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Members of the Coastal Surveillance Unit participate in a ceremony commemorating the first anniversary of the Self-Defense Forces' Yonaguni Garrison in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2017.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025

Okinawa locals wary as SDF presence grows amid China threat

The SDF buildup has spurred concerns across the political spectrum in Okinawa, and many residents remain deeply worried over its growing presence.
Digital transformation minister Masaaki Taira obtains a certification document using a My Number personal identification card installed on an iPhone in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025

Functions of Japan's My Number card now available on iPhones

The Digital Agency plans to gradually expand the smartphone-compatible functions of the card, including the ability to serve as a health insurance card.
Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Itsunori Onodera (right) announces its campaign pledges for the Upper House election at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 25, 2025

Over 470 gearing up to run in Japan's Upper House election

Opposition parties are expected to fight over Upper House seats in over half of the 32 constituencies where one seat each is up for grabs.
A single Type-88 missile is tested off the coast at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Shizunai anti-aircraft firing range in Shinhidaka, Hokkaido, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025

Japan conducts first domestic surface-to-ship missile test

Japan called its first surface-to-ship missile test within its territory necessary training given the current "severe security environment."
People cross a street under the hot sun in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 26, 2025

Last week’s heat wave in Japan not possible without climate change, analysis shows

The heat wave, which came shortly after the rainy season was declared, caused a surge in ambulance calls for heat-related illnesses.
Five crew members re-create a log boat voyage from Taiwan to Yonaguni island, Okinawa Prefecture, in July 2019.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2025

Rowing from Taiwan to Japan was possible 30,000 years ago, says team

The voyage in a log boat, with no sails, was possible if all the rowers were highly skilled and adjusted their course with the fast Kuroshio current in mind.
A banner calling for the resolution of the issue of abductions by North Korea is displayed near the Diet building in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on June 10.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2025

Families of Japanese abductees race against time

Negotiations between Japan and North Korea have remained at a standstill since October 2002, when five victims were repatriated.
The leading cause of workers experiencing work-related mental health issues was power harassment, or an abuse of authority from superiors, which accounted for 224 cases.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 26, 2025

Work-related mental health cases hit record high in Japan

The leading cause of such cases was power harassment, or an abuse of authority from superiors.
Japanese automakers make 3.3 million cars in the U.S. a year, far more than the 1.37 million that they ship there, Japan's chief trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa says.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 26, 2025

Japan can’t accept 25% car tariffs, Akazawa reiterates

Japanese automakers make roughly 3.3 million cars in the U.S. a year, far more than the 1.37 million that they ship there, the negotiator said.
The doctoral aid program has recently come under fire from some members of parliament, who point out that nearly 40% of those receiving the support are international students despite the fact the fund aims to foster future human resources in Japan.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 26, 2025

Japan mulls cuts to financial aid for Ph.D. students from abroad

The program, aimed at fostering human resources in Japan, has come under fire amid claims nearly 40% of those receiving the support are international students.
Junko Mihara, minister for children-related policies, said at the start of the meeting that "the government will work as one to advance efforts" to tackle sex crimes against children.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 26, 2025

Japan holds first preparatory panel meeting on sex crime background checks

Junko Mihara, minister for children-related policies, said that "the government will work as one to advance efforts" to tackle sex crimes against children.
Regarding news genres that respondents want to avoid, with multiple answers allowed, war and other conflicts were mentioned by 18.9%. "News that is meant to be touching or news that foments anger" was cited by 18%.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 26, 2025

Almost a fifth of people in Japan may avoid news, industry survey suggests

When asked why they avoid news, with multiple answers allowed, 60.8% of those surveyed said it makes them feel depressed and sick.
Investigators say the group chat members were using pseudonyms to hide their identities, suggesting they were largely unaware of each other’s true backgrounds.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 27, 2025

Teachers sharing indecent photos of girls in a group chat elicits outrage in Japan

The coordinated voyeurism of the teachers came as a strong shock, undermining people's confidence in those in the role.
Toyota’s global sales that include subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino reached 955,532 vehicles last month, up 8% from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2025

Toyota sales hit third monthly record on Japan and U.S. demand

Toyota’s global sales — including subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino — rose 8% from a year earlier to reach 955,532 vehicles in May.
Visitors to the Osaka Expo walk under the sun in the city of Osaka on Friday as the rainy season ended at the earliest date on record in the country's western regions that day.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2025

Western Japan sees earliest end to rainy season on record

The rainy season usually lasts from June to July, but for a large swath of the country — from Kyoto to Kyushu — it ended about three weeks earlier than usual.
Plaintiffs of lawsuits on welfare benefit reductions hold up signs celebrating their victory in Tokyo on Friday following the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of them.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 27, 2025

