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The Japanese government on Wednesday held the first meeting of an expert panel to discuss rules on land acquisitions by foreigners, aiming to compile a basic policy by summer.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party proposed Wednesday that a general question-and-answer session be held Saturday over the government's draft budget for fiscal 2026, which starts April 1.

The leaders of the major Japanese opposition Centrist Reform Alliance and the Democratic Party for the People on Wednesday sounded positive on their participation in a recently launched suprapartisan national council on consumption tax and other issues.

A Japanese court's order on Wednesday for the dissolution of the Unification Church satisfied victims of the controversial group and their supporters, while people related to the religious organization expressed anger and frustration.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Wednesday that Tokyo "condemns" Iran's actions that destabilize the region, citing, among other things, Tehran's mentioning of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil chokepoint.

Japan and Canada on Wednesday signed a memorandum to work together for the evacuation of their citizens when emergencies occur in other countries.

A Japanese court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to prevent Hokuriku Electric Power Co. from restarting the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at its Shika nuclear power plant in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan.

Japan's government will establish a planned new national intelligence committee by upgrading the current Cabinet Intelligence Committee, in order to strengthen the control tower functions for its intelligence activities, it was learned Wednesday.

Tokyo police have arrested three men for their alleged involvement in employing Vietnamese nationals without work permits at a factory in the city of Fukuroi in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan.

Japanese chipmaker Rapidus Corp. will design and produce image-processing semiconductors on trial for Japanese imaging devices maker Canon Inc. and a Japanese unit of major U.S. chip design company Synopsys Inc., it has been learned.

Japan's Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko will visit Paraguay in mid-August to attend events marking the 90th anniversary of Japanese migration there, the Imperial Household Agency said Wednesday.

A U.S. federal court sentenced a Japanese executive of an international crime organization to 20 years in prison for attempting to smuggle nuclear materials and drugs in collusion with a Myanmarese rebel group, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will host an annual evening meal for ambassadors of Islamic countries to Japan on March 12, sources said Wednesday.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and the Fair Trade Commission searched on Wednesday the offices of East Japan Usami Co. and other companies for evidence of an alleged price-fixing cartel for gas oil sold to businesses.

A Japanese man living in the United States was arrested Wednesday for allegedly splashing an oil-like liquid at a shrine in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, in 2015.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average sank more than 2,000 points Wednesday as fears of a prolonged conflict between U.S.-Israeli forces and Iran continued to spur risk-adverse selling.

The launch of the No. 3 unit of the Kairos small rocket scheduled for Wednesday morning has been canceled, the rocket's developer, Space One Co., said the same day.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday unveiled a plan to establish a panel of experts as early as this summer to discuss ways to strengthen the country's intelligence capabilities, a senior ruling party official said.

Speedskater Miho Takagi, Japan's most decorated Winter Olympian with 10 medals, said Wednesday that she will retire from competition at the end of this season.

Japan will determine case by case whether to exercise its right to collective self-defense in the event of a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz with missiles from Iran or elsewhere, an official has said.

Tokyo High Court on Wednesday upheld a district court order for the dissolution of the controversial religious group Unification Church, stripping the organization of its status as a religious corporation.

Fifteen years after the devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Japan is seeing growing momentum behind "phase free" design, a new approach to disaster preparedness that integrates emergency functionality into everyday items.

A grand piano damaged by the massive tsunami in March 2011 and later restored has been installed at Sendai Airport in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan.

The Japanese government said Wednesday that it has evacuated two nationals living in Iran to neighboring Azerbaijan amid rising tensions in the region spurred by U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has asked his Omani counterpart, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad al Busaidi, for cooperation to ensure the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and the safety of Japanese nationals in the Middle East.

Hiroshima Governor Mika Yokota has underlined the need for local communities to develop "workplaces where women can fully demonstrate their abilities" to address the issue of an increasing number of young women in the countryside moving to urban areas in recent years.

