Amid the global cocoa shortage, department stores in Japan are focusing more on unorthodox items, even curry, than chocolate candies to meet Valentine's Day customer demand this year.時事通信社

Japan plans to tighten its screenings of foreign companies' plans to make investment in the country, in order to address national security concerns, particularly regarding entities that may share information with foreign governments.時事通信社

The Naha District Public Prosecutors Office decided Thursday not to indict a U.S. Marine who had been investigated for alleged sexual assault in Okinawa Prefecture, sourthern Japan, citing insufficient evidence.時事通信社

Sony Group Corp. on Thursday held a media preview of Ginza Sony Park, a new commercial complex that will open in Tokyo's upscale Ginza district on Sunday.時事通信社

Japanese police have arrested a man for allegedly kicking a rabbit in violation of the animal protection law in Okunoshima Island in the city of Takehara in the western prefecture of Hiroshima.時事通信社

Fuji Media Holdings Inc., the parent of Fuji Television Network Inc., said Thursday that it has decided to set up a third-party committee to investigate a sex scandal centered around television personality Masahiro Nakai.時事通信社

The Bank of Japan will raise its policy interest rate to 0.5pctat a two-day policy-setting meeting through Friday, the first rate hike since last July, it was learned Thursday.時事通信社

A Chinese district court on Thursday sentenced a man to death over an attack on two Japanese people that left a Chinese woman dead in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, eastern China, last June, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said.時事通信社

The two chambers of Japan's parliament plan to resume talks Jan. 31 on measures to secure a sufficient number of Imperial Family members.時事通信社

Popular Japanese television personality Masahiro Nakai announced his retirement from show business on Thursday, amid allegations of his involvement in a sex scandal that has had a major impact on the television industry and elsewhere.時事通信社

The Liberal Democratic Party group in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly said Thursday that 26 of its members will make corrections to their funds reports over a political money scandal involving the group.時事通信社

The average unit price of new condominiums put up for sale in Tokyo's densely populated 23 special wards topped 100 million yen for the second straight year in 2024, a think tank said Thursday.時事通信社

The Japanese Electrical, Electronic & Information Union said Thursday that its member unions will request a pay scale hike of at least 17,000 yen per month in the 2025 "shunto" spring wage negotiations.時事通信社

Japan's National Police Agency on Thursday released newly compiled guidelines for undercover investigations that use fake identification documents to apply for "dark part-time jobs" such as robberies in an effort to deter such crimes.時事通信社

The Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday announced the signing of a minor league contract with Japanese baseball pitcher Roki Sasaki.時事通信社

Japan logged a customs-cleared trade deficit of 5,332.6 billion yen in 2024, incurring a deficit for the fourth straight year, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.時事通信社

Japan's Nissan Motor Co. has canceled its plan to build a small electric vehicle model in Canton in the U.S. state of Mississippi, it was learned Wednesday.時事通信社

Chinese researchers have found no abnormalities in concentrations of radioactive materials, such as cesium and strontium, in seawater collected near Japan's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, according to a Chinese newspaper report.時事通信社

Yemen's pro-Iran Houthi militants have released the crew of the Galaxy Leader car carrier operated by Nippon Yusen K.K., which was seized in the Red Sea in November 2023, Houthi media reports said Wednesday.時事通信社

An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 5.0 occurred in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, around 2:49 a.m. Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.時事通信社

A man attacked two men and a woman with an apparent knife near JR Nagano Station in the central Japan city of Nagano on Wednesday, leaving one of the two men in his 40s in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest.時事通信社

Riken, a Japanese government-backed research institute, said Wednesday that it has launched the development of a successor to its Fugaku supercomputer.時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will this week announce a plan to spend more than 15 trillion yen, starting in fiscal 2026, to make the country more resilient to natural disasters, government officials said Wednesday.時事通信社

Nippon Ishin no Kai ()削除 on Wednesday unveiled a draft plan to hold primaries to unify opposition candidates for 32 single-seat constituencies in the upcoming House of Councillors election.時事通信社

Japan's Imperial Household Agency is considering a visit by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako to the island of Iwoto, also known as Iwojima, in April to pay respects to soldiers killed in World War II, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.時事通信社

Japanese government expenditures to pay interest on bonds are projected to reach 16.1 trillion yen in fiscal 2028, 1.5 times higher than in fiscal 2025, according to Finance Ministry estimates based on the government's fiscal 2025 budget plan.時事通信社

Harassment by customers is pushing part-time workers to quit their jobs quickly, a survey conducted by Japanese job information provider Mynavi Corp. suggested Wednesday.時事通信社

Japanese people in places linked to Ichiro Suzuki expressed joy and congratulations Wednesday for the 51-year-old Japanese baseball legend's induction into the U.S. National Baseball Hall of Fame.時事通信社

The Tokyo metropolitan assembly election will be held on June 22, the election administration commission said Wednesday.時事通信社

Japan's ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito agreed Wednesday to hold discussions on the introduction of a dual surname system for married couples.時事通信社

The average retail price of regular gasoline in Japan has exceeded 185 yen per liter for the first time in some 17 months, reflecting reduced government subsidies to oil wholesalers, the industry ministry said Wednesday.時事通信社

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed Tuesday to speed up preparations to realize the first summit between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and President Donald Trump early.時事通信社

Japanese Princess Aiko on Wednesday attended the "utakai hajime" New Year's poetry reading ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo for the first time.時事通信社

Former Japanese baseball star Ichiro Suzuki became the first Asian player elected to the U.S. National Baseball Hall of Fame, it was announced Tuesday.時事通信社

Newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. and U.S. technology giants OpenAI and Oracle Corp. will jointly invest 500 billion dollars in four years to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States.時事通信社

The top diplomats of the so-called Quad countries of Japan, the United States, Australia and India affirmed the importance of cooperation among their allies and like-minded nations at a meeting Tuesday.時事通信社

The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, and the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, held a meeting of their leaders Wednesday, effectively starting this year's "shunto" spring wage talks.時事通信社

Retail prices of cabbage in Japan averaged 553 yen per kilogram last week, 3.37 times the usual level, as harvest volume decreased following unfavorable weather conditions, according to an agriculture ministry survey.時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte have agreed to strengthen relations between the two sides.時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will call on both the ruling and opposition parties to hold thorough parliamentary debates in a responsible manner to build a broad consensus as he heads a minority government, a draft of his upcoming policy speech showed Tuesday.時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his Lao counterpart, Sonexay Siphandone, met in Tokyo on Tuesday and agreed to launch talks between the two countries' vice foreign and defense ministers to boost security cooperation.時事通信社

Takuya Yokota, who heads a group of families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago, urged the Japanese government Tuesday to work with the United States to press the reclusive state to return the abductees.時事通信社

The relaxation of visa requirements for Chinese visitors, which was announced by the Japanese government last month, attracted criticism Tuesday at a meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.時事通信社

Scandal-tainted Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. said Tuesday that its current president, Satoshi Yamane, will step down and executive officer Norikazu Toyoda will assume the presidency.時事通信社

Japanese internal affairs minister Seiichiro Murakami on Tuesday called for a swift and independent probe into a sex scandal centered around television personality Masahiro Nakai, including on the reported involvement of a Fuji Television Network Inc. employee.時事通信社

A U.S. Marine Corps Osprey transport aircraft has accidentally dropped a cargo pallet weighing 400-450 kilograms into waters near Ie Island in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, prefectural officials said Tuesday.時事通信社

Nissan Motor Co. will end production of its AD commercial van in November, company officials said Tuesday.時事通信社

The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, on Tuesday released guidelines for its member companies on this year's "shunto" spring wage negotiations, urging them to consider pay scale hikes.時事通信社

Japan's industry ministry on Tuesday named Tama Home Co. and two other companies as the worst in price negotiations with their suppliers.時事通信社

Japan's industry minister, Yoji Muto, said Tuesday that his country needs to scrutinize the potential impact on Japanese companies of possible tariff measures by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.時事通信社