Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Children and Families Agency on Friday decided to collect 600 billion yen as so-called child-rearing support funds in the form of extra fees to be added to public medical insurance premiums in fiscal 2026, which starts next

Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s seasonally adjusted effective job offers-to-applicants ratio stood at 1.18 in November, unchanged from the preceding month, the labor ministry said Friday. The ratio represents the number of job offers available per seeker registered at Hello Work public

Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s industrial production in November fell 2.6 pct from the previous month, logging the first drop in three months as vehicle output dropped, the industry ministry said Friday. The production index for the manufacturing and mining sectors was

Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government’s draft fiscal 2026 budget, adopted Friday, highlights generous funding for its crisis management and growth investment policies to build a strong economy, a goal set by the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Investments through

Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government on Friday adopted an outline of an envisaged disaster management agency, including its organizational structure and operations. Aiming to set up the agency in 2026, the government will submit related legislation to next year’s ordinary

Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government adopted at a cabinet meeting Friday a draft fiscal 2026 budget featuring record-high general-account spending of 122,309.2 billion yen. The expenditures, larger than the 115,197.8 billion yen under the fiscal 2025 initial budget, will hit

Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government and ruling coalition plan to submit a bill to next year’s ordinary session of parliament that would give legal force to the use of maiden names in daily life by people who have changed surnames

Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)–Buichiro Kuroda, new chief of Japan’s Imperial Household Agency, has pledged to carry out his duties to the best of his ability. “This is an extremely responsible job, so I am ready to make maximum efforts,” Kuroda, 65,

Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)–Israeli Ambassador to Japan Gilad Cohen has expressed hope that Japan would provide peace education for future generations in Gaza to prevent attacks on Israel. During an interview with Jiji Press in Tokyo on Thursday, Cohen claimed that

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese Electrical Electronic and Information Union, which consists of labor unions at electronics makers, plans to set its unified pay scale hike demand at 18,000 yen or more per month for next year’s “shunto” spring wage negotiations,

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo police searched locations linked to a luxury sauna facility operator on Thursday on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in the deaths of two customers earlier this month. At around 3:10 p.m., the Metropolitan Police Department began a

Otsu, Shiga Pref., Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–Otsu District Court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by residents of Osaka and Shiga prefectures to shut down three Kansai Electric Power Co. nuclear plants along Wakasa Bay in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan. The court

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese Justice Ministry panel has drafted an outline of a planned bill to revise the automobile driving punishment law, including an expansion of the scope of dangerous driving, it was learned Thursday. The ministry plans to submit

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–The economic benefits of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, western Japan, are estimated to have reached around 3.6 trillion yen, exceeding the 2024 forecast of 2.9 trillion yen, the industry ministry said Thursday. The latest estimate was

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–Global vehicle production at eight major Japanese automakers fell 6.4 pct from a year earlier to 1.98 million units in November, their data showed Thursday. Honda Motor Co. saw its global production plummet 33.7 pct due to a

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government plans to convene next year’s ordinary session of the Diet, the country’s parliament, on Jan. 23, it was learned Thursday. Hiroshi Kajiyama, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Diet affairs chief, conveyed the plan to his

Kikuyo, Kumamoto Pref., Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–While the local economy has been boosted by the full-scale launch of operations at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s first Japan plant a year ago, residents remain concerned about its impact on groundwater. The world’s largest contract

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–Public prosecutors on Thursday indicted a Tokyo-based advertising company called Solarie, its president, Reika Kuroki, who is also a social media influencer, and two company executives on charges of evading 157 million yen in corporate and other taxes.

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s 10 major power utilities Thursday announced plans to lower their electricity rates by over 1,000 yen for a standard household next January, thanks to a resumption of government subsidies to cushion the impact of inflation. The fee

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government is set to adopt on Friday a fiscal 2026 initial budget bill that features a record-high 122.3 trillion yen in general-account spending. The expenditures are set to exceed the previous record of 115,197.8 billion yen

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda expressed confidence on Thursday that the country’s underlying inflation is steadily approaching the central bank’s 2 pct target. “The achievement of the 2 pct price stability target, accompanied by wage increases, is

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Thursday that she is seeking to visit the United States early next year to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump. “We’re currently arranging (the visit) to meet (with Trump) as soon as

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–A Tokyo-based advertising company called Solarie, its president, Reika Kuroki, who is also a social media influencer, and two other individuls, are suspected of evading 157 million yen in corporate and other taxes, informed sources said Thursday. The

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–The death a decade ago of Matsuri Takahashi, a 24-year-old rookie employee of Japanese ad giant Dentsu Inc., who committed suicide due to overwork, accelerated discussions on reforms of working practices in Japan. The incident led to the

Japan Department Stores Association Dec. 25 Yr/Yr Change Total 155,861 M. Yen Down 0.1 pct Clothing 42,285 Up 0.2 Personal Articles 25,023 Down 4.1 Sundry Goods 36,299 Up 4.5 Household Goods 5,679 Down 5.0 Foodstuffs 39,983 Down 0.2 Note: Year-on-year changes are

Japan Department Stores Association Dec. 25 Yr/Yr Change Total 521,408 M. Yen Up 0.9 pct Clothing 145,417 Up 1.5 Personal Articles 81,474 Down 2.0 Sundry Goods 109,903 Up 4.2 Household Goods 16,471 Down 4.3 Foodstuffs 142,396 Up 0.5 Note: Year-on-year changes are

Shonai, Yamagata Pref., Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–Bereaved people and others Thursday gathered to remember the victims of a train derailment accident that occurred in Shonai, Yamagata Prefecture, northeastern Japan, 20 years ago. Yoichi Kise, president of East Japan Railway Co., or JR

Mito, Ibaraki Pref., Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–The Ibaraki prefectural government said Thursday that it has confirmed an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at a poultry farm, the first such case in the eastern Japan prefecture this season. The outbreak in the

Seoul, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–North Korea conducted its first test of new high-altitude long-range antiair missiles in the Sea of Japan on Wednesday, its state-run Korean Central News Agency said Thursday. The missiles accurately hit mock targets at an altitude of 200

Tokyo, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government plans to scrap its target of turning the primary budget balance at the central and local governments into a surplus in a specific fiscal year. At a meeting Thursday of the Council on Economic and