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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that he had asked Japanese Ambassador to Russia Akira Muto to appear at his ministry after Japan protested Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to a disputed northwestern Pacific island last week.

Fukuoka prefectural assembly speaker Isao Kurauchi plans to step down amid a high-profile money scandal involving the Liberal Democratic Party group in the assembly of the southwestern Japan prefecture, it was learned Monday.

Japanese researchers have found that commoners who lived in urban areas of Japan during the Edo and Meiji periods had diets that were richer in minerals than those of people today.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said Monday it has started removing spent nuclear fuel emitting high-level radiation from the pool of the No. 2 reactor at its disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.

The Japanese government is expected to compile a support package by the end of August for areas affected by last month's powerful earthquake that hit the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kumamoto, it was learned Monday.

Rakuten Group Inc. is set to partner with German military drone startup Helsing SE, it was learned Monday.

A project is underway to build one of Japan's largest artificial intelligence data centers in the northeastern prefecture of Akita, aiming to launch operations as early as 2030.

The six passenger service firms of the Japan Railways Group said Monday that a total of about 13.21 million people used Shinkansen bullet trains and limited express services during the Bon summer holiday period from Aug. 7 to Sunday, almost unchanged from a year earlier.

Japanese Princess Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, on Monday offered her condolences for victims of a major earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture in July and last week's downpour in Chiba Prefecture.

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways are adjusting their flight schedules for a domestic route for the first time to prevent overlaps, people familiar with the matter said Monday.

Kumamon, the popular mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture, interacted with children at an elementary school in the southwestern Japan prefecture on Sunday, after a powerful earthquake struck there late last month, giving them a brief moment of relief in the aftermath of the tremblor.

The Japanese government decided Monday to send tents, blankets and other emergency relief supplies to Colombia, which was struck by a powerful earthquake last week.

A large ferry chartered by Japan's Defense Ministry is providing a place of comfort and relief to people affected by last month's massive earthquake in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto.

Nearly 60pctof people in Japan concerned about sweating have given up certain activities, a joint survey by three pharmaceutical firms found.

The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has completed the fourth round of treated water release into the Pacific Ocean for fiscal 2026, its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., said Monday.

Japan's Defense Ministry is considering establishing an agency to support retired Self-Defense Forces members and their families as early as fiscal 2027.

By Nico Pandi

The yield on the most recent 10-year Japanese government bond issue, a key long-term interest rate, rose to a 30-year high of 2.93pctin Tokyo interdealer trading Monday.

Reconstruction and repair work has begun on a war memorial pagoda and stone monuments dedicated to Japanese soldiers who died during World War II in northern Myanmar after they were damaged by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that hit the region in March last year.

The Japan Coast Guard has said that a Chinese research vessel was spotted extending a wire-like object into the sea within Japan's exclusive economic zone off the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa.

Tomohito Mitsumori, president of Japanese restaurant chain operator Ootoya Holdings Co., has said the company plans to accelerate the opening of its Ootoya Gohan Dokoro restaurants overseas.

Japan's gross domestic product in April-June grew 0.3pctfrom the previous quarter after price and seasonal adjustments, the Cabinet Office said in a preliminary report Monday.

The death toll from record rainfall in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, this month has risen to 10, including cases under investigation for links with the disaster, while one person remains missing, the prefectural government said Sunday.

As Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is believed to be considering reshuffling her cabinet and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's executive lineup in September, a focal point is how she will treat those close to LDP Vice President Taro Aso.

A new-type Shinkansen train, manufactured in Japan, has been delivered to Taiwan for the first time.

Japan won the silver medal in the group all-around competition at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Frankfurt, Germany, on Saturday, securing a spot at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, which is awarded to the top three finishers.

Fumiko Yamamoto still vividly remembers the moment she entered a gymnasium-turned-morgue as a nurse in the aftermath of the 1985 Japan Airlines jumbo jet crash.

