Fake social media accounts impersonating Kyoto University Prof. Shinya Yamanaka, who is also a Nobel laureate, have been spotted on social media, according to the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, the institute where he serves as honorary director.

Yamanaka is a leading researcher on human iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012.

According to the institute, it has discovered fake accounts claiming to be Yamanaka on Facebook and other platforms.

Since December, numerous photos have been posted on the Facebook account, including one that appears to be of Yamanaka finishing a marathon.

The institute issued a warning that “there is a risk that visitors may be directed to inappropriate sites.”

It is unknown who created the fake account and for what purpose they posted such things. The institute said that it has not received any reports of damage caused by the posts at this time.

On Thursday evening, the institute posted on its X account, “Prof. Yamanaka has not opened any social media accounts, including Facebook, X, Instagram or TikTok.”
 
 

 

Toyota is safeguarding its nearly $1 billion investment pledge to air taxi maker Joby Aviation by troubleshooting production processes and mulling a deeper manufacturing role.

The Japanese automaker, which last year became Joby’s largest shareholder, has a team of almost 200 employees working to supply critical parts, training tips and assembly line know-how.

That involves deploying a set of lean manufacturing precepts known as the Toyota Production System, or TPS, said Sandy Lobenstein, Toyota’s group vice president of flying mobility.

"We’re really trying to bring TPS and the philosophy of TPS into the operations here,” Lobenstein told reporters on a tour of Joby’s factory. "Those types of innovations are helping to improve the lead time to production and scaling.”

Joby is among a handful of startups developing eVTOL aircraft — electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles — to fly customers on short commuter journeys via battery-powered air taxis. The Santa Cruz, California-based firm is currently set up to make one aircraft a month, but plans to boost that to as many as four per month by 2027.

Shares of Joby, which will report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 25, are down about 23% this year. They fell sharply last month after the company announced a $1 billion equity and convertible bond offering to raise cash.

Full certification for commercial flight operations by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and regulators in other countries is still pending.

Joby previously said it aimed to start commercial passenger services in Dubai by early this year, but the exact timeline is unclear. It has pushed back earlier goals to begin service from 2024 and then 2025.

"We are targeting to be able to start carrying passengers this year,” Eric Allison, Joby’s chief product officer, told reporters.

As it awaits certification — and the final $250 million tranche in Toyota’s promised $894 million in funding — the company is assembling prototype aircraft and stress-testing parts and manufacturing processes.

Joby wouldn’t specify the defect rate for parts undergoing testing, but Allison said the number of nonconforming components is "trending in the right direction.”

The car giant is now considering a proposed strategic manufacturing alliance to strengthen its relationship further ahead of Joby’s planned production ramp-up. Joby has said it aims to make as many as 500 aircraft a year once it builds out facilities in California and Ohio.

Toyota began financing Joby in 2020, two years after its venture capital arm participated in a funding round. It has taken on a larger role as its investment has grown. Toyota’s Lobenstein was tasked with overseeing the partnership a year ago.

For now, Toyota’s main role is advisory, in addition to supplying key subcomponents for Joby’s aircraft motors. The automaker’s North American manufacturing chief, Kevin Voelkel, has visited Joby’s operations twice, most recently this month, to share tips on things like improving efficiency and safety.

Visible signs of Toyota are scant at Joby’s main production hub near Monterey, California. Unlike the carmaker’s own plants or even Honda Motor’s jet factory in North Carolina, there’s no central assembly line.

Parts are assembled at various separate workstations in a hangar and then transported by truck to a nearby Quonset hut for final assembly.

Also absent are Toyota’s trademark andon cords to flag problems, robots pushing parts bins and wall-hung banners exhorting workers that "Safety is No. 1!” Toyota currently has about 30 employees on site.
 
 

A 17-year-old boy was killed in a stabbing in Osaka’s popular Dotonbori entertainment district around midnight Sunday, the Osaka Prefectural Police said, adding that they were investigating the case as a homicide.

Two other 17-year-old boys were also taken to a hospital after being stabbed. One remains in critical condition and unconscious, while the other was also seriously injured.

About 10 hours after a suspect fled the scene, police arrested 21-year-old Ryoga Iwasaki over the stabbings.

“I had no intent to kill. I was just going to intimidate them with a knife, but a man came at me and I stabbed him in the chest,” the suspect told police. When Iwasaki was apprehended, he was in possession of the knife used in the attack.

Ryunosuke Kamada, an office worker from Nara Prefecture, was taken to a hospital but died after being stabbed multiple times in his chest and other parts of his body.

Kamada, the other two victims and Iwasaki apparently knew each other and frequented the area known as Gurishita located near the famous Glico sign in Dotonbori.

The four had reportedly been involved in a dispute just before the incident.
Authorities received an emergency call from a passerby early Sunday reporting that people had been stabbed at the first-floor entrance of a building in the Dotonbori district.

The area briefly became chaotic as police cars and ambulances rushed to the scene of the incident.

A 75-year-old security guard who was inside the building at the time reported hearing a thud followed by screaming. When the guard looked at the entrance of the building, he saw a young man clutching his abdomen and chasing someone.

The security guard followed and found a man collapsed and unconscious by a nearby bridge. Bloodstains marked the path from the building to where he had collapsed.

Iwasaki was arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly fatally stabbing Kamada.
 
 

The Japanese government on Wednesday officially turned over five coastal radar systems to the Philippines as part of efforts to bolster Manila’s maritime domain awareness amid China’s continuing aggressive actions in the region.

The radars were part of Japan’s official security assistance for fiscal year 2023, the year the grant aid framework for like-minded countries was established.

“The South China Sea is a vital sea lane for many countries through which a large portion of our trade and energy supplies pass. Safety, openness, and stability of these waters are therefore of direct importance to our own security and prosperity,” Japanese ambassador Kazuya Endo said in his speech during the handover ceremony.

“Enhancing the Philippines’ maritime domain capability is not only an investment in the Philippines’ security, but also a meaningful contribution to regional and global stability,” he added, without mentioning China, which claims these waters almost entirely.

Beijing’s coast guard and military vessels have repeatedly engaged in aggressive encounters with Philippine ships near disputed shoals and atolls within Manila’s exclusive economic zone.

The Philippine Navy will be the end user of the coastal radars, amounting to JPY 600 million (P228 million). The package includes radar units, surveillance and monitoring equipment, communications systems, and other support components.

“Once operational by the Philippine Navy, they are expected to significantly enhance the country’s maritime domain awareness by improving the ability to monitor activities in the surrounding waters,” Endo said.

The Philippines is the only country that has been a recipient of the OSA for three consecutive years. For the second fiscal year, the Philippines is expected to receive JPY 900 million worth of rigid-hulled inflatable boats.

For the current fiscal year, Japan will fund the construction of facilities for these boats, the first infrastructure project under the OSA.

Philippines’ Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., in his remarks, thanked the Japanese government for its contributions and expressed confidence that the relationship between the two countries will continue to deepen.

“Japan’s approach to its bilateral relations with the Philippines has been rooted in fundamental sincerity and values. Unlike the transactional approach to diplomatic relationships by other countries full of guile and full of insincerity in this regard, which is why approaches by countries who approach the Philippines with guile and insincerity have been soundly rejected by the Filipino people, unlike a partner country like Japan and other countries, which is welcomed with warm embrace by the Filipino people,” said Teodoro, a known China critic, without naming the country directly.

Last month, the Philippines and Japan signed a new deal called the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, which will permit the tax-free provision of supplies and services between the two nations when they undertake joint military exercises.

This was in support of the Reciprocal Access Agreement that the two countries signed in 2024.
 
 

Japanese ski jumper Ren Nikaido won the silver medal in the men's individual large hill event at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Saturday.

 

Nikaido earned his third medal at these Winter Games, after taking two bronze medals in the normal hill and mixed team events.

 

He tied with Kazuyoshi Funaki, who won three medals at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, as the Japanese ski jumper with the most medals in a single Games.
 
 

The Sakuranesia Foundation has facilitated new vocational education partnerships between Indonesia and Japan, aiming to strengthen human resource development through industry-based training and student exchanges, the foundation said on Saturday.

Founder Tovic said the cooperation was highlighted by a visit to Japan by Prof. Agus Maryono, dean of the Vocational School at Gadjah Mada University (UGM).

