Japan

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Japan's Fuji Eruption Simulation Causes Unease

It hasn't erupted since 1707, but the government is urging Tokyo residents to be ready

(Newser) - Mount Fuji hasn't erupted since 1707. But for Volcanic Disaster Preparedness Day, Japanese officials have released computer- and AI-generated videos showing a simulation of a potential violent eruption of the active volcano. The videos , released this week, are meant to prepare the 37 million residents in the greater Tokyo...

Outcry Follows Town's Proposed Phone Use Limit

Residents in Toyoake, Japan, object to 2-hour daily cap designed to address health concerns

(Newser) - In a bold bid to combat online addiction and sleepless nights, one Japanese town is urging its residents to limit leisurely smartphone use to just two hours a day. Toyoake, a city in the Aichi prefecture, is floating the proposal that would apply to everyone—kids, teens, and parents...

Wife of Man Who Died After Wrongful Arrest: 'I Will Never Forgive'

Top Japanese officials from police, prosecutor's office apologize to Shizuo Aishima's family at grave

(Newser) - An unusual graveside visit went down this week in Japan, after a businessman there who was wrongfully arrested died after his illegal detention. CBS News notes that Shizuo Aishima, a former consultant for the Ohkawara Kakohki machinery company, was one of three execs unlawfully detained and indicted in March 2020...

Cops Who Thought Bear Killed Elderly Man Have New Theory

Police now say son actually stabbed 93-year-old Fujiyoshi Shindo to death in Japan

(Newser) - When Fujiyoshi Shindo's wife found the 93-year-old's body Monday in a bedroom in their home in the Japanese city of Daisen, authorities initially suspected he'd been mauled by a bear. Looks like an ursine suspect is now off the hook, as police have updated their analysis to...

Japan's Pokemon Happy Meal Promo Ends Poorly

People were buying up the collectors' items, tossing the food outside the stores

(Newser) - Fast-food chain McDonald's Japan has canceled a Happy Meal campaign that came with coveted Pokemon cards, apologizing after resellers rushed to buy the meals and then discarded the food, leaving trash outside stores. The meals, called Happy Sets in Japan, were meant for children. They came with a toy, such...

In Japan, Creepy-Crawlies Are Cool Pets

Bugs are popular in nature-loving Japan, buzzing with lessons about ecology and species

(Newser) - The pet of choice in Japan, as much as cuddly kitties and playful puppies, is the humble bug. The bug has been a key part of Japanese culture from the Heian era classic The Tale of Genji to popular modern-day manga and animation like Mushishi, featuring insect-like supernatural creatures. Japanese...

Japan's Population Decline Is Accelerating

There were more than 2 deaths for every birth last year

(Newser) - Japan's demographic crisis deepened in 2024, as government data revealed nearly a million more deaths than births—a record drop since such tracking began in 1968. The country logged just 686,061 births, the fewest since 1899, while almost 1.6 million people died. For every child born,...

Survivors of Hiroshima Worry on Atom Bomb's 80th Anniversary

As global leaders lean into nukes for deterrence, those who lived through 1945 bombing speak out

(Newser) - Hiroshima on Wednesday marked the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the Japanese city, with many survivors expressing frustration about the growing support of global leaders for nuclear weapons as a deterrent. With the survivors' numbers rapidly declining (the average age now exceeds 86), the anniversary is considered...

Japan Fireworks Festival Goes Badly Wrong
Japan Fireworks Festival
Ends in Chaos
VIDEO
Aug 5, 2025 9:26 PM CDT

Japan Fireworks Festival Ends in Chaos

Fires broke out on 2 launch barges in Yokohama

(Newser) - A fireworks display at a festival in Japan was halted early after fireworks hit two of the eight launch barges packed with fireworks. Organizers of the Yokohoma festival say a launch system malfunction caused pyrotechnics to land on the barges Monday night, causing fires that set off more fireworks, the...

Trump Announces Trade Deal With Japan

He says tariff will be reduced from 25% to 15%

(Newser) - President Trump announced a trade framework with Japan on Tuesday, placing a 15% tax on goods imported from that nation. "This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it," Trump posted on Truth Social , adding that the United States "...

