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.時事通信社 による

By Masaru Urano時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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

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.時事通信社 による

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

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

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

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.時事通信社 による

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.時事通信社 による

With many of foreigners visiting Japan drawn to metropolitan areas, diverting them to regional areas holds the key to success in the government's aim of making the country a tourism-oriented nation.時事通信社 による

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration will be taking office with a better Indo-Pacific situation than when President Joe Biden was inaugurated, Deputy State Secretary Kurt Campbell said Thursday.時事通信社 による

A Japanese government survey showed Friday that 78.2pctof respondents feel anxious or worried, the highest level since the government began asking about such sentiment in the annual survey in 1981.時事通信社 による

Japan's ruling camp on Friday adopted its fiscal 2025 tax system reform package featuring a plan to raise the minimum taxable income from the current 1.03 million yen per year to 1.23 million yen, the level proposed by the coalition to the opposition Democratic Party for the People.時事通信社 による

Officials from the Japanese Defense Ministry and the Tokyo metropolitan government on Friday conducted an on-site inspection of the U.S. military's Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo over a possible leak of PFAS, potentially carcinogenic chemicals.時事通信社 による

The secretaries-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner, Komeito, and the opposition Democratic Party for the People agreed Friday to continue talks on raising the minimum annual taxable income from 1.03 million yen at present.時事通信社 による

Japan's Cabinet Office released Friday improved public relations measures regarding the government's emergency alert system for a megaquake that may occur in the Nankai Trough off the country's Pacific coast.時事通信社 による

Japanese police took action against 183,269 people for Penal Code violations in 2023, marking an 8.2pctrise from the previous year in the first growth in 19 years, a Justice Ministry white paper showed Friday.時事通信社 による

Japan's consumer inflation picked up for the first time in three months in November on the back of rising utility fees and rice prices, the internal affairs ministry said Friday.時事通信社 による

Japanese snack manufacturers are trying to keep things fresh for loyal fans of their long-selling products, including through related merchandise and events.時事通信社 による

Toshiba Corp. has fully put its turmoil behind it over the year since it went private through an acquisition led by investment fund Japan Industrial Partners Inc.時事通信社 による

Sony Group Corp. said Thursday it will become the top shareholder in major Japanese publisher Kadokawa Corp. under a capital and business tie-up deal.時事通信社 による

Japan's Morinari Watanabe, one of the seven candidates in the International Olympic Committee's presidential race, has pledged to stage the Summer Olympics in five cities on five continents simultaneously.時事通信社 による

Japan's government and ruling parties are considering convening next year's ordinary session of the Diet, the country's parliament, on Jan. 24, 2025, ruling party sources said Thursday.時事通信社 による

U.S. investment fund KKR said Thursday that it will extend its tender offer for Japanese system developer Fuji Soft Inc. until Jan. 9, 2025.時事通信社 による

Japan's ruling coalition Thursday agreed that their fiscal 2025 tax system reform package will stipulate an income tax threshold hike from the current 1.03 million yen per year to 1.23 million yen.時事通信社 による

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is considering visiting the United States as early as mid-January to hold talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, informed sources said Thursday.時事通信社 による