“Sakuranesia will continue to promote human resource development that creates value for society through Indonesia–Japan cooperation,” Tovic said in a statement issued in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara on Sunday, February 15, 2026.

Acting as a liaison between institutions in both countries, Sakuranesia organized a forum in Japan that included dialogue sessions and the signing of education partnership agreements.

During the visit, Maryono observed early childhood STEAM education practices at the Azalee Group in Edogawa and met with Kazuhiko Hiruma, chairman of Sanko Gakuen, along with other stakeholders.

The meeting, attended by Tovic, resulted in an agreement to initiate a pilot project in vocational education.

A separate partnership signing ceremony was held at the Fukuoka Campus of the Japan University of Economics, part of the Tsuzuki Gakuen Group, marking an initial step toward expanding bilateral cooperation in human resource development.

Tovic said exchanges with leading private education institutions in Japan are expected to lay the groundwork for long-term collaboration benefiting both countries.

UGM’s Vocational School is known for its practice-based and internationally oriented curriculum. In their fourth year, students are required to undertake internships or overseas study programs.

Around 30 percent of students gain international exposure each year through such programs.

Under the new partnership, Indonesian students are expected to gain broader industry experience in Japan, strengthen cross-cultural competencies, and enhance practical skills to support their future careers.

“This partnership goes beyond academic exchange. It seeks to build a foundation for young generations in both countries to understand one another, learn together, and contribute sustainably to society,” Tovic said.
 

Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Corp reported deeper losses for the latest quarter through December compared to a year earlier, as restructuring costs cut into its profitability.

Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, said Thursday it posted a 28.3 billion yen ($185 million) loss for the October-December quarter, about twice the 14 billion yen loss it recorded a year earlier.

Quarterly sales slipped 6% to nearly 3 trillion yen ($19.6 billion) from 3.2 trillion yen the year before.

“Unfortunately, when you do restructuring, there are costs that are incurred,” Chief Executive Ivan Espinosa told reporters. “In a way, it is expected.”
He said Nissan was on the right track but acknowledged headwinds from President Donald Trump’s tariffs and other pressures on sales.

Nissan, which makes the Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models, is hoping to achieve an operating profit by the end of fiscal 2026. It expects an operating loss for the current fiscal year and is projecting a 650 billion yen ($4.2 billion) net loss for the year through March.

A Mexican with two decades of experience at Nissan, Espinosa has been trying to steer a turnaround at the money-losing automaker since he took the job last year.

Nissan has slashed jobs and sold its headquarters building. It is closing its flagship factory in Oppama, Japan, as part of its global production restructuring efforts.

Some analysts say the popularity of electric vehicles is subsiding, and that might hurt automakers like Nissan, which has been bullish on EVs.

Espinosa said Nissan needs to do more to win over consumers to EVs, including new kinds of batteries, but was optimistic about the new Leaf model.

Nissan stocks, which have slipped over the past year, gained 0.5% on Thursday.

Nissan has a partnership with French automaker Renault and smaller domestic automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
 
 

Japan and the United States have yet to work out the first batch of U.S.-bound investment deals worth 550 billion dollars planned by Tokyo, visiting Japanese economic minister Ryosei Akazawa said Thursday.

After a 90-minute meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington, Akazawa told a press conference that "the gap remains wide open" over the initial deal.

Potential U.S. targets for the first-round Japanese investment are gas-fired thermal power generation for artificial intelligence data centers, synthetic diamond production for stable semiconductor supply and a new port construction.

Also under consideration is Japanese purchasing of synthetic diamonds from a plant to be built in the United States by global diamond leader De Beers Group, people familiar with the matter said.

But Akazawa declined to clarify what projects are being specifically discussed and when they will be announced.

"We still have issues to address," he said. But he also said that the Japanese and U.S. ministers "agreed to work closely with each other to come up with mutually beneficial projects."

"We are negotiating with a view to making (Japanese) Prime Minister (Sanae) Takaichi's U.S. visit fruitful," Akazawa added.
 
 

The Embassy of Japan in Russia has opened new visa application centers to meet growing demand among Russians wishing to visit Japan.

A ceremony took place in Moscow on Thursday to mark the launch of new centers in the capital and St. Petersburg.

Minister of the Embassy Yamaguchi Daiji said the increase of Russian visitors to Japan -- despite the complicated relations between the two countries -- will help lay the groundwork for future bilateral ties.

The Japan National Tourism Organization reports that an estimated 194,900 travelers from Russia visited Japan in 2025, a record high and a 96.3 percent increase from the previous year.

One factor behind the surge is the difficulty Russians face in traveling to Europe, as many countries there have tightened visa issuance following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Large numbers of people line up outside the Japanese Embassy in Moscow each day to apply for visas.
 
 

The application of satellite technology is an efficient way to assess rice planting areas, cut costs, and gather useful data.

Lao and Japanese agricultural experts have discussed the use of satellites in rice farming and the evaluation of rice harvests in Laos using space-based technologies.

The application of satellite technology is an efficient way to assess rice planting areas, cut costs, and gather useful data.

Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries partnered with Laos’ Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to organise a workshop on the topic.

The workshop took place in Vientiane on Tuesday and was attended by agriculture officials from across the country.

Director General of the Lao ministry’s Planning and Cooperation Department, Dr Boundeth Soutthavilay, thanked the Japanese government agencies and experts for their generous support inorganising the workshop and sharing valuable information.

“The next step will be for the Department to report to higher ministry authorities to ask for guidance in rolling out this system,” Dr Boundeth said.

He was hopeful that the technology could be used to provide accurate and timely information for use in agriculture and forestry development plans, especially in the gathering of agricultural statistics.

This could be of immense benefit for Laos and other ASEAN member countries, he added.

In 2023, the Japanese government advised Laos to use the ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS) to assess the area of land under cultivation.

Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency have provided technical assistance and funding for many agricultural statistics projects together with food security information systems in ASEAN member countries.

In 2023, they organised a meeting on the assessment of rice cultivation areas in the provinces of Vientiane and Champasak using satellite imagery.
Thanks to the application of modern science, the system is fast and reliable and can predict rice planting areas in a timely manner.

A meeting was later held to assess the rice planting area in 2023 using satellite imagery and the INAHOR programme, involving key technical staff throughout Laos.

Tuesday’s workshop was based on an assessment of the rice planting area in 2025 using satellite images.

The gathering enabled participants to share comments face-to-face, in the expectation that satellite imagery could be used to effectively evaluate various aspects of rice cultivation and be incorporated in planning polices in the future.
 
 

The Diet, Japan's parliament, will kick off a special session on Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told party representatives on Friday.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is expected to be re-elected on the first day of the session following her ruling Liberal Democratic Party's landslide victory in Sunday's election for the House of Representatives, the Diet's lower chamber.

 

On Feb. 20, Takaichi and her foreign, finance and economic policy ministers are set to deliver policy speeches. Question-and-answer sessions by party leaders are likely to start as early as Feb. 24.

The initial focus of the 150-day special session will be on the government's budget for fiscal 2026, which begins in April.
 

 

Japan said it seized a Chinese fishing vessel and arrested its captain for allegedly fleeing inspection in the nation's exclusive economic zone, adding to tensions between the countries.

"The vessel's captain was ordered to stop for an inspection by a fisheries inspector, but the vessel failed to comply and fled," Japan's Fisheries Agency said.

Japan said the boat was seized in waters off southwest Nagasaki prefecture. There were 10 more people on board besides the captain.

While ‌Japan has seized fishing vessels from South Korea and Taiwan in recent years, the incident is the first involving a vessel from China since 2022. 


China and Japan Locked in a Dispute Over Taiwan

The incident is one that comes against the backdrop of an ongoing diplomatic feud between China and Japan.

The spat began last year in November, after Japan's new conservative leader Sanae Takaichi suggested a hypothetical Chinese attack against Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

Takaichi's comments were much stronger than her predecessors', and China took issue with that. Since then, China has: 

• summoned the Japanese ambassador
• warned Chinese citizens against visiting Japan
• conducted joint air drills with Russia
• tightened controls on exports to Japan for items with potential military uses
• fueled worries that Beijing may choke supplies of vital rare-earth minerals
• suspended imports of Japanese seafood
• accepted the return of Japan's last two pandas

Tensions deepened in December, after Tokyo accused Chinese military planes of locking their radar on to Japanese fighter jets near the Okinawa Islands. 

