Sep 10 (Linfamy) -
It’s always tough for a wife when her husband dies. She has to deal with the grief, plan the funeral, and think hard about what she would do now in life with all the money she’s going to make. Why? There’s an old joke poem that gives us a clue: The widow’s hole...
The Kanji of the Year for 2025 was announced at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto on December 12th, with the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation selecting the character for bear for the first time after nationwide sightings, record-high damage and injuries.
Northern Japan was hit by warning-level blizzards and whiteout conditions on December 12th, with heavy snow, violent winds and subzero temperatures disrupting transport across wide areas while recovery continued in communities already damaged by last week’s powerful earthquake.
A train running on the Akita Nairiku Jukan Railway derailed and overturned near Kayakusa Station in Kitaakita City on the morning of December 12th, with the incident reported to police and fire authorities shortly before 6:50 a.m.
The Nobel Prize award ceremony was held on the evening of December 10th, or early on December 11th in Japan, at the Stockholm Concert Hall, where King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden presented the highest honors — the medal and certificate — to Osaka University specially appointed professor Shimon Sakaguchi, 74, the recipient of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Kyoto University distinguished professor Susumu Kitagawa, 74, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
America’s business magazine Forbes announced on December 10th that Prime Minister Takaichi has been ranked third on its list of the “World’s Most Powerful Women,” placing the Japanese leader near the top of a global ranking of 100 figures across politics, business, and culture, and marking a prominent acknowledgment of Japan’s first female prime minister.
Japan’s cities appear filled with dental clinics, yet experts warn that their numbers may soon decline, raising concerns that the country could eventually face a shortage. Tooth decay has decreased in recent years while periodontal disease has become more common, and as these trends reshape the market, the operating environment for dental practices is deteriorating.
Creating a safe work environment isn’t just a regulatory requirement—it's a long-term investment in your people, your reputation, and your operational efficiency.
The number of applicants for next January’s nationwide university entrance common test has reached 496,237, the National Center for University Entrance Examinations announced on December 9th, with the figure rising by 1,066 from the previous year as applications moved to a principally online system that allows students to apply directly without going through their schools.
A Kyoto school has apologized after confirming that a group of its students appeared in a widely circulated social media video showing boys speaking Japanese and placing clothing items into their bags at what is believed to be a shop in Bali, Indonesia, during a study trip on December 4th.
A civic group in Usa City, Oita Prefecture that collects and analyzes wartime film archives released 18 pieces of footage to the media on December 7th, with the materials depicting kamikaze aircraft engaging U.S. forces and the devastation from air raids across Japan, much of it being shown publicly for the first time after the group obtained and examined the reels from the U.S. National Archives.
A volcano education center at the base of Showa-Shinzan is facing an existential threat as aging facilities and deteriorating materials put decades of invaluable records at risk.
A former teacher accused of secretly filming women by placing miniature cameras in a high school changing room and restroom faced sentencing at the Utsunomiya District Court on July 12th, with prosecutors demanding 1 year and 6 months of imprisonment.
As December approaches and people prepare for handwritten New Year’s cards, opportunities to pick up a pen naturally increase at this time of year, yet the nation’s enthusiasm for beautiful handwriting shows no sign of fading as calligraphy schools continue to evolve in step with the boom.
