Tobu Railway has introduced walk-through facial recognition ticket gates at Ikebukuro and Kami-Itabashi stations on the Tobu Tojo Line, allowing registered commuters to enter without presenting a ticket or IC card.
A system failure at frozen food giant Nichirei has disrupted shipments and logistics, raising the risk of product shortages and temporary closures at some Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants while also affecting major supermarket and retail chains.
A woman believed to be in her 40s to 60s was found bleeding and unconscious on a barge moored off Osaka and was later confirmed dead, prompting police to investigate the possibility that she was the victim of a crime.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter Princess Aiko began a period of rest at the Nasu Imperial Villa in Tochigi Prefecture on July 16, taking an evening stroll through the grounds in traditional Okinawan kariyushi shirts.
Beauty influencer and businesswoman Reika Miyazaki was sentenced on July 15 to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years, for evading about 157 million yen in taxes, while her company was fined 40 million yen.
Convenience store operators in Japan are strengthening safety measures as bear-related damage grows more serious, with Lawson expanding the use of bear repellent spray and considering drone-based remote monitoring.
Officials from the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party have agreed to adopt the Katsuragawa plan for the Obama-Kyoto route of the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension from Tsuruga in Fukui Prefecture to Shin-Osaka.
Tokyo Disney Resort will raise the maximum price of its one-day tickets from October, with adult admission to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea rising by as much as 1,500 yen to 12,400 yen on selected high-demand days.
Two typhoons are currently near Japan, with Typhoon No. 9, Bavi, over North China and Typhoon No. 11, Haishen, east of the Philippines, but only Bavi is expected to have any indirect impact on the country.
An abandoned concrete arch bridge deep in the forests of Kamishihoro in Hokkaido's Tokachi region is slowly being reclaimed by nature, its exposed reinforcing bars and weeds marking the passage of time.
Japan has become an unexpected base of operations for Russian intelligence agents since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, with spies allegedly using the country to procure and smuggle high-tech equipment and other goods to Russia, The New York Times reported on July 12.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi moved to contain political pressure on July 14 by confirming that she will attend intensive Budget Committee deliberations later this week, as the final days of the Diet session turned into a test of her parliamentary management, economic policy credibility and conservative legislative agenda.
Japan’s breakfast market is gaining new momentum, with Starbucks launching morning offerings at some locations in May and a growing number of newcomers entering the increasingly lively sector.
Japan’s relationship with intimate goods is far older than the modern online adult shop. Long before discreet packaging, digital payments, and private home delivery, Japanese artists, writers, merchants, and townspeople were already exploring the boundaries between desire, humor, privacy, and everyday life.
Fires involving lithium-ion batteries, including those used in mobile battery packs, are occurring at a record pace in Japan this year, with 179 incidents reported by the end of May, according to the Tokyo Fire Department.
Two Taiwan-born suspects believed to be members of a Taiwanese fraud ring have been arrested on suspicion of using AI-generated videos featuring prominent figures to defraud a woman in her 80s of 17 million yen.
Tokyo stocks fell sharply on July 16 as renewed selling in South Korean semiconductor shares spread to Japan’s AI and chip-related names, while household inflation expectations hit a record high and kept pressure on the Bank of Japan to maintain a tightening bias.
Japan's core machinery orders fell 12.4% in May from the previous month to 962 billion yen, marking the first decline in two months, the Cabinet Office said on July 15.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said it will provide up to approximately 159 billion yen in subsidies to Israel-based chipmaker Tower Semiconductor to expand production capacity at facilities in Niigata and Toyama prefectures.
Japanese companies announced new cybersecurity services, investment products and technology initiatives on July 14, while earnings releases highlighted sharply different conditions across the housing and food-import sectors.