There are also longstanding territorial disputes between the two countries, including China's military presence in the disputed Senkaku Islands, which are called Diaoyu in Chinese.
 
 

Honda Motor Co reported Tuesday a 42% drop in profit for the nine months through December, compared to a year earlier, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs hurt the Japanese automaker’s earnings.

Honda’s profit over the three quarters totaled 465.4 billion yen ($3 billion), down from 805.2 billion yen.

That marked the second straight year that profit declined during the period at Honda, the maker of the Accord sedan, Civic compact and Odyssey minivan.

Sales for the three quarters dipped 2.2% to 15.98 trillion yen ($102.6 billion) from the previous year. Honda stuck to its full fiscal year profit forecast at 300 billion yen ($1.9 billion).

The slowdown in electric vehicles in the U.S. market was one negative factor, according to Honda, while the relatively healthy performance in its motorcycle division worked as a plus.

Honda lowered its global EV sales ratio projection for 2030 to 20% from its previous target of 30%. It also said it canceled the development of some EV models, because the EV market was changing.

The Trump administration, which has favored the oil and gas industry, has backpedaled on prior programs supporting the proliferation of EVs, dismantling programs that kicked in during the Biden administration, which had encouraged environmentally cleaner cars and trucks.

Last year, Trump lowered the tariffs on automobiles and auto parts to 15% from an earlier 25% that he had initially announced. Japan promised to invest $550 billion in U.S. projects.

Tariffs are a major blow to Japan’s export-reliant economy, including the automakers. Last week, Japan’s top automaker Toyota Motor Corp. reported a decline in recent profit, and announced that its chief financial officer, Kenta Kon, will become its new chief executive and president.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office in October as Japan's first female leader, scored a landslide parliamentary election victory for the governing party over the weekend.

That’s expected to make it easier for her Liberal Democratic Party to push forward on its policies, including bolstering growth by boosting government spending, especially in technology and defense.

Honda stock jumped 2.1% in Tuesday’s trading. The Nikkei 225 benchmark finished 2.3% higher, renewing a record high for the second day straight, in a rally set off, in part, by Takaichi’s popularity.
 
 

Japan's main opposition party the Centrist Reform Alliance on Thursday officially began a brief two-horse race to select its new leader, as the recently established party seeks to rebuild after a crushing defeat in the recent general election.

The new party head is set to be chosen Friday in the race being contested by Junya Ogawa, 54, a former secretary general of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and Takeshi Shina, 59, the CDPJ's former acting policy chief.

The CRA was established in January and united House of Representatives members of the CDPJ and the Komeito party to achieve a centrist realignment amid what they view as a rightward shift under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Instead, it faced defeat, with its 167 seats before official campaigning falling to 49 in Sunday's election.

Speaking at an event to launch the leadership campaign, Shina said the party "must move forward raising a centrist banner for the sake of democracy and the next generation."

The CRA's loss has made it the smallest main opposition party in postwar Japanese history.

Ogawa referred to cost-of-living pressures on inflation-hit households, saying the party must "rebuild livelihoods" and that it has to "do something about the pervasive uncertainty toward the future spreading in society."

The race will be won by the candidate with the most votes from the party's lower house lawmakers, with no run-off round. The new leader's term will run until the end of March 2027.

The race did not require lawmakers to receive the backing of their colleagues to become a candidate. No lawmakers from the Komeito side came forward to run.

With the founding parties' lawmakers in the House of Councillors yet to merge with their lower house colleagues into the CRA in the wake of the election defeat, both men indicated to reporters that they do not plan to rush a merger.

Shina said there is "no reason to be hasty" on the issue, while Ogawa said the party "must proceed deliberately, clarify its direction and then decide."

The CRA's election strategy has caused internal tensions after Komeito was given priority in the proportional representation list, leading to all 28 of its candidates being elected.

Conversely, the CDPJ side fought in single-member districts and faced a wipeout, with only seven of its candidates including Shina and Ogawa winning in constituency races. Just 21 of the party's lower house lawmakers now originate from the CDPJ.

The party leadership contest comes after CRA co-leaders Yoshihiko Noda and Tetsuo Saito, respective former heads of the CDPJ and Komeito, said Monday they would step down to take responsibility for the election loss.

Komeito, a self-styled pacifist party, ended its 26-year coalition with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in October, shortly after Takaichi became its leader.
 
 

The transport ministry plans to provide subsidies for measures designed to ease airport congestion caused by an increase in inbound tourists as part of efforts to address overtourism and create a more comfortable travel environment.

Specifically, the ministry is considering subsidizing costs for expanding passenger walkways at airports and increasing baggage conveyor belts in a bid to reduce long waiting times and queues.

The ministry has earmarked ¥2.88 billion ($18.9 million) for the program in the government's fiscal 2026 budget proposal.

Domestic airlines, airport terminal operators and local governments that manage airports would be eligible for the subsidies, which are expected to cover half of the costs, in principle, for strengthening terminal building functions to alleviate congestion.

The subsidies are also expected to be utilized for improving and expanding airport bus terminals and installing digital signage to guide passengers to their destinations so that they can smoothly transfer to public transportation.

The program will also cover airport ground operations, such as aircraft guidance and baggage handling. It will help promote operational efficiency by supporting the introduction of advanced equipment and help improve the working environment by installing air-conditioning systems in baggage-sorting areas.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of foreign visitors to Japan hit a record high of about 42.68 million in 2025, surpassing 40 million for the first time. At some airports, congestion has worsened, with long lines forming at security checkpoints.
 
 

A Japanese Justice Ministry panel on Thursday compiled an outline of a review of the country’s retrial system that would continue to allow public prosecutors to file appeals against courts’ decisions to start retrials.

The Legislative Council also outlined an automobile driving punishment law revision that would set numerical standards for the crime of dangerous driving resulting in death and injury, as well as a Civil Code revision related to the statutory adult guardianship and testament systems.

The panel handed the outlines to Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi the same day. The government plans to submit related bills to a special parliamentary session to be convened Wednesday.

Prosecutors will continue to be able to challenge retrial decisions under the outline on a proposed amendment to the criminal procedure law, despite the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and others calling for banning such appeals that could delay relief for falsely convicted people.

The outline also calls for establishing a new provision on evidence disclosures under the law, with a penalty proposed against those who used disclosed evidence for purposes other than their original intent.

It also includes a provision allowing courts to swiftly dismiss requests for retrials.
 
 

The memorandum aims to rehabilitate Units 1 and 2 of the Jandar power plant in Homs province, ensuring the stable supply of approximately 540 megawatts to the Syrian electricity grid.

The Charge d'Affaires of the Japanese Embassy in Damascus, Akihiro Tsuji, and the Acting Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Syria, Mohammed Mudawi, signed a memorandum for a loan to Damascus worth 1,952 billion yen (approximately $12,4 million) for the implementation of a project entitled "Stabilizing Energy Supply in Conflict-Affected Areas."

According to a statement from the Syrian Ministry of Energy posted on Telegram, the memorandum aims to rehabilitate Units 1 and 2 of the Jandar Power Plant in Homs province, central Syria, ensuring the stable supply of approximately 540 megawatts to the national grid.

The project is expected to contribute to improving electricity supply in the provinces of Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Deir ez-Zor.

Under the agreement, the Japanese government will finance the project, while UNDP will oversee its implementation in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy for a period of 24 months.

Deputy Minister of Energy for Electricity Affairs, Omar ShaqrouqHe thanked the Japanese government for the funding, noting that it covers comprehensive maintenance work on the plant, detailed technical assessments to identify priorities, procurement and installation of original spare parts, supervision of overhaul operations, and training of engineers and technicians.

Shaqrouq emphasized that the project will improve the efficiency and reliability of the power grid while strengthening national management and preventive maintenance capabilities.

Since 2014, Japan has allocated over $35 million to support electricity supply in Syria, rehabilitating three major power plants, adding 235 megawatts of generation capacity, and reducing losses by approximately 1,000 megawatts.
 
 

Strained Sino-Japanese relations over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks in November on a Taiwan contingency seem to have had little effect on young Chinese lovers of Japanese animation and video games, with long queues formed at character goods shops in China.

