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November 09, 2025
 

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT

A test launch of an upgraded Type 12 ground-launched antiship guided missile
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2025
Japan to deploy ground-based long-range missiles at four sites
The Defense Ministry plans to field ground-launched missiles in Hokkaido, as well as Shizuoka, Kumamoto and Miyazaki prefectures.
Maki Takubo, mayor of Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture, after the city assembly passed a second no-confidence motion against her, in the city on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2025
Scandal-hit mayor of Ito in Shizuoka finally ousted
Maki Takubo had claimed to have graduated from Toyo University but admitted in July that she had actually been expelled.
Two robots automating tasks at Arikawa Seisakusho in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Oct 31, 2025
Government to help rural businesses adopt robots amid labor shortage
Aimed at boosting productivity despite labor shortages, a new group will train advisers to help companies introduce and use robotics effectively.
A bear roams around a field in the town of Kuzumaki, Iwate Prefecture, on Oct. 12.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 30, 2025
Japan¡¯s government ramps up bear control efforts amid rise in attacks
With the move, which pulls together more agencies than have previously been involved, authorities hope to cull bears that enter residential areas more quickly and accurately.
Haruo Kataoka (center) applauds after being reelected as mayor of Suttsu in Hokkaido, in the town on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2025
Hokkaido town mayor backing nuclear waste survey reelected
The 76-year-old independent incumbent, Haruo Kataoka, defeated former town council member Shingo Ogushi.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks at a news conference at the ministry on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2025
Akita governor asks for SDF help amid 'dire' bear attacks
Bears have killed a record 10 people in Japan so far this year, a government official confirmed.
Yoshihiro Murai, 65, celebrates his victory in the Miyagi gubernatorial election on Sunday night.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2025
Yoshihiro Murai clinches sixth term as Miyagi governor
Murai had the backing of prefectural assembly members of the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan Innovation Party and Komeito.
Some anticipate Sanae Takaichi becoming the prime minister will do little to shift the male-dominated world of politics.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 24, 2025
'Get married': The reality of 911±¬ÁÏÍø politics for women
Some female politicians anticipate Sanae Takaichi becoming the prime minister will do little to shift the male-dominated world of politics.
Ito Mayor Maki Takubo stumps for a candidate in Sunday's city assembly election during campaigning on Oct. 12.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 20, 2025
Ito mayor likely to lose job as opponents dominate city assembly
Almost all have expressed their intentions to support a second no-confidence motion against Mayor Maki Takubo over the falsification of her education background.
A flea market in Kyoto. Local governments in Japan have been urged to mediate between citizens and businesses to expand secondhand markets.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Oct 20, 2025
Japan pushes reuse market as new consumption model
The Environment Ministry plans to compile a road map by the end of March 2026 outlining medium- to long-term measures to further boost growth of the sector.
Tottori Gov. Shinji Hirai (right) exchanges bottles containing sand with Shifa Zghoul Haddad, the Acting Commissioner General and government Representative for the Jordan Pavilion at the Osaka Expo, in Osaka on April 23.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2025
Local governments bank on Osaka Expo's success to draw in tourists
During the 184-day expo, prefectural governments engaged in promotional activities to attract tourists and publicize local culture through pavilions and events.
Maki Takubo
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 12, 2025
Thirty people enter Ito Municipal Assembly race over controversial mayor
If the assembly passes a fresh no-confidence motion in its first assembly session, Takubo will lose her post of mayor under the local autonomy law.
The city of Izumisano, in Osaka Prefecture, has successfully challenged a decision by the central government to cut special tax grants based on its revenues under the <i>furusato n¨­zei</i> (hometown tax donation) system.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 10, 2025
Government cuts to Izumisano's tax grants illegal, Osaka High Court rules
The city in Osaka Prefecture raised about ?49.8 billion in donations in fiscal 2018, the most among the local governments under the hometown tax donation program.
The Mie Prefectural Government plans to create an ordinance to penalize customer harassment.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 8, 2025
