Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–It is difficult for Japan to give up Russian liquefied natural gas, despite stepped-up sanctions by the United States and Europe, Japan Gas Association leader Takashi Uchida has said. Securing alternative suppliers will not be easy since Russian

Nagoya, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–Sri Lankan detainee Wishma Sandamali’s life could have been saved at three different times before she died at an immigration facility in Japan in 2021, a doctor said in a court hearing on Wednesday. Wishma’s death at the

Narita, Chiba Pref., Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–The number of foreign passengers on international flights to and from Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, rose 3 pct from a year earlier to 2,108,313 in December, hitting a record high for

Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–Some services at 140 “shinyo kumiai” credit cooperatives across Japan, including remittances, became temporarily unavailable Thursday due to a system failure, their central banking body said. The services came back to normal after being restored in stages from

Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s push to overhaul the country’s security policy is a major point of contention in the campaigning for the Feb. 8 election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament. Takaichi’s ruling

Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Ministry of Finance on Thursday upgraded its economic assessment for the Hokuriku and Okinawa regions while leaving its view on the remaining nine regions unchanged. In a quarterly report, the ministry said that the country’s economy is

Nagoya, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–The Toyota Motor Corp. group took the top spot in global vehicle sales for the sixth consecutive year in 2025, thanks chiefly to the popularity of its hybrid vehicles in North America, data showed Thursday. The Japanese automaker’s

Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japanese imaging devices maker Canon Inc. said Thursday that it will promote Executive Vice President Kazuto Ogawa to president and chief operating officer, effective on March 27. “I will do my best to fulfill my duties for the

Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–The number of people who died by suicide in Japan in 2025 came to 19,097, standing below 20,000 for the first time since the statistics began in 1978, preliminary government data showed Thursday. Suicides among elementary, junior high

Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s private-sector rice imports surged 95-fold in 2025 from the previous year to 96,834 tons as demand for foreign rice was strong despite high tariffs because of surging prices for domestically grown rice, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.

Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–Box-office revenues in Japan soared 32.6 pct from the previous year to mark a record high of 274,452 million yen, led by megahit Japanese films in 2025, an industry group has said. The revenue surpassed the 261,180 million

Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japanese police conducted 13 undercover investigations into so-called dark part-time jobs through last month, National Police Agency sources said Thursday. The probes, involving the use of fake identification documents to apply for such illicit jobs, called “yami baito,”

Washington, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday denied that the United States is engaging in any dollar-selling, yen-buying intervention to guide the Japanese currency higher. Asked about the possibility of U.S. authorities conducting such intervention, Bessent said in

Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–The dollar held firm above 153 yen in Tokyo trading Thursday morning, attracting buybacks because U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied rumors over a yen-buying intervention. At noon, the dollar stood at 153.11-12 yen, up from 152.63-64 yen

Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japan and Canada have signed an agreement to allow the two countries to export defense equipment to each other, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Canada became the 17th country with which Japan has concluded such an agreement,

Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Fair Trade Commission plans to issue cease-and-desist orders to four road maintenance companies over bid-rigging in contracts for road cleaning services commissioned by Metropolitan Expressway Co., it has been learned. The FTC is set to fine two

Tokyo, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–Fuji Television Network Inc. has regained about 80 pct of its sponsors who suspended commercials in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal involving former TV star Masahiro Nakai, which led to the resignation of its president about

(Adnkronos) – The Italian Regions Cup taking place from March to October shows how institutions, organisers and local areas can boost business and add value to cycling as a national sporting and cultural asset, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Wednesday.  “The 2026

(Adnkronos) – Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Rolls Royce, as if nothing had happened. Since the beginning of the war against Ukraine, almost four years ago, 214 luxury cars worth a total of approximately 75 million euros have been illegally imported into

(Adnkronos) – The authorities in the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, have reported 492 deaths as a result of Israeli attacks conducted after October 10, the date the ceasefire came into effect. A statement from the Ministry of Health also mentions 1356

(Adnkronos) – Italy has “excellent”, ongoing dialogue with its “partners” in Latin America, foreign undersecretary Maria Tripodi wrote Wednesday on X after talks with Equador’s ambassador at the foreign ministry in Rome.  “I received at @ItalyMFA H.E. Esteban Moscoso, Ambassador of the

(Adnkronos) – An Italian government panel gave a green light to 13 projects on Wednesday that spanned immigration, economy and development, climate change and energy, the foreign ministry said in a statement.  The projects are in strategic sectors such as energy, vocational

(Adnkronos) – The mayor of Budapest, Hungarian opposition figure Gergely Karacsony, was indicted today for organizing last June’s Pride in the capital, which attracted a record number of participants, defying the ban imposed by Viktor Orban’s government. The Budapest prosecutor’s office announced

(Adnkronos) – The Saxony-Anhalt parliament has elected CDU politician and former Minister of Economic Affairs Sven Schulze as the new state premier. The forty-six-year-old secured the necessary majority in the first round of voting. Schulze succeeds Reiner Haseloff, also a Christian Democrat,

(Adnkronos) – Almost four years after the start of the war against Ukraine, a poll shows that most Russians feel surrounded by hostile foreign powers, primarily Poland and Lithuania, and consider their country a victim. Lev Gudkov, head of the Levada research

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–Japanese electronic device maker Nidec Corp. submitted a report on its alleged accounting irregularities to the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday, admitting that its corporate culture prioritizing the intentions of its founder, Shigenobu Nagamori, had weakened its internal

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–Japanese film director Yoichi Higashi, known for mega-hit 1992 movie “The River with No Bridge,” died of old age at a hospital in Tokyo on Jan. 21. He was 91. After graduating from university, Higashi, who is from

Hiroshima, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–An infielder of the Japanese professional baseball team Hiroshima Toyo Carp has been arrested for allegedly using etomidate, a designated drug also known as the “zombie cigarette.” Ryutaro Hatsuki, 25, denies the allegation and claims that he has

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–Japanese office and household goods supplier Askul Corp. on Wednesday reported a consolidated net loss of 6.6 billion yen for the two quarters ended in November 2025. The red ink following a year-before profit of 3.7 billion yen

Kumamoto, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–Kumamoto District Court on Wednesday dismissed the fourth appeal for a retrial of the case involving a special court within an isolated facility where a man deemed to have leprosy was sentenced to death in the 1950s. While