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The New Year's Greetings ceremony was held at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Thursday, the first day of 2026, with Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako receiving greetings from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and others.

China appears to be approaching South Korea to form a joint diplomatic front against Japan amid bilateral tensions triggered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on a Taiwan contingency.

In her New Year's message on Thursday, the first day of 2026, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that she will press ahead with necessary reforms, without fearing change.

Natsuko Nakatani creates "kamishibai" picture shows that bring to life stories drawn from myths and the experiences of people in areas devastated by the major earthquake that struck Japan's Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day 2024.

More than 900 applications needed to close family graves have been filed in the Okunoto area of central Japan since it was hit by the January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake.

Japanese retailers are competing to offer low-priced goods as consumers continue to keep their purse strings tight amid inflation.

In his New Year's message on Thursday, Japanese Emperor Naruhito reflected anew on the preciousness of Japan's peace today.

Yomeishu Seizo Co. has canceled preferential negotiation rights it granted to U.S. investment fund KKR to take the Japanese company private, according to the herbal health tonic maker.

A Japanese business delegation will postpone a planned visit to Beijing, the Japan-China Economic Association said Wednesday.

The Japanese government has conveyed its concerns to China over its military exercises around Taiwan, Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Toshihiro Kitamura said in a statement released Wednesday.

Over 18,000 people are still living in temporary housing two years after a massive earthquake in the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan left about 700 people dead or unaccounted for.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration has begun studying legislation aimed at preventing information theft by foreign entities.

Few members of Japan's conservative ruling Liberal Democratic Party, even those who are considered relatively liberal, dare to openly criticize their ultraconservative leader, Sanae Takaichi, also prime minister, amid unabated high public support for her.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended his Christmas and New Year's greetings to U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders, but not to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

The year-end balance of bank notes in circulation in Japan is estimated at 120,606 billion yen, falling for the third straight year amid the rise of cashless payments, according to Bank of Japan data released Tuesday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday criticized Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, apparently mentioning her remarks from November regarding a possible Taiwan contingency.

A former police official apologized Tuesday over the December 2000 murder of a family of four in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward as the perpetrator in the crime has not been captured yet.

Japanese soccer legend Kazuyoshi Miura, 58, will join Fukushima United in the third division of the Japan Professional Football League, or J. League, the club said Tuesday.

Former Japanese Communist Party leader Tetsuzo Fuwa died of acute cardiac failure at a Tokyo hospital on Tuesday. He was 95.

A Japanese nonprofit organization is calling for consumers to choose emergency portable toilets that meet its quality standards.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average closed above 50,000 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Tuesday, the final market day of 2025, marking its highest year-end finish.

Yomeishu Seizo Co. has granted U.S. investment fund KKR preferential negotiation rights to take the company private, officials at the Japanese herbal health tonic maker said Tuesday.

A Japanese federation of labor unions at small and midsize machinery and metal makers will highlight the plight of workers in next spring's "shunto" annual wage negotiations with the management, its leader, Katahiro Yasukochi, has said.

A 26-year-old Japanese tourist has died in the Island of Hawaii after jumping from a cliff into the ocean in the southern part of the island, according to local police.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. aims to double membership of its flagship health-promotion insurance program, Vitality, to 5 million over the next five years, banking on a new related asset-building product to drive this growth, President Yukinori Takada said in a recent interview.

Tokyo police have arrested a man on suspicion of stabbing a woman in the Takadanobaba district of the Japanese capital's Shinjuku Ward on Monday, investigative sources said Tuesday.

The brutal murder of a family of four in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward remains unresolved a quarter century after the crime, despite many clues left at the scene, such as fingerprints and bloodstains, and police continue their desperate search for a person responsible for the fatal assault case.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi moved into the official residence of the prime minister from the dormitory for members of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, on Monday.

Japanese and U.S. officials are working to select which projects in the United States will receive 550 billion dollars in investments and loans from Japan as part of a trade agreement that Tokyo and Washington struck in summer 2025.

A woman was stabbed multiple times in the upper body on a Tokyo street around noon Monday and was taken to a hospital while remaining conscious, according to investigative sources.

Japan's Antarctic research vessel Shirase carved its way through sea ice and reached a fast ice berthing point about 1,700 meters off Japan's Showa Station at 12:44 p.m. on Saturday.

A Bank of Japan policymaker called for raising interest rates "with intervals of a few months" at the central bank's latest policy-setting meeting this month, according to a summary of opinions at the meeting released on Monday.

A 5-year-old boy died after becoming trapped in an escalator at a ski resort in Otaru in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido, according to local police.

The Japanese government is set to begin full procedures to select locations for casino-featuring integrated resorts following Osaka, western Japan.

Japanese Princess Kako, the second daughter of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, turned 31 on Monday.

Youth clinics offering consultations on sexual and physical health concerns at affordable prices are expanding their reach in Japan, though public awareness remains limited.

A Japanese group remains resolved to seek state relief for civilians who sustained injuries and other damage from U.S. air raids during World War II, although it failed to attain the goal in the milestone year of 2025.

Japan's rice policy is at a crossroads as prices of the country's staple food stay around record highs, squeezing households.

U.S. investment company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. plans to keep its shares in five major Japanese trading houses over the long term, even after the exit of CEO Warren Buffett on Wednesday.

Japanese convenience store chain Lawson Inc. plans to launch as early as 2026 a delivery service for over-the-counter drugs at its stores with no pharmacists or registered sellers present, President Sadanobu Takemasu has said.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration is merging and abolishing councils that its predecessors set up within the Cabinet Secretariat and the Cabinet Office one after another.

A survey by a nonprofit organization has shown that 76pctof needy young people in Japan saw an increase in their monthly food expenditure compared with last year amid the ongoing inflation.

Japanese lawmaker Muneo Suzuki has said that he conveyed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's stance on Japan-Russia relations to Moscow during his trip to Russia.

A truck accident on the Kan-Etsu Expressway in Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, has led to multiple collisions involving more than 50 vehicles, leaving one dead and 26 injured.

Japan's Defense Ministry said Friday that it has decided to suspend Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. from bidding on its projects for two and a half months until March 11, citing data falsifications.

U.S. military police in Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, temporarily detained a civilian by mistake in the city of Okinawa on Nov. 22, a panel between the Japanese and U.S. governments said Friday.

The Japanese government plans to raise basic public pension benefits for the fourth straight year in fiscal 2026, reflecting wage increases, it was learned Friday.

The first eight members of Japan's national team for the 2026 World Baseball Classic were announced on Friday, including two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Japan's transport ministry and the Cabinet Office announced on Friday a roadmap for revitalizing the country's shipbuilding industry, aiming to double annual ship output to 18 million gross tons by 2035 through sector realignment.

Several people were attacked with a knife at a Yokohama Rubber Co. factory in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, on Friday evening.

Japan's business leaders have offered a mixed response to the government's draft budget for fiscal 2026, which was adopted at a cabinet meeting on Friday.