JIJI English News-時事通信英語ニュース-

Consolidated net profits at 73 listed regional banks and banking groups in Japan totaled 1,251.9 billion yen for the year through March, up 28.5pctfrom the previous year, according to their earnings reports.

The Japanese government decided Friday to send former Prime Minister Taro Aso, a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, to Vatican as a special ambassador to attend the ceremony for Pope Leo XIV's inauguration on Sunday.

Japan's parliament enacted Friday bills to revise laws to make criminal procedures digital, including allowing investigative authorities to receive search and arrest warrants online.

Japan's agriculture ministry on Friday announced a set of measures to help stockpiled rice released by the government reach store shelves more quickly, including the creation of an auction quota for bidders ready to sell rice to retailers soon.

Engine parts of a Self-Defense Force trainer jet that crashed into a pond in Aichi Prefecture on Wednesday are believed to have been found, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Friday.

Japan's parliament enacted a bill on Friday to allow the government to take proactive steps to prevent serious cyberattacks.

Kioxia Holdings Co. said Thursday that its consolidated net profit hit the highest level since its 2019 founding in the year ended last March thanks to brisk sales of flash memory chips to data centers amid the spread of artificial intelligence.

The Japanese government on Friday adopted public pension system reform legislation for deliberations at parliament.

Japan's economy shrank at an annualized rate of 0.7pctafter price and seasonal adjustment in the first three months of this year, the first contraction in four quarters, the Cabinet Office said in a preliminary report Friday.

A Japanese research team led by Kyushu University professor Hiroyuki Sasaki has said it discovered a gene that determines the color patterns of the tricolored calico cat, known in Japan as "mike neko."

Japan's Self-Defense Forces has expanded its operations in the world amid a worsening security environment, under the security legislation allowing the country's limited exercise of its collective self-defense rights, which was adopted by the government 10 years ago.

Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako hosted a dinner for King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at their residence in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is considering revising the bilateral trade agreement with Japan that entered into force during his first presidential term, sources said Thursday.

The Japanese government is considering adding three more sectors to the list of fields covered by its program to grant residency status to foreign workers with so-called specified skills, in order to address labor shortages, informed sources said Thursday.

The Japanese government is set to express grave concern in its upcoming defense white paper over the deepening military cooperation between China and Russia, a draft showed Thursday.

Netflix Inc. has announced plans to stream "Hotaru no Haka" ()削除, an animated film produced by Studio Ghibli Inc., from July 15 in Japan.

Japan's House of Councillors Cabinet Committee on Thursday approved by a majority vote an active cyberdefense bill to allow the government to monitor communications in peacetime to prevent cyberattacks.

Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co. and mobile carrier SoftBank Corp. said Thursday that they will form a comprehensive partnership in the digital finance service area.

The combined net profit of three major Japanese banking groups in fiscal 2024 grew 25.3pctfrom the previous year to 3,926.3 billion yen, hitting a record high for the second straight year.

Japanese police have arrested four individuals for allegedly transferring a driver account of Demaecan, a food delivery service website, to a foreigner who is not qualified to work in Japan.

Japan and the European Union will expand their mutual recognition arrangement for organic food so that a wider range of products can be labeled as organic food for trade between the economies.

Japan's three major mobile phone carriers expect year-on-year rises in their respective consolidated sales in fiscal 2025, reflecting increases in mobile phone rates, according to their earnings reports released by Wednesday.

The search continued overnight through Thursday for the two missing crew members of an Air Self-Defense Force training plane that crashed in central Japan the previous day.

Tokyo police have arrested five people for alleged fraudulent purchases of heated tobacco products with stolen credit card information at a convenience store in the Japanese capital.

Japanese economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa is expected to visit the United States in as early as the second half of next week for the third round of negotiations over Washington's tariffs, people familiar with the matter said Thursday.

The Japanese agriculture ministry is considering releasing 100,000 tons of government-stockpiled rice through auctions planned to be held every month in May-July, informed sources said Thursday.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said Wednesday that its consolidated net profit rose 22.3pctto 1,177.9 billion yen in the year ended last March from the previous year, topping 1 trillion yen for the first time in its history.

Japan Display Inc., a struggling maker of small and midsize liquid crystal display panels, is considering cutting over 1,000 jobs in the country out of its domestic workforce of about 2,700, people familiar with the matter said Thursday.

Infroneer Holdings Inc., the parent of Japanese construction firm Maeda Corp., said Wednesday that it will acquire Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co. for about 94 billion yen.

Uber Technologies Inc. plans to launch a self-driving mobility service in Japan, a company executive said Wednesday.

Japan's Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday issued a cease and desist order to sesame oil makers Kadoya Sesame Mills Inc. and Takemoto Oil & Fat Co. for allegedly forming a price cartel.

Major Japanese automakers expect a substantial negative impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's high tariffs on their earnings for fiscal 2025.

Russia has informed Japan that it will conduct a shooting drill in waters north of Shikotan, one of the four Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands claimed by Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Wednesday.

Japan's industry ministry on Wednesday released a report by an expert panel featuring a target of increasing the number of cybersecurity experts to 50,000 by 2030.

Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday that it will release the new C-HR electric SUV in North America in 2026.

The Japanese government Wednesday presented a draft of a five-year plan aimed at promoting wage hikes at smaller businesses.

A 15-year-old male student arrested for the alleged murder of a woman in Chiba, near Tokyo, said that he wanted to go to juvenile reformatory to escape his complex home environment, according to investigative sources.

Japan's parliament on Wednesday enacted a bill that will allow people to pick up over-the-counter drugs at convenience stores and other outlets without pharmacists.

Four Chinese coast guard ships sailed in Japanese waters near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on Wednesday.

The Japanese government is reacting with both relief and anxiety to an agreement between the United States and China to lower their tariffs.

Japan's Emperor Naruhito planted rice seedlings at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward in an annual tradition Wednesday.

Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi will visit the United States for three days from Thursday to hold talks with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

A Japanese Air Self-Defense Force training plane boarded by two ASDF members crashed into Lake Iruka in central Japan on Wednesday.

A 34-year memorial ceremony for a train collision killing 42 people in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, was held near the site in the city of Koka on Wednesday.

Japan came 14th among 36 developed countries in a latest child well-being survey, up from 20th in the previous survey released in 2020, a report by a UNICEF research institute showed Wednesday.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and mobile carrier SoftBank Corp. will collaborate in the field of digital payment services, it was learned Wednesday.

Sales of beer and quasi-beer products by four major Japanese brewers in April fell 36pctfrom a year earlier in volume, data from Kirin Brewery Co. and others showed.

The body of the person found inside the cab of a truck that fell into a sinkhole created in the collapse of a road in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, in January has been identified as that of the 74-year-old driver of the truck, prefectural police said Wednesday.

Major Japanese trader Mitsui & Co. and Danish renewable energy company European Energy A/S have jointly launched the world's first mass production of environmentally friendly e-methanol.

Sony Group Corp. on Wednesday posted a record consolidated net profit of 1,141.6 billion yen for fiscal 2024, up 17.6pctfrom the preceding year.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday approved draft legislation for pension system reform at a meeting of the party's decision-making General Council.