Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Immigration Services Agency released a draft ministerial ordinance Tuesday to introduce a five-year period of stay for holders of Type 2 specified skilled foreign worker status from early January next year after seeking public comments. Holders of

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–The 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, last week had affected 53 cultural properties, including those at World Heritage sites, as of Monday, the Cultural Affairs Agency said. The affected assets, located in Kumamoto and neighboring

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Defense Ministry has emphasized the urgent need to prepare for what it calls new ways of warfare leveraging drones and artificial intelligence technology in an annual white paper adopted Tuesday. The 2026 report, submitted by Defense Minister

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japanese internal affairs minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Tuesday sent a letter asking local governments to bolster cybersecurity in response to a series of cyberattacks and the advancement of artificial intelligence. The letter urged prefectural governors and municipal mayors

Nishinomiya, Hyogo Pref., Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Female umpires are set to take the field for the first time in this year’s national summer high school baseball championship at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in the city of Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, from Wednesday.

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi urged Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda at their meeting in May to buy Japanese government bonds if necessary to curb rising long-term interest rates, informed sources told Jiji Press Tuesday. It is unusual

(Adnkronos) – Iran was ready to strike three locations in Ukraine in response to what Tehran called a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian merchant ship in the Caspian Sea last week. This was stated by a senior military advisor to Supreme Leader

(Adnkronos) – A fire, caused by a drone attack, broke out at a Wildberries logistics facility in Krasny Bor, Leningrad region. According to a statement from the company’s press office, there were no casualties. “An attack on the company’s logistics center in

(Adnkronos) – “The capabilities of Iran and the resistance front are greater than in the past. Despite the threats, the enemies do not have the capacity to launch a large-scale attack against Iran.” This was stated by Ibrahim Razaei, a member of

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday revised up its full-year net profit forecast to 3.25 trillion yen from 3 trillion yen. For fiscal 2026, which ends next March, the leading Japanese automaker also upgraded its operating profit projection to

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Cases involving artificial intelligence-generated sexual deepfakes targeting children more than doubled in number in Japan in the first half of 2026, the National Police Agency said Monday. Police handled 123 such cases in the six months, exceeding both

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–A third-party panel of Shogakukan Inc. said Monday that the Japanese publisher has encouraged human rights violations by hiring a male manga artist who had committed sexual misconduct as an author for a new series under a different

Silicon Valley, Aug. 3 (Jiji Press)–A U.S. federal district court in Texas has ordered two units of Kioxia Holdings Corp. to pay about 229 million dollars in damages for infringing on a patent held by U.S. satellite communications company Viasat Inc. The

Hikawa, Kumamoto Pref., Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–More than 8,000 people remain at evacuation shelters in Kumamoto Prefecture as of Tuesday, a week after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that damaged over 12,000 residential buildings in the southwestern Japan prefecture. Daytime temperatures exceed 35 degrees

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products and food items grew 10.9 pct from a year earlier to 897.7 billion yen in January-June, the agriculture ministry said Tuesday. The export value marked a record high for the

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–A panel of experts at Japan’s land ministry has called on the government to establish nationwide rules to track large-scale groundwater extraction to prevent declines in groundwater levels and land subsidence, the ministry said Tuesday. Specifically, the proposal

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Ukraine’s relations with Japan are still at a level short of its high expectations prompted by major political changes in the Asian country, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. Making the remark at a meeting with Ukrainian ambassadors in

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s government decided Tuesday to use 24,225 million yen out of the reserve funds under its fiscal 2026 budget to support areas afflicted by a major earthquake that struck the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto a week ago. The

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Immigration Services Agency on Tuesday released a draft revision to its guidelines on permanent residency permits mandating applicants to maintain an income exceeding the average for Japanese households. The revised guidelines would stipulate for the first time

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–People need to doubt social media posts and check primary information from administrative organizations after disasters because false information tends to spread following them, Reo Kimura, professor of disaster psychology at the University of Hyogo in Kobe, said.

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Defense Ministry emphasized the urgent need to prepare for what it calls new ways of warfare leveraging drones and artificial intelligence technology in an annual white paper adopted Tuesday. The 2026 report, submitted by Defense Minister Shinjiro

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s government decided Tuesday to use some 20 billion yen out of the reserve funds under its fiscal 2026 budget to support areas afflicted by a major earthquake that struck the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto a week ago.

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and his Mexican counterpart, Roberto Velasco, at a meeting in Mexico on Monday, agreed to launch a high-level economic dialogue framework between their countries and aim to hold its first meeting by the

Hikawa, Kumamoto Pref., Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–More than 12,000 residential buildings have been found damaged by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, a week ago, with over 8,000 people being forced to stay at evacuation shelters. Daytime temperatures exceed

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Five major Japanese securities companies enjoyed sharp year-on-year growth in their consolidated net profits for April-June, according to their data released recently. Commission revenue expanded thanks to robust bond trading amid rising interest rates as well as active

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japanese authorities are believed to have bought around 5 trillion yen in a coordinated foreign exchange market intervention with the United States to prop up the Japanese currency Friday, according to market sources. The forecast is based on

Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)–A new base for Japan’s national team for e-sports, in which players compete in video games, has been completed and unveiled to members of the press. The Japan Sport Council set up the “esports lab” at the High

Tokyo, Aug. 3 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday virtually approved Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s plan to lower the consumption tax rate on food from 8 pct to 1 pct for two years from next April. The LDP’s tax system

Kumamoto, Aug. 3 (Jiji Press)–Variety store operator Habita Inc. said Monday that two employees returned to a shopping facility in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, on the company’s orders after evacuating the facility following a powerful earthquake that struck the southwestern Japan prefecture on

Yokohama, Aug. 3 (Jiji Press)–Nissan Motor Co. on Monday reported a consolidated net profit of 3,761 million yen for April-June, the first black ink for the first quarter in two years. The Japanese automaker improved from the year-before loss of 115,758 billion