Iranian Ambassador to Japan Peiman Seadat said Tuesday that he has asked Japan to "decisively confront" the latest U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran together with the international community.

Japan's House of Representatives Budget Committee on Tuesday approved a ruling bloc-backed plan aimed at securing Lower House passage of the government's fiscal 2026 budget bill on March 13, despite opposition objections.

Nidec Corp. founder Shigenobu Nagamori bears the biggest responsibility for the major Japanese motor maker's accounting fraud, which came to light last year, a panel of outside experts said in an investigation report Tuesday.

The Japanese government started evacuating Japanese nationals in Iran by land on Tuesday, following the U.S.-Israeli strikes.

The Japanese government is considering establishing an expert panel in late April toward revising its three key national security-related documents by the end of this year, informed sources said Tuesday.

Hiroshima District Court on Tuesday sentenced a former Nomura Securities Co. employee to 18 years in prison for robbing an elderly client in her 80s and setting her home ablaze in an attempt to kill her in 2024.

Messages by U.N. officials have been broadcast since February on a radio program addressing Japanese nationals who were abducted by North Korea decades ago.

Handwritten manuscripts of two unpublished short stories written by Nobel Prize-winning Japanese author Kenzaburo Oe ()削除 around his 1957 literary debut have been found.

Uniqlo casual clothing chain operator Fast Retailing Co. held a welcoming ceremony for new recruits on Tuesday, around a month ahead of other Japanese companies.

Japan may compile a supplementary budget for fiscal 2026 if the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran continues for a prolonged period, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Tuesday.

The Japanese government said Tuesday that it will hold the first meeting of an expert panel on Wednesday to examine how to regulate land acquisitions by foreigners amid concerns about opaque transaction purposes.

A Japanese panel of experts gave the green light on Monday for the health minister to approve the production and sale of Daiichi Sankyo Co.'s vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella.

The pass rates for tests required to convert driver's licenses issued abroad to Japanese ones fell by more than half following the introduction of stricter screenings last October, the National Police Agency said Monday.

The Japanese government is considering Minamitorishima, a remote Tokyo island in the Pacific, as a possible site for the final disposal of highly radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, it was learned Tuesday.

Twenty-three Japanese nationals are aboard four vessels idled in the Persian Gulf as the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed after U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, Japanese transport minister Yasushi Kaneko said Tuesday, adding all have been confirmed safe.

Japan's seasonally adjusted ratio of effective job openings to seekers fell 0.02 point from the previous month to 1.18 in January, hitting the lowest level since it was 1.17 in December 2021, a labor ministry report showed Tuesday.

Japanese publisher Shogakukan Inc. has said it will establish a third-party committee to investigate the company's decisions to publish works by two manga artists on its manga app despite knowing of their past sexual crimes.

PayPay Corp. is aiming to raise up to 1.1 billion dollars through a planned initial public offering on the U.S. Nasdaq market, the Japanese smartphone payment service company said in a regulatory filing on Monday.

A female Japanese prosecutor who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a senior male prosecutor has called on the justice minister and the prosecutor-general to establish a third-party committee to investigate possible harassment among prosecutors nationwide.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has denied any involvement in the virtual currency known as "Sanae Token," which is currently being traded.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Monday called on Iran to ensure safety in the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively shut down in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Japan's ruling bloc on Monday proposed holding a question-and-answer session at the House of Representatives Budget Committee on March 13 to wrap up the chamber's discussions on the government's draft fiscal 2026 budget.

Toyota Motor Corp. and others said Monday that they will raise their tender offer price for Toyota Industries Corp., the original company of the Toyota group, to 20,600 yen per share from 18,800 yen.

Naoe Yakiya, director of UN Women's Japan office, has underlined the importance of ensuring greater diversity among media and advertising professionals to break down gender stereotypes.

Iranian authorities have detained a Japanese national in Tehran since Jan. 20, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki said in Tokyo on Wednesday.