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The average retail price of regular gasoline in Japan fell 13.1 yen from a week earlier to 177.7 yen per liter as of Monday, the industry ministry said Wednesday.

Chinese customs authorities took two Japanese nationals into custody on Jan. 2 at an international airport in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, southern China, people familiar with the case said Wednesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday asked the International Energy Agency for additional joint releases of oil reserves amid soaring crude oil prices.

Sumo wrestler Kirishima will regain his ozeki status, the sport's second highest rank, after capturing his third championship in the March grand tournament that ended Sunday, the Japan Sumo Association decided on Wednesday.

Former Miyazaki Governor Hideo Higashikokubaru plans to run in the gubernatorial election in the southwestern Japan prefecture to be held ahead of the January 2027 expiration of the incumbent's four-year term, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

Sogo & Seibu Co. will close its Seibu department store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward at the end of September, company officials said Wednesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday avoided discussing the possibility of deploying the Self-Defense Forces to the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed because of the war in Iran.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara expressed regret Wednesday over the arrest of a Ground Self-Defense Force member who allegedly broke into the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday.

A Bank of Japan policymaker warned against missing an opportunity to raise interest rates at a monetary policy meeting in January, according to the minutes of the meeting released Wednesday.

Tokyo police have opened a website about "tokuryu" anonymous and transient criminal groups, which are involved in "yami baito" illegal jobs and online and other scams classified as special fraud in Japan.

There appears to be only a slim chance that the Japanese government's fiscal 2026 regular budget will be enacted before fiscal 2025 ends on Tuesday, despite Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's strong push to meet the deadline.

More than 90pctof patients receiving Lecanemab, an Alzheimer's drug, in hospitals across Japan have been able to continue treatment without strong side effects, a group of researchers in the country said.

Police on Tuesday arrested a Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force member for allegedly breaking into the premises of the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo the same day.

Japan's Justice Ministry held the first meeting of its expert panel on prostitution control Tuesday, with participants discussing making it a crime to pay for sex.

Various aspects of generative artificial intelligence are set to be taken up in Japanese high school textbooks that will be used from fiscal 2027.

The Japanese government stresses the need for an early de-escalation of the situation over military clashes between the U.S.-Israeli side and Iran in a draft of its planned Diplomatic Bluebook 2026 released Tuesday.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said Tuesday that it has completed the seventh and final round of treated water release into the sea for fiscal 2025 from its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.

The average monthly pay for full-time workers in Japan rose 3.1pctfrom the previous year to 340,600 yen in 2025, posting a record high for the fourth consecutive year amid continued wage hikes, government data showed Tuesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her Malaysian counterpart, Anwar Ibrahim, agreed Tuesday to cooperate to ease tensions in the Middle East.

Tokyo High Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling sentencing a 47-year-old former MUFG Bank employee to nine years in prison for allegedly stealing customers' assets worth 390 million yen from safe deposit boxes.

Toyota Motor Corp. and others said Tuesday that their tender offer for Toyota Industries Corp., the original company of the Toyota group, has been completed successfully.

Nippon Sheet Glass Co. said Tuesday that it will go private in an effort to rebuild its management.

A visit by Japan's Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, to Iwate and Miyagi prefectures has been postponed as the couple have persistent cold symptoms, the Imperial Household Agency said Tuesday.

The Japanese government adopted a bill to tighten the law against the fraudulent use of mobile phones at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, in response to a surge in investment fraud and romance scam cases.

The Centrist Reform Alliance, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, all opposition parties, agreed on Tuesday to join the National Council on Social Security, a suprapartisan forum to discuss consumption tax relief, starting on Wednesday.

Tokyo stocks rebounded on Tuesday, after two consecutive sessions of heavy losses, as the international crude oil market fell amid eased concerns about the situation in the Middle East.

The Japanese government said Tuesday that it will allocate 800.7 billion yen from its fiscal 2025 reserves to take steps aimed at curbing fuel prices.

An expert panel under the National Council on Social Security, a suprapartisan body to discuss a proposed consumption tax cut and a refundable tax credit system, held its first meeting on Tuesday.

Japan's consumer price inflation decelerated for the third straight month in February, falling below 2pctfor the first time since March 2022, as government subsidies and a gasoline tax cut pushed down energy prices, a government report showed Tuesday.

The Japanese government plans to designate more underground facilities as temporary emergency shelters that will protect people in case of armed attacks.

An exhibition of haiku poems and drawings themed on cherry blossoms by Japanese and U.S. elementary school children began at the Japan Information and Culture Center in Washington on Monday.

The Japanese government has begun preparing a stopgap budget in case that its fiscal 2026 budget bill is not enacted by March 31, the end of fiscal 2025, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Tuesday.

Japan will this month begin prioritizing for heart transplants patients who are at high risk of dying within one month without the procedure.

Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it will funnel a total of 1 billion dollars into two U.S. plants to expand production of electrified vehicles in the country.

The Japanese government Tuesday approved a draft revision to the drone law that calls for expanding no-fly zones to within 1 kilometer of important facilities.

A car veered onto a sidewalk in central Seoul on Monday evening, injuring four people, including two Japanese women, South Korean media reported.

Students in the inaugural class of an Ainu craft school in Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, are set to graduate soon, after completing their training to acquire skills of the indigenous ethnic group.

A baseball jersey worn by Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani in this year's World Baseball Classic was sold for 1,500,010 dollars in an online auction, the official website of the U.S. Major League Baseball organization said Monday.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stressed Monday that her government will make utmost efforts to help small companies raise wages.

Prices of rice sold at about 1,000 supermarkets in Japan in the week to March 15 averaged 3,980 yen per 5 kilograms, down 33 yen from the prior week and falling below 4,000 yen for the first time since last August, the agriculture ministry said Monday.

Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's younger sister, on Monday ruled out the possibility of the country holding a summit with Japan, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Monday that she conveyed during her summit with U.S. President Donald Trump last week Tokyo's support for U.S. leadership for world peace.

Osaka High Court on Monday upheld a lower court ruling that found a 30-year-old women not guilty over the death in 2018 of her then 77-year-old husband, a wealthy businessman nicknamed the "Don Juan of Kishu," in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan.

Ahead of the 10th anniversary of the April 2016 massive earthquakes in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, a special exhibition showcasing postdisaster reconstruction efforts there has opened in collaboration with the popular manga series "One Piece."

The Japanese opposition Democratic Party for the People is struggling to maintain its relevance in national politics after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party won a historic victory in last month's general election.

Japan's agriculture ministry on Monday revised up its forecast for private rice stocks at the end of June to 2.34 million tons on a brown rice basis, up by 50,000 tons from the estimate as of the end of last October.

Japanese companies have offered pay hikes of 5.26pcton a weighted average basis in this year's "shunto" spring labor-management negotiations, the first tally by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, showed Monday.

Japan's top government spokesperson on Monday denied that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had promised support from the Maritime Self-Defense Force to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. will invest 20 billion yen in artificial intelligence over the three years from fiscal 2026, aiming to lift productivity, President Yukinori Takada has said in a recent interview with Jiji Press.

Tokyo stocks dropped almost across the board on Monday, sending the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average down over 3pctfor the second straight market day, amid concerns that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East could be prolonged.

Hiroshima Castle's keep in the western Japan city of Hiroshima in the namesake prefecture has closed after 68 years as a museum due to structural aging.