JIJI English News-時事通信英語ニュース-

Tokyo police have arrested a 23-year-old man on suspicion of drunken driving of a vehicle modified to look like an unmarked police car.

A team of Japanese researchers has discovered traces of an asteroid collision in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido that may have caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period some 66 million years ago.

The Bank of Japan should raise its policy interest rate at an appropriate pace to counter inflation, Policy Board member Junko Koeda said Thursday.

Cindy McCain, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, in a recent interview, expressed appreciation for Japan's continued contributions as the organization struggles with financial difficulties.

Japan's crude oil imports from the Middle East plunged 67.2pctin April from a year earlier amid escalating tensions involving Iran, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report Thursday.

Japan introduced a fully digital civil litigation system Thursday, allowing civil lawsuits to be conducted entirely online, from filing complaints to receiving judgments.

Japan's seasonally adjusted core machinery orders in March fell 9.4pctfrom the previous month, the Cabinet Office said Thursday.

Fashion trends that emphasize individuality without regard for gender norms, such as men using parasols and women wearing neckties, are spreading among young people in Japan, mainly those in Generation Z, who are aged around 15 to 30.

Visiting U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday criticized superpowers over a series of conflicts around the world.

Mizuho Bank and Rakuten Bank will form a capital and business alliance, with the former set to acquire shares in the latter on Oct. 1, the parent companies of the two Japanese banks said Wednesday.

Two employees of Japanese real estate developer Mori Building Co. were injured in Tuesday's knife attack in Shanghai, the company's president, Shingo Tsuji, said Wednesday.

Japan's industry ministry plans not to make a power-saving request this summer, it was learned Wednesday.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan, or NUMO, said Wednesday that it has started a literature survey on the feasibility of constructing a final disposal facility for highly radioactive waste on Minamitorishima, a remote Tokyo island in the Pacific.

The U.S. National Football League is exploring the possibility of holding regular season games in Japan, according to several U.S. media reports.

Japanese fishery company Yamada Suisan Co. said Wednesday that it will start the world's first trial sales of "kabayaki" grilled eels from complete aquaculture on May 29.

Police arrested a 37-year-old former employee of Japan Post Co. on Wednesday over aggravated bribery in connection with a contract for collection services.

Teenage suspects in last week's high-profile robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, have told police investigators that they had been threatened with the killing of their families and friends if they did not take part in the crime, it was learned Wednesday.

A Japanese public-private working group is considering actively shutting down financial systems as an option to deal with possible cyberattacks that utilize Claude Mythos, an artificial intelligence model developed by U.S. startup Anthropic, it was learned Wednesday.

Japanese machinery maker Hitachi Ltd. and auto parts maker Astemo Ltd. said Wednesday that they have teamed up to develop artificial intelligence for autonomous vehicles.

The Naha branch of Fukuoka High Court ruled Wednesday that the Feb. 8 election for Japan's House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the country's parliament, was constitutional in terms of vote-value disparities.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Wednesday that the country would not need to issue a large amount of Japanese government bonds to finance an envisaged supplementary budget for fiscal 2026.

The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan in April fell 5.5pctfrom a year before to 3,692,200, down for the first time in three months, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday.

Japan's Environment Ministry has said it will start surveys in late June on bear habitats and populations in the Tohoku northeastern region and some areas in nearby Niigata Prefecture.

A hall linked to Buddhist saint Kukai on Miyajima Island burned to the ground on Wednesday, local police and firefighters in the city of Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, said the same day.

Japanese garden designer Kazuyuki Ishihara won a silver-gilt medal at the Chelsea Flower Show starting in London on Tuesday.

The Japanese government has called on China to strictly punish the suspect after two Japanese nationals were injured in an attack at a restaurant in Shanghai on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Wednesday.

The liquidator of the Unification Church, a controversial religious group ordered to disband, on Wednesday began accepting claims from victims who were forced to make large donations to the group.

A strong earthquake struck southwestern Japan on Wednesday, measuring upper 5, the fourth-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, on an island in Kagoshima Prefecture, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama on Tuesday warned of risks of Asian countries' heavy reliance on the Middle East for oil and other products amid the war in Iran.

A mother and her daughter have been found dead and bleeding in their house in the city of Tatsuno, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan.

A register of people who died from the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 was aired at a memorial park in the western Japan city on Wednesday for its upkeep.

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Tuesday that her Group of Seven counterparts showed their understanding on Japan's recent yen-buying, dollar-selling market intervention.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will deliver a speech to the Diet, the Japanese parliament, on May 28, it was learned Wednesday.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has called on the government to consider making My Number personal identification card ownership mandatory.

The Development Bank of Japan will strengthen its investment operations as part of corporate culture reform, President and CEO Seiji Jige has indicated.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung have highlighted through their trips to each other's hometown improved bilateral ties amid the challenging security environment.

U.S. President Donald Trump has purchased shares in Kura Sushi USA Inc., a unit of Japanese conveyor belt sushi restaurant chain Kura Sushi Inc., for 1 million to 5 million dollars, it was learned Tuesday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post Tuesday that excess volatility in foreign exchange rates is "undesirable."

A man with a fruit knife attacked three people around noon on Tuesday at a Japanese restaurant in Shanghai World Financial Center, a Japanese-developed office building in the financial district of the Chinese city.

Finance ministers and top central bankers from the Group of Seven major industrialized nations expressed their concerns Tuesday that global economic uncertainty is increasing risks to growth and inflation amid the continuing turmoil in the Middle East.

The administration of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to submit a fiscal 2026 supplementary budget bill to the Diet in early June, it was learned Tuesday.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., Fujitsu Ltd. and SoftBank Corp. said Tuesday they have agreed to collaborate to develop an app to support people's daily health management and treatment by utilizing data managed by medical institutions.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung confirmed Tuesday that the two nations will consider concrete measures for energy security cooperation, such as mutually supplying crude oil and bolstering oil reserves, in view of the prolonged turmoil in the Middle East.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will visit New Delhi from Sunday through May 27 to attend a meeting of foreign ministers from the Quad countries--Japan, the United States, Australia and India, the Japanese government said Tuesday.

Two high courts in Japan on Tuesday ruled that the February general election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the country's parliament, was constitutional in terms of vote-value disparities.

A suprapartisan group of Japanese lawmakers confirmed Tuesday that they will hold thorough discussions in the Diet on a bill to reform the country's retrial system, according to the group's head, Masahiko Shibayama of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, the largest umbrella organization for labor unions in the country, urged the government on Monday not to loosen rules governing discretionary work arrangements.

Four 16-year-old boys arrested as suspected perpetrators of last week's high-profile robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan, met the couple suspected of ordering them to commit the crime for the first time on the day of the incident, investigative sources said Tuesday.

Japan's Hitachi Ltd. said Tuesday that it has begun collaborating with U.S. startup Anthropic to develop systems for infrastructure, including electricity transmission and railways, by using Anthropic artificial intelligence models.

Japan's House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament, on Tuesday passed a bill to establish a disaster management agency, which oversees the government's disaster prevention and response measures.

Japanese prize-winning author Aiko Sato, also known as a renowned essayist, died of old age in Tokyo on April 29. She was 102.