Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–A group of Japanese researchers have uncovered the characteristics of archaea, single-celled micro-organisms, that are most closely related to eukaryotes, organisms including plants and animals, from a methane production well in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo. The group, including

Baku, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–Azerbaijan is willing to extend its visa-free program for Japanese citizens, Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to the president of Azerbaijan, has said. Visa exemption is “a two-way street,” Hajiyev said in talks with reporters from media outlets including Jiji

Osaka, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–A former manager at major Japanese general contractor Takenaka Corp. admitted on Thursday to having a subcontractor submit inflated bills for construction work related to the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, western Japan. Tatsumi Kawai, 61, acknowledged the

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government has requested that telecommunications carriers forcibly deny access to a website believed to be behind a cyberattack on GMO Internet Inc., people familiar with the matter said Thursday. The request was made by the communications

Paris, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–Spanish authorities have informed Tokyo that the names of two Japanese nationals were on the passenger lists for the high-speed trains involved in a fatal crash that happened in Spain on Wednesday, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese judge admitted charges of online gambling in the first hearing of his impeachment trial in Tokyo on Wednesday. Akifumi Morimoto, 52, a judge at Niigata Summary Court, told the Judge Impeachment Court that the charges against

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 5.5 struck Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, around 12:07 a.m. Thursday, with no tsunami reported. A seismic intensity of lower 5, the fifth-highest level on the Japanese scale, was recorded in

Seoul/Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–North Korea fired some 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Thursday, the South Korean military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. A Japanese Defense Ministry official said the missiles are believed to have fallen into

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–The secretaries-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its Japan Innovation Party ally and the opposition Democratic Party for the People signed on Thursday an agreement on a reform of the House of Representatives election system, including a

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–A Chinese coast guard ship has passed through the Osumi Strait off Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, along with three Chinese naval ships including missile destroyers, the Japanese Defense Ministry’s Joint Staff has said. The announcement, made Wednesday, marked

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–Loan contracts had been signed for projects totaling 69 billion dollars as of the end of September, out of 130 billion dollars’ worth of U.S. investment projects already announced under the Japan-U.S. tariff agreement, according to Japan’s Finance

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–North Korea on Thursday fired a projectile that could be a ballistic missile, Japan’s Defense Ministry said. The South Korean military said that the projectile was fired toward the Sea of Japan. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] 

Cebu, Philippines, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has said that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned Japan’s defense spending at their meeting in the Philippine city of Cebu on Wednesday. “We didn’t exchange views with any specific amount or

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s industry ministry has signed a memorandum of cooperation with a German energy firm on wind power generation. Under the memorandum, inked Wednesday, the ministry and Siemens Energy AG will jointly promote floating offshore wind power projects in

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–Yoshinobu Tsutsui, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, has urged the European Union not to exclude Japanese-made vehicles from preferential treatment under its proposed Industrial Accelerator Act. “We hope that (the proposed act) will not hinder

Berlin, Oct. 28 (Jiji Press)–German drone startup Quantum Systems said Wednesday that it has established a Japanese subsidiary and opened an office in Tokyo. The move coincided with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit to Japan. Quantum Systems also signed separate memorandums of

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–Russia has claimed that a consular meeting for a Japanese journalist detained by Russian authorities was held appropriately, although it did not take place within four days of detention as sought under the two countries’ consular convention. At

Berlin, Oct. 28 (Jiji Press)–German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Wednesday that he and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi agreed at their meeting in Tokyo the same day to promptly study the possibility of Germany joining a Japan-Britain-Italy project to jointly develop a

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has proposed scaling back subsidies aimed at curbing surges in gasoline prices in stages from December. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi received the proposal from LDP officials, including policy chief Takayuki Kobayashi, in a

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s internal affairs ministry plans to allow deputy leaders of local governments to determine, based on doctors’ diagnoses, the resignation of prefectural governors or municipal mayors who have become incapacitated due to illness or other reasons, Jiji Press

Japan Struggles to Balance Data Center Boom, Local Concerns Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–With many data center construction projects underway across Japan, concerns are growing among local residents about deteriorating living conditions due to noise and thermal pollution from such facilites. Obstacles

Data centers, which house internet servers and data communications equipment, are rapidly being constructed across Japan. As advances in artificial intelligence technology make data centers indispensable to the digital society, challenges involving site selection and gaining the support of local residents have

Japan’s Regional Areas Vie to Become Data Center Hubs Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–Data center construction in Japan is spreading to regional areas, with the prefectures of Hokkaido and Akita emerging as possible hubs. Securing large tracts of land and obtaining access

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–Major Japanese motor manufacturer Nidec Corp., mired in an accounting scandal, said Wednesday that it would miss its target of obtaining an audit firm’s “unqualified opinion” on its fiscal 2025 securities report by the end of this month.

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 5.4 struck Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, at around 12:07 a.m. Thursday, registering up to lower 5, the fifth-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale. The quake occurred at a

(Adnkronos) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced three days of national mourning, starting tomorrow, after the tragic train accident in Urda, near Toledo. “The Spanish government stands with the victims and all their families,” he assured.  

Tokyo, Oct. 28 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo police have arrested three individuals believed to have fraudulently obtained residency status for wealthy Chinese nationals in Japan. The three suspects are company executives Hotei Aizawa, 39, and Emi Makino, 45, as well as Zhuang Yi, a

(Adnkronos) – An attempted cyberattack has hit the systems of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the US federal agency tasked with overseeing election campaign financing, one week before the November 3 midterm elections. Politico reports this, citing an informed source, according to

(Adnkronos) – The bloc of Israeli opposition parties led by Gadi Eisenkot intends to use its votes, together with those of the Arab parties, to appoint a new Knesset president, a position currently held by Amir Ohana, a Likud member. This was

(Adnkronos) – There are still over 600,000 votes to be counted, those of voters who used the ‘double envelope’ system, which would correspond to 15 seats in the Knesset. These are mainly diplomats abroad, reservists, IDF soldiers, students, but also young people