MUFG Bank President Junichi Hanzawa apologized Friday for alleged massive thefts of customer assets by a former employee and pledged to fulfill his responsibility by regaining trust.Por 時事通信社

Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama is boosting his presence in the management of the Japanese ruling party and parliamentary affairs under the minority government of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.Por 時事通信社

The Japan Coast Guard on Saturday launched the "Live 118" system, which will allow its staff to receive smartphone videos of maritime incidents and accidents taken by callers and send them footage of life-saving techniques and other emergency response measures.Por 時事通信社

A Chinese woman who came into the spotlight two years ago by claiming on social media to have bought an island in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa plans to visit the island this summer, Chinese media have reported.Por 時事通信社

Japanese baseball pitcher Roki Sasaki said Friday that he has decided to sign a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.Por 時事通信社

A Chinese district court will hand down Thursday a sentence over a case in which a Japanese woman and her child, and a Chinese woman were attacked by a man in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, eastern China, last June, people at Japan's Consulate-General in Shanghai said Saturday.Por 時事通信社

Japan's Nippon Foundation said Saturday that it will work with the Scottish Association for Marine Science for conducting a study on "dark oxygen," which can be produced on the deep ocean floor, where sunlight cannot penetrate.Por 時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to make a success of the World Exposition to be held in the western Japan city of Osaka for six months from mid-April.Por 時事通信社

Japan's two-day unified university entrance examinations started Saturday at 651 venues across the country, with the number of applicants increasing by about 3,200 from the previous year to some 495,100.Por 時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has stressed the government's resolve to steadily pay compensation to victims of forced sterilization conducted under the country's now-defunct eugenics law.Por 時事通信社

Japan's Supreme Court dismissed on Friday an appeal filed by South Korean plaintiffs in a lawsuit to seek damages from the Japanese government over the enshrinement of their fathers at war-related Yasukuni Shrine, finalizing a high court ruling against them.Por 時事通信社

More than 95pctof people in Japan feel prices have increased over the past year, a survey by the Bank of Japan showed Friday.Por 時事通信社

Bonuses paid by major Japanese companies in winter 2024 averaged 891,460 yen, rewriting an all-time high for the first time in five years, the labor ministry said Friday.Por 時事通信社

The Japanese government said Friday that it is expected to miss its goal of achieving a primary budget surplus in fiscal 2025 mainly because of increased spending on economic measures.Por 時事通信社

Fuji Television Network Inc. President Koichi Minato on Friday apologized over a scandal involving television personality Masahiro Nakai and a woman as an employee of the Japanese TV broadcaster is reportedly involved in the scandal.Por 時事通信社

Major shipping companies in Japan are boosting their cruise liner operations to meet globally growing demand for trips on luxury ships after the COVID-19 pandemic.Por 時事通信社

Senior officials of Japan's Defense Ministry and Self-Defense Forces have conveyed their serious concern to a delegation from China's military over its increasing activities, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Friday.Por 時事通信社

Japanese public prosecutors issued a summary indictment on Friday to an accountant over a political funds scandal involving a group of Liberal Democratic Party members in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly.Por 時事通信社

More than 70pctof people in Japan are worried about inflation, a government survey suggested Friday.Por 時事通信社

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is ready to demand that any "unwise" spending be cut from the government's fiscal 2025 budget proposal, which calls for general-account spending of more than 115 trillion yen, CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda has said in an interview with Jiji Press.…

Mongolian-born yokozuna grand champion Terunofuji, whose real name is Seizan Suginomori, on Friday announced his retirement as a sumo wrestler.Por 時事通信社

Japan will utilize the lessons from the 1995 earthquake that hit Kobe and other western areas to establish itself as a disaster management-oriented nation, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Friday.Por 時事通信社

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Friday that he will visit the United States for five days from Sunday to attend the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump the next day.Por 時事通信社

As Friday marked the 30th anniversary of a devastating earthquake that rocked Kobe and other western Japan areas, bereaved families prayed for victims and renewed their resolve to pass on lessons from the disaster to the next generation.Por 時事通信社

Tokyo police on Friday made a fifth arrest of a couple accused of murdering four family members by poisoning, this time on suspicion of life insurance fraud.Por 時事通信社