Mie eyes 911±¬ÁÏÍø first penalty against customer abuse
The ordinance would define customer abuse as excessive nuisances that go beyond social norms and harm employees' working environment.
Smartphones help passengers pass the time on a train near Toyoake, an industrial suburb of Nagoya.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2025
Can this city make residents put down their smartphones?
The ordinance, which was approved in a 12-7 vote by the city assembly last week, is largely symbolic, but there is heavy social pressure in Japan to follow official guidelines.
Ryosuke Takashima, mayor of Ashiya in Hyogo Prefecture
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2025
Youngest-ever Japan mayor among Time's 100 most influential emerging people
"In Japan, a country shaped by its gerontocratic politics, Ryosuke Takashima is breaking the mold," the magazine said.
Hokkaido is reconsidering the possibility of hosting a casino resort, several years after Gov. Naomichi Suzuki halted plans for one.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Sep 29, 2025
Hokkaido cities consider fresh bet on casino resort
Citing concerns over gambling addiction and possible environmental impacts, Hokkaido's governor said it will be challenging to gain public acceptance for a casino bid.
The city of Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, used a crowdfunding-style hometown donation program to help fund fireworks during the Matsue Suigosai festival held in August.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2025
Crowdfunding-style hometown donations gain traction in Japan
Such initiatives set clear fundraising targets and deadlines to solicit contributions to address specific local challenges.
The internal affairs ministry in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. The ministry has barred four municipalities from taking part in Japan's <i>furusato n¨­zei</i> hometown donation program for two years due to their excessive spending on the program.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2025
Four municipalities to be banned from hometown tax program after overspending
The municipalities affected are Soja in Okayama Prefecture, Unzen in Nagasaki Prefecture, Miyaki in Saga Prefecture and Yamato in Kumamoto Prefecture.
The municipal assembly of Toyoake in Aichi Prefecture passed an ordinance Monday that will limit daily leisure-related screen time for all residents to two hours.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2025
City in Aichi Prefecture passes ordinance capping screen time to two hours
There are no penalties for violators, with the city's mayor saying the aim is for residents to see whether they are losing sleep by using smartphones too much.
The Toyota buyout is a major test for Japan¡¯s reforms
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, speaks during a media preview at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Oct. 29. Minority investors are challenging the carmaker's bid to take affiliate Toyota Industries Corp. private.
New satellite images suggest 'mass graves' in Sudan's El-Fasher
A general view of a berm construction in Kinin Village near El-Fasher.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France ¡ª where he had lived since he was a young child ¡ª stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
High-speed rail is expensive and difficult, but seen as a key to growth
Achal Khare, former managing director at India¡¯s National High Speed Rail Corporation, gives a presentation during the IHRA Forum 2025 in Tokyo on Oct. 23.
Takaichi calls for the updating of 911±¬ÁÏÍø economic security law
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to a panel on promoting economic security in Japan on Friday.
Cleanliness gets competitive at Tokyo¡¯s Spogomi world cup
On Oct. 29, teams from 33 qualifying countries scoured the streets of Shibuya for all manners of trash as part of the Spogomi litter-picking competition.
Jon Homewood: ¡®There¡¯s beauty in what we throw away¡¯
After a peripatetic childhood around the world, teacher and artist Jon Homewood ended up coming to Japan in 2012 for a professional opportunity.
Yokozuna duo Onosato and Hoshoryu poised for another clash of titans
Yokozuna duo Onosato (right) and Hoshoryu clash for the title on the final day of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Sept. 28 at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
High-speed rail is expensive and difficult, but seen as a key to growth
Achal Khare, former managing director at India¡¯s National High Speed Rail Corporation, gives a presentation during the IHRA Forum 2025 in Tokyo on Oct. 23.
A 40-year wait for ¡®Mishima¡¯ ends at TIFF
Made at a time when Japan was still grappling with Yukio Mishima¡¯s legacy, Paul Schrader¡¯s biopic ¡°Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters¡± was blocked from screening in the country for decades.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated 911±¬ÁÏÍø news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan¡¯s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years
By Yukana Inoue

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