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Updated: 8 min 46 sec ago
Education ministry probes entrance exams after Tokyo Medical University unfairly excluded women
The education ministry on Friday began a probe into entrance exams at university medical departments after Tokyo Medical University admitted to unfairly lowering the scores ...
Government panel proposes allowing Japanese expats to vote online using My Number ID cards
A government panel said Friday it would be feasible to introduce an online voting system for Japanese expatriates to participate in national elections.Technical hurdles concerning ...
Chugoku Electric Power Co. applies for safety check of new Shimane reactor
Chugoku Electric Power Co. on Friday applied to the government for safety screening of a nuclear reactor it is building, opening up the possibility of ...
Gunma rescue chopper with nine aboard vanishes near Mount Kusatsu Shirane
A Gunma Prefectural Government rescue helicopter with nine people aboard lost contact with air traffic control on Friday morning and may have gone down near ...
Japanese police deploy 80 officers in search for French woman missing in Nikko
Police and rescuers on Friday stepped up search efforts for a French woman who vanished during a trip to Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, in late July.About ...
Family graves a fading tradition in Japan as bereaved opt for cheaper and more convenient alternatives
Last month, a man was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police for leaving human remains at a garbage collection station near his residence in Adachi ...
Economy expands 1.9 percent on annualized basis in April-June quarter
The economy grew more than expected in the second quarter, helped by strong household and business spending and recovering from a contraction earlier this year, ...
Folktales and legends re-enacted and celebrated
The Tokyo Art Foundation (TAF) hosted the opera “Yuzuru” (“Twilight Crane”) at the New National Theater’s Opera Palace in Tokyo on Aug. 1, entertaining a ...
Construction begins on large hydrogen plant in Fukushima
Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization and other organizations said Thursday they have started construction of what will be one of the world’s ...
Okinawa to proceed with late governor’s move to block U.S. base construction
The Okinawa prefectural government held a hearing with local Defense Ministry officials on Thursday over its plan, announced by the late Governor Takeshi Onaga, to ...
As Tokyo shuns ban treaty, leading the way to a nuclear-free world falls to Japan’s citizens and hibakusha
In Nagasaki, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres underlined his solidarity with hibakusha atomic bomb survivors and called them “true messengers” of peace.He acknowledged the power ...
Gov. Takeshi Onaga’s death muddles long-standing U.S. base relocation plan in Okinawa
Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga’s death Wednesday night greatly complicates the already difficult and long-standing question of when, or even if, construction of an offshore replacement ...
Students use VR to re-create Hiroshima bombing
It’s a sunny summer morning in the city of Hiroshima, with cicadas chirping in the trees. A lone plane flies high overhead. Then a flash ...
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike raps state move to bolster system that diverts Tokyo’s tax revenues to other municipalities
The central government’s plan to beef up a tax allocation system that diverts the capital’s revenue to local governments with lower revenue has drawn fire ...
Japan foreign minister and U.N. chief agree on need to keep North Korea sanctions
Foreign Minister Taro Kono and visiting U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres agreed Thursday on the need to maintain sanctions against North Korea to prompt it to ...
Tepco halts sales of souvenirs from Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant following public outcry
Tepco suspended the sale of souvenirs at its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant Wednesday — just eight days after launching the products — ...
Public-private project launched to ease congestion during 2020 Tokyo Games
A public-private project was launched Wednesday with a goal of alleviating traffic congestion in Tokyo during the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics through the distribution ...
Nagasaki mayor presses Japan to lead efforts toward nuclear-free world as city marks 73rd anniversary of A-bomb
Nagasaki marked the 73rd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city Thursday, with its mayor calling for security policies not reliant on nuclear ...
Tokyo exhibition to portray bond between Helen Keller and Japanese Akita dogs
U.S. author and activist Helen Keller (1880-1968) treasured the companionship of dogs throughout her life, including two Akitas from Japan that in the 1930s became ...
Japan to beef up immigration office in preparation for more foreign workers
The government plans to upgrade the Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau to an affiliated agency in April next year in preparation for accepting more foreign workers, ...