Brazil has designated Sept. 23 as the day of the "ikebana" traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement under a law, in order to promote environmental awareness.Por 時事通信社

Japan's Nintendo Co. has said it will release the Nintendo Switch 2 game console in 2025, about eight years after the debut of the first Switch.Por 時事通信社

Sunflowers growing in an empty plot of land in the western Japan city of Kobe that was once a home hit by a massive earthquake 30 years ago have spread throughout the country as a symbol of reconstruction from disasters and remembrance of victims.Por 時事通信社

The World Bank on Thursday kept its global economic growth forecasts for 2025 and 2026 unchanged from the previous estimates, at 2.7pcteach, while expressing concerns about downside risks linked to policy uncertainty.Por 時事通信社

Sales of beer and quasi-beer products in Japan fell by about 3pctin 2024 from the previous year, marking their second consecutive yearly fall, estimates from four major brewers showed Thursday.Por 時事通信社

Yokozuna sumo wrestler Terunofuji plans to retire, people familiar with the matter said Thursday.Por 時事通信社

About 400 people on Thursday prayed for the 6,434 victims of a 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the Kobe area in western Japan 30 years ago by lighting 6,434 candles.Por 時事通信社

The Japanese government plans to introduce penalties for unauthorized use and leakage of information obtained through communication monitoring for cyber defense, officials said Thursday.Por 時事通信社

The Japanese government's Earthquake Research Committee has increased its assessed probability of an earthquake with a magnitude of 8 to 9 occurring along the Nankai Trough off the country's Pacific coast within the next 30 years to some 80pctfrom 70-80 pct, officials said.Por 時事通信社

Open House Group Co. has said it will raise the starting monthly salary for new employees joining the company in April this year to 360,000 yen from the current 330,000 yen.Por 時事通信社

Tokyo District Court this month issued a permission for Funai Group, parent of Funai Electric Co., a failed Japanese audio and video equipment maker, to start bankruptcy procedures, research firm Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Thursday.Por 時事通信社

A Japanese district court Thursday found a former worker of a nursery school not guilty of assaulting and killing a 1-year-old girl in 2017.Por 時事通信社

Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's cabinet inched up 1.4 percentage points from the previous month to 28.2pctin January, a Jiji Press opinion poll showed Thursday.Por 時事通信社

Japan's MUFG Bank has decided to punish executives including President Junichi Hanzawa for a former employee's alleged massive thefts of customer assets from safe deposit boxes, it was learned on Thursday.Por 時事通信社

The Japanese producer price index hit a record high for the third straight year in 2024, reflecting moves by companies to pass on higher material and labor costs to prices, a Bank of Japan report showed Thursday.Por 時事通信社

A leading researcher in disaster reduction who experienced the powerful earthquake that hit western Japan 30 years ago has called for discussions on disaster management problems that still remain unresolved.Por 時事通信社

Japan welcomes a Gaza ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas and announced Wednesday, its top government spokesman said Thursday.Por 時事通信社

Hino Motors Ltd. said Thursday that it has reached a settlement with U.S. authorities to pay a total of roughly 1.2 billion dollars, or about 187 billion yen, in fines over the Japanese automaker's engine testing scandal.Por 時事通信社

The U.S. government said Wednesday that it has notified Congress of its approval of the 39-million-dollar sale of air-to-surface standoff missiles and related equipment to Japan.Por 時事通信社

The Mission of Japan to NATO said Wednesday it has become independent of the Japanese Embassy in Brussels.Por 時事通信社

Japan's Fuji Television Network Inc. has been conducting an investigation with an outside lawyer since last year regarding a reported sex scandal involving television personality Masahiro Nakai, it was learned.Por 時事通信社

Honda Motor Co. plans to build the Acura RSX luxury electric SUV at its plant in Ohio, starting late this year, company officials said Wednesday.Por 時事通信社

Japanese convenience store chains Lawson Inc. and FamilyMart Co. enjoyed net profit increases in March-November 2024 while Seven & i Holdings Co., the operator of the industry leader Seven-Eleven Japan Co., suffered a sharp deterioration in its bottom line, according to their latest earnings reports.…

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Wednesday that Beijing welcomes a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to the country.Por 時事通信社

A lunar lander developed by Japanese space exploration startup ispace Inc. was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday in its second attempt to send a spacecraft to the moon.Por 時事通信社