Kazuhiko Takahashi, 98, who was the oldest war-bereaved relative to attend Saturday's war-end anniversary ceremony in Tokyo, calls for remembering the fact that some 3.1 million Japanese people died in World War II.

The death toll from this week's record rain in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, has risen to eight, while one man is still missing, the prefectural government's disaster response headquarters said Saturday.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung expressed his intention to develop a future-oriented relationship with Japan in his speech at a ceremony in Seoul on Saturday to mark the 81st anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi did not use the word "remorse" in her speech at an annual war memorial ceremony in Tokyo on Saturday, the 81st anniversary of the end of World War II, apparently out of consideration for her conservative allies and supporters.

The Japanese government held a memorial ceremony in Tokyo on Saturday to mark the 81st anniversary of the end of World War II, with attendees remembering about 3.1 million victims in the war and renewing their pledge for peace.

Four Japanese ministers visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on Saturday, the country's 81st war-end anniversary, while Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sent a cash offering to the war-linked shrine from her own money in her capacity as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Efforts have been made to keep alive the history of public housing for those who returned to Japan from former Manchuria, a northeastern China region once controlled by Japan, and elsewhere after the end of World War II.

The Japanese government has begun considering potential measures against Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to one of the four Russian-controlled islands known as the Northern Territories in and claimed by Japan.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation said Friday it and two major U.S. banks, Citibank and JPMorgan Chase Bank, will jointly provide 4.61-billion-dollar loans for U.S. projects, based on an investment and loan pledge the Japanese government has made to the United State under their tariff agreement.

Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. said Friday that its consolidated net profit in January-June jumped 68.8pctfrom a year before to 99.1 billion yen, hitting a first-half record high, thanks to a weaker yen and the sale of a factory site.

The Chinese and Russian ambassadors to Japan have issued a joint statement claiming that their countries made huge sacrifices in the fight against Nazism and Japanese militarism during World War II.

The Japan Meteorological Agency on Friday raised the volcanic alert for Mount Aso in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto to Level 3 from Level 2, banning entry to the mountain, due to increased volcanic tremor amplitudes and rapidly growing volcanic gas emissions.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday expressed his eagerness to conclude maritime demarcation talks with Japan by the end of this year.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will visit Saudi Arabia and Oman from Monday through Aug. 22 for talks with local officials on normal maritime navigation and infrastructure reconstruction in the Middle East, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi will visit Australia and India for five days from Monday, Japan's Defense Ministry said Friday.

The United Nations on Thursday called for restraint by all parties concerned following a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to one of four western Pacific islands held by Russia and claimed by Japan.

Japanese manga artist Kazuyoshi Takeda, author of a series that depicts a World War II battle on the western Pacific island of Peleliu, emphasized the importance of learning about war so as not to repeat past mistakes.

Japanese companies are promoting efforts to prevent employees from suffering heatstroke as temperatures passed 40 degrees Celsius at some locations in the country this summer.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent visit to one of the four northwestern Pacific islands at the center of a long-standing territorial dispute between Moscow and Tokyo may have been intended to shore up his popularity at home ahead of a national election in September.

A temporary pet care service has been offered to pet owners in areas devastated by a powerful earthquake that last month hit Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, as some evacuation centers refuse to admit their beloved animals.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Friday sent a message to a ceremony to commemorate so-called former comfort women that included neither criticism of nor demands on Japan, reflecting his policy of placing importance on ties with the neighboring country.

Overnight stays by foreign visitors in Japan reached an estimated 179.92 million in 2025, up 55.6pctfrom the prepandemic level in 2019, with 39 of the country's 47 prefectures recording levels above those seen before the COVID-19 crisis, a Japan Tourism Agency survey has found.

Heavy rain in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, left four people dead and another in cardiopulmonary arrest before subsiding in the small hours of Friday, according to the prefectural disaster response headquarters.

Five major Japanese banking groups' combined net profits increased 42.3pctfrom a year earlier to 1,956.4 billion yen in April-June, according to their latest earnings reports released by Monday.