The country's market for Japanese-originated anime and game culture, known as "erciyuan" in Chinese, meaning two-dimensional, almost doubled in five years to 597.7 billion yuan (about $86 billion) in 2024, according to iiMedia Research. The figure is expected to grow further to 834.4 billion yuan in 2029.

 

"Devoted fan activities are a source of spiritual fulfillment," a 21-year-old female college student dressed as the main character of the Japanese anime "Black Butler" said in late December at a Shanghai shopping mall that houses stores selling a variety of Japanese anime items.

"The deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations doesn't have any impact because we can watch our favorites on video streaming sites," she added.

Relations between Japan and China are at their lowest in years after Takaichi's remarks that an attack on Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, potentially prompting its Self-Defense Forces to act in support of the United States, infuriating Beijing.

 

China, which claims the self-ruled island as its territory and sees the Taiwan issue as a purely "internal affair," has come up with a series of anti-Japanese economic measures, including a limited number for the entertainment industry.

However, an industry source implied such measures will have little effect as so many local Chinese companies are involved in the sale of Japanese intellectual property-related products, such as anime and games.

Completely excluding the business could "deal a major blow to those Chinese firms," the source said, "(But) it's unrealistic (for them) to do that."

 

While characters from Japanese anime such as "Haikyu!!" and "Jujutsu Kaisen" enjoy enduring popularity in the Chinese market, China is developing its own domestic character business with the aim of becoming a cultural powerhouse.

In recent years, animation and games originating from China, such as the anime "Fei Ren Zai," which was aired in Japan, and romance simulation games for women, have been on the rise, fueling competition between Japanese and Chinese businesses in the market.
 
 

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is reportedly considering retaining all of her ministers in the new cabinet to be announced next week.

After winning a landslide victory in the election for the House of Representatives on Sunday, Takaichi is expected to be reappointed as prime minister in parliament on February 18 when parliament convenes for a proposed special session of 150 days.

Reported by ANTARA from Kyodo, Tuesday, February 10, Japan's ruling and opposition parties agreed to the government's proposal to hold the session, which is expected to last until at least July 17.

This happened after the lower house was dissolved on the first day of the regular parliamentary session at the end of January to hold a by-election.

The schedule proposed by the government includes a parliamentary vote to choose a prime minister that Takaichi will almost certainly win after the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partners won a landslide victory to control more than two-thirds of the 465 seats in the assembly.

With Takaichi's new cabinet appointed just months ago in October and his party winning a historic victory, a cabinet reshuffle is unlikely, the sources said.

The LDP's proposal to deliver policy speeches to Parliament by the prime minister and senior ministers, which will take place on February 20, was also approved by the Centrist Reform Alliance in a meeting of their heads of parliamentary affairs.
 
 

Japan won the bronze medal in the ski jumping mixed team event at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Tuesday, earning its first Olympic medal in the event.

The Japanese team, consisting of Nozomi Maruyama, Ryoyu Kobayashi, Sara Takanashi and Ren Nikaido, brought the Asian country its eighth medal at the ongoing Olympics.

Japan marked a total score of 1,034.0, while Slovenia won its second successive gold, with a score of 1,069.2. Norway placed second.

The mixed team event was held for the first time at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and Japan finished fourth at the time, missing the podium.

 

 
 

The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan in January involving liabilities of at least ¥10 million totaled 887, the highest level in 13 years, Tokyo Shoko Research said Monday.

The figure rose 5.5% from a year earlier, marking an increase for the second straight month, driven by growth in bankruptcies caused by sluggish sales.

Five of the 10 industries surveyed saw year-on-year rises in business failures, including the services, retail, wholesale and transportation sectors.

Bankruptcies stemming from weak sales climbed 6.3% to 649, accounting for the largest share of total failures. Failures linked to accumulated losses stood at 116, up 18.3%.

Bankruptcies due to high prices, where companies could not pass on rising costs and saw profits squeezed, jumped 24.5% to 76.

“This suggests the impact of sluggish real wage growth on consumer behavior,” a Tokyo Shoko Research official said.

Meanwhile, bankruptcies attributed to rising labor costs surged to 19 cases, nearly tripling from a year earlier, as a growing number of small and midsize firms were forced to raise wages to secure workers, worsening their cash positions.

Total liabilities left by failed companies fell 1.3% to ¥119,815 million. There was no failure with liabilities of ¥10 billion or more in the reporting month, while midsize companies accounted for a sizable share of total liabilities.
 


 

Japanese industry minister Ryosei Akazawa said Tuesday that he will visit the United States for four days from Wednesday to discuss Japanese investments in and loans to the United States as part of the two countries' tariff deal.

Akazawa will meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for in-depth talks on the possible first batch of projects.

Japan has agreed to make investments and loans worth up to 550 billion dollars in the United States in exchange for reductions in high U.S.
reciprocal and automobile tariffs imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump.

Gas-fired thermal power generation, synthetic diamonds and ports are major candidate projects. An announcement could be made if an agreement is reached between the two sides.

Akazawa, however, declined to comment on specific projects.
 
 
 
 

Almost three weeks of heavy snowfall has killed 46 people and injured 558 others in Japan, fresh data from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency showed Tuesday.

Continued snowfall since late January has buried northern communities and caused traffic chaos, particularly along the coast facing the Sea of Japan.

Many fatal accidents happened when mounds of snow fell on residents from roofs or people tumbled while trying to clear it, according to police and local officials.

In the northern regional hub of Aomori, residents are having to deal with 1.3 meters (more than 4 feet) of snow on the ground, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
 

The government and Commission I of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) agree to accept a grant of defense and security equipment in the form of ships worth 1.9 billion yen from the Japanese government, after considering various aspects.

The agreement was the result of a closed-door working meeting between Commission I of the DPR RI, the Ministry of Defense, and the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) on Tuesday.

"During the meeting, we agreed to accept this grant from the Japanese government," Deputy Minister of Defense Donny Ermawan said during a press conference after the meeting.

According to him, this ship grant is part of the Japanese government's Official Security Assistance (OSA) program. Previously, Indonesia had also received a grant of two ships worth 1 billion yen from the same program.

Ermawan assessed this ship grant is important for Indonesia considering the various potential vulnerabilities posed by the country's vast territory.

This additional defense equipment will have a significant impact on the Indonesian Navy's security in Indonesian waters, he remarked.

From an operational perspective, he stated that the vessel is a patrol boat with speeds of up to 40 knots, suitable for operation in Indonesian waters.

"The value is around 1.9 billion Japanese yen. That would be approximately three or four ships," he informed.

Regarding the economic aspect, Ermawan said the Indonesian government did not use any state budget funds for this agreement.

He addressed that the agreement also considers the strengthening of the cooperative relationship between the two countries.

"Especially between the Ministry of Defense from both countries," he said.

Meanwhile, Utut Adianto, Chairman of Commission I of the Indonesian House of Representatives, stated that all mechanisms have been met, with approval from all factions.

However, he emphasized the importance of state sovereignty in this defense grant.

“This assistance should not dictate us in any way,” he emphasized.

Following this, the commission’s approval will be forwarded to a plenary session of the Indonesian House of Representatives.

“Once the process is completed, the items can be used. The ministry oversees their distribution, and vessels are typically brought to the Navy,” he said.

 

The Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) is joining forces with experts from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the JSPS Alumni Association of Indonesia (JAAI), and the Indonesian Researchers Association (PPI) to reinforce the country’s research ecosystem.

“Indonesia must continue to maintain strong international relations and close partnerships, particularly through research and innovation with countries around the world,” said BRIN Head Arif Satria during The General Assembly Meeting and the 9th International Symposium of JAAI in Jakarta on Monday, February 9, 2026.

Arif emphasized that scientific collaboration is built on trust and long-term relationships fostered in laboratories and fieldwork. “JAAI and PPI provide excellent platforms to build new networks and future partnerships involving Indonesian, Japanese, and international academics,” he noted.

Strengthening the research ecosystem, he added, is essential to achieving Indonesia’s vision of Indonesia Emas 2045. This includes enhancing innovation capacity and national competitiveness to transform promising ideas into tangible, beneficial products.

Arif underlined the need to bridge gaps between research and industry, pointing out that national competitiveness reflects the contribution of research and innovation to the economy.

“This is evident in the excellence of R&D produced by industry, supported by research institutions, and high-quality human resources,” he said.

