Akie Abe, the wife of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has said she is only now becoming able to grieve honestly over her husband’s death, four years after he was shot and killed during an election campaign speech in Nara.
A nine-year dispute over the Linear Chuo Shinkansen effectively came to an end on July 7 as Shizuoka Governor Yasutomo Suzuki told the prefectural assembly that he would allow Central Japan Railway to begin construction on the Shizuoka section of the project.
A 49-year-old woman in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture, has been arrested on suspicion of injuring a 42-year-old woman she lived with by sewing her upper and lower lips together multiple times with a threaded needle, police said.
A landslide that occurred directly in front of homes in Koka, Shiga Prefecture, on July 7 caused part of a garden to collapse and cut off a road, bringing down an area about 25 meters wide and 80 meters long, including residential property.
Silk thread production for strings used in shamisen and other traditional Japanese instruments has reached its peak in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture.
A trainee monk has been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to Entsuji, a temple in Imari, Saga Prefecture, after a June blaze destroyed its main hall and living quarters, with the suspect telling investigators he had become dissatisfied with the amount of training and the way he was being instructed.
A new top-tier seating category above Green Car will be introduced on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen, offering private rooms and semi-private seats with customizable lighting, air conditioning and reclining features.
A new landmark has emerged in Osaka’s rapidly redeveloping city center, with Yodoyabashi Gate Tower, one of the city’s largest mixed-use buildings, completed at the gateway to Midosuji.
Japan lowered passport application fees from July 1, drawing large crowds to application counters such as the one in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district, although applicants are being warned that issuance could take as long as about one month.
Tokyo will introduce a 3% accommodation tax on hotel and other lodging stays from April 2027, formally replacing its current flat-rate system and extending the levy to private lodging services.
Japan, the United States and South Korea have agreed to work together to promote the introduction of next-generation small modular reactors, signing a memorandum of cooperation at a foreign ministers' meeting in Turkey on July 7.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura held talks on July 7 as Diet deliberations remained stalled over opposition resistance to two bills Ishin is seeking to pass, including legislation to cut the number of lawmakers and a bill to establish a secondary capital.
Wasabi, a food ingredient native to Japan, has long been valued not only for enhancing the flavor of other foods but also for its reported antibacterial and antioxidant properties, making it an essential part of the Japanese table.
Noboribetsu in Hokkaido conducted a drill to cull a brown bear under emergency gun-hunting procedures, based on a scenario in which a bear appeared at a park near schools and residential areas in the city, with local hunters taking part as bear sightings continue to be reported across Japan.
Billy Corgan welcomes legendary musician, composer, and X Japan co-founder Yoshiki for a conversation about creativity, rebellion, and building something that refuses to follow the rules.
Japan is facing renewed questions over how to secure electricity while dealing with mounting nuclear waste, as power demand is expected to rise with the spread of generative AI and the government considers replacing as many as five nuclear reactors by the 2040s.
Dental clinics are facing higher costs for gloves, masks and other supplies made from naphtha-derived materials, even as shortages ease following renewed conflict in the Middle East that has disrupted naphtha supplies.
Crude oil prices have plunged to the low $70 range per barrel following the signing of a memorandum aimed at ending fighting between the United States and Iran, but while the immediate risk of an energy crisis appears to have eased, economists warn that price increases for electricity, food and everyday goods may still be about to intensify.
Japan will begin a new system on June 23 to sell paint and thinner directly from manufacturers to construction firms and other businesses, aiming to ease supply bottlenecks and curb price increases as worsening conditions in the Middle East make such materials harder to obtain.
Japan's reliance on Middle Eastern crude oil has left manufacturers exposed to rising costs for plastic containers, ink and other products that use naphtha, but JEPLAN President Masaki Takao is pushing a recycling technology that could reduce the need for petroleum-derived raw materials by turning used plastic back into material close to new.
Japan's planned rollout of mobile phone numbers beginning with 060 has been postponed after telecom carriers said they need more time to complete system preparations.
Tokyo stocks fell for a third straight session on July 8 as selling in semiconductor and AI-related shares continued, while rising Japanese government bond yields, Middle East tensions and concern over the Bank of Japan’s policy independence added pressure to the broader market.
Tokyo stocks fell sharply on July 7 as a selloff in South Korean chip shares triggered fresh concern over the sustainability of the AI boom, dragging the Nikkei 225 lower while banks and other value shares resisted the decline.
Japan’s long-term interest rate briefly rose to 2.83% on July 6, its highest level in nearly 30 years, as investors grew more cautious over inflation, the pace of Bank of Japan rate hikes and the government’s fiscal stance.