Japan

World News

Japan ex-leader Shinzo Abe apparently shot, Japanese public broadcaster reports

11:44pm July 07, 2022

by The Associated Press

Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in heart failure after apparently being shot during a campaign speech Friday in western Japan, NHK public television said.

People, some of them holding parasols, cross an intersection amid heat, in Tokyo, Monday, June 27, 2022.

Environment

Tokyo warned of power crunch as Japan endures heat wave

2:56am June 27, 2022

by The Associated Press

Weather officials announce the earliest end to the country's annual summer rainy season since the Japan Meteorological Agency began keeping records in 1951.

Plaintiffs speak to journalists after a court ruling in Osaka, western Japan Monday, June 20, 2022.

World News

Japan court says ban on same-sex marriage constitutional

11:43pm June 20, 2022

by The Associated Press

The Osaka court ruling underscores how divisive the issue remains in Japan, the only member of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations that does not recognize same-sex unions.

A civilian militia member holds a rifle during training at a shooting range on the outskirts of Kyiv on Tuesday.

Russia-Ukraine war: What happened today (June 7)

5:04pm June 07, 2022

by NPR Staff

A roundup of key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday.

World News

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to address Japanese parliament

5:42am March 22, 2022

by The Associated Press

The online address extends work by the Ukrainian leader to rally international support against Russia's invasion of his country.

Lee Yong-soo, a South Korean sexual slavery survivor who has been demanding since the early 1990s that the Japanese government fully accept culpability and offer an unequivocal apology, wipes her tear during an interview in Seoul, South Korea, on March 16

World News

South Korean slavery victim seeks U.N. justice as time runs out

1:37am March 21, 2022

by The Associated Press

The grievances over sexual slavery, forced labor and other abuses stemming from Japan's WW II-era colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula have strained Seoul-Tokyo relations in recent years.

Hidetoshi Nishijima and Toko Miura star in Drive My Car.

Japan's Oscar-nominated 'Drive My Car' is a journey through loss, grief and art

10:57am February 11, 2022

by Anthony Kuhn

Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and adapted from a 2014 short story by Haruki Murakami, the film dramatizes some of the celebrated author's trademark themes: loss, guilt, the interplay of art and life.

Queue Listen Now

Japan is ramping up COVID-19 restrictions as omicron cases surge

1:16am January 21, 2022

by The Associated Press

While many Japanese adults are fully vaccinated, few have gotten a booster shot, which has been a vital protection from the highly contagious omicron variant.

Health & Safety

The riddle of Japan's dramatic drop in COVID numbers

9:32pm December 20, 2021

by Anthony Kuhn

The turnaround came in the wake of a fifth wave of infections that peaked in August. Japan is trying to figure out why its COVID-19 case numbers and fatalities have plummeted.

This photo shows the building where a fire broke out on Friday in Osaka, western Japan, that killed more than 20 people.

World News

Police search house of man linked to deadly Osaka fire

3:12am December 18, 2021

by The Associated Press

The possible suspect is believed to be among the three people who survived the fire and were in severe condition, police said.