Seoul, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Koichi Mizushima on Friday made a courtesy visit to South Korean National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik, who took office in June. During their meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Cho emphasized that

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Environment Ministry said Friday that it will launch a pilot project under which expert teams will help local governments tackle problems linked to wild bears. The ministry aims to strengthen the response capabilities of local governments with

Kagoshima, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–The global matcha boom is driving up prices in Japan for “tencha,” the raw material for the finely ground green tea powder. The shipping price of tencha has more than doubled due to strong demand both at home

(Adnkronos) – Clashes between Houthi rebels and government forces in Yemen caused the death of 81 fighters yesterday. This was reported by two military officials and medical sources present in rebel-controlled territories. A military official on the Red Sea coast reported the

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Defense Ministry on Friday underscored the importance of the Self-Defense Forces expanding the use of artificial intelligence, citing the results of its analysis of the ongoing conflict between the U.S.-Israeli camp and Iran. The ministry said that

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–A third-party committee set up by Nidec Corp. said Friday it has identified 844 cases of improper conduct involving some of the company’s products, such as changes to materials, manufacturing processes and designs without customer approval. The committee

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–The Bank of Japan is expected to consider in earnest raising its policy interest rate by 0.25 percentage point to around 1.25 pct at its next policymaking meeting Sept. 17-18, informed sources said. It would be the Japanese

Osaka, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Daiwa House Industry Co. said Friday it will quit new detached-home construction in 23 of Japan’s 47 prefectures following a long-term downtrend for starts of such homes amid rising material and construction costs and population declines. From April

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Senior officials from the Quad countries of Japan, the United States, Australia and India have agreed to keep in close contact to open the way for holding a summit of the four countries’ leaders, the Japanese Foreign Ministry

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government expects to designate the heavy rains in the Hokuriku central region late last month as a disaster of extreme severity, making affected areas eligible for increased state aid for recovery projects, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government will provide up to 213.1 billion yen in subsidies to three domestic shipbuilders as part of efforts to double the country’s shipbuilding capacity in 10 years, transport minister Yasushi Kaneko said Friday. The subsidies to

Shirahama, Wakayama Pref., Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Two robotic penguins that move realistically are gaining popularity at the Adventure World theme park in the town of Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan. The robots–one modeled after a rockhopper penguin and the other after a

Kanazawa, Ishikawa Pref., Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–The Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Unions, or JAW, has affirmed its plan to seek large-scale pay hikes outpacing inflation in next year’s “shunto” spring labor-management negotiations. The policy was confirmed at the JAW’s regular meeting

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Self-Defense Forces will continue to limit the eligibility for joining them to Japanese nationals and not consider hiring foreigners, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Friday. Koizumi was speaking in response to a proposal from former Defense Ministry

Zurich, Sept. 3 (Jiji Press)–A late Japanese researcher won this year’s Ig Nobel Prize in medicine on Thursday for an aerodynamic study of how to blow one’s nose properly. It is the 20th straight year for a Japanese researcher to receive an

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said Friday that he will ask an advisory panel to consider a law revision barring the use of evidence submitted in civil trials for purposes not directly related to court proceedings. Hiraguchi told

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–General-account budget requests from Japanese government ministries and agencies for fiscal 2027 totaled a record 143,065.6 billion yen, the Finance Ministry said Friday. The total requested amount for the year starting next April rose by 16.8 pct from

Susono, Shizuoka Pref., Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Woven by Toyota Inc., a Japanese company that runs a demonstration area for next-generation mobility technologies, signed a partnership agreement with the Shizuoka prefectural government on Thursday. The Toyota Motor Corp. unit that operates the Woven

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–The Japan Sport Association has said that it will establish a national esports competition, spinning off a tournament held so far as a cultural program of the Japan Games national sports event. The new competition will be held

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Spending by households in Japan declined 3.6 pct in July from a year before in inflation-adjusted real terms as they spent less on electricity and gas as well as food, the internal affairs ministry said Friday. Consumption expenditures

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–General-account budget requests from Japanese government ministries and agencies for fiscal 2027 totaled a record 143,065.6 billion yen, the Finance Ministry said Friday. The total requested amount for the year starting next April rose by 16.8 pct from

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko will visit Norway for three days from Tuesday to attend a funeral for the late King Harald V, according to a plan approved by the Japanese government at a cabinet

Hiroshima, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Okunoshima, an island in the Seto Inland Sea in western Japan now famous as “Rabbit Island” for its estimated 500 to 600 wild rabbits, once hosted a poison gas production facility operated by the former Imperial Japanese Army.

Urasoe, Okinawa Pref., Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–A majority of residents in Okinawa Prefecture are constantly opposed to the planned relocation of the U.S. Futenma base in the Okinawa city of Ginowan to the Henoko coastal district in Nago, another city in the

Urayasu, Chiba Pref., Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo DisneySea, one of the most popular theme parks in Japan, on Friday celebrated the 25th anniversary of its opening. The only ocean-themed Disney park in the world, located in the city of Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture,

Tokyo, Sept. 3 (Jiji Press)–The Council for Cultural Affairs, which advises Japan’s culture minister, on Thursday selected Hikone Castle, located in the western prefecture of Shiga, as the country’s fiscal 2026 candidate for registration as a UNESCO World Heritage site. A nomination

New York/London, Sept. 3 (Jiji Press)–The dollar tumbled to around 155.50 yen in New York foreign exchange trading Thursday morning, hitting its lowest level since Aug. 3. Yen buying for dollars grew on the back of speculation that the Bank of Japan

Tokyo, Sept. 3 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama indicated Thursday that there has been no request from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for a change in the economic policy of the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Bessent “did not

(Adnkronos) – The death toll from the devastating landslide and flood on August 26 in Nepal has risen to 1,259. The number of missing has drastically increased in the last 24 hours, from 4,216 to 5,083. This was reported by the emergency

(Adnkronos) – Morocco has opened an investigation into the arrival of thousands of migrants in Ceuta on the night of July 30-31 and has communicated this to the Spanish authorities. This was reported by sources from the Rabat government, as written by