Three successor groups of the now-defunct Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult continue to attract new young members 30 years after the cult carried out a deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.Door 時事通信社

The Joint Operations Command at the Self-Defense Forces that directs the operations of the Ground, Maritime and Air SDFs in an integrated manner was launched on Monday.Door 時事通信社

Fukuoka Governor Seitaro Hattori won his second term in Sunday's gubernatorial election in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, defeating three other candidates, including lawyer Koichiro Yoshida.Door 時事通信社

A preview ceremony was held Sunday for the "Osaka Healthcare Pavilion" to be run by the prefecture and city of Osaka at the 2025 World Exposition, which begins next month in the western Japan city.Door 時事通信社

The sample Somei-Yoshino cherry trees monitored by the Japanese Meteorological Agency bloomed in the western Japan city of Kochi and the southwestern Japan city of Kumamoto on Sunday, marking the earliest blooming in the country this spring, the agency said.Door 時事通信社

Ryota Dei of Jiji Press expressed his desire to continue reporting on the Arctic Circle after winning the Vaughn-Uyeda Memorial International Journalistic Prize for fiscal 2024 for his field coverage in the region.Door 時事通信社

The Japanese Foreign Ministry has said that there was an error in the announcement by the Chinese side regarding Friday's meeting in Tokyo between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.Door 時事通信社

Tokyo District Court has told the Unification Church to come to the court on Tuesday over the request for an order to dissolve the religious group, informed sources said Saturday.Door 時事通信社

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Saturday agreed that their countries will work on resolving pending issues and strengthen cooperation to promote a mutually beneficial strategic relationship.Door 時事通信社

The Japanese and Chinese governments on Saturday confirmed that they will make progress in talks toward the resumption of China's imports of Japanese fishery products.Door 時事通信社

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, on Saturday affirmed that their countries as well as the two plus the United States will continue to cooperate in dealing with North Korea's nuclear and missile development.Door 時事通信社

Japanese department store operator Marui Group Co. has announced the launch of a credit card that allows users to make donations to museums and art galleries according to the amount of card usage.Door 時事通信社

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will depart early next week for a trip to Japan and other destinations, the Defense Department said Friday.Door 時事通信社

Bereaved families and others mourned the victims of an avalanche that occurred during a school mountaineering workshop in Tochigi Prefecture in 2017, in a memorial ceremony held Saturday before the eighth anniversary of the accident.Door 時事通信社

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed his determination to strengthen Japan's deterrence capabilities to counter threats from neighboring countries, including China and North Korea, in his speech at the National Defense Academy's graduation ceremony Saturday.Door 時事通信社

The foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea on Saturday confirmed that they will accelerate efforts to hold the next summit of the three countries' leaders in Japan at an early and appropriate time.Door 時事通信社

Journalists from Jiji Press and the Yomiuri Shimbun daily were awarded the Vaughn-Uyeda Memorial International Journalistic Prize for fiscal 2024 at a ceremony in Tokyo on Friday.Door 時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday signaled his readiness to speak before a Diet political ethics panel over his controversial distribution of gift vouchers to new lawmakers of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.Door 時事通信社

The foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea are expected to agree at a meeting in Tokyo on Saturday to speed up coordination to hold a trilateral summit by the end of this year at the earliest, informed sources said Friday.Door 時事通信社

Pay increases offered by Japanese companies so far in this year's "shunto" spring wage negotiations have averaged 5.40 pct, a second tally by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, showed Friday.Door 時事通信社

Shigeru Iwasaki, former chief of the Japanese Self Defense Force's Joint Staff, has been appointed as a political adviser to the executive branch of Taiwan's government, it was learned Friday.Door 時事通信社

Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will visit the Pacific island of Iwoto, also known as Iwojima, on April 7 to pay respects to those who died there during World War II, the Imperial Household Agency said Friday.Door 時事通信社

Osaka District Court on Friday rejected a petition for damages for coercive interrogations in an embezzlement case in which a former company president was acquitted later.Door 時事通信社

Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Friday no change has been made to the Japan-U.S. policy of improving cooperation in military command and control.Door 時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday that a compromise would be a realistic way to solve the issue of whether to introduce a selective dual surname system for married couples.Door 時事通信社

Financial assets held by households in Japan as of the end of 2024 rose 4.0pctfrom a year earlier to a record 2,230 trillion yen, Bank of Japan data showed Friday.Door 時事通信社

A Japanese government expert panel said Friday that residents of Tokyo and nearby prefectures should continue life in their own homes as much as they can in the event of an eruption of Mount Fuji.Door 時事通信社

India plans to promote its art, science and technology, including its space development efforts, at its pavilion in the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, western Japan, from next month.Door 時事通信社

Members of Japan's leading opposition party and the public relations chief of China's ruling party have reaffirmed the importance of developing ties of mutual benefits and trust between the East Asian neighbors.Door 時事通信社

The Japanese and Brazilian governments are planning to draw up a bilateral action plan calling for mutual visits by the two countries' leaders once every two years, it has been learned.Door 時事通信社

Japan's core consumer price index rose 3.0pctfrom a year before in February amid a continued record-breaking advance in rice prices, internal affairs ministry data showed Friday.Door 時事通信社

Japan's National Police Agency said Friday that it will abolish next month skirts in uniforms worn by community police officers at police boxes and other locations.Door 時事通信社

Japan's Morinari Watanabe on Thursday failed in his bid to become the 10th president of the International Olympic Committee, with the position going to Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry.Door 時事通信社

Japan clinched a berth in the finals of the 2026 Soccer World Cup on Thursday, reaching the tournament for the eighth straight time.Door 時事通信社

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plans to outsource production of electric vehicles to Foxconn, a Taiwanese contract electronics manufacturer, people familiar with the matter said Thursday.Door 時事通信社

Bereaved families and others held a memorial ceremony in Tokyo on Thursday to read out the names of victims of U.S. air raids on the Japanese capital during World War II 80 years ago.Door 時事通信社

SoftBank Group Corp. said Thursday that it will acquire Ampere Computing Holdings LLC, a U.S. semiconductor design company, for 6.5 billion dollars.Door 時事通信社

Bereaved family members and others on Thursday mourned victims of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult's sarin nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subway system 30 years ago, which left 14 people dead and over 6,000 others injured.Door 時事通信社

A U.S. district court in Detroit on Wednesday ordered Hino Motors Ltd. to pay about 1.6 billion dollars in penalties over a multi-year emissions fraud scheme, the Justice Department said.Door 時事通信社

The U.S. Defense Department is considering halting the planned expansion of US Forces Japan as the administration of President Donald Trump seeks to shrink the federal government, CNN reported Wednesday.Door 時事通信社

Kyoto Family Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by a married person for gender change in the family register.Door 時事通信社

Former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave gift certificates to lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party while in office, LDP sources said Wednesday.Door 時事通信社

A third-party panel said in a report Wednesday that the Hyogo prefectural government's actions to identify a whistleblower over power harassment allegations against Governor Motohiko Saito violated the whistleblower protection law.Door 時事通信社

The average sales price of Japan's 2024 rice crop to wholesalers hit a record high for the sixth straight month in February, the agriculture ministry said Wednesday.Door 時事通信社

A U.S. Army website about Japanese-American troops during World War II was temporarily taken down, as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration works to eliminate signs of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, from public institutions.Door 時事通信社

The estimated number of visitors to Japan totaled 3,258,100 in February, exceeding three million for the first time on record for the month, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday.Door 時事通信社

Japan's Finance Ministry showed on Wednesday an outline of documents related to a controversial state land sale to school operator Moritomo Gakuen to executives of the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet.Door 時事通信社

Researchers found global warming helped bring extraordinarily heavy snowfall to the Tokachi region of Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, and wide areas along the Sea of Japan coast in early February.Door 時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Wednesday that the gift certificates he gave to new lawmakers of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party were not meant to support political activities, denying that the move was illegal.Door 時事通信社

A former judge accused of insider trading using information obtained while working on loan at the Financial Services Agency admitted to the allegation in a trial at Tokyo District Court on Wednesday.Door 時事通信社