(5th para should have read “… several …,” instead of as sent) Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea have decided to soften their hardline stance on the authoritarian state on condition that the Japanese government brings

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government is working to update its vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Monday. The vision “needs to be evolved in the most appropriate way to adapt to changing times”

Osaka, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–A dispute stemming from alleged harassment of a woman may have triggered an incident in the western Japan city of Osaka at the weekend, in which a teenage male was stabbed to death and two others were injured,

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Lotteria Co. changed its name to Burger One Co. on Monday, the Japanese hamburger chain owned by restaurant operator Zensho Holdings Co., said. Starting in April, the company will change the name of all its stores to “Zetteria.”

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–A decade has passed since Tokyo’s Shibuya and Setagaya wards introduced Japan’s first “partnership system” in November 2015, offering public recognition to LGBTQ+ and other sexual-minority couples. Since then, the system has spread across the country. Such systems

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s seasonally adjusted gross domestic product in October-December last year rose 0.1 pct from the previous quarter in price-adjusted real terms, up for the first time in two quarters, the government said Monday. At an annual rate, the

Milan, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Miho Takagi won bronze in the women’s 500-meter speed skating event at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Sunday, clinching her second medal at the ongoing Winter Games. She secured bronze in the women’s 1,000-meter event Monday. With the

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–A senior official of the Centrist Reform Alliance has suggested that the Japanese opposition party will carefully consider whether to join a proposed national congress for talks on issues including a possible consumption tax cut to zero for

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s seasonally adjusted gross domestic product in October-December last year rose 0.1 pct from the previous quarter in price-adjusted real terms, up for the first time in two quarters, the government said Monday. At an annual rate, the

Munich, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Microsoft Corp., NTT Inc. and other major technology firms from around the world are planning to form an alliance to boost the credibility of cross-border technologies. A total of 16 companies from 11 countries announced the planned launch

Milan, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Ikuma Horishima won the silver medal in the men’s freestyle skiing dual moguls at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Sunday, the 10th day of the Games in Italy. It was his second medal in the Games after

Inuyama, Aichi Pref., Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Kyoto University’s Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior has launched a memorial website for Ai, a chimpanzee known as a “genius ” for her cognitive abilities, one month after she died at the age

Osaka, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Members of the Japan Innovation Party have voted not to hold a leadership election despite the party’s sluggish results in the Feb. 8 parliamentary election, a move that allows Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura to remain its leader, officials

London, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was featured as “the world’s most powerful woman” in an article that ran in the latest issue of the British magazine The Economist, after she led her ruling Liberal Democratic Party to a

Osaka, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Three 17-year-old boys were attacked in a stabbing in the Dotonbori downtown area in the western Japan city of Osaka around midnight Sunday, with one of them confirmed dead later at a hospital. One of the other two

Munich, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Saturday criticized his Chinese counterpart for making groundless comments critical of Japan at an international conference in Germany. The claims made by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference

Milan, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Japanese ski jumper Ren Nikaido won the silver medal in the men’s individual large hill event at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Saturday. Nikaido earned his third medal at these Winter Games, after taking two bronze medals in the

Tokyo, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Japan will provide 15 million euros in additional assistance to Ukraine, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said at an online press conference. Motegi unveiled this plan when he held talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Munich, southern

Munich, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–The foreign ministers from the Group of Seven major democracies on Saturday confirmed their policy of closely cooperating to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and developments in the Middle East. At their meeting in Munich, Germany, they

Munich, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday agreed to work closely to make an upcoming summit between the leaders of the two countries an opportunity to demonstrate the unwavering Japan-U.S. alliance.

Munich, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi again criticized Japan at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks from last year regarding a possible Taiwan contingency. Responding to a moderator’s question about

Tokyo, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said Saturday it has fixed a malfunction found in a measuring instrument for the No. 6 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, by replacing parts. Due

Tokyo, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s revised corporate governance code is expected to encourage listed companies to redirect accumulated cash and deposits to growth investment, informed sources told Jiji Press on Saturday. The board of directors “should constantly check whether cash and deposits

Yokohama, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–The prefectural police department of Kanagawa, south of Tokyo, is set to cancel about 2,700 traffic violations that are believed to have been based on documents allegedly falsified by some officers, investigative sources said Saturday. The police department

Post Content

Ito, Shizuoka Pref., Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Shizuoka prefectural police have raided the home of former Ito Mayor Maki Takubo, who faces allegations of falsifying her academic background, investigation sources said Saturday. At the former mayor’s residence, located in an area of the

Tokyo, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi held talks separately with his counterparts from Britain and Italy in Munich, southern Germany, on Friday, confirming cooperation toward joint development of a next-generation fighter jet. Koizumi, British Defense Secretary John Healey and

Munich, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Friday emphasized the need for unity among Japan, the United States and Europe at a security conference in Munich, Germany. “The security of the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic is indivisible,” Koizumi said

(In the story “Takaichi Expecting Additional BOJ Rate Hike: Adviser,” moved on Friday, the first paragraph should have read, “…to raise its policy interest rate in the near future, Etsuro Honda, an economic adviser to the Japanese leader, has said…,” and the

Milan, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Japanese snowboarder Yuto Totsuka snatched the gold medal in the men’s halfpipe event at the Milano Cortina Games on Friday, giving Japan its third gold medal in snowboarding at the Winter Olympics. Among other Japanese snowboarders, Ryusei Yamada