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At the launch ceremony on Sunday of the Self-Defense Forces Maritime Transport Group in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani presents the unit's group flag.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2025

Inaugural ceremony held for Japan SDF's Maritime Transport Group

The Maritime Transport Group was launched on March 24 as a unit jointly run by the Ground, Maritime and Air Self Defense Forces under the direct oversight of the defense minister.
A medical helicopter pilot and other survivors are rescued after the aircraft crashed off the coast of Tsushima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2025

Three dead after medical helicopter crashes in waters off Nagasaki

An 86-year-old female patient, her 68-year-old son and a 34-year-old doctor died in the crash.
The Tokyo Detention Center in the capital's Katsushika Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 13, 2025

Death penalty under renewed scrutiny in Japan

The punishment has broad public support in Japan, despite international criticism over how it is carried out.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a news conference in Tokyo on April 1. The approval rating for Ishiba's Cabinet fell to 30.6% over the weekend, according to a JNN poll.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 7, 2025

Ishiba under pressure to take stronger stance against U.S. on tariffs

Some opposition leaders are urging the prime minister to rally his party around a strategy before speaking with the U.S. president, but others are eyeing his removal.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks in a video message shown at a national rally demanding the return of the Northern Territories held in Tokyo in February.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2025

Russia bans Japanese NGO amid disputed islands row

The four islands were captured by the Soviet military during the final months of the war, and have been held by Moscow since, in what Tokyo describes as an "illegal occupation."
Details on rocks on the Ryugu and Bennu asteroids have been identified from their photographs using artificial intelligence technology.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 8, 2025

Japan researchers rapidly identify rocks on asteroids using AI

A University of Tokyo team achieved the feat with an AI-based rock identification tool that was fed information on rocks on Earth and other celestial bodies.
The House of Representatives passed an active cyber defense bill on Tuesday in the Diet.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 8, 2025

Japan's Lower House passes active cyber defense bill

The bill is expected to be enacted by the end of the current ordinary Diet session, with the government planning to fully introduce an active cyber defense system in 2027.
Commuters in Tokyo. ARIs are infectious diseases with respiratory symptoms, such as COVID-19 and influenza.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 8, 2025

Japan begins monitoring acute respiratory infections

The number of patients with ARIs will be published to help the public protect themselves from infections.
A man walks past an electronic board showing the numbers of the Nikkei stock average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in the Japanese capital on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 9, 2025

Japan's Nikkei down nearly 4% at close

The Nikkei 255 index of shares ended the day down 3.93% at 31,714.03. The yen came off earlier highs to trade at ¥145.27 per dollar, up 0.7%.
Former Kanto Rengo member Tetsuya Yamaguchi arrives at Haneda Airport in Tokyo's Ota Ward on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 9, 2025

Ex-member of 'Kanto Rengo' quasi-gang group arrested

Tetsuya Yamaguchi, 46, was arrested for his alleged involvement in a phone scam operation in Cambodia.
Hon Hai Precision Industry's chief strategy officer for electric vehicles, Jun Seki, speaks during an interview.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 9, 2025

Hon Hai makes case to build EVs for Japan’s automobile industry

Electrified cars and buses made by Foxconn, as the Taiwanese company is known, will appear on roads in Japan over the next few years, its EV strategy chief says.
Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa, who Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has appointed Japan's tariff negotiator, is one of his closest allies and busiest ministers.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 9, 2025

Who is Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's tariffs negotiator?

The man tasked with convincing the U.S. drop its tariffs on Japanese goods is one of the prime minister's closest allies and busiest ministers.
Stockpiled rice at a rice-polishing factory in Saitama Prefecture in March
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2025

Japan to release stockpiled rice monthly amid record high prices

The move comes after two previous releases appeared to have had little effect in stabilizing prices.
U.S. Steel shares tumbled as much as 16% Wednesday after President Donald Trump made a fresh remark signaling his opposition to a buyout by Nippon Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 10, 2025

Trump says he does not want to see U.S. Steel go to Japan

Trump told White House reporters that U.S. Steel is a special company, throwing cold water on expectations that Nippon Steel's buyout efforts might start to make progress.
Scrambles against Chinese military aircraft account for 464, or 65.9%, down by 15, according to the Defense Ministry.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2025

