JIJI English News-時事通信英語ニュース-

North Korea test-fired tactical ballistic missiles with a new autonomous navigation system into the Sea of Japan on Friday, the reclusive country's state media said Saturday.

James Auer, a former U.S. Department of Defense official for Japan affairs, died in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday at the age of 82, informed sources said.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel on Friday visited Yonaguni Island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's westernmost island near Taiwan, in an apparent bid to keep China's growing military pressure in check.

The Diet, Japan's parliament, on Friday enacted a bill to promote the use of hydrogen energy for a carbon-free society.

Nozomi bullet trains on Japan's Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines will be operated with all-reserved seating from Aug. 9 to 18, their operators said Friday.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party submitted a bill to the House of Representatives on Friday to revise the political funds control law in the wake of its "slush fund" scandal.

Japan's political parties will aim to compile a plan on securing a sufficient number of Imperial Family members during the ongoing session of parliament, House of Representatives Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga said Friday.

Itochu Corp., KDDI Corp., Toyota Industries Corp., Mitsui Fudosan Co. and Mitsubishi Estate Co. said Friday that they will collaborate in developing an efficient logistics system using digital technology.

Shinji Ishimaru, the 41-year-old mayor of Akitakata in the western Japan prefecture of Hiroshima, said Friday that he will run as an independent candidate in the July 7 gubernatorial election in Tokyo.

Japan's new Ambassador to South Korea Koichi Mizushima on Friday vowed efforts for further development of ties between the Asian countries.

The Philippine government said Friday it has agreed to procure five more large patrol ships from Japan.

Japan's parliament enacted a bill to allow divorced parents to choose shared custody of their children on Friday, a move that will change the country's child custody system for the first time in 77 years.

The House of Councillors' political ethics panel voted Friday to urge 29 lawmakers involved in the ruling Liberal Democratic party's "slush fund" scandal to attend a hearing on the scandal.

Japan's crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant started the second release for fiscal 2024 of treated water, which contains small amounts of radioactive tritium, into the sea on Friday.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan on Friday, the South Korean military said.

Japan's parliament Friday enacted a bill to make webcasts of television programs mandatory for public broadcaster NHK, or Japan Broadcasting Corp., just like conventional broadcasting.

Japan has lodged protests with China and Russia after they referred to treated water being released from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant as "nuclear contaminated," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Friday.

The head of political group Tsubasa no To ()削除 and two other people were arrested Friday for allegedly obstructing speeches by opponents in a parliamentary by-election in Tokyo last month.

A House of Representatives committee Friday approved legislation to replace the foreign technical intern program with a new training scheme to allow foreigners to work in Japan for the medium to long term.

Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Friday that it will start the first round of demonstration tests to utilize My Number health insurance cards when transporting patients by ambulance at three fire departments on Thursday.

Japan's parliament Friday passed legislation to introduce the "blue ticket" fine system under which bicycle riders pay fines for minor traffic violations to escape criminal punishment.

Japanese power generation company Jera Co. will invest about 5 trillion yen for decarbonization, partly to replace fuels for thermal power plants with ammonia and hydrogen.

U.S. information technology giant Meta Platforms Inc.'s Oversight Board on Thursday started soliciting public opinions about a post criticizing Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on its Threads text messaging app.

The Japanese government has decided to provide emergency relief supplies such as tents and blankets for people in northern Afghanistan hit by massive floods.

The 7-Eleven convenience store chain this week marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of its first outlet in Japan, where convenience stores have become essential infrastructure for everyday life.

Nippon Life Insurance Co. said Thursday that it will invest about 3,838 million dollars in U.S. pension services giant Corebridge Financial Inc. to make it an equity-method affiliate.

Central Japan Railway Co., or JR Tokai, will briefly suspend drilling work at a tunnel for the planned Chuo Shinkansen magnetic levitation train line, after water levels in nearby wells decreased, President Shunsuke Niwa said Thursday.

Chinese People's Liberation Army officers attended a welcome event in Tokyo on Thursday during their first visit to Japan under a bilateral uniformed officer exchange program in five years.

Japan's Supreme Court will take measures to accommodate disabled plaintiffs in five damages lawsuits over forced sterilization under the now-defunct eugenic protection law, including setting up ramps for wheelchair users, it was learned Thursday.

Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it will invest about 10 trillion yen to promote the development and production of electric vehicles in the decade through fiscal 2030, double the amount the Japanese automaker earmarked under its previous plan in April 2022.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. over fraudulent social media ads using his name and images without permission.

The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Thursday rebutted repeated remarks by a U.S. Republican heavyweight trying to justify the August 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of the Japanese cities.

Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it will cut up to 4,000 jobs as part of efforts to raise the ratio of operating profit in revenue from slightly over 1pctat present to 10pctin fiscal 2026, which ends in March 2027.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his new Singaporean counterpart, Lawrence Wong, held telephone talks on Thursday and agreed to strengthen ties between their nations.

Panels of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved on Thursday a plan to disclose the usage of so-called policy activity funds if the amount paid by political parties to their lawmakers exceeds 500,000 yen.

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan departed the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, on Thursday after nine years of deployment in Japan.

Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are considering collaborating to develop in-car software, it was learned Thursday.

Tokyo police on Thursday sent to public prosecutors papers on an 18-year-old male applicant for admission to Waseda University for allegedly leaking entrance examination questions online in February by using smart glasses capable of taking pictures.

The Japanese Defense Ministry is alarmed after a video of its crucial destroyer Izumo, apparently taken by a drone that flew over it, was posted on Chinese social media.

Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's cabinet edged up to 18.7pctin May, a Jiji Press opinion poll showed Thursday.

Japan will develop rocket motors and propulsion components for a new system to be developed jointly with the United States for intercepting hypersonic weapons, according to an agreement signed by the two countries.

Japanese police are investigating possible links between recent serial robberies in the country's mountainous areas and two Vietnamese men who have been arrested on other charges, according to investigative sources.

Japan Post Holdings Co. has said that it made U.S. insurance giant Aflac Inc. an affiliate under the equity method.

Japanese composer Taro Kida, who worked on memorable commercial songs such as for "Kani Doraku" crab restaurants and "Nissin Demae Iccho" instant noodles, died on Tuesday. He was 93.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, on Wednesday failed to reach an accord on their planned joint bill to revise the political funds control law, and the LDP is now expected to submit such a bill on its own.

Japanese chipmaker Rapidus Corp. signed a memorandum on Wednesday to cooperate with U.S. chip startup Esperanto Technologies Inc. in developing low power-consumption chips for data centers in the coming era of artificial intelligence.

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an met with Japanese ruling party officials, including former Prime Minister Taro Aso, in Tokyo Wednesday in his first visit to Japan since assuming office in 2022.

Honda Motor Co. is shedding over 1,000 jobs at a joint venture in China through buyout packages, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

Japan's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant will start the second round of discharges of tritium-containing treated water for fiscal 2024 on Friday, its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., said Wednesday.