Japan's Ruling Coalition Loses Critical Election

Prime minister vows to stay on

(Newser) - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling coalition failed Monday to secure a majority in the 248-seat upper house in a crucial parliamentary election, further shaking the stability of his government as Japan faces challenges such as rising prices and high US tariffs, the AP reports. Ishiba's Liberal Democratic...

80 Years After the Bomb, Nagasaki Church Gets a New Bell

Bell will officially be hung on Aug. 9, the 80th. anniversary of the bombing

(Newser) - A Nagasaki cathedral has blessed the final piece to complete its restoration nearly 80 years after being destroyed by the second US atomic bomb dropped on Japan: a reproduction of its lost bell restored by a group of Americans. As the AP reports, the new bell was blessed and named...

Massive Convenience-Store Merger Is Off

Circle K owner gives up on effort to acquire 7-Eleven's Japanese parent company

(Newser) - Canadian convenience-store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard has officially scrapped its $46 billion bid to acquire Seven & i Holdings, the Japanese parent of 7-Eleven, after nearly a year of stalled talks. In a sharply worded letter to Seven & i's board, Couche-Tard executives accused the Tokyo-based company of dragging...

Japan's Internet Speed Record Is Mind-Boggling

Experiment is 4M times faster than US broadband

(Newser) - Japanese researchers just set a new milestone in internet speed, and it's one a little hard to fathom. Researchers say they transmitted data at over 125,000 gigabytes per second across a distance of 1,120 miles. To put that in perspective, Live Science notes that it's...

Haru Urara Lost All 113 Races. She's Now a Game Character

Japanese game features famous racehorses reborn as anime characters

(Newser) - The international release of a Japanese mobile game is bringing the story of Haru Urara, one of the least successful racehorses of all time, to a worldwide audience. Haru Urara, who lost all 113 races in a career that ended in 2004, inspired one of the main characters in Uma ...

Markets Fall as Trump Hits Japan, S. Korea With Tariffs

He also warns them not to retaliate

(Newser) - It's expected to be a busy week on the tariffs front, and President Trump just announced his first two moves. Trump sent letters to South Korea and Japan informing them that the US would start collecting a 25% tariff on all goods they ship to the US, effective Aug....

Tell (Your Proxy to Tell) Your Boss to Take This Job, Shove It

Proxy quitters in Japan help workers avoid awkward exits

(Newser) - For lots of people, finally getting to tell your boss you're quitting is often the best part of a job. But in Japan, where confrontation is frowned upon, people will actually pay to have someone else do it for them. The Washington Post reports an increasing number of Japanese...

In Rattling Japan Islands, 'It's Very Scary to Even Fall Asleep'

Japan's Tokara Islands have been hit with 900+ earthquakes in just 2 weeks' time

(Newser) - Upward of 600 people have made their home in Japan's Tokara Islands, a 12-island archipelago with seven inhabited islands between Japan's mainland and the island of Okinawa. Over the past couple of weeks, however, the chain has been hit by "more earthquakes than it has people,"...

Japan Executes 'Twitter Killer'
Japan Hangs 'Twitter Killer'
Jun 27, 2025 3:26 AM CDT

Japan Hangs 'Twitter Killer'

Takahiro Shiraishi raped, dismembered suicidal women and girls he contacted online

(Newser) - A man convicted of murder for killing and dismembering nine people in his apartment near Tokyo was executed Friday, Japan's Justice Ministry said. Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the "Twitter killer," was sentenced to death in 2020 for the killings in 2017 of the nine victims, most of...

US Marine Hears His Fate in Japan in Sexual Assault Case

Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton, 22, of Ohio gets 7 years after May 2024 attack on Okinawa

(Newser) - A Japanese court has found a US Marine guilty of sexually assaulting a woman on Okinawa and sentenced him to seven years in prison, per the AP . The Naha District Court said Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton, 22, of Ohio, was sentenced on Tuesday after being found guilty of attacking a...

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