Japanese Crown Prince Akishino turned 59 on Saturday.Av 時事通信社

Ten Chinese and Russian military aircraft, including fighters and bombers, conducted long-distance joint flights between the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea on Friday, the Japanese Defense Ministry's Joint Staff said.Av 時事通信社

Wealthy people in Japan failed to declare a total of 65.5 billion yen in taxable income in the year through June, down 33.2pctfrom the year before, a National Tax Agency report showed Friday.Av 時事通信社

Japan's Toshiba Corp. said Friday that it has completed rightsizing its workforce by shedding or reassigning some 3,500 workers.Av 時事通信社

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party received a total of 2,400.37 million yen in donations from companies and industry groups in 2023, down 1.9pctfrom the previous year, the first decline in three years, according to political funds records released by the internal affairs ministry on Friday.Av 時事通信社

Nippon Television Holdings Inc. said Friday that four affiliated television stations of subsidiary Nippon Television Network Corp. will undergo a management integration April 1 next year.Av 時事通信社

The Japanese government Friday adopted a draft supplementary budget for fiscal 2024 with 13,943.3 billion yen in general-account spending, mainly to fund a comprehensive economic package.Av 時事通信社

A Japanese government panel of experts on Friday called for legislation to allow the government to monitor communications for active cyber defense, or pre-emptive action to prevent cyberattacks.Av 時事通信社

Ahead of Christmas, a Santa Claus authorized by a Finnish foundation arrived at Narita International Airport near Tokyo on Friday.Av 時事通信社

The Japan Tourism Agency said Friday that it has created 22 pictograms to show how foreign visitors should behave in the Asian country.Av 時事通信社

Nagasaki author Yuichi Seirai hopes that Nihon Hidankyo's winning of this year's Nobel Peace Prize will help bring fresh attention to the devastation from the 1945 atomic bombings in Japan.Av 時事通信社

A Chinese man admitted charges in a court on Friday that he vandalized Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo in May, by spraying graffiti on a pillar of the shrine.Av 時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged in his policy speech Friday to raise the minimum annual taxable income.Av 時事通信社

Japan's industry ministry said Friday it will provide an aid of up to 70.5 billion yen to auto parts maker Denso Corp. and Fuji Electric Co. for joint production of power semiconductors.Av 時事通信社

No excessive levels of PFAS, potentially carcinogenic chemicals, were found in drinking water supplied across Japan as of Sept. 30, a survey released by the environment and infrastructure ministries on Friday showed.Av 時事通信社

Japan's seasonally adjusted ratio of effective job openings to seekers in October rose 0.01 point from the previous month to 1.25, up for the second successive month, the labor ministry said Friday.Av 時事通信社

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. plans to acquire Japanese robo-advisory firm WealthNavi Inc. to reinforce its asset management services targeting individual customers, people familiar with the matter said Friday.Av 時事通信社

Japan's industrial production in October grew 3.0pctfrom the previous month after seasonal adjustment, marking its second straight month of increase thanks chiefly to rising output of semiconductors and automobiles, the industry ministry said in a preliminary report on Friday.Av 時事通信社

Japanese food makers plan to raise prices for 109 items in December, the lowest monthly figure this year, a survey released by research company Teikoku Databank Ltd. on Friday showed.Av 時事通信社

The core consumer price index for Tokyo's densely populated 23 wards in November rose 2.2pctfrom a year before, growing for the 39th consecutive month, the Japanese internal affairs ministry said Friday.Av 時事通信社

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. is considering conducting a second test to remove nuclear fuel debris from one of the three meltdown-hit reactors at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, company officials said Thursday.Av 時事通信社

A group of middle-ranking officers of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces inspected a Chinese air force facility in Tianjin on Thursday as part of an exchange program between the two Asian neighbors' defense personnel.Av 時事通信社

Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp. and U.S. investment funds were among those that applied in the first round of bidding for Seven & i Holdings Co.'s supermarket and other operations, it was learned Thursday.Av 時事通信社

All 27 House of Councillors lawmakers involved in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's slush funds scandal wish to face a parliamentary ethics panel, it was learned Thursday.Av 時事通信社

A senior official of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, expressed strong anger Thursday over Israel's planned law banning the agency from operating in the country.Av 時事通信社

