Three opposition parties including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan jointly submitted a bill Monday to make school lunches free at public elementary and junior high schools.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

The Japanese government drew up on Tuesday a basic concept for the promotion of regional revitalization, aiming to realize economic growth and maintain the functions of society even as the country's population continues to decline.Af 時事通信社

By Masaru UranoAf 時事通信社

French automaker Renault SA said in a statement Monday that it will "consider all options based on the best interest" of the group and its stakeholders "as the main shareholder" of Japan's Nissan Motor Co.Af 時事通信社

Japan's Kyushu Railway Co., or JR Kyushu, said Monday that it will withdraw from the passenger ship business operated by a subsidiary.Af 時事通信社

China-linked buyers accounted for the largest portion of non-Japanese individuals and entities that acquired land and structures near areas considered significant in terms of Japan's national security in fiscal 2023, a government survey showed Monday.Af 時事通信社

Japan Post Co. on Monday began a lawsuit against Yamato Transport Co. for damages of 12 billion yen over a review of a collaborative project.Af 時事通信社

Japan's Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission on Monday filed a criminal complaint with public prosecutors against a judge seconded to the Financial Services Agency for alleged insider trading.Af 時事通信社

Hiroshi Suda, the first president of Central Japan Railway Co., or JR Tokai, died of old age on Dec. 13. He was 93.Af 時事通信社

Japan and South Korea agreed Monday to make preparations to mark the 60 years since the normalization of their diplomatic relations next year, including by arranging exchange programs.Af 時事通信社

Public prosecutors on Monday sought a 10-month prison term for Stefan Kaufmann, former president and CEO of major Japanese optical equipment maker Olympus Corp., on suspicion of obtaining banned drugs.Af 時事通信社

The Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau has concluded that Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.'s expenses to entertain Self-Defense Force members were not tax-deductible, informed sources said Monday.Af 時事通信社

Nagano District Court on Monday sentenced a former member of the Nagano prefectural assembly to 19 years in prison for choking his wife to death.Af 時事通信社

Japan's infrastructure ministry plans to promote regional development centering around the country's "michi no eki" roadside rest stations by creating a framework to support such efforts through cooperation among various government ministries and agencies.Af 時事通信社

Nippon Life Insurance Co. President Hiroshi Shimizu emphasized in a recent interview that the key to growth in the Japanese market amid a falling population is to expand interactions with customers through the use of digital technologies and local contribution activities.Af 時事通信社

Japanese Princess Aiko has been diagnosed with influenza, the Imperial Household Agency said Monday.Af 時事通信社

A memorial ceremony was held Monday for the five Japan Coast Guard members killed in the collision between a JCG plane and a Japan Airlines passenger aircraft that occurred at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Jan. 2 this year.Af 時事通信社

Vietnam's first subway service has begun operating in Ho Chi Minh City, southern Vietnam, as part of an urban railway line built with yen loans under Japan's official development assistance program.Af 時事通信社

Japanese Emperor Emeritus Akihito, the father of Emperor Naruhito, turned 91 on Monday.Af 時事通信社

Japan's Fair Trade Commission plans to issue a cease-and-desist order against Google for violating the antimonopoly law, people familiar with the matter said Sunday.Af 時事通信社

Over 2,500 people staged a rally in the city of Okinawa on Sunday to protest sexual assaults on local girls by U.S. servicemen stationed in the southern Japan prefecture of Okinawa.Af 時事通信社

Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are expected to announce as early as Monday the start of their talks on a possible merger, people familiar with the matter said.Af 時事通信社

In Minamisoma, a city in Fukushima Prefecture that was hit hard by tsunami in 2011, a local space startup is aiming to launch a rocket from a flying balloon in fiscal 2025, which starts next April.Af 時事通信社

The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force will resume flights of its Osprey transport aircraft after taking necessary safety action, the Defense Ministry said Saturday.Af 時事通信社

Senior Japanese and South Korean diplomats agreed Friday to enhance economic ties between the two countries further despite the political turmoil in South Korea following President Yoon Suk-yeol's short-lived martial law decree.Af 時事通信社

Japan and Vietnam reaffirmed Friday that Japan remains a preferred partner for the Southeast Asian country's plans to build a nuclear power plant.Af 時事通信社

The Japanese government plans to reduce the official prices for nearly half of all drugs under the public health insurance program in its fiscal 2025 revision, informed sources said Friday.Af 時事通信社

Yoshio Taniguchi, the noted Japanese architect who designed a new building of New York's Museum of Modern Art and Tokyo Sea Life Park, died of pneumonia Monday morning, it was learned Friday. He was 87.Af 時事通信社

The Justice Ministry plans to start discussions as early as next spring to review Japan's retrial system for criminal cases in which guilty verdicts have become final, government sources said Friday.Af 時事通信社

The Diet, Japan's parliament, enacted a bill Friday to oblige lawmakers to disclose the uses of allowances paid to cover the costs for documents, communications, transport and lodging, and return the amount unused.Af 時事通信社

The Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce in Japan, or UCCJ, which supports economic exchanges between the two countries, held its first board meeting at the Ukrainian Embassy in Tokyo on Friday.Af 時事通信社

The Diet, Japan's parliament, voted Friday to extend its current extraordinary session by three days until Tuesday to enact three political reform bills.Af 時事通信社

A panel of Japan's ruling bloc decided Friday to postpone a decision on the detailed route of the planned section of the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train line that would connect Tsuruga and Shin-Osaka stations.Af 時事通信社

The total number of teachers and other school staff punished or reprimanded for sexual crimes and violence in Japan hit a record high of 320 in fiscal 2023, an education ministry survey showed Friday.Af 時事通信社