Through partnerships with JSPS, JAAI, and PPI, Arif expressed hope that BRIN can play a broader role in advancing research collaboration, particularly between Indonesia and Japan.
 

 

Japan's current account surplus in 2025 rose 11.1% from the previous year to a record ¥31.87 trillion ($203.5 billion), the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report Monday.

The country's combined balance of goods and services trade thus extended its historic surplus growth to two years.

According to the ministry, the annual goods trade deficit shrank sharply to ¥848.7 billion from a deficit of ¥3.66 trillion.

Exports increased 2.5% to ¥107.76 trillion led by electronic components such as semiconductors and foodstuffs.

Although exports to the United States dropped for the first time in five years due chiefly to U.S. President Donald Trump's high tariff policy, those to other parts of Asia and Europe were robust.

On the other hand, imports inched down 0.1% to ¥108.6 trillion amid weaker markets for coal, crude oil and other energy commodities.

The current account surplus was also pushed up by net primary income's 4.7% rise to an all-time high of ¥41.59 trillion reflecting an increase in dividend payments by overseas subsidiaries of Japanese firms.

Meanwhile, Japan saw its services trade deficit widen to ¥3.39 trillion from ¥2.77 trillion, as expenses for developing automobiles and drugs abroad grew.

In December alone, the country's current account balance showed a net fund inflow of ¥728.8 billion, remaining in surplus for the 11th consecutive month.
 
 

Japan reported a record current account surplus for the second straight year in 2025, partly thanks to a narrower trade deficit.

The Finance Ministry says the surplus reached almost 31.9 trillion yen, or about 203 billion dollars.

The current account is a key measure of the nation's earnings from trade and investment outside the country.

A drop in the cost of energy imports helped reduce the trade deficit.
At the same time, the primary income surplus expanded as Japanese companies' subsidiaries overseas reported higher stock dividends and interest payments from bonds.

The monthly current account balance posted a surplus of about 4.6 billion dollars in December.

It was the eleventh straight month of black ink, although the size of the surplus fell by 32 percent from a year earlier.
 
 

The yen strengthened in Asian trading on Monday after Japanese Prime ⁠Minister Sanae Takaichi swept to victory in Sunday's election, abruptly reversing a six-day ‌string of losses as traders ‍bet fiscal stimulus will boost the stock market.

The yen overturned a 0.3% decline which saw the currency reach its weakest level in two weeks to strengthen as much as 0.7% before paring gains. It was last trading 0.3% firmer at 156.76 yen against the dollar.

The yen also retraced losses against other currencies, which earlier saw it reach its weakest ‍level on record against the Swiss ​franc and trade near the weakest point since the creation of the euro.

"While the initial yen weakness may not have played out, the outlook for the yen is still one which is likely to struggle to strengthen," said Sim Moh Siong, currency strategist at OCBC in Singapore.

"At least in the near term, there's also concern about intervention risk, which may be capping the upside for dollar-yen."

Japan's top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura said earlier on Monday that the government is "closely watching currency movements with a high sense of urgency" after Takaichi's coalition swept to a historic election win.

Takaichi is projected to deliver as many as 328 of the 465 seats in Parliament's lower house for her Liberal Democratic Party. Alongside her ​coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party - known ​as Ishin - Takaichi now has a supermajority ‍of two-thirds of seats, allowing her to override the upper chamber, which she does not control.

"The Liberal Democratic Party's landslide ⁠victory removes political uncertainty and strengthens policy execution, but shifts market focus squarely to how fiscal policy is designed and communicated," said Shoki Omori, chief desk strategist for rates and FX at Mizuho in Tokyo.

"Risks from fiscal expansion had already been largely priced in before the election," he added. "The key question now is whether those risks are reinforced or gradually unwind."

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was flat at 97.629, at the start of ‌a week that will see the release of several key data releases out of Washington, including retail sales, inflation and Wednesday's delayed jobs report.

Traders are increasing their bets on policy easing from the Federal Reserve later this year. Fed funds futures are now pricing an implied 19.9% probability of a 25-basis-point cut at the U.S. central bank's next two-day meeting on March 18, up from a 18.4% chance on Friday, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

The pound was last down 0.1% at $1.3599 as markets considered developments in a political crisis swirling around British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, resigned on Sunday.

McSweeney said he was taking responsibility for advising ​Starmer to name ⁠Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S., despite his known links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Against the Chinese yuan trading offshore in Hong Kong , the U.S. dollar was last flat at 6.9317 yuan.

The ​Australian dollar was last up 0.1% at $0.7018, while the New ​Zealand dollar nudged ​0.1% higher to $0.6013 and the euro was flat at $1.1818.
Bitcoin was last down 0.3% at $70,454.92, while ether slumped 0.9% at $2,074.89.
 
 

Japan won the silver medal in the figure skating team event at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Sunday, as it did at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The Japanese team earned a total score of 68, just behind the U.S. team's 69. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara recorded the highest score in pair skating, and Kaori Sakamoto did so in women's singles free skating.

In snowboarding, Tsubaki Miki placed sixth in women's parallel giant slalom. Tomoka Takeuchi, 42, was eliminated in the preliminary round.

 

Takeuchi competed in her seventh straight Olympic games, setting a new record for Japanese women.

In the women's big air event, four Japanese athletes advanced to Monday's finals, with Kokomo Murase ranking second in the preliminary round.

 

 
 

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s striking victory in Sunday’s election has catapulted Japan’s political landscape to a time many had already begun to forget — a time when her Liberal Democratic Party held largely unfettered control over the levers of power.

Following a short hiatus after the party was all but declared dead — with many proclaiming the start of a new era ー the LDP rose from the ashes to win back the domineering position it had long held.

But Sunday’s triumph is less a master stroke of the LDP than a success of its indisputable architect: Takaichi herself.

Since the start of the campaign, Takaichi took center stage in the election like few of her predecessors had dared.

Defying convention and general wisdom in calling a snap election, the prime minister gambled on the public’s appetite for a strong and energetic leader — one who speaks in clear, direct terms and projects a vision for the country.

Even her critics had little space to complain, despite faulting her for acting unilaterally and relying on a small circle of handpicked advisers.
 
 

Department stores are increasingly expanding their Valentine’s Day product lineup to include baked goods and alternative “chocolates” that contain no cacao.

As Feb. 14 approaches, stores are stepping up their sales campaigns while trying to avoid significant price hikes amid a sharp rise in the price of cocoa beans.

Sogo & Seibu Co. has doubled its non-chocolate offerings, which include cookies, gummies and castella cakes. Non-chocolate products account for about 20% of all its Valentine’s products.

As some chocolate products have risen in price by about 30% from last year, the company aims to maintain consumer spending by providing more non-chocolate, low-cost items.

The company is also offering Mokables (¥2,090 for 12 pieces), a new chocolate substitute that swaps cocoa beans for ground coffee beans and vegetable fat to recreate the appearance and melt-in-your-mouth feel of chocolate.

“We want to create more joy out of choosing from a variety of products,” a company official explained.

Takashimaya Co. is offering truffle and ganache products from four popular brands, including Toshi Yoroizuka, that use alternative chocolate.

These sweets are made with Anoza M, a new milk chocolate-flavored ingredient developed by Fuji Oil Co., a major oils and fats manufacturer.

Because Anoza M is created from peas and other ingredients, the products are reasonably priced, ranging from ¥1,188 to ¥2,800, and some products are about ¥600 cheaper than those made from cocoa beans.

Matsuya’s flagship store in Ginza is working to attract customers by showing how high-end chocolates are made, and from Sunday it will offer a course meal in which a pastry chef will prepare chocolate desserts and other dishes in front of customers.

The meal, which includes an alcoholic beverage, will set you back ¥18,700, but an official at the store said, “We’re catering to people who want to treat themselves to a Valentine’s Day gift.”

In 2024, cocoa beans soared in price on the international market, due in part to poor harvests by major producers such as Ghana.

The average price per kilogram on the New York cocoa futures market reached $10.70 (about ¥1,670) in January 2025, more than four times the price in January 2023, according to the International Cocoa Organization.

In January 2026, the price was back down to $4.97 (about ¥775), still about twice the price before the surge.

