JIJI English News-時事通信英語ニュース-

The mayor of Hitachiomiya in Ibaraki Prefecture said Wednesday that the eastern Japan city will accept a literature survey for choosing a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants in the country.

Tokyo District Court on Wednesday found that human voices are subject to protection under publicity rights, which allow celebrities to monopolize the commercial value derived from their names and portraits.

A Japanese court on Wednesday sentenced a man to 20 years in prison for stalking and murdering his former girlfriend in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, in December.

Nidec Corp. suffered a consolidated net loss of 564.6 billion yen in fiscal 2025, which ended in March this year, the scandal-hit major Japanese motor maker's securities report showed Wednesday.

The U.S. military is planning to bring a Typhon mobile intermediate-range missile launcher to its Kadena Air Base in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa as early as mid-October for storage there.

Toys "R" Us plans to stop operating stores in Japan, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

Major Japanese motor manufacturer Nidec Corp. is considering the sale of its electronic component subsidiary, Nidec Components Corp., informed sources said Wednesday.

The number of food items in Japan whose prices have been raised or are set to be raised this year stands at 20,187, surpassing 20,000 for two years in a row, a survey by Teikoku Databank Ltd. showed Wednesday.

Japanese opposition party Komeito decided Wednesday to appoint former party policy chief Mitsunari Okamoto as its new leader.

So-called fast pass services that allow customers to receive priority entry for a fee are increasingly being adopted by restaurants, proving particularly popular among young people and tourists who want to skip waiting in line.

Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako arrived in Kumamoto Prefecture on Wednesday to comfort people affected by a powerful earthquake that struck the southwestern Japan prefecture in July and to thank those involved in relief efforts.

Japan's industrial output fell 1.7pctfrom the previous month in August, down for the second consecutive month amid the impact of recent natural disasters, government data showed Wednesday.

The International Criminal Court said it will move its annual meeting of member states from New York to The Hague over concerns that U.S. sanctions could restrict participation.

Electricity rates for October usage will hit record highs at all 10 major Japanese utilities due to the end of a government subsidy, with energy prices remaining elevated amid turmoil in the Middle East.

The Japanese government has approved the lifting of sanctions imposed on 16 organizations linked to Syria.

A startup linked to the University of Osaka said Tuesday that it had transplanted a sheet of heart muscle cells made from induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells into a woman in her 50s with severe heart failure, marking the first transplant of a regenerative medicine product using iPS cells.

Japan's Kanoa Igarashi and Mirai Ikeda won gold medals in the men's and women's shortboard events, respectively, at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Tuesday, with surfing making its official debut as a sport at the quadrennial event.

Nidec Corp. President and CEO Mitsuya Kishida, 66, resigned Tuesday, the major Japanese motor manufacturer said.

The maximum vote-value disparity among single-seat constituencies for Japan's House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, was 2.275 times, according to the final 2025 national census data released by the internal affairs ministry Tuesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her Mongolian counterpart, Nyam-Osor Uchral, agreed Tuesday that Japan will provide yen loans to support the expansion of Chinggis Khaan International Airport in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar.

Japan's delegation to the upcoming Asian Para Games held a team-forming ceremony at a hotel in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The average wage for workers at private-sector companies in Japan rose 1.9pctfrom the previous year to a record 4.87 million yen in 2025, a survey by the National Tax Agency showed Tuesday.

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, or JAMSTEC, said Tuesday it will take delivery of a new Arctic research vessel, Mirai II, on Dec. 18.

The number of foreigners with specified skilled worker status of residence in Japan hit a record high of 444,256 as of the end of June, up 13.8pctfrom the end of 2025, the Immigration Services Agency of Japan said Tuesday.

Staff of the Toyama city government may have inflated the central Japan city's population in the 2025 census, it was learned Tuesday.

October will see price changes in products and services that are part of people's daily lives in Japan, including a tax cut on beer and levy hikes on quasi-beer and heat-not-burn tobacco products.

Japan's Justice Ministry is set to launch a study group to discuss raising damages for online defamation and other measures to address the growing problem of infringements of personal rights on social media, Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita suggested Tuesday.

University of Tokyo professor Yuko Fujigaki, who has been elected the institution's next president, on Tuesday expressed her commitment to lead the academic world both at home and abroad.

Japanese volleyball player Rui Takahashi, who belongs to the Suntory Sunbirds Osaka team, came out as gay in a social media post on Tuesday.

Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako are expected to visit Iwate and Miyagi prefectures in late March to observe reconstruction efforts following the devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

Former Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Beijing on Tuesday, a day after the Japanese politician held talks with Wang Yi, China's top diplomat.

Japan's labor ministry said in an annual report released Tuesday that so-called meta-skills, including logical thinking and problem-solving skills, are becoming essential for workers amid the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence technology.

Japan's total population, including foreign residents, was 122,972,528 as of Oct. 1, 2025, shrinking by 3,173,571, or 2.5 pct, from five years earlier, census data released by the internal affairs ministry showed Tuesday.

Former Yokohama Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka, who resigned in early September over a power harassment scandal, announced Tuesday that he will run as an independent in the Oct. 18 mayoral poll in the city south of Tokyo.

Tokyo police have arrested a 53-year-old man for allegedly providing real estate client information to a "tokuryu" loosely organized anonymous criminal group and being involved in an attempted robbery, it was learned Tuesday.

Mori Building Co. and others showcased a demonstration in Tokyo on Monday of a suitcase-shaped robot equipped with artificial intelligence that can guide visually impaired people.

Wang Yi, China's top diplomat, urged Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to correct her remarks about Taiwan during his meeting in Beijing Monday with former Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Japan's Imperial Household Agency has released photographs of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako taken during their visit to Ghibli Park, a theme park in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture, on Sept. 20.

Sogo & Seibu Co.'s Seibu department store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward will close its doors for the last time Wednesday, bringing an end to its 58-year history of shaping youth culture.

Japan confronted China and North Korea at the U.N. General Assembly on Monday over the U.N. Charter's enemy state clauses, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called for the clauses to be deleted in her U.N. speech on Sept. 22.