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JAPANESE

Fuji Media Holdings announced Thursday that it expects a consolidated operating loss of ¥12 billion for fiscal 2025, which would mark its first full-year loss since becoming a holding company in 2008.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2025
Fuji Media expects first annual operating loss since 2008
It expects a consolidated operating loss of ¥12 billion for the fiscal year ending March 2026 on a slower-than-expected recovery in advertising revenue.
Reflecting a sharp rise in fraud cases involving offenders posing as police officers, the number of special fraud cases between January and June increased 50% from a year before, with the amount of damage shooting up by 2.6 times.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2025
'Fake police' fraud cases surging in Japan
The amount of money swindled in such cases totaled ¥38.93 billion between January and June.
In “Stigmatized Properties: Possession,” Yahiro Kuwata (Shota Watanabe, left) is a steel worker from Fukuoka who moves to Tokyo to become a TV personality and ends up renting a haunted apartment.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 31, 2025
'Stigmatized Properties: Possession': Layered lead faces ghosts and show business
In the sequel to his 2020 haunted apartments horror, Hideo Nakata creates goose-pimply moments of terror with common paranormal phenomena.
A Tokyo court has upheld a lower court ruling ordering Dentsu to pay a fine for rigging Olympic-related bids.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 31, 2025
Tokyo court upholds fine of ¥300 million for Dentsu in Olympic bid-rigging case
The high court also upheld a ruling that sentenced the former assistant head of the sports department of Dentsu to two years in prison, suspended for four years.
A pair of Japanese soldiers (Shinichi Tsutsumi, left, and Yuki Yamada, right) stay up a tree rather than standing down after the end of World War II in “Army on the Tree.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 31, 2025
'Army on the Tree': World War II film leans into absurdist theater
Among the films that commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II this year, Kazuhiro Taira’s film adapted from a play stands out for its lack of iffy politics.
Industrial production gained 1.7% from the previous month, according to the industry ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 31, 2025
Factory output gain in Japan shows firms’ resilience amid tariffs
Though economists had expected a 0.8% loss, industrial production gained 1.7% from the previous month while output rose 4% from a year earlier, topping expectations of a 1.3% gain.
AI developer Alt, which recently disclosed accounting irregularities, has filed for bankruptcy protection under the civil rehabilitation law at the Tokyo District Court.
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2025
Japanese AI developer Alt goes bust after accounting fraud
Suspicions of accounting fraud surfaced at the company in April this year.
Storage tanks containing treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture in March 2021.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 30, 2025
Tepco ordered to pay ¥100 million in damages over 2011 disaster
Presiding Judge Masahiko Abe ordered the payment mainly as compensation for damage to property and consolation money.
Fuji TV headquarters in Tokyo's Minato Ward.  Fuji TV came under fire over the manner in which it handled a case of “sexual trouble” involving former boy band member Masahiro Nakai and a female announcer.
JAPAN / Media / FOCUS
Jul 30, 2025
How the Japanese TV industry is changing
After a series of major scandals in recent years, Japan’s TV industry appears to be growing more sensitive to issues of harassment and misconduct.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, speaks to reporters at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday. The party’s loss in the July 20 Upper House election has become the defining factor for the yen.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 30, 2025
Yen option traders brace for more weakness ahead of BOJ decision
Analysts warn that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba may resort to populist spending to shore up support for his weakened coalition.
Masayuki Yamauchi teaches junior high school students about the history of Okunoshima, an island in Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2025
80 years on, former teacher conveys history of hidden island in World War II
The tiny island in Hiroshima Prefecture hosted a poison gas plant of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, leading to its removal from maps for confidentiality purposes.
A building in the city of Osaka that served as the Osaka Army Arsenal's chemical analysis laboratory during World War II
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2025
Researcher seeks to save Osaka Army Arsenal as 'negative legacy'
The military factory manufactured artillery for the now-defunct Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and employed up to around 66,000 people.
The number of car accidents in Japan resulting in death or serious injury that were caused by foreign drivers in the first half of 2025 totaled 258, up by 19 from a year earlier and exceeding 250 for the first time since 2008, according to the National Police Agency.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 30, 2025
Ratio of serious car accidents caused by foreign drivers hits record 2.1%
A total of 258 of such accidents, which caused death or serious injury, occurred in the first half of 2025, according to National Police Agency data.
Kunshiro Kiyozumi, 97, who was the youngest crew member of the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58 in World War II, on his way to a restaurant to have lunch in Matsuyama, Japan, on April 29.
JAPAN / History
Jul 29, 2025
Last soldiers of Imperial Japanese Army have a warning for younger generations
"In their last breaths, no one shouted for the long life of the emperor,” said one veteran about his comrades. "They called out for their mothers, whom they would never see again.”
The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday sentenced Tomohiro Koyama, who is believed to be the third-highest-ranking member of the "JP Dragon" crime ring, to three years and six months in prison for fraud.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 29, 2025
Senior 'JP Dragon' crime ring member jailed for 42 months
Tomohiro Koyama, 51, is believed to be the third-highest-ranking member of the ring comprising Japanese nationals.
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.
The National Police Agency noted in a special section of its fiscal 2025 report that the spread of social media has made it easy for loosely organized crime groups to contact regular citizens and commit crimes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 29, 2025
NPA white paper highlights crimes surrounding social media
In 2024, the number of social media-linked investment and romance fraud cases police detected around the country exceeded 10,000, with victims defrauded of some ¥127.2 billion.
Citing strong vehicle sales and a rise in domestic and foreign tourists, the Finance Ministry upgraded its economic outlook for Okinawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 29, 2025
Finance Ministry upgrades economic view on Okinawa
For production, the ministry downgraded its view on the Hokuriku region and the Kinki region but upgraded that on Okinawa.
Hideyuki Okamoto, ice pop maker Akagi Nyugyo's marketing team leader, says the public is more accepting of price hikes as he holds the company's flagship Garigari-kun ice pop.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jul 29, 2025
Enough apologies: How Japan is shaking off its price hike phobia
A shift in consumer mindset about such increases is driven by the biggest pay hikes in three decades and has given companies more confidence to pass on rising costs.
Who will buy the cars, SUVs, and trucks like the F-150 Donald Trump has promised to sell in Japan? Who will purchase 100 Boeing jets? And what will the $550 billion Tokyo-backed fund actually look like?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 29, 2025
Who buys the F-150s, and more Japan deal mysteries
The long-awaited trade deal between the U.S. and Japan has investors celebrating after months of uncertainty. But as the song goes, nagging questions always remain.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’