Major department stores are selling Valentine’s chocolates for an average of ¥436 per piece, 4.3% higher than last year and topping ¥400 for the second consecutive year, according to a survey by Teikoku Databank Ltd.
 
 

Japan will switch the world's largest nuclear power plant back on next week, after a glitch with an alarm forced the suspension of its first restart since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The announcement came after TEPCO restarted the reactor on January 21 but shut it off the following day after an alarm from the monitoring system sounded.

Due to an error in its configuration, the alarm had picked up slight changes to the electrical current in one cable even though these were still within a range considered safe, Takeyuki Inagaki, the head of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant run by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), said.

The firm has now changed the alarm's settings as the reactor is safe to operate, Inagaki said.

The commercial operation will commence on or after March 18 after another comprehensive inspection, he said.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world's biggest nuclear power plant by potential capacity, although just one reactor of seven will restart.

The facility had been offline since Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after a colossal earthquake and tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown in 2011.

Resource-poor Japan now wants to revive atomic energy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet growing energy needs from artificial intelligence.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the first TEPCO-run unit to restart since 2011. The company also operates the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, now being decommissioned.

Public opinion in the area around the plant is deeply divided: Around 60 percent of residents oppose the restart, while 37 percent support it, according to a survey conducted by Niigata prefecture in September.

In January, seven groups opposing the restart submitted a petition signed by nearly 40,000 people to TEPCO and Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority, saying that the plant sits on an active seismic fault zone and noted it was struck by a strong quake in 2007.
 
 

Japan's nationalist ruling party is set to regain a majority in lower house elections, media projections showed on Sunday, in what would be a huge victory for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is expected to have won about 300 seats in the lower house of parliament, far exceeding the 233 seats required for a majority, national broadcaster NHK reported, basing projections on exit polls.

Together with its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), the LDP was projected to win 310 seats, NHK said, giving them a two-thirds majority.

Takaichi dissolved parliament in January ahead of the snap elections, a gamble that she hoped would provide her and her struggling party with a stronger mandate.

While Takaichi is hugely popular, particularly with younger voters, her conservative LDP, which has ruled the country for most of the past seven decades, has been hit by scandals and faced a new opposition alliance that has emerged as a potential challenger.


What do the projections mean?

The projections affirm what opinion polls foresaw ahead of Sunday's national elections, that the LDP alone would comfortably win the 233 seats required for a majority in the 465-member lower house of parliament.

Sunday night's projections showed the LDP and its coalition partner, the populist JIP, would most likely surpass the 310 seats needed for a two-thirds majority.

his would allow the coalition to override the upper chamber, which is controlled by the opposition.

That would be the strongest result for the LDP since Takaichi's mentor Shinzo Abe's victory in 2017. Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, was assassinated in 2022.

Such a victory would mean a significant shift to the right in Japanese politics. The LDP, which has held a narrow majority since a poor showing in elections in 2024, has struggled to push through legislation.

Takaichi had said she would step down if the LDP failed to secure a majority.

NHK's projections showed that a newly formed Centrist Reform Alliance and the far-right Sanseito party were unable to pose a serious threat to the incumbent prime minister.

The alliance looked to have lost more than two-thirds of its 167 seats, while the far-right party was projected to have increased its seats from two to between five and 14, broadcaster NHK said.


Who is Sanae Takaichi?

Takaichi became Japan's first woman prime minister in October.
She has touted UK former-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — dubbed the "Iron Lady" — as an inspiration, and her pledge to "work, work, work, work and work" has resonated with voters.

An ultraconservative and China hawk, she wants to boost Japan's defense spending and capabilities amid growing tensions with Beijing and pressure from US President Donald Trump, with whom she enjoys good ties.

She has also been pressing for tougher immigration policies and to revitalize Japan's economy.

The election was held against the backdrop of record snowfall in many areas of the country in recent weeks, which could delay vote counting or hinder access to polling stations in some areas, even in Tokyo.

The snow has blocked roads and has been linked to dozens of deaths.
 
 

Gallo signaled Friday that it sees wine and whiskey as a good mix for business.

The wine giant said it plans to add a prominent Kentucky bourbon brand to its portfolio in a deal to purchase Four Roses Distillery from Japanese-based Kirin.

The deal, valued at up to $775 million, is expected to close in the second quarter of this year, Kirin said in a release.

California-based Gallo said no changes are planned in operations, production or distribution once it acquires the Four Roses brand — produced in Lawrenceburg in the heart of Kentucky bourbon country.

“As we move through the regulatory process and await a closing date, we’re incredibly excited about this acquisition and the opportunity to welcome Four Roses into our portfolio,” Gallo said in a statement.

Founded in 1933 by brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo, Gallo is a family-owned company with an extensive portfolio in wine, spirits, malt beverages and ready to drink products.

Kirin said Four Roses has achieved strong growth, primarily in the U.S., since it acquired the brand in 2002.

"Kirin regularly reviews its balance sheet and business portfolio from a medium to long term perspective," it said Friday. “After careful consideration as part of this review, Kirin decided to enter into an agreement to transfer the business to Gallo.

This transaction will allow Kirin to reallocate its resources toward businesses that could further grow by leveraging Kirin’s own organizational capabilities.”

Kirin didn't immediately signal how it will use proceeds from the Four Roses sale. The beverage giant also has holdings in health sciences and pharmaceuticals.

Four Roses Distillery completed a $55 million expansion several years ago that doubled production capacity at its Lawrenceburg plant. The iconic brand was a post-Prohibition powerhouse but disappeared from American shelves as a Kentucky straight bourbon for decades.

It’s only been since Kirin purchased Four Roses that the brand’s straight bourbons returned to American bars and liquor stores. A previous owner had turned Four Roses into a blended whiskey for U.S. consumption, while shipping the straight bourbons to foreign markets.

The Four Roses sale comes amid a period of uncertainty for American spirits producers as they navigate trade conflicts and nagging inflation that's pinched consumers' pocketbooks.

“While total U.S. spirits sales edged down 2.2% in 2025, the spirits industry remains resilient, driven by innovative products that continue to spark consumer interest,” Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said Thursday during its annual industry report.

Domestic sales of American whiskey — a category that includes bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey — totaled $5.1 billion in 2025, down nearly 1% from the prior year, the council said.

Demand for high-end premium whiskey brands remains strong, Swonger said. Those whiskeys age longer and fetcher higher prices for producers. Bourbon gets its flavor and golden brown color during aging.

“There is still a great deal of consumer interest and passion for America’s native spirit,” he said.
 
 

Heavy snowfall hit a wide swath of Japan on Sunday, particularly in the west and along the Sea of Japan coast, while central Tokyo was lightly blanketed.

The snowfall disrupted traffic in areas adjacent to Kyoto, as well as in southwestern Fukui Prefecture and eastern Tottori Prefecture, with some cities in the two prefectures recording more than 30 centimeters of snow over a six-hour period in the morning.

Among areas seeing unusually heavy snow, Nantan in Kyoto Prefecture recorded 35 cm over a six-hour period, while Tottori recorded 37 cm and Shobara in Hiroshima Prefecture logged the same amount in six hours.

In the central area of Tokyo, 5 cm of snow was observed as of 11 a.m., with the weather agency issuing heavy snow warnings in some parts of the capital.

A strong winter weather pattern that brought the heavy snow is expected to ease in western Japan on Monday, but the Japan Meteorological Agency says snowfall is expected to continue in regions along the Sea of Japan coast.

In the 24 hours through 6 p.m. Monday, the Hokuriku region in central Japan could see up to 60 cm of snow, and the Kanto-Koshin region may get up to 50 cm, while 40 cm is expected in the Hokkaido and Tohoku regions. The western region of Chugoku is also expected to see 40 cm.

The western regions of Chugoku and Shikoku may see up to 25 cm and 15 cm, respectively.

Due to the snow, the Tokaido and Sanyo shinkansen bullet train lines operated at reduced speed from the start of Sunday's service between Shinagawa in Tokyo and Atami in Shizuoka Prefecture and between Hiroshima and Asa in Yamaguchi Prefecture, respectively, according to railway operators.

Over 50,000 people were affected by train suspensions and delays in the Tokyo metropolitan area, according to JR East.
 
 

Major power producer JERA Co. has announced that it signed a partnership agreement with U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. to strengthen cooperation between the two.