Dolls featuring people that attracted public attention during 2024 were unveiled to the press in Tokyo by traditional doll maker Mataro on Thursday.Av 時事通信社

The proportion of female presidents at companies in Japan rose to a record high of 8.4pctas of October, a survey by research firm Teikoku Databank Ltd. showed Thursday.Av 時事通信社

The Japanese government and ruling parties have decided to overhaul the country's consumption tax exemption system for foreign visitors to prevent them from reselling duty-free goods in Japan, it was learned Thursday.Av 時事通信社

Domestic vehicle production at eight major Japanese automakers fell 0.3pctfrom a year earlier to some 770,000 units in October, down for three months in a row, according to data released by the companies Thursday.Av 時事通信社

Yoshitaka Ito, Japan's minister for regional revitalization, has displayed an eagerness to support the efforts of motivated local governments for the promotion of regional revitalization, a key policy of the administration of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.Av 時事通信社

Japan's Unitika Ltd. said Thursday that it will withdraw from the textile business, as part of turnaround efforts with the support of public-private fund Regional Economy Vitalization Corp. of Japan, or REVIC.Av 時事通信社

The Japanese Association of Metal, Machinery and Manufacturing Workers, or JAM, would seek an unprecedented pay-scale increase of "15,000 yen or more" per month in next spring's "shunto" wage negotiations, it was learned Thursday.Av 時事通信社

The Japanese government plans to issue an additional 6,690 billion yen in bonds in fiscal 2024 to finance nearly half of a supplementary budget with general-account spending of 13,943.3 billion yen, informed sources said Thursday.Av 時事通信社

Oita District Court in southwestern Japan on Thursday sentenced a 23-year-old man to eight years in prison for driving a car at 194 kilometers per hour to cause a fatal accident in 2021.Av 時事通信社

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba plans to visit South Korea in early January for talks with President Yoon Suk-yeol, people familiar with the matter said Thursday.Av 時事通信社

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, said Thursday that it will demand a pay increase of 6pctor more for small and midsize companies in "shunto" annual spring wage negotiations next year.Av 時事通信社

Japanese textile and chemical maker Unitika Ltd. will withdraw from the textile business, informed sources said Thursday.Av 時事通信社

A fire broke out at the home of Japanese lawmaker Kuniko Inoguchi in Tokyo on Wednesday afternoon, leaving two people dead, police said.Av 時事通信社

Japan's parliament opened a 24-day extraordinary session on Thursday as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba seeks to enact political reform legislation and a supplementary budget.Av 時事通信社

Japanese airlines and travel businesses are voicing expectations for an increase in visitors to China for tourism and business, as Beijing will resume its visa exemption for short-term stays from Saturday.Av 時事通信社

SoftBank Group Corp. is considering additional investment in generative artificial intelligence developer OpenAI, U.S. media reported Wednesday.Av 時事通信社

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office indicted former Olympus Corp. President and CEO Stefan Kaufmann without arrest on Wednesday on charges of receiving illegal drugs.Av 時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba plans to say in his upcoming policy speech before parliament that the government will raise the minimum annual taxable income, it was learned Wednesday.Av 時事通信社

Japan will consider an additional tax break for small and midsize companies with plans to increase their sales by at least 10pcton average over a decade, informed sources said Wednesday.Av 時事通信社

Yu Sato, a 23-year-old Tokyo student hosting online events for listening to the experiences of "hibakusha" atomic bomb survivors, thinks a momentum toward achieving a world without nuclear weapons should be maintained even after hibakusha group Nihon Hidankyo's winning of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.Av 時事通信社

The Bank of Japan said Wednesday that unrealized losses on its holdings of Japanese government bonds widened to a record 13,660.4 billion yen at the end of September from 10.5 trillion yen a year earlier.Av 時事通信社

Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visited the Toshimagaoka cemetery in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward on Wednesday to pay their respects at the grave of the late Princess Yuriko, the Emperor's great-aunt.Av 時事通信社

A Japanese high court upheld on Wednesday a lower court ruling rejecting a request to halt the No. 2 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan.Av 時事通信社

A Japanese communications ministry panel Wednesday stopped short of making a definite decision on whether to scrap a law imposing various restrictions on Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.Av 時事通信社

Japanese police on Wednesday searched four sites allegedly used as bases for goods shoplifted by a group of Vietnamese thieves.Av 時事通信社