other goods have pushed down consumer sentiment and real wages, while predictions for continued price climbs have curbed consumption.
Photos of Nazca Line geoglyphs newly discovered by a team of researchers at Yamagata University, on Monday in the city of Osaka
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2025

Japanese researchers discover 248 Nazca Line geoglyphs in Peru

The team conducted field surveys on sites selected from aerial photographs using artificial intelligence.
The Foreign Ministry will implement a large-scale organizational reform on Friday, including the establishment of an economic security division under the Economic Affairs Bureau.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2025

Japan's Foreign Ministry to set up economic security division

It will be the first time in 19 years for the ministry to carry out a large-scale organizational reform involving multiple bureaus.
The number of children waiting to be accepted into <i>gakudō hoiku</i> after-school care facilities for elementary school students has dropped from a year earlier.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2025

Number of children on after-school care waiting lists drops to 17,000

By prefecture, Tokyo had the largest number of children on waiting lists at 3,375.
A bottle of Suntory's Yamazaki whisky
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 29, 2025

Suntory will gauge U.S. consumer sentiment for whisky price hike

CEO Takeshi Niinami also said the company is "overreliant on the U.S. and Japan” and has realized the importance of emerging markets.
Kazuhiko Shigetoku (second from left), policy chief of the Constitutional Democratic Party, speaks at a meeting of opposition party policy leaders discussing a bill to scrap the provisional add-on gasoline tax rate, on Tuesday at parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2025

Eight opposition parties agree to push for extra gasoline tax to be scrapped

The opposition parties are hoping to raise public expectations for political change after the ruling coalition lost its majority in the recent Upper House election.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda. The central bank is expected to remain cautious until the fall.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 29, 2025

Bank of Japan likely to hold key rate at 0.5% as tariff breakthrough evaluated

Political uncertainty may also weigh on the policy board's decision this week.
Supporters of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba take part in a rally across the street from the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 29, 2025

Why Ishiba refuses to quit even amid intense pressure for him to go

With the U.S. tariff deal not yet implemented, a leadership change now would create a political vacuum and may put the agreement at risk.
The Atomic Bomb Dome in the city of Hiroshima. This August marks the 80th anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 29, 2025

U.S. public opinion divided over atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

A recent survey, released Monday, was conducted on more than 5,000 U.S. adults ahead of the 80th anniversaries of the bombings.
The government has approves expanded disaster relief to better support the elderly and people with disabilities during emergencies, including armed attacks.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2025

Japan expands aid for the elderly and people with disabilities in emergencies

There have been concerns about some evacuees dying due to their health deteriorating after evacuation, and the need to strengthen protections in the event of armed attacks.

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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