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Japan Rugby Football Union Chairman Kensuke Iwabuchi, seen at a news conference in June 2019, has been suspended from his role as vice president with Asia Rugby pending an investigation into a potential code of conduct breach.
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Feb 25, 2025

Japan seeks answers after Asia Rugby suspends vice president

Asia Rugby said Kensuke Iwabuchi had been suspended "in line with Asia Rugby principles of equality, transparency and accountability."
Lawyers advising in a racial profiling case speak during a news conference on Wednesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 26, 2025

About 70% of foreign nationals questioned by police on the streets: survey

The survey was believed to be the first conducted comparing police questioning between foreign nationals and Japanese on the issue.
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki, at a news conference on Friday, said the Cabinet has approved a bill to revise relevant laws to digitalize criminal procedures in the country.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 28, 2025

Japan's Cabinet approves bill to digitalize criminal procedures

Once passed, existing laws will be amended to allow greater use of technologies by law enforcers and the judiciary.
On March 21, 1925, a front page headline announced that the Tokyo Radio Broadcasting Bureau, the precursor to NHK, had begun operations with a communications range of 50 kilometers.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Mar 1, 2025

Japan Times 1925: Government sanctions official broadcasting station, the precursor to NHK

Japan’s first official broadcasting station began operating 100 years ago, setting a new precedent for the speed of communication and news.
AIREC, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven humanoid robot, demonstrates a maneuver for changing diapers or preventing bedsores in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 1, 2025

AI robots may hold key to nursing Japan's aging population

Japan is the world's most advanced aging society with a falling birth rate, dwindling working-age population and restrictive immigration policies.
Smoke rises from a forest fire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Feb. 28
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2025

Japan battles biggest wildfire in decades

Flames are estimated to have spread over about 1,200 hectares in the forest of Ofunato in the northern region of Iwate since fire broke out on Wednesday.
The government will raise the out-of-pocket expense cap for expensive medical treatments this August as planned, but will reconsider plans for further increases, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told parliament on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 2, 2025

Japan to reconsider medical expense cap hike plan: Ishiba

The expense ceiling hike is slated to be conducted in three stages from this year to 2027.
Smoke is seen rising from the mountains of the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Friday. Authorities said the wildfire kept spreading, burning 1,800 hectares by Sunday morning.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2025

Thousands flee after Japan's biggest wildfire in decades

There were about 1,300 wildfires across Japan in 2023, concentrated in the February to April period when the air dries out and winds pick up.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks at a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 3, 2025

Japan unlikely to attend future meetings for nuke ban treaty

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi indicates that Tokyo's absence from this week's meeting is due to the treaty being incompatible with U.S. nuclear deterrence.
Yuji Iwasawa is the second Japanese to assume the ICJ's presidency, behind Hisashi Owada, the father of Empress Masako.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 4, 2025

Japan's Iwasawa elected as head of International Court of Justice

He is the second Japanese to assume the ICJ's presidency, behind Hisashi Owada, the father of Empress Masako.
The Supreme Court has rejected FC2's appeals against two separate rulings made against it by the Intellectual Property High Court in July 2022 and May 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 4, 2025

FC2 infringed on Dwango's patent, Japan's top court rules

The Supreme Court rejected FC2's appeals against two lower court rulings ordering the Las Vegas-based firm to stop violating Dwango's patent on a video comment-posting system.
Ground Self-Defense Force helicopters return after dropping water as they fight a wildfire around Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Sunday. Firefighters were still battling Japan's biggest forest fire in half a century on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Japan's worst wildfire in half a century spreads

White smoke billowed from a forested area around the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, six days after the blaze began amid record low rainfall.
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of Ispace, speaks during a news conference in September 2024.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Japan startup targets June 6 moon landing

Ispace hopes to have its own moment of glory, after the unsalvageable "hard landing" of its initial attempt in 2023.
According to the Cultural Affairs Agency, shodō is defined as the act of writing kanji and kana characters using traditional brushstrokes and techniques.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Japan to again propose calligraphy for UNESCO heritage list

The government is expected to submit the fresh proposal to UNESCO by the end of the month.
A stick-sized container containing an egg and a tank used to freeze eggs
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Mar 5, 2025