Under the agreement, JERA will leverage Amazon’s artificial intelligence to improve efficiency in power plant maintenance, while providing a stable supply of eco-friendly energy to Amazon’s data centers to meet the growing energy demand fueled by AI, the company said Thursday.

Securing personnel and passing on technical expertise have become pressing issues at thermal power plants, JERA’s core business.

To address these challenges, the company intends to apply Amazon’s AI and cloud technologies to analyze operations and detect early signs of equipment failure.

For Amazon’s data centers, which require vast amounts of electricity, JERA is considering utilizing offshore wind power and thermal power generation using hydrogen and ammonia, as well as carbon capture and storage technology to collect carbon dioxide and store it underground.
 
 

 
Koji Sato is stepping down as president and chief executive officer of Toyota, the company said Friday.
 
Chief Financial Officer Kenta Kon will succeed him, effective April 1.
 
Kon said the appointment, which he was informed of in January, came as a surprise.
 
“At this point, it’s not that I have assessed everything and have a clear roadmap,” Kon said, adding he will communicate with Sato and other executives about how to lead the automaker.
 
Sato will become vice chairman and assume the newly created role of chief industry officer.
 
According to Toyota, Kon will focus on Toyota’s internal management, while Sato will handle tasks related to the auto industry in general, as he also serves as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association and vice chairman of Keidanren.
 
“To maintain the international competitiveness of the auto industry, we must come together to find specific fields for cooperation and a winning strategy for Japan,” Sato said during a news conference on Friday.
 
“Since cross-industry collaboration will be critical, Toyota has to play a bigger role in the industry.”
 
Sato became Toyota president in April 2023, succeeding Akio Toyoda, in what was the first leadership change in about 14 years.
 
At that time Toyoda said he himself was from “the old school,” so a younger person should lead the automaker to face new challenges, such as producing EVs and software-defined vehicles.
 
Toyoda said that he chose Sato due to his eagerness to absorb Toyota’s philosophy and understand its technology.

The Nagasaki Lantern Festival during which the streets of the port city in southwestern Japan are illuminated with approximately 15,000 colorful lanterns got underway on Friday.

Starting this year, the festival began on the first Friday of February instead of coinciding with the start of the Chinese New Year.

A lighting ceremony was held at the main venue, Minato Park.

Around 6:00 p.m., following a countdown, the lanterns and sculptures were all lit simultaneously.

Approximately 15,000 lanterns and objects are on display throughout central Nagasaki.

Among them is a newly designed 11-meter-tall sculpture titled "Ryoma Seishin" representing a youthful and vibrant spirit soaring through the sky like a dragon and galloping across the earth like a horse.

This year's festival runs for 18 days until February 23.

The Emperor Parade, inspired by an imperial visit during China's Qing Dynasty, will take place on February 14 and 21 while the Maso procession, honoring the goddess of sailors and sea voyages, is planned for February 8 and 15.

The organizing committee expects more than one million visitors will attend the festival.
 
 

 

Japan will keep requesting Russia to allow the restart of a program for former residents of Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands to visit their ancestors' graves on the islands, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Saturday.

"Resuming the visits is a humanitarian issue and one of the top priorities in the Japan-Russia relationship," Takaichi said in an annual national rally held by the government and related organizations to demand the return of the Japanese-claimed islands, called the Northern Territories.

"We will patiently urge the Russian side to resume them," she also said, referring to the aging of former residents of the islands, seized from Japan by Soviet troops around the end of World War II.

The visit program was halted for reasons including Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is totally unclear when the program will restart.

"It is really vexing and regrettable that a peace treaty between Japan and Russia has not been concluded and that the Northern Territories issue has not been resolved although 80 years have passed since the war ended," Takaichi stressed.
 
 

 

Two leaders of a fledgling Japanese political party unveil a red logo reminiscent of Chinese Communist Party imagery.

A candidate campaigns in freezing weather wearing a tank top. Grannies vent in public about what they see as political nonsense. Or do they?

Whatever the outcome of Sunday’s Lower House election, the race will be remembered not least for having witnessed the full-blown debut of "AI slop" in Japanese politics.

As more voters in Japan turn to social media for political updates and policy debates, the internet is increasingly looking like a dumping site for fake and dubious news and content.

Behind the deluge of such content is the ease with which generative AI can create authentic-looking videos and the opportunities for anyone to make quick money, experts say.

Major social media platforms, such as YouTube and TikTok, offer financial rewards to channels with high numbers of views.

“The mechanism through which fake news and content of uncertain authenticity spreads hasn’t changed much since the previous election,” said Shinichi Yamaguchi, a professor at the International University of Japan in Niigata Prefecture.

“But what is decisively different in this election is how generative AI technology has advanced.”
 
 

Toyoda Gosei Co., a Toyota Motor group firm, plans to sell facilities for cultivating strawberries on a trial basis as early as fiscal 2026.

The facility will have solar-powered electric power generators to cool down and warm the facility so that no greenhouse gases will be emitted, and fruit can be cultivated year-round.

Since the volume of strawberry harvests generally declines in summer, the firm hopes that growers can gain a stable revenue through greenhouses that allow for year-round cultivation.

The company will sell an agricultural greenhouse and such things as solar panels, batteries, air-conditioning systems and LEDs in a set.

It will also provide strawberry seedlings and soil. To assist companies and others that want to begin production, the company will provide techniques to cultivate strawberries.

At its Inabe Plant in Mie Prefecture that is powered by renewable energy sources, Toyoda Gosei cultivates strawberries while manufacturing tanks to store hydrogen gas for fuel-cell vehicles.

The company has provided strawberries to a hotel in Nagoya as a new business outside of manufacturing auto parts.

Toyoda Gosei plans to gather opinions from companies and other entities in the trial sales and aims to begin the new business on a full-fledged basis based on the information gathered.
 
 

A cherry blossom festival boasting a highly Instagrammable view of Japan's Mount Fuji has been cancelled after residents complained of overtourism fuelled by the weak yen.

The city of Fujiyoshida, in central Japan's Yamanashi region, said on Tuesday (Feb 3) that the weeks-long event attracting around 200,000 people will be called off this year because "the quiet lives of local residents are threatened".

About 42.7 million tourists flocked to Japan in 2025, an all-time high, topping 2024's record of nearly 37 million as the weak yen boosted the appeal of the "bucket list" destination.

But complaints of overcrowding have grown in hotspots like Kyoto, where disrespectful tourists have been accused of harassing kimono-clad geisha performers in their frenzy for photos.

In Fujiyoshida, the influx of foreign tourists has seen traffic chronically jammed and cigarette butts tossed, with trespassing and even defecation in private gardens reported by its citizens, the city said.

"Behind (Mount Fuji's) beautiful landscape is the reality that the quiet lives of citizens are threatened. We have a strong sense of crisis," Shigeru Horiuchi, Fujiyoshida mayor, said in a statement.

"To protect the dignity and living environment of our citizens, we have decided to bring the curtain down on the 10-year-old festival."

The city, however, admits that even if the festival itself is cancelled, its venue - a park overlooking Mount Fuji, cherry blossom trees and a five-story pagoda - may still see a spike in visitors as spring nears.
Mount Fuji is a perennial tourist attraction.

To manage the influx of visitors, nearby towns have in the past erected a view-blocking barrier to dissuade photo-hungry tourists, introduced an entry fee for hikers and capped their daily numbers.
 
 

Admission fees to Ginkakuji temple, a World Heritage Site, will increase from April for the first time in 32 years, the temple announced last month.

Money generated through the hike will be used to maintain the temple’s cultural properties and gardens, at a time when prices and labor costs are soaring.

From April, the general admission fee will double from ¥500 to ¥1,000, and the fee for elementary and junior high school students will climb from ¥300 to ¥500. Admission for people with a disability will remain ¥100, and those below elementary school age will still be able to enter for free.

Officially called Jishoji, Ginkakuji is located in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto. Its most iconic building is Kannonden hall, which is also known as “Ginkaku” (silver pavilion).

The temple’s Togudo hall is said to be the nation’s oldest existing example of Shoinzukuri architecture.

Both structures have been designated as national treasures, and the gardens are a national special place of scenic beauty and a special historic site.

“The temple was founded more than 500 years ago,” a Ginkakuji official said. “We hope that people will understand that [the price increase] will ensure it can be preserved and passed down for future generations.”
 

