News On Japan

Sota Fujii becomes 2nd player in shogi history to hold 6 major titles

Mar 19, 2023 (Kyodo) - Twenty-year-old Sota Fujii became only the second player in the history of the shogi board game to hold six major titles Sunday when he took the Kio crown from Akira Watanabe.

Fujii won Game 4 in the tourist city of Nikko, eastern Japan, to finish the best-of-five Kio series against his 38-year-old opponent, joining Yoshiharu Habu, who won his sixth title in 1994 at age 24 and completed a sweep of all of what were then the game's seven major titles in 1996. ...continue reading

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As of 3 a.m. on May 31st, Typhoon No. 6 (Chan-hom) was moving north-northwest south of Okinawa and is forecast to pass near Okinawa Main Island between June 1st and June 2nd as a strong typhoon, with meteorologists warning of destructive winds, torrential rain and dangerous seas across Okinawa before the storm tracks northeastward along Japan's Pacific coast.

A series of false bear sighting reports posted to an online alert system operated by Aomori Prefecture has disrupted schools, prompted a police investigation, and raised concerns about the growing impact of misinformation on public safety.

A social media dispute between a 17-year-old high school student from Tokyo's Itabashi Ward and a 16-year-old boy from Edogawa Ward escalated into a planned group fight involving around 30 youths, some of whom allegedly brought weapons including a rusty saw, iron pipes, a special baton and even a shovel.

Japan's population stood at 123.05 million in 2025, according to preliminary results from the national census released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, marking a decline of 3.097 million people over the past five years.

Volleyball player Shunichiro Sato, a member of Japan’s men’s national team, was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of possessing marijuana after allegedly leaving a bag containing the drug at a pachinko parlor in Tokyo.

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A pair of sisters from Aichi Prefecture are closing in on a dream they have pursued for nearly a decade, with Ren Matsumoto and Non Matsumoto aiming to secure a place at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after rising to the top of Japan's beach volleyball rankings through years of family sacrifice and determination.

Volleyball player Shunichiro Sato, a member of Japan’s men’s national team, was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of possessing marijuana after allegedly leaving a bag containing the drug at a pachinko parlor in Tokyo.

Yomiuri Giants manager Shinnosuke Abe resigned on May 26th after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting his eldest daughter at the family’s home in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward, a scandal that has sent shockwaves through Japanese professional baseball just before the start of interleague play.

Japan's national soccer team began a domestic training camp in Chiba on May 25th ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, with 13 players including 39-year-old Yuto Nagatomo of FC Tokyo and Daichi Kamada of Eintracht Frankfurt taking part in the opening session.

Wakatakakage completed a remarkable comeback from major knee surgery and a fall to the lower divisions by winning his second top-division championship at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament on May 24th, ending a 25-tournament wait for another Emperor's Cup.

An amateur sumo tournament was held on the streets of New York, highlighting how Japan’s national sport is gaining new popularity in the United States while evolving in distinctly American ways.

Under blazing sunshine along the clear waters of the Nagara River, competitors faced off in a serious test of stone skipping skill on May 17th in Gifu City, where temperatures climbed to 31.2 degrees Celsius, marking the city’s first midsummer day of the year.

May in football is the moment when everyone’s nerves are already stretched to the limit, and mistakes become incredibly costly.