More women in Japan turn to egg freezing amid increase in financial support

Although the practice is emerging as a new option for women, experts are urging individuals to carefully weigh its benefits and drawbacks.
Masamune Goto (front) pilots his boat during a powerboat racing competition at Tokyo's Tamagawa boat course on Feb. 23.
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Mar 6, 2025

Powerboat racing revs up bid to shed shadowy reputation in Japan

Powerboat racing started more than 70 years ago under a special gambling law that classifies it alongside horse racing, speedway and cycling in Japan.
Yoko Suetsugu at Haco, her gallery in New York
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Mar 17, 2025

Sculptor connects Fukushima to U.S. through New York gallery

Yoko Suetsugu is aiming to launch a program inviting U.S. artists to hot springs in the city of Fukushima for a creative retreat.
Ayako Urasawa shows a skirt with a pocket too shallow to hold a smartphone.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 7, 2025

Women in Japan call for clothing that has pockets

Many women's jackets, pants and skirts either lack pockets or have only shallow pockets.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba with parliamentary vice ministers at the Prime Minister's Office in November. The share of women among Japan's lawmakers was 15.7% as of last December.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025

Japan's share of female lawmakers lowest among G7 members

While the global average was 27.2%, the figure in Japan stood at 15.7% as of last December.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella lays flowers on Saturday before the cenotaph for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2025

Italian president lays flowers at Hiroshima Peace Park

The president observed a moment of silent in front of the cenotaph and then toured the park, accompanied by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui.
Oto, Japan's oldest lion, died Monday at Toyohashi Zoo & Botanical Park in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 10, 2025

Oto, Japan’s oldest lion, dies at 25 — equivalent to 100 human years

Born in 1999 at Asahiyama Zoo in the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Oto had been at Aichi Prefecture's Toyohashi Zoo & Botanical Park since 2001.
The law will require scrap metal dealers to verify the identity of sellers during transactions.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 11, 2025

Japan moves to curb metal theft with new identity check laws

Metal theft has surged in recent years, driven by rising copper prices.
People observe a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m. on Tuesday in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, when the Great East Japan Earthquake hit 14 years ago. Behind them is a pine tree dubbed "the miracle tree" that survived the tsunami.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 11, 2025

Japan marks 14 years since 3/11 earthquake, with over 27,000 still displaced

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he will pass down the lessons of the disaster to future generations.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2025

Ishiba mulls visit to Iwo Jima, site of fierce WWII battle

He plans to attend a joint Japan-U.S. memorial service on March 29, which would make him the first Japanese prime minister since April 2013 to set foot on the remote island.
A construction site in Tokyo in July 2018. Businesses failing to take measures to prevent severe heatstroke among employees will be subjected to criminal punishment from June.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 13, 2025

Japan to get tough on businesses not taking heatstroke countermeasures

Violators will be punishable with up to six months' imprisonment or a maximum fine of ¥500,000 ($3,380).
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and others attend a Cabinet meeting on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2025

Japan touts benefits of foreign development aid

Japanese aid has helped the country win trust globally, the government said in an annual white paper.
The Great Wall of China near Beijing. Two Japanese tourists were detained in China for taking photos showing exposed buttocks at the World Heritage site.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2025

China deports Japanese tourists over Great Wall buttocks pic, reports state

The tourists reportedly told the Japanese embassy they did it as a prank.
According to the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative, there were about 30 cases of bonsai theft last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 14, 2025

Bonsai thefts sweep Japan as miniature trees grow more popular

About 30 cases of such theft occurred last year, according to the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative.
Rail enthusiasts and local residents hold up a specially designed banner for arriving and departing trains at Higashi-Nemuro Station in Nemuro, Hokkaido, on Friday, the station's final day of operation.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2025

People bid farewell to Japan's easternmost train station

As the number of users is unlikely to recover from a prolonged decline, JR Hokkaido has decided to close the station.
Yoji Muto
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 15, 2025

Japan, China and South Korea eye trade ministers meeting

Japanese trade minister Yoji Muto will attend the envisaged meeting if he receives parliamentary approval.

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Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear