Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Thursday that he plans to visit Malaysia and Indonesia in early January.Af 時事通信社

The Japanese government has drafted its new green transformation, or GX, strategy, which includes a plan to concentrate growing industries in areas rich in carbon-free power sources, such as solar and other renewables, as well as nuclear plants.Af 時事通信社

Japan's seasonally adjusted nominal gross domestic product fell below that of California for the first time in the second quarter of this year, NLI Research Institute, a private think tank in Tokyo, said Thursday.Af 時事通信社

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday that uranium has been detected in nuclear fuel debris extracted from one of the three meltdown-hit reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.Af 時事通信社

Japan's health ministry has drawn up a report that includes a plan to require companies to take measures against customer harassment of workers, it was learned Thursday.Af 時事通信社

Japan's Financial Services Agency issued a business improvement order to Aeon Bank on Thursday accusing it of deficiencies in its fight against money laundering.Af 時事通信社

Chisako Kakehi, a 78-year-old death-row inmate known as a "black widow" who was convicted in serial murders using hydrocyanic acid in western Japan, died at the Osaka Detention House on Thursday, the Justice Ministry said.Af 時事通信社

Japan's 10 major electricity suppliers said Thursday that February bills for standard households will be cut by up to some 650 yen, thanks to the resumption of government subsidies.Af 時事通信社

The competition rate of employment examinations for public school teachers in Japan hit a record low in fiscal 2024, the education ministry said Thursday.Af 時事通信社

Prosecutors failed to properly investigate Iwao Hakamata, 88, who was acquitted this year in his retrial for the murder of four people in 1966, Japan's Supreme Public Prosecutors Office said in a report Thursday.Af 時事通信社

Japan's 195 major food and beverage makers plan price hikes for a record 1,380 products in January amid rising logistics and labor costs, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Thursday.Af 時事通信社

Then Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa expressed his skepticism about China's democratization in a summit with then U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1993, Japanese diplomatic documents showed Thursday.Af 時事通信社

Of foreign workers with work-related issues in Japan, one in five cited expensive fees they paid to employment agencies, a labor ministry survey showed Thursday.Af 時事通信社

Japan Airlines said Thursday that a cyberattack has hit its network equipment, causing a system failure and affecting some domestic and international passenger flights.Af 時事通信社

A Japanese panel of experts Thursday called for creating a law allowing the government to gain cooperation from artificial intelligence developers in the event of a serious problem related to AI technologies.Af 時事通信社

The Japanese government said Thursday it expects wage growth in Japan to outpace the country's consumer inflation in fiscal 2025, as in fiscal 2024.Af 時事通信社

A powerful earthquake that hit central Japan nearly a year ago has led to moves to help spread disaster-related information to foreign nationals.Af 時事通信社

Hong Kong-based activist investor Oasis Management Co. has increased its equity stake in Japan's Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., rocked by a high-profile health hazard scandal over its supplements containing "beni koji" red fermented rice, according to a share transaction report.Af 時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged his country's continued support to Ukraine in its war with Russia during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday.Af 時事通信社

Japanese public prosecutors on Wednesday indicted 32-year-old former judge Soichiro Sato without arrest for alleged insider trading.Af 時事通信社

The Japanese government said Wednesday that the country's economy is expected to grow 1.2pctin fiscal 2025, which starts next April, in price-adjusted real terms, unchanged from its previous November forecast.Af 時事通信社

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, agreed at a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday to strengthen communication between the two sides.Af 時事通信社

Tokyo District Court on Wednesday sentenced a Chinese man to eight months in jail for vandalizing Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine.Af 時事通信社

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda warned Wednesday that if the BOJ keeps its policy interest rate at the current low level for a prolonged period, the move could make the central bank's monetary easing "excessive."Af 時事通信社

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Wednesday, in his first visit to China since taking office in October.Af 時事通信社

The Japanese government said Wednesday that it will include 100 billion yen in its upcoming fiscal 2025 draft budget to invest in Rapidus Corp., which aims for domestic production of next-generation semiconductors.Af 時事通信社

Japan's Financial Services Agency will issue a business improvement order to Aeon Bank over deficiencies in its measures against money laundering, informed sources said Wednesday.Af 時事通信社

Japanese education minister Toshiko Abe on Wednesday asked a government panel to consider ways to give schools more discretion to determine class hours and content as part of a planned overall revision of the country's school curriculum guidelines.Af 時事通信社

The average temperature in Japan so far this year has already exceeded its annual record high scored last year, preliminary data by the Japan Meteorological Agency showed Wednesday.Af 時事通信社

The Japanese government is expected to adopt a draft state budget for fiscal 2025 with record general-account spending of around 115.5 trillion yen, sources said Wednesday.Af 時事通信社

The captain and the copilot of a crashed Japan Coast Guard aircraft both misunderstood the air traffic controller's instruction in its fatal collision with a Japan Airlines plane in Tokyo in January, a government report said Wednesday.Af 時事通信社

U.S. mayors and others have sent a letter to President Joe Biden seeking his approval for Nippon Steel Corp.'s plan to acquire United States Steel Corp., it was learned Tuesday.Af 時事通信社

Japan will remain the third-largest contributor to the United Nations' regular budget for 2025-2027, according to a resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.Af 時事通信社

A U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. plans to donate 1 million dollars to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, company officials said Tuesday.Af 時事通信社

Japan presented plans Tuesday to introduce a system allowing the government to temporarily acquire factories making key products to ensure stable supplies during emergencies under its national economic security promotion law.Af 時事通信社

The Japanese government Tuesday decided to raise the so-called adjustment allowances for public school teachers, paid instead of overtime, gradually to 10pctof base salaries from the current 4 pct.Af 時事通信社

The Japanese government Tuesday released a new export strategy featuring a goal of receiving foreign infrastructure orders worth 45 trillion yen in 2030.Af 時事通信社

The Japanese government will include 332.8 billion yen in its fiscal 2025 budget bill to support mass production of next-generation semiconductors, it was learned Tuesday.Af 時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Tuesday that he will aim for a conclusion on the issue of donations from companies and other organizations to political parties by the end of March, as agreed between the ruling and opposition parties.Af 時事通信社

A joint meeting of Japanese government panels Tuesday approved draft plans to fight climate change, including a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60pctfrom the fiscal 2013 figure by fiscal 2035.Af 時事通信社

A South Korean temple that claimed the ownership of a Buddha statue stolen from a Japanese temple will return the statue to the original owner next spring, it was learned Tuesday.Af 時事通信社

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Tuesday that he will visit Beijing on Wednesday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, hoping to reaffirm a mutually beneficial strategic relationship and a constructive and stable relationship between the two countries.Af 時事通信社

The central Japan prefecture of Shizuoka logged the longest estimated average healthy life expectancy for both men and women as of 2022, at 73.75 and 76.68 years respectively, the health ministry said Tuesday.Af 時事通信社

Japanese cultural anthropologist Junzo Kawada, a recipient of the Order of Culture, died of aspiration pneumonia on Friday. He was 90.Af 時事通信社

Nippon Steel Corp. said Monday that it has received a report that U.S. President Joe Biden will determine whether to approve the Japanese company's plan to acquire United States Steel Corp. after a U.S. security review ended without a consensus.Af 時事通信社

Japan's Environment Ministry plans to include PFAS, potentially carcinogenic chemicals, in the list of items subject to mandatory periodic water quality inspections by water suppliers under a law regulating them.Af 時事通信社

Japanese gym operator Rizap Group Inc. unveiled Tuesday a Chocozap small unmanned gym at Aso Kumamoto Airport one day before its opening.Af 時事通信社

Toyota Motor Corp. is working to build on its own an electric vehicle plant in Shanghai for its Lexus luxury brand, informed sources said Tuesday.Af 時事通信社

Japan's National Police Agency said Tuesday that a North Korean hacker group was responsible for the theft of cryptocurrency worth some 48.2 billion yen from Japanese cryptocurrency exchange operator DMM Bitcoin Co.Af 時事通信社

Japan's education ministry said Tuesday that it has approved a 25-year plan to strengthen academic research capabilities that was submitted by Tohoku University, the first recipient of subsidies under a new state program.Af 時事通信社