Japan's Supreme Court finds welfare benefit cuts unlawful

The top court revoked the welfare cuts but dismissed plaintiffs' damages claims.
Fans bid fareweel to the four pandas residing at Adventure World in Wakyama Prefecture on Friday, their last viewing day before being returned to China on Saturday.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2025

Fans bid farewell to four pandas in Kansai ahead of return to China

Rauhin, 24, and her three daughters — 8-year-old Yuihin, 6-year-old Saihin and 4-year-old Fuhin — will be transferred to China on Saturday.
Self-Defense Forces soldiers take part in an evacuation drill, at Nama Hama Beach on Yonaguni island, Japan's westernmost inhabited island in Okinawa Prefecture, in November 2023.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2025

Japan aims to complete Yonaguni evacuation shelter in 2028

The project was started bearing in mind a possible emergency over Taiwan in the Nansei southwestern island region.
Japan’s flagship H2A rocket lifts off for the final time early Sunday from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 29, 2025

Japan’s H2A rocket retired after successful final launch

The rocket’s 50th and final mission carried the GOSAT-GW, a government-developed hybrid environmental observation satellite.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba inspects an honor guard upon his arrival at the Defense Ministry on Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2025

Japan needs to bolster defense capabilities steadily, says Ishiba

"The way of fighting keeps changing as the technology develops," the prime minister noted, citing Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an example.
The plot of land in front of the Kyukyodo stationery shop in Tokyo's upscale Ginza district marked the nation's highest per-square-meter roadside land price for the 40th consecutive year.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2025

Japan's roadside land prices rise for fourth year in a row

The plot of land in front of the Kyukyodo stationery shop in Tokyo's Ginza district had the highest per-square-meter roadside land price in the country for the 40th year in a row.
Tomonobu Kojima, admitted his involvement in the "Luffy" cases at the first hearing of his trial at Tokyo District Court on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 2, 2025

Senior member of 'Luffy' crime ring pleads guilty at hearing

Tomonobu Kojima, 47, said, "There is no mistake" regarding his charges of aiding robberies and committing fraud.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speak as they stand with Mayor of Hiroshima Kazumi Matsui in front of the Cenotaph for the Victims of the Atomic Bomb at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima in May 2023.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2025

Hiroshima mayor urges Trump to visit after atomic bomb comments

U.S. President Donald Trump should visit Hiroshima to see the effects of nuclear weapons, the city's mayor said.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (right) meet with Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto (center), President and Chief Operating Officer Tadashi Imai (second from left), and Vice Chairman and Executive Vice Present Takahiro Mori (left) at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 2, 2025

Nippon Steel aiming to prove value of Japan-U.S. cooperation, chairman says

PM Ishiba explained that Tokyo is continuing to urge the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to review its high tariffs.
Ex-serviceman Izumi Murakami speaks of his experience during World War II, when he was still a child, in an interview in Kasuga, Fukuoka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jul 14, 2025

Man inspired as a boy by WWII-era commando questions Japan's past actions

Izumi Murakami, now 92, joined the Air Self-Defense Force, but he concedes now that "there is nothing good that comes out of war."
The transport ministry has announced new regulations requiring flight passengers to keep power banks within sight to mitigate fire risks while on board planes.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2025

Japan to require flight passengers to keep power banks within sight

The move comes in response to a series of incidents involving battery packs emitting smoke or catching fire during flights.
Japan's deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu is seen anchored at a pier in Shimizu port, Shizuoka Prefecture, in 2013.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2025

Japan plans 'world first' deep-sea mineral extraction

Earlier this week the country pledged to work with the United States, India and Australia to ensure a stable supply of critical minerals.
The sailing of four China Coast Guard vessels around the Senkaku Islands on Thursday was the first intrusion by Chinese official vessels into the Japanese waters around the islands since Jun. 14, according to the Japan Coast Guard.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2025

Four China Coast Guard ships enter Japanese waters off the Senkakus

The move marks the first intrusion by Chinese official vessels into the Japanese waters around the islands since June 14, the Japan Coast Guard said.
Yumiko Watanabe (left), head of nonprofit group Kidsdoor, announces in Tokyo last month the results of a survey conducted on struggling families.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 4, 2025

80% of lower-income families in Japan say financial situation getting worse

Many respondents cited the price of rice as a key factor, with some saying they are struggling to put enough food on the table.
Wakako Yata, former special adviser to the prime minister, leads a consortium to help promote women as digital experts, in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

Japan launches group to help more women become digital experts

The public-private consortium will work to help women acquire digital skills to raise their wages, among other actions.

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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