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November 02, 2025
 

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The national government's envisioned disaster management agency is a signature project of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba,
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 16, 2025
Many regions eager to host branches of upcoming disaster agency
A total of 28 entities representing prefectures, municipal government and other bodies have expressed their interest.
A registration system linking local governments with the so-called connected population — nonresidents who regularly interact with regional areas — is designed to encourage people living in urban areas to play active roles in rural communities amid their shrinking populations.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 15, 2025
Japan considers new system to connect urban and rural populations
The system aims to help those in overpopulated cities to play more active roles in rural communities with shrinking populations.
People gather for a campaign speech in Tokyo's Suginami Ward on June 1.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 13, 2025
Parties to test political waters in Tokyo election ahead of Upper House vote
The election is seen as an early indicator of how voters nationwide might cast their ballots in next month’s Upper House poll.
A criminal complaint was filed Tuesday against Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito and two others over the leak of private information relating to a whistleblower.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 10, 2025
Hyogo governor slapped with criminal complaint over information leak
The complaint also targeted former Vice Gov. Yasutaka Katayama and Chiaki Inomoto, former head of the prefecture's general affairs department.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) speaking at the Headquarters for the Promotion of Gender Equality on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 10, 2025
Japan OKs gender policy guidelines featuring aid for women's startups
The initiative contains support for female entrepreneurship through gender equality centers set up by local governments.
Women aspiring to enter politics attend a class at a school for future female politicians in Gifu Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2025
Over half of local assemblywomen suffer harassment, survey shows
Specifically, "verbal abuse" was cited by both male and female members as the leading form of harassment.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito speaks to the press following the opening of the prefectural assembly's June regular session on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito to take 50% pay cut over info leak
The leak concerned the personal information of a former prefectural government employee who distributed a document alleging harassment by the governor.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (third from left) speaks at a Council for Gender Equality meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
Japan to promote women's startups as part of push to stop rural outflow
Seeing fewer job prospects for women in the countryside as a problem, the government will improve consulting systems for business startups in rural areas.
A resident in Uchinada, Ishikawa Prefecture, points to a boundary of his property with his neighbor which shifted due to liquefaction following the massive earthquake that hit the Noto Peninsula in January 2024.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2025
Noto quake liquefaction hampers land boundary redrawing
Liquefaction during the Noto quake caused a lateral flow of up to 3 meters along a prefectural road running north to south through Uchinada and Kahoku.
Former Deputy Wakayama Gov. Izumi Miyazaki, who won Sunday's Wakayama gubernatorial election, speaks in Wakayama the same day.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 2, 2025
Miyazaki elected Wakayama governor for first time
Voter turnout stood at 39.86%, the same as in the previous Wakayama gubernatorial election in 2022.
The third-party committee, chaired by Ryoji Kudo, announced the results of the investigative report at the Hyogo Prefectural Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 27, 2025
Hyogo governor likely behind whistleblower info leak, says panel
Saito told the third-party panel that he thinks he was informed of the whistleblower's personal information but did not issue any instructions on how to handle it.
Japanese license plate samples — the top two are examples of nationwide license plates, while the bottom two are examples of "gotochi" license plates.
JAPAN
May 25, 2025
Japan to scrap monochrome special license plates
The ministry will soon allow only multicolor versions in an effort to ease the burden on license plate makers amid an expected increase in demand.
A former nonregular government employee, who cooked lunch for a public school in the Tohoku region, says she was dismissed after she was made to take an open recruitment exam.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
May 19, 2025
Civil service contract workers fear lack of job security
Contracted civil servants are paid about half the salaries of regular staff or even less, and a fear of being dismissed hangs over their heads.
The Osaka city board of education organized classes in which elementary school students disassembled devices slated for disposal and learned about the recycling of the rare metals contained in them last November.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 6, 2025
Disposal questions arise as student learning devices need replacing in Japan
The Osaka city board of education organized classes in which elementary school students disassembled devices slated for disposal.
The "customer harassment" rate for officials of prefectural and municipal governments shown by the internal affairs ministry's first-ever survey on the matter far exceeded the 10.8% for private-sector employees found by the labor ministry in its survey in fiscal 2023.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2025
'Customer harassment' faced by 35% of local government officials
A survey found that 17.5% of cases were prompted by officials' work at customer service counters, such as mistakes.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura says he hopes the prefecture's new rule prohibiting older people from using ATMs while talking on phones becomes widely known and eventually accepted as common sense.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Apr 24, 2025
Osaka to ban older people from using ATMs while on the phone to help stop scams
While the ban does not include penalties, the Osaka prefectural government hopes to build public consensus to help prevent scams.
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 21, 2025
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Among the world’s largest democracies, Japan has some of the highest minimum age requirements for politicians.
With more wild bears entering human areas across Japan in recent years, the revised law is aimed at making it possible to deal with them promptly and prevent casualties.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2025
Japan enacts bill allowing urban bears to be shot
The law designates animals with a high risk of harming people as "dangerous wildlife animals" that can be shot.
Unsold bonds are also being covertly peddled at discounted prices, according to several market participants, including investors.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 18, 2025
Japanese municipal bond deals fail to sell as rate swings surge
This month’s heightened market volatility have also led to delays and cancellations of several Japanese corporate bond offerings.
Shuhei Kishimoto, in April 2023 in Wakayama Prefectural Government
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 15, 2025
Wakayama Gov. Kishimoto dies at 68
The governor died on Tuesday morning of septic shock at a hospital where he was receiving treatment after being found collapsed at home a day earlier.
Takaichi and Xi reaffirm pledge in first meet to pursue ‘mutually beneficial’ ties
A screenshot from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's X account shows Takaichi exchanging greetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Friday.　
Anime isn’t competing with Hollywood — it’s beating it
After its July release, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle,” an animated feature adapted directly from a TV arc, became the highest-grossing Japanese film ever.
Japan to introduce joint child custody system in April 2026
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara (center) and other ministers prior to a Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday
Woman, 69, arrested over 1999 Nagoya housewife's murder
A police sketch released in 2020 of a woman spotted near the scene of the 1999 murder of a housewife in Nagoya's Nishi Ward
Asia-Pacific leaders call for shared trade benefits as APEC summit wraps up
A South Korean protester holds a placard showing a caricature of U.S. President Donald Trump depicted as a thief during a rally ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Wednesday.
Anime isn’t competing with Hollywood — it’s beating it
After its July release, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle,” an animated feature adapted directly from a TV arc, became the highest-grossing Japanese film ever.
Oasis returns to Japan after 16 years — and fans can still sing every word
Liam Gallagher commanded the stage with effortless charisma during Oasis' Tokyo Dome set on Saturday.
At Japan Mobility Show, BYD gears up to conquer Japan's EV market
BYD Auto Japan President Atsuki Tofukuji unveils the Racco at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Oasis returns to Tokyo: Rain, rapture and rock
Fans wait to get into the Oasis show at Tokyo Dome on Saturday. While lining up in the rain, some broke into impromptu versions of the British rock group's hits.
Kyushu banzuke sets the stage to cement 2025’s sumo narratives
Onosato ahead of his bout against Aonishiki at The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Oct. 18

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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
By Alex K.T. Martin

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