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Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, are struggling to maintain their majority in the House of Councillors ahead of Sunday's election, according to information obtained by Jiji Press so far. It is uncertain whether the LDP-Komeito coalition will win the 50 seats necessary to maintain their Upper House majority. In last year......

Kamaishi, Iwate Pref., July 14 (Jiji Press)--The city of Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, is said to have been the first place on Japan's Honshu main island to suffer a naval bombardment by the Allied powers during World War II. More than 5,000 shells were fired into the northeastern city, which had a large iron mill, on July 17 and Aug. 9, 1945, killing a total of 782 people, mostly civilians. ......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--The average price of rice sold at about 1,000 supermarkets across Japan in the week through July 6 stood at 3,602 yen per 5 kilograms, down 70 yen from the previous week, the seventh consecutive weekly fall, the agriculture ministry said Monday. In the reporting week, 11,742 tons of government-stockpiled rice were sold, pushing the average price down. Still, ......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--Yosuke Tsuruho of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday resigned as chairman of the House of Councilors' Budget Committee after being criticized by both ruling and opposition lawmakers for his recent remark about last year's Noto Peninsula earthquake in central Japan. His resignation was approved by Upper House President Masakazu Sekiguchi. His successor......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--Major Japanese flash memory maker Kioxia Holdings Corp. said Monday that it will issue up to 3 billion dollars, or about 440 billion yen, in dollar-denominated corporate bonds. Kioxia plans to use up to 331 billion yen of the proceeds from the bond issuance to repurchase all preferred shares held by the Development Bank of Japan, with the aim of reducing the burd......

Tokushima, July 14 (Jiji Press)--A bus burst into flames after colliding head-on with a truck on an expressway in the western Japan city of Awa, Tokushima Prefecture, around half past noon on Monday, leaving two dead and 12 others injured. According to police sources, the truck driver and a bus passenger died in the accident, while 11 other passengers were hospitalized for minor or serious i......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--The number of patients with fifth disease, or slapped cheek syndrome, in Japan hit the highest level in some 26 years in the week that ended June 22, according to data compiled by the Japan Institute for Health Security. The number of fifth disease patients reported by some 2,000 medical institutions nationwide stood at 2.53 per institution in the week, the high......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--Opposition parties are stepping up fights in 13 multi-seat constituencies ahead of Sunday's Upper House election in Japan. "If our party gets bigger, Japan will change," Kazuya Shimba, secretary-general of the Democratic Party for the People, shouted in a stump speech in the three-seat Chiba constituency, where two seats have been held by the ruling Liberal Demo......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team has found through a new method using digital technology. The team of researchers mainly from Hokkaido University discovered a large number of squid fossils from rocks of the late Cretaceous period about 70 million to 100 million years ago using a n......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--The Japan Sumo Association said Monday that it will hold an event recreating an ancient sumo ceremony in October to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The "Sumai no Sechie" ceremony was held at the Imperial court during Japan's Heian period in the eighth to 12th centuries. The event will take place at the Ryogoku Kokugikan hall in Tokyo on Oct. 7. It will be th......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Emperor Emeritus Akihito was admitted to the University of Tokyo Hospital on Monday afternoon to begin a new oral treatment for his heart. The 91-year-old former Emperor will take the treatment to alleviate burdens on his heart, on top of his ongoing medication treatment. Doses of the new treatment will be decided after he undergoes an electrocardiogram.......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. on Monday started the second round of treated water releases for fiscal 2025 from its stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan into the ocean. Some 7,800 tons of tritium-containing treated water, diluted with large amounts of seawater, will be discharged via an undersea tunnel at a point 1 kilo......

Washington, July 13 (Jiji Press)--U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that Japan is "changing" its way very rapidly in tariff negotiations with the United States. Trump was speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, but he did not elaborate. Japan may have made concessions in the tariff talks. The president made the comments after criticizing Japan, saying, "We sell......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--The Bank of Japan has completed the sale of stocks acquired from domestic financial institutions during past financial crises, it was learned Monday. The Japanese central bank had bought shares held by private financial institutions since 2002, in a bid to stabilize the financial system. Its stock holdings topped 2 trillion yen at one point on a book value basis......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--Three major Japanese convenience store operators posted growth in their group operating revenues and profits in the March-May first quarter of the current business year, according to their earnings reports. Retail giant Seven & i Holdings Co., the operator of industry leader Seven-Eleven Japan Co., saw its mainstay overseas convenience store operations recover th......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--Japan's political parties are putting less focus on regional revitalization than on other topics in their campaigning for an election on Sunday for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament. A decade has passed since the Japanese government began full-fledged efforts to revitalize regional communities and economies. However, regional populations ......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--The average correct answer rates in Japanese language and math sections of a national achievement test for students in Japan in fiscal 2025 fell from the previous year, the education ministry said Monday. The correct answer rate for the Japanese language section dropped to 67.0 pct from 67.8 pct among elementary school sixth-graders. Among junior high school ......

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--Discussions among political parties in Japan on securing a stable energy supply have been slow in the lead-up to Sunday's election for the House of Councillors, despite a recent surge in risks to energy security. Rising tensions in the Middle East following a recent U.S. strike on nuclear facilities in Iran have fueled concerns that the Strait of Hormuz, a key c......

Tokyo, July 13 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako returned from their eight-day state visit to Mongolia on Sunday. A Japanese government plane carrying the Imperial couple arrived at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in the afternoon after leaving Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, earlier on Sunday. On their way to Chinggis Khaan I......

Sydney, July 13 (Jiji Press)--The Talisman Sabre large-scale military exercise, led by the United States and Australia, started Sunday in locations including eastern Australia, bringing together more than 30,000 personnel from a record 19 countries including Japan. The exercise is designed to demonstrate the broad collaboration among the participating countries. Also, it is apparently aimed......