 

Tokyo police have arrested two Vietnamese men on suspicion of illegally purchasing popular Pokemon cards by creating fake accounts on a sales website. Police suspect the two resold the cards for profit.

The police say one of the suspects, 39-year-old Do Van Cuong, runs a communications service firm in Tokyo.

They say the two men accessed the official sales website for Pokemon goods from June to September 2025 and created 30 fictitious accounts using fraudulently obtained SIM cards.

The website held lotteries that allowed the winners to buy one box of Pokemon cards each.

Police say the two are suspected of illegally buying 4,500 cards in 30 boxes using the fake accounts.

In October 2025, Do Van Cuong was arrested and indicted on fraud charges for giving false information when he bought SIM cards from a communications business company.

Police say the suspects may have used some of the SIM cards obtained at that time to create the fake accounts.

Police searched related facilities and seized more than 15,000 Pokemon cards. They say the two are suspected of making at least 4 million yen, or about 25,500 dollars, by reselling some of the cards.

They have not revealed whether the two suspects have admitted to the allegations.
 
 

Japanese exports of agriculture, forestry and fishery products and foods rose to over 1.7 trillion yen ($10.9 billion) in 2025, renewing the record for the 13th straight year, amid expansions of worldwide popularity of washoku, or Japanese cuisine, the farm ministry said Tuesday.

Amid heightened health awareness, green tea exports doubled from the previous year, and exports of 20 major items, including beef and rice, reached record high, contributing to a 12.8 percent year-on-year increase, according to the ministry.

But the exports fell short of the government's target of 2 trillion yen in 2025, with continuous efforts to develop export markets deemed indispensable as the government aims for 5 trillion yen in exports in 2030.

By country and region, the United States was the top destination at 276.2 billion yen, up 13.7 percent, on the back of strong demand for green tea and seafood that are considered healthy food, despite higher tariffs imposed since April last year.

Hong Kong came in second at 222.8 billion yen followed by Taiwan at 181.2 billion yen, while China, which has reimposed suspension of Japanese seafood imports amid a diplomatic row, ranked fourth at 179.9 billion yen.

Exports to China rose for the first time in three years, up 7.0 percent, driven by notable increases of beer and timber logs.

By volume, rice exports rose 3.2 percent from the previous year to 46,573 tons. Those of packaged precooked rice soared 21.8 percent to 2,950 tons, due in part to consumption expansions at Japanese chain restaurants overseas.

The government aims to boost annual rice exports, including packaged rice and rice flour, to 353,000 tons in 2030.

"We need to expand our destinations to popular local restaurants" in addition to chain restaurants operated by Japanese firms, an official of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.
 


 

The Japan Federation of Basic Industry Workers' Unions decided Wednesday to demand a monthly pay scale increase of 15,000 yen in this year's "shunto" spring wage negotiations.

The unified demand is at the same level as the previous year, which was a record high, to cope with price increases and labor shortages.

"This is the necessary level to sustain wage growth exceeding inflation," Masao Tsumura, head of the federation's central committee, said at the day's meeting.

Member unions will submit their pay demands to management on Friday.
Given the difference in business performance between heavy machinery makers and steelmakers facing sluggish markets, the federation said that member unions "should recognize differences in their situations and allow each other to set demands flexibly."
 
 

Japan Airlines has said that its passenger revenue on China routes in December was about 20% lower than its projections, following Beijing’s notices advising Chinese citizens against traveling to Japan.

The weakness continued into January and beyond, the company said.
Still, passenger revenue on routes to and from China accounts for about only 8% of the JAL group’s total international flight revenue.

The China route revenue loss “could be covered this fiscal year, as (revenue on) other routes remains very strong,” Executive Vice President Yuji Saito told a news conference Tuesday.

According to JAL, revenue from China routes in December plunged by ¥1 billion ($6.4 million) at JAL and by about ¥300 million at affiliate Spring Japan, a low-cost carrier based in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, from originally planned levels.

Last month, the Chinese government released a notice advising its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan during the Lunar New Year holiday period in February after issuing advisories against trips to Japan late last year.
 
 

The Indonesian National Futsal Team has made history by advancing to the semifinals of the 2026 Futsal Asian Cup for the first time.

This achievement was secured after the Garuda squad defeated their Southeast Asian rival, Vietnam, with a score of 3-2 in a quarterfinal match held at Indonesia Arena, Jakarta, on Tuesday, 3 February 2026.

The historic victory was confirmed through goals scored by Brian Ick in the 5th minute, Ardiansyah Nur in the 11th minute, and Reza Gunawan in the 26th minute.

Meanwhile, Vietnam put up a fierce fight with a brace scored by Nguyen Da Hai in the 25th and 36th minutes. This result makes Indonesia the only Southeast Asian representative remaining in the top four, alongside Japan, Iran, and Iraq.

Indonesian National Futsal Team coach, Hector Souto, admitted that he was pleased with his team's achievement in breaking the national record.

However, the Spanish coach offered a critical note regarding the team's performance, which he considered to be in need of significant improvement to reach higher standards.

“We break the record. The result is really good. But I repeat again, I'm really unsatisfied. We must play much better. This country must play a different style of futsal,” Hector stated during a press conference.

The team's main focus has now shifted to the crucial semifinal match against Japan, which is scheduled to take place on February 5. Given the very short break, Hector has instructed the players to prioritize physical recovery.

“So, I hope it was just today, because the semifinal is waiting in Japan. I know Japan well. And I think we have a chance to defeat them. Not many, but we have some chances. And of course, I will push my players to recover well,” Hector said.

This recovery process includes the strict monitoring of nutritional intake and rest duration, with the coach requiring players to sleep for more than eight hours.

Although Japan is favoured in terms of individual and collective quality, Hector, who is very familiar with their playing style, remains optimistic that there is still a chance to win through in-depth technical preparation.
 

Indonesia is accelerating the development of a national hydrogen ecosystem as part of its clean energy transition, supporting decarbonization, energy security, and long-term industrial growth under President Prabowo Subianto’s Astacita program.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said on Tuesday the initiative aligns with the National Hydrogen Strategy and the National Hydrogen and Ammonia Roadmap, which guide hydrogen and ammonia development in Indonesia.

Director General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Eniya Listiani Dewi said hydrogen development is important for industry, transportation, power generation, and export-oriented sectors, while strengthening national energy security.

"This year, which is my key performance indicator, green hydrogen must be available in the market at nearly 200 tons per year.

We must achieve it, and we want to create more," Eniya said at the 4th Indonesia-Japan Hydrogen Ammonia Development Acceleration Forum in Jakarta.

She said implementation would be carried out in phases to ensure regulatory readiness, infrastructure development, market demand growth, and domestic capability building, while maintaining policy flexibility and regular evaluation.

The plan consists of an initiation phase from 2025 to 2034, followed by a development and integration phase from 2035 to 2045, and an acceleration and sustainability phase from 2045 to 2060.

Indonesia is strengthening cooperation with Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), combining Japanese technology, project experience, and financing with Indonesia’s renewable energy potential and long-term demand prospects.

The Indonesia-Japan hydrogen partnership roadmap is expected to encourage industrial collaboration, supported by public financing and early-stage risk mitigation to accelerate the development of financially viable hydrogen infrastructure.

JICA Senior Representative Akira Sato said government policies under President Prabowo emphasize energy and food self-sufficiency, investment growth, macroeconomic stability, and inclusive economic development.

Sato said JICA remains committed to supporting Indonesia’s energy transition, noting the bilateral hydrogen-ammonia roadmap complements Indonesia’s national policy and outlines practical frameworks for cooperation between the two countries.
 
 

Japan’s real gross domestic product in October-December last year likely grew 0.4 pct from the previous quarter for an annualized rise of 1.6 pct, according to the average estimate by 10 private think tanks.

The Japanese economy is believed to have returned to positive growth for the first time in two quarters, partly thanks to a pickup in housing investment.

The Cabinet Office is scheduled to release preliminary GDP data on Feb. 16.
In October-December, private consumption, the main pillar of domestic demand, is estimated to have increased only 0.1 pct.

“Consumption continues to lack strong momentum as inflation persists,” said Yoshiki Shinke, a senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc.

Meanwhile, capital expenditure is expected to post an increase of 0.7 pct, supported by software investment for labor-saving purposes.