News On Japan

University of Tokyo Festival Resumes After Bomb Threat

TOKYO - The University of Tokyo's annual campus festival, known as the May Festival, resumed suspended events on May 17th after disruptions caused by a bomb threat the previous day, with long lines forming outside the main gate as visitors underwent newly introduced baggage inspections.

The May Festival, which began on May 16th at the university's Hongo and Yayoi campuses, was partially affected after organizers of a lecture by Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya received a bomb threat. In response, the festival's executive committee decided to cancel the event, leading to broader disruptions across other festival activities.

To strengthen security on May 17th, organizers introduced baggage inspections for visitors entering the venue. Large crowds gathered in front of the university's main gate as attendees waited to pass through security checks.

This year's May Festival was held over May 16th and 17th. Kamiya's lecture had been scheduled for noon on May 16th in Classroom 25 of the Faculty of Law and Letters Building No. 1 at the Hongo campus. The event was organized by the conservative student group Ugo no Shu and was set to feature Kamiya alongside Sanseito Upper House member Sayaka Shioiri and the group's representative Yasushi Yamada.

Source: 産経ニュース

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Typhoon No. 27 is forecast to approach the Ogasawara Islands around October 6 as a very strong storm capable of bringing destructive winds and dangerous waves, with its predicted path shifting slightly eastward, while Hokkaido recorded Japan's first snowfall of the season on Mount Asahidake as cold air spread across northern Japan.

Time magazine has named Shoko Kawata, the 36-year-old mayor of Yawata in Kyoto Prefecture, among its 100 most influential emerging figures worldwide, recognizing her decision to become Japan's first sitting mayor to take maternity leave and highlighting a political career that has taken her from municipal administration to national politics and the leadership of a city of nearly 70,000 people.

Hokkaido's highest peak, Mount Asahidake in the Daisetsuzan mountain range, recorded its first snow cover of the season on October 2, with the area around the Asahidake Ropeway's Sugatami Station, at an elevation of approximately 1,600 meters, blanketed in snow.

Tokyo authorities carried out the capital's first emergency shooting of a captured bear in Hachioji after an adult Asiatic black bear was found caught in a trap near a residential area about 8 kilometers from Takao Station.

Japan's total population, including foreign residents, stood at 122.97 million as of October 1, 2025, down 3.17 million from the previous census in 2020, marking only the third decline since the national census began in 1920.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Politics NEWS

Japan has begun detailed discussions on a new system to make childbirth free of charge, with the government aiming to introduce nationwide coverage by June 2028 and the establishment of a uniform national price for deliveries emerging as the central issue.

A former Ground Self-Defense Force officer accused of entering the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo with a kitchen knife and threatening diplomatic staff admitted to trespassing and violating Japan's weapons laws at his first court hearing on October 1, but disputed whether his statements constituted criminal threats.

Japan's government plans to convene an extraordinary Diet session on October 5, with proposed legislation to reduce the consumption tax on food and plans to cut the number of seats in the House of Representatives expected to be among the main issues.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi moved on September 28 to strengthen Japan’s intelligence functions as her government prepared for an extraordinary Diet session that is expected to test its ability to pass tax relief, defend its economic policy and manage rising security pressure from China.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is entering the autumn political season under growing pressure to show that her government can manage relations with Washington and Beijing while keeping Japan’s economic policy on a credible path after the Bank of Japan’s latest rate hike.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi returned to Japan on the morning of September 24 following talks with US President Donald Trump and immediately headed to the Prime Minister's Office to finalize key appointments within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party ahead of an extraordinary Diet session in October.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and US President Donald Trump held talks at United Nations headquarters in New York in the early hours of September 23 Japan time, demonstrating the strength of the Japan-US alliance and confirming close cooperation on China ahead of an upcoming US-China summit.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump met in New York on September 22, confirming close cooperation on security and economic issues ahead of Trump’s planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.