Japan defense force scrambled fighter jets 704 times in fiscal 2024

Scrambles against Chinese military aircraft accounted for 65.9% of the total, and the number of Chinese drones detected by the ministry more than tripled to 30.
"Giselle” is a ballet telling the story of a peasant girl that dies from a broken heart and the supernatural revenge and haunting that follow.
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 11, 2025

National Ballet of Japan takes its 'Giselle' to Royal Opera House in London

First staged in 2022 to celebrate the NBJ’s 25th anniversary season, Miyako Yoshida's production is revived for the first time with several Tokyo shows in April.
Takeshi Iwaya will be the first Japanese foreign minister to attend such a meeting since April 2018.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 11, 2025

Japan's foreign minister to attend NPT review prep meeting

Takeshi Iwaya will be the first Japanese foreign minister to attend such a meeting since April 2018.
Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Itsunori Onodera speaks at LDP headquarters in Tokyo last October.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 13, 2025

Japan doesn’t plan to use U.S. Treasurys as tariff talk leverage

Causing market disruption "is certainly not a good idea,” Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Itsunori Onodera said.
Japan celebrates after beating Canada to secure a spot in the Billie Jean King Cup finals at Ariake Colosseum on Sunday.
TENNIS
Apr 14, 2025

Japan gets past Canada to book spot in Billie Jean King Cup finals

The United States also booked a spot after defeating Slovakia.
Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks at a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2025

Japanese national confirmed dead in Myanmar quake

The Foreign Ministry had asked local authorities to search for the individual, and the person's body was found at the site of a collapsed building Saturday.
Japan’s population has been falling year on year since 2011 after peaking in 2008.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 14, 2025

Japan’s population shrinks for the 14th consecutive year

Japan’s population has been falling year on year since 2011 after peaking in 2008.
Whooping cough is believed to be spreading in Japan mainly among children.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 14, 2025

Whooping cough is spreading in Japan

Cases reported so far this year have already exceeded the total number from 2024.
A rendering of East Japan Railway's E10 series of bullet trains
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2025

Japan to give India E5 and E3 shinkansen for free

The E10 trains are expected to be put into service in the South Asian country in the early 2030s.
New Zealand's Mark Tele'a in action in October 2023
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Apr 15, 2025

All Black wing Tele'a announces Japan switch

Media reports have suggested that the 28-year-old will join Toyota Verblitz.
The head of a child dummy hits the ground after falling from a balance bike on a slope during a simulation conducted by the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2025

Consumer watchdog warns about the dangers of balance bikes for children

Between April 2019 and December 2024, there were 101 reported accidents involving such bikes.
The suspects used free AI software to create images of naked adult women, who do not exist in the real world, using prompts that included terms such as "legs open," according to NHK.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 16, 2025

Four arrested over obscene AI images in Japan first

Concern is growing worldwide over the use of AI for malicious purposes including through deepfakes, which turn genuine photos, video or audio of people into false likenesses.
Ride-sharing vehicles in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, in March
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Apr 15, 2025

One year in, ride-hailing in Japan has room for improvement

Japan has lagged in adopting ride-hailing services, largely due to opposition from the country's powerful taxi industry.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) and Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov shake hands at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 16, 2025

Ishiba's expo diplomacy begins with hosting of Turkmen president

The two leaders released a joint statement calling for maintaining "the free and open international order based on the rule of law."
A crowd of tourists walks through Nishiki Market in Kyoto in March. The number of foreign visitors to Japan was 3.5 million last month, bringing the total through the first quarter to 10.54 million.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2025

Japan crosses 10 million visitors mark at fastest ever pace

Arrivals of foreign visitors for business and leisure were 3.5 million last month, bringing the total through the first quarter to 10.54 million.
Production of Honda’s five-door hybrid Civic is set to be relocated to the firm’s plant in Indiana in June or July.
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2025

Honda to shift production of Civic from Japan to U.S. due to tariffs

Production of the five-door hybrid model will be relocated around June or July to Honda’s plant in Indiana.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes