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The U.S. Air Force's CV-22 Osprey displayed during Japanese-American Friendship Festival at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo on May 18
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2024

U.S. and Japanese Ospreys grounded this month after precautionary landing

While the details about the precautionary landing are not known, the incident has raised concerns over the vulnerability in Osprey components.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (left) meets with Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki at the Okinawa Prefectural Government Office on Sunday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2024

Okinawa governor seeks timetable for transfer of U.S. marines

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki on Sunday called on the government to provide a concrete timetable for the transfer of U.S. Marines in Okinawa to Guam, following the recent start of the relocation.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (left) and his wife, Melania (right), pose for a photo with Akie Abe, the widow of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday in this image posted on Melania Trump's X social media account.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 16, 2024

Akie Abe, widow of slain prime minister, meets with Trump

Her meeting has raised some eyebrows for coming before that of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who was unable to meet Trump last month despite numerous requests.
 A poster for Hayao Miyazaki's anime film "The Boy and the Heron" (in the foreground) is displayed at a theater screening the film in Beijing.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2024

Japanese films tug at Chinese moviegoers' heartstrings

Most of the Japanese movies making waves in China are anime titles capable of making solid profits.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (second from left) speaks at a ministerial meeting on foreign workers at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2024

Japan begins process to replace controversial foreign trainee program

An expert panel has been appointed to assist the government in drafting a system to replace the controversial Technical Intern Training Program.
A United Nations panel on space traffic coordination in late October said that urgent action was necessary to track and manage objects in low Earth orbit because of the rapid increase in satellites and space junk.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2024

Japan and India startups to study using lasers to tackle space debris

Japan's Orbital Lasers is building a system that will use laser energy to stop the rotation of space junk by vaporizing small parts of its surface.
The plenary session of the House of Representatives, which passed the three political reform bills, in parliament on Tuesday
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2024

Japan enacts ¥13.9 trillion extra budget for fiscal 2024

The economic policy package aims to finance measures against inflation and disaster relief.
People walk toward a beach in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 18, 2024

Blackstone buys Ritz-Carlton Okinawa as Japan tourism booms

The transaction will include the Kanehide Kise Beach Palace and money to be spent on renovations, sources say.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's government is strengthening cooperation with Middle East countries and diversifying its involvement in African nations, a Japanese government think tank said.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 18, 2024

China boosting influence over Global South, Japan think tank says

An annual report on China by the National Institute for Defense Studies says that Beijing's growing sway has the risk of destabilizing the region.
Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine's presidential adviser for sanctions policy, speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 18, 2024

Ukraine concerned over Japanese parts in Russian weapons

Vlasiuk submitted to Tokyo a list of Japan-made parts that were found in Russian and North Korean missiles and other weapons.
Foreign tourists visit Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo in June.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2024

Japan breaks annual visitor record with 33.4 million in just 11 months

November saw 3.19 million foreign visitors for business and leisure, according to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization.
For language learners under 40 in Japan, AI tools such as ChatGPT are now preferred over in-person classes or radio language programs.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2024

AI services growing in popularity among younger language learners in Japan

The number of people using AI language tools grew by more than 80% in 2024, a recent survey showed.
Jasper Cheung, head of Amazon Japan (second from the left), which will enter the "furusato nozei" hometown donation intermediary business.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2024

Amazon Japan to enter 'furusato nōzei' business

Amazon aims to differentiate its service from other sites by delivering gifts as quickly as one day after donations are made.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 20, 2024

Ishiba may visit U.S. in mid-January for talks with Trump

Ishiba hopes to build a personal relationship of trust with the president-elect and confirm the significance of the Japan-U.S. alliance.
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2024

Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year

Crime numbers had been steadily declining since 2003, continuing to hit postwar lows from 2015 to 2021, before bouncing back in 2022.
A Meteorological Agency official speaks during a news conference held in Tokyo in August to announce the lifting of the government's emergency alert system for a megaquake that may occur in the Nankai Trough.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2024

Japan improves public relations for Nankai Trough megaquake alert

The first such alert, issued in August, caused confusion and unrest as the system was not widely recognized.
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 20, 2024

Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns

The inspection follows a reported leak in August of water containing "forever chemicals" outside the U.S. base in western Tokyo.
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson, who was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, arrives with Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, near Paris, on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 21, 2024

Freed anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France

Watson, 74, was released after Denmark refused the Japanese extradition request over a 2010 clash with whalers.
A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force V-22 Osprey tiltrotor military transport aircraft participates in a live fire exercise at GSDF's training grounds in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2024

Japan's SDF to resume Osprey flights

Officials announced the decision after the U.S. military said that its Ospreys will resume flights after undergoing an additional safety inspection.
Sorane Sakihama, a 22-year-old college student, speaks at a rally in the city of Okinawa on Sunday protesting against sexual assaults by U.S. soldiers.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2024

Okinawa people stage rally against sexual assaults by U.S. servicemen

The Okinawan protesters adopted a resolution demanding apologies for sexual assault victims, compensation and a revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.
Ginzan Onsen hot springs in Obanazawa, Yamagata Prefecture
JAPAN / Society
Dec 23, 2024

Picturesque Japan hot spring town limits day trippers

Authorities in Ginzan Onsen have become fed up with a rise in road problems, quarrels and other nuisances.
Hideko Hakamata (second from left), Iwao Hakamata's sister, in the city of Shizuoka on Sept. 26 following a Shizuoka District Court retrial verdict finding Iwao not guilty
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 23, 2024

Momentum builds for reforming Japan's retrial system

Prolonged proceedings for retrial pleas are common in Japan.
Japan Coast Guard officers and others observed a moment of silence at a memorial ceremony on Monday in Tokyo's Ota Ward.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2024

Victims mourned as first anniversary of Haneda collision nears

Five of the Japan Coast Guard aircraft's six crew members died after the plane collided with a Japan Airlines plane on Jan. 2.
The Financial Services Agency said the judge, Soichiro Sato, 32, was dismissed Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 24, 2024

Japan SESC files insider trading complaint against judge

The parties involved are believed to have earned several million yen in profit.
Opposition parties have submitted a bill to make school lunches free at public elementary and junior high schools.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 24, 2024

Japan opposition parties submit bill for free school meals

The bill to revise the school lunch program law was submitted to the House of Representatives by the CDP, DPP and Nippon Ishin no Kai.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from the left) making a statement at a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 24, 2024

Japan eyes regional revitalization and economic growth

A basic concept for the promotion of regional revitalization was drawn up to promote economic growth and address the issue of overcrowding in Tokyo.
The Self-Defense Forces facilities are believed to have become sources of PFAS contamination because they used firefighting foam containing the toxic chemicals in the past.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 24, 2024

High levels of PFAS found in water from 44 private suppliers across Japan

Among them are five that supply water to Self-Defense Forces facilities.
Japan is considering introducing a system to allow the government to temporarily acquire factories to prevent important technologies from being taken abroad.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024

Japan plans system for temporary control of key plants during emergencies

The system would be activated when production of specified critical products designated in the economic security promotion law are disrupted.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 25, 2024

Ishiba aims for agreement on corporate political donations by March

While opposition parties are pushing for a ban on such donations, Ishiba has reiterated his opposition to such a move.
The wreckage of a Japan Airlines plane after a collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft, at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Jan. 5, three days after the crash.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024

Human error caused JAL jet collision at Haneda Airport: safety board

The pilot and co-pilot of the Japan Coast Guard plane mistakenly believed they got cleared to enter the runway just before the Jan. 2 incident.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell