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OSAKA

A front page report from November 1950 indicated that the government was in talks with French and British companies about launching television for the first time ever in Japan.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Nov 1, 2025
Japan Times 1950: Negotiations under way to bring TV to Japan
In November 1950, British and French officials were offering their broadcasting technology to help Japan launch its first television channel, pending a permit from the government.
Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi (right) and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura pose for a picture after signing an agreement to form a coalition, at the National Diet Building in Tokyo on Oct 20.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 28, 2025
Smaller parties set to suffer most if LDP and JIP reduce Lower House seats
Smaller parties such as Komeito could lose out the most if a bill is passed to reduce Lower House seats by 10%.
Media gathered near the scene where a man barricaded himself with a knife on Wednesday in the city of Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 23, 2025
Man arrested after 14-hour police standoff in Osaka
Toru Suetsugu, 48, allegedly held a woman he was living with at knifepoint after police showed up at his apartment to investigate a theft.
Shunsuke Takahashi, owner of the cafe Hood by Vargas, says the Osaka neighborhood of Nakatsu feels brighter and calmer with the influx of new businesses.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 21, 2025
Nakatsu keeps its cool as gentrification looms
Named one of Time Out’ magazine's “world’s coolest neighborhoods,” the residents of Osaka’s Nakatsu hope the area can retain its balance of old and new that makes it special.
Young people from Okinawa in the Kansai region dance during the first Eisa festival in Osaka’s Taisho Ward in September 1975.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Oct 20, 2025
Taking pride in its Okinawan roots, Osaka’s Eisa festival marks 50th year
The festival celebrating the traditional Okinawan summer dance was created for young workers to resist discrimination and reclaim pride in their roots.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura, who leads Nippon Ishin no Kai, says a "definite condition" for forming a coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party is to reduce the number of parliamentary members.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 17, 2025
Coalition with LDP could give Nippon Ishin chance to advocate its pet projects
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura, who leads Nippon Ishin, said a "definite condition" for forming a coalition with the LDP was reducing the number of parliamentary members.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shows the 2025 Osaka Expo mascot, Myaku-Myaku, during a meeting in Tokyo on Sept. 19.
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2025
Nearly 70% of Japanese firms see economic benefits from expo
The proportion of companies that cited positive economic impacts from the expo, held from April 13 through Oct. 13, reached 67.5%.
Liberal Democratic Party head Sanae Takaichi (second from right) and Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Fumitake Fujita (second from left) meet in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 16, 2025
LDP and Nippon Ishin fine-tuning deal to form coalition
While the two sides have a similar policy agenda, they also share an ideological likeness that lowers the bar for a potential tie-up.
Work to dismantle and remove exhibits begins at several pavilions of the Osaka Expo on Tuesday, a day after the event ended.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2025
Osaka Expo drew 25.57 million visitors over 184 days
A total of 207,889 people visited the site on Monday, the last day of the event.
The sun sets on the Grand Ring on the final day of the Osaka Expo on Monday.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 13, 2025
After plenty of ups and downs, Osaka Expo concludes with message of unity
The 184-day event started on shaky ground amid concerns over the pace of construction and a lack of public interest but proved to be enormously popular.
Outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters inside the Japan Pavilion at the Osaka Expo on Sept. 17.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 13, 2025
As Osaka Expo comes to an end, so too does 'expo diplomacy' for Ishiba
The Osaka Expo was "a precious opportunity of diplomacy" for Japan, a senior Foreign Ministry official said.
Inna Ilina, vice president of the Ukraine Pavilion, says she is grateful her country was able to participate and send out a clear message: Ukraine and its democratic values are not for sale.
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2025
At Osaka Expo pavilions, staff recount ‘life-changing’ experiences
Nearly 160 countries and regions participated in the Osaka Expo, with each bringing staff from overseas to help run their respective pavilions during the six-month event.
Stuffed toys featuring Myaku-Myaku, the official mascot character of the Osaka Expo, line the shelves of a store at the expo site on Yumeshima island in the city of Osaka.
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2025
Sales of Expo mascot Myaku-Myaku goods to continue through March
The sales period has been extended by over five months thanks to an unexpected surge in the popularity of Myaku-Myaku.
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Oct 12, 2025
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
The mega-event was a resounding success, taking in some 25 million visitors over 184 days. But how its legacy will look in the decades to come remains a question mark.
The city of Izumisano, in Osaka Prefecture, has successfully challenged a decision by the central government to cut special tax grants based on its revenues under the <i>furusato nōzei</i> (hometown tax donation) system.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 10, 2025
Government cuts to Izumisano's tax grants illegal, Osaka High Court rules
The city in Osaka Prefecture raised about ¥49.8 billion in donations in fiscal 2018, the most among the local governments under the hometown tax donation program.
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 10, 2025
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
The prefectural and city governments of Osaka have announced they will retain just a 200-meter portion of the world's largest wooden structure.
Masayoshi Matsumoto, chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation and deputy chairperson of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, speaks during an interview on Wednesday in the city of Osaka.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2025
Local business leader vows to discuss Osaka Expo legacies
The new technologies shown off at the expo include flying cars.
As of Friday, a total of about 22 million admission tickets had been sold for the Osaka Expo, surpassing the break-even level of 18 million.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2025
Osaka Expo expected to post profit of up to ¥28 billion
Robust sales of admission tickets and goods related to the Expo's official mascot, Myaku-Myaku, have pushed up revenue.
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and a distinguished professor of Osaka University, attends a news conference after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Suita, Osaka prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2025
With medical breakthrough, Japan’s latest Nobel winner bucked convention
Shimon Sakaguchi’s unwavering conviction in the validity of his research paid off with the discovery of immune-regulating cells — and a Nobel Prize in medicine.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visit the Future of Life pavilion featuring androids and robots at the Osaka expo on Monday.
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2025
Imperial couple make second visit to Osaka Expo
The emperor showed his fascination at an android modeled after Natsume Soseki (1867-1916), saying that the Japanese novelist "continues to live on."

Longform

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