The momentum for amending Japan's Constitution is waning as a result of last month's election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament.By 時事通信社

Tohoku Electric Power Co. on Monday morning halted operations at the No. 2 reactor at its Onagawa nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan following a problem that occurred when a measuring instrument was delivered into the reactor, the company said.By 時事通信社

"Nihonga" Japanese-style painting artist Atsushi Uemura, a recipient of the Order of Culture known as a master of "kacho-ga" flower-and-bird paintings, died of old age at his home in the western Japan city of Nara on Friday. He was 91.By 時事通信社

Tohoku Electric Power Co. said Sunday it will halt the operations of the No. 2 reactor at its Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, due to a problem with instrument delivery that occurred during power generation preparation work.By 時事通信社

Residents of areas struck by the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake in central Japan have expressed dissatisfaction over the results of local governments' assessments of their damaged homes.By 時事通信社

Japan, the United States and South Korea conducted a joint aerial drill in the airspace east of the South Korean island of Jeju on Sunday, according to the South Korean military's Joint Chiefs of Staff.By 時事通信社

The Japanese Order of Culture was conferred on seven people, including manga artist Tetsuya Chiba, 85, in a ceremony held at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Sunday.By 時事通信社

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People, two opposition parties supported by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, should merge, former Rengo chief Nobuaki Koga has said.By 時事通信社

The Japanese government announced on Sunday a list of 3,987 people recognized for this year's autumn honors, including Nobuaki Koga, former president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, and former Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa.By 時事通信社

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said Saturday that it has extracted nuclear fuel debris from a reactor at its meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.By 時事通信社

The Tokyo metropolitan government is planning to include in its fiscal 2025 initial budget subsidies for municipalities to end the practice of people at evacuation centers sleeping on the floor.By 時事通信社

Krishna Srinivasan, director of the International Monetary Fund's Asia and Pacific Department, told Jiji Press that Japan needs to begin reducing high levels of debt under a detailed fiscal framework as the Bank of Japan's monetary policy is normalizing.By 時事通信社

A U.N. committee on disarmament on Friday passed by a majority vote a Japanese-proposed resolution calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons, which touched on the selection of the Japan Confederation of A- and H- Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, as winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.…

Komeito, the junior party in Japan's ruling coalition, plans to appoint land minister Tetsuo Saito as its next leader, informed sources said Saturday.By 時事通信社

The Japanese government said Saturday it will give the Medal of Honor for autumn 2024 to 786 people and 26 organizations, including shogi player Akira Watanabe and 54 gold medalists at the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.By 時事通信社

A 31-member delegation, mainly made up of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors, will attend a ceremony to be held on Dec. 10 to present the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, also known as Nihon Hidankyo, with the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, according to the group's announcement.By 時事通信社

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is planning to hold separate meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to South America later this month, government sources said Friday.By 時事通信社

Kanji Nishio, a German literature scholar also known as a right-wing figure in Japan, died Friday at a hospital in Tokyo. He was 89.By 時事通信社

Panasonic Industry Co. said Friday that its external investigation panel has confirmed 93 cases of certification fraud involving electronic and other parts produced at a total of 40 plants in and outside Japan.By 時事通信社

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank said Friday that a former employee who was in a managerial position is suspected to have engaged in insider trading.By 時事通信社

Japan and the European Union on Friday unveiled their new bilateral security and defense cooperation framework, which includes the establishment of a new dialogue between the two sides.By 時事通信社

Police in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, have arrested a former employee of Nomura Securities Co. for allegedly drugging a couple in their 80s who were his clients, setting their house on fire and stealing about 26 million yen in cash.By 時事通信社

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is planning to push Masakazu Sekiguchi as the next president of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, several party sources said Friday.By 時事通信社

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund said Friday that it suffered an investment loss of 9,127.7 billion yen in the July-September quarter.By 時事通信社

The Japanese government on Friday revised down its estimate for the country's economic growth in fiscal 2024, citing a slow recovery in automobile exports following vehicle testing scandals.By 時事通信社

Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, said Friday that he wants to become Japan's prime minister, but "now is not the time."By 時事通信社

The Japanese government needs a medium-term strategy for supporting the semiconductor industry, rather than ad hoc measures such as creating or adding to funds every time it compiles a supplementary budget, a finance ministry advisory panel said Friday.By 時事通信社

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and Josep Borrell, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, met in Tokyo on Friday and condemned North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile the previous day.By 時事通信社

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya has indicated a need for carefully dealing with the issue of revising the Japan-U.S. status of forces agreement, as advocated by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.By 時事通信社

Nine of Japan's 10 major power suppliers saw their net profit fall in the first half of fiscal 2024 through next March, due to the delayed impact of falling fuel costs on electricity rates, according to their latest earnings reports.By 時事通信社

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda and Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki will hold talks as early as Tuesday, according to an agreement reached at Friday's meeting of the two opposition parties' secretaries-general and parliamentary affairs chiefs.By 時事通信社

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average gave up over 1,100 points briefly Friday, mainly reflecting dampened sentiment following drops in U.S. technology shares the previous day.By 時事通信社

Japan Post Co. started sales of New Year's lottery postcards for 2025 at post offices and other places nationwide Friday.By 時事通信社

Japan's Financial Services Agency has fined Nomura Securities Co. 21.76 million yen for manipulating the Japanese government bond futures market.By 時事通信社

People with adverse childhood experiences, such as domestic violence and neglect, are up to 7.65 times more prone to verbally or physically abusing elderly people than those without such experiences are, Japanese researchers have found.By 時事通信社

North Korea on Thursday successfully test-fired its new intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-19, considered by the country as the ultimate ICBM, its state media reported Friday.By 時事通信社

Only 14.6pctof evacuation centers, hospitals and other "important facilities" in Japan that serve as bases in times of disaster had antiseismic improvements complete for both water and sewage pipelines leading to them, an infrastructure ministry survey showed Friday.By 時事通信社

The Japanese government Friday approved a plan for Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko to visit Turkey in December to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations.By 時事通信社

Japan, the United States and South Korea on Thursday strongly condemned North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile the same day as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.By 時事通信社

Tokyo's Shibuya and Shinjuku wards have seen fewer costumed Halloween night revelers than in past years as the local governments tightened rules while calling on the public not to visit the wards for celebration.By 時事通信社

Japan's ruling bloc could suffer a major defeat in next summer's House of Councillors election if opposition parties unite their candidates, according to estimates based on the results of Sunday's general election for the House of Representatives.By 時事通信社

Nippon Ishin no Kai ()削除 decided Thursday to begin procedures to hold an early leadership election, amid growing calls for party leader Nobuyuki Baba's resignation following the party's poor showing in Sunday's general election.By 時事通信社

ANA Holdings Inc. said on Thursday that it expects to post record consolidated revenue for the year ending next March thanks to an increasing number of visitors to Japan.By 時事通信社

The opposition Democratic Party for the People will not cooperate with the Liberal Democratic Party-led administration if its proposals to increase people's after-tax income are not realized, DPFP chief Yuichiro Tamaki said Thursday.By 時事通信社

Toyota Motor Corp. and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. agreed Thursday to develop a driver assistance system to prevent car accidents.By 時事通信社

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Aisin Corp. have put on hold a plan to set up a joint company to develop and supply key components for electric vehicles, both companies said Thursday.By 時事通信社

The Japan Fair Trade Commission on Thursday imposed cease-and-desist orders on four major nonlife insurers over forming a price cartel in connection with insurance contracts for nine entities.By 時事通信社

The number of elementary, junior high and high school children who refused to go to school in Japan hit a record high of 415,252 in fiscal 2023, which ended last March, the education ministry said Thursday.By 時事通信社

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party for the People agreed Thursday to hold policy talks, which will also involve Komeito, the LDP's junior coalition partner, and to hold a meeting of their leaders as early as Nov. 9.By 時事通信社

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said Thursday that he has no prejudgment about when the central bank will raise interest rates next.By 時事通信社