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Latest News

Naoya Inoue (left) and Junto Nakatani during a photo session at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Mar 6, 2026
Inoue primed for 'historic' Nakatani clash in Tokyo
Both fighters are unbeaten and the long-anticipated bout is expected to create huge interest in Japan and beyond.
Oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz in 2018. Japan relies on the Middle East for around 95% of its oil supplies with around 70% coming via the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed due to the Iran war.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2026
Japan may use part of national oil stockpile amid Iran war supply crisis: report
Japan relies on the Middle East for around 95% of its oil supplies with around 70% coming via the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed due to the Iran war.
Tankers off the coast of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Mar 6, 2026
Qatar energy minister warns war will force Gulf to halt energy exports within weeks, report says
Qatar halted its production of liquefied natural gas on Monday, as Iran continued to strike Gulf countries in retaliation for Israeli and U.S. attacks.
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2026
Japan to evacuate citizens from Middle East on charted flights Sunday
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, meanwhile, told a news conference Friday that a Self-Defense Forces transport aircraft will be on standby in the Maldives.
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a grand slam against Taiwan during the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome on Friday night.
BASEBALL
Mar 6, 2026
Shohei Ohtani hits grand slam to power Samurai Japan in rout of Taiwan at WBC
Japan, led by Shohei Ohtani, got its campaign at the World Baseball Classic off to a winning start.
Reactor buildings at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant in the town of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Jan. 22
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2026
Fukushima nuclear power plant discharging final round of treated water for FY2025
The operation, scheduled to run until March 24, will result in the release of about 7,800 tons of treated water containing tritium.
Ronda Payne (center), the mother of Christopher Payne, an American man convicted of sexual assault in Japan, speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2026
American man found guilty of sexual assault fights ruling over DNA evidence
A Tokyo High Court ruling in December said his conviction was based on insufficient evidence and sent his case back to the district court.
Japanese film director Hideo Sakaki was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday for sexually assaulting two women actors under the guise of ¡°acting instruction,¡± media reports said.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2026
Japanese film director jailed for 8 years for sexual assualt
Hideo Sakaki's film "Confession" was pulled following the accusations in 2022, part of a string of sexual abuse allegations to hit 91²Ö¿â film and television industry.
Real wages have been falling in Japan for a number of years despite high nominal increases.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2026
Unions seeking wage increases this year of almost 6%
The spring offensive results are likely to be in line with last year¡¯s.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi speaks at a Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting on Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2026
Another Japanese national detained in Iran after NHK staffer¡¯s arrest
The government has been able to contact the two nationals and confirm their safety since the U.S.-Israeli attack on the Middle Eastern country began.
LDP¡¯s security chief Yasukazu Hamada (left) and JIP counterpart Seiji Maehara speak to reporters in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 6, 2026
LDP-JIP coalition submits proposal to revise rules on defense equipment exports
The ruling parties¡¯ joint security committee seeks to relax export rules for defense equipment, which would be a major policy shift for Japan.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 6, 2026
Japan and Canada to establish economic security dialogue
The leaders of the two nations also agreed to establish a dialogue covering cyber policy to discuss growing threats in cyberspace.
Aonishiki pictured at Ajigawa stable in Tokyo on Feb. 2
SUMO
Mar 6, 2026
March basho opens with Aonishiki on verge of historic promotion
With injured yokozuna, a possible Aonishiki promotion and a shifting hierarchy at the top, the spring basho in Osaka could reshape sumo¡¯s balance of power.
The Czech Republic's Terrin Vavra celebrates a home run during the fifth innings against South Korea at Tokyo Dome on Thursday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 6, 2026
How Japan adopted the Czech Republic as its second WBC team
Three years after their feel-good run at the World Baseball Classic, Czech players are still winning hearts in Japan ¡ª and the unlikely bond is helping grow baseball back home.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll drives out of the garage during the second practice session of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 6, 2026
Aston Martin feels 'powerless' as battery problem risks Australian Grand Prix
The Formula One team has been plagued by problems with its Honda power unit.
SoftBank Group is seeking up to $40 billion in loans to help finance its investment in U.S. tech firm OpenAI, people familiar with the matter said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2026
SoftBank seeks record loan of up to $40 billion for OpenAI stake
The bridge loan would be its largest-ever borrowing denominated solely in dollars.
Lakers forward LeBron James (left) and guard Luka Doncic in the first quarter against the Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver on Thursday
BASKETBALL / NBA
Mar 6, 2026
LeBron James breaks NBA all-time field goal record in Lakers loss
James, who already held the NBA all-time points record, sailed past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 15,837 field goals with a fadeaway jumper in the first quarter.
Metropolitan police have arrested a director at NHK on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2026
NHK sports news director arrested on suspicion of sexual assault
The suspect, Kensuke Nakamoto,?is the chief director for the broadcaster's sports news programs.
Across the Global South, a growing crisis of overheating cities is impacting the health and livelihoods of more than 1 billion people living in informal settlements, a figure expected to increase sevenfold by 2050, a new report said.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 6, 2026
Extreme heat hurts work, health and sleep in Africa slums, report says
A growing crisis of overheating cities is impacting the health and livelihoods of more than 1 billion people living in informal settlements.
Former Government Pension Investment Fund President Masataka Miyazono joined Hulic last year as an adviser to focus on agricultural investments as the sector faces a rapidly aging and shrinking workforce.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2026
Former chief of $2 trillion pension fund joins developer growing tomatoes
Masataka Miyazono aims to help make 91²Ö¿â agricultural sector more productive in order to boost sustainability in the country.
A researcher works in the vaccine laboratory of Panacea Biotec, a pharmaceutical company in New Delhi.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Mar 6, 2026
India moves closer to dengue vaccine as final trials underway
Dengue, which causes severe flu-like symptoms and debilitating body aches, has exploded globally, fueled by rising temperatures and densely populated cities.
Takao Makino, the minister in charge of preparations for the establishment of Japan's disaster management agency, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 6, 2026
Cabinet approves bill to create disaster management agency
The government aims to launch the agency, which will be headed by the prime minister and also have a dedicated minister, in autumn.
Chickpeas grown in a mixture that included lunar soil simulant inside a climate-controlled growth chamber at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 6, 2026
With lunar missions looming, scientists grow chickpeas in 'moon dirt'
The development marks a step toward enabling astronauts on long-term moon missions to produce their own food.

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As Japan accelerates AI adoption, policymakers and corporations frame the technology as essential to offsetting a projected labor shortfall of 11 million workers by 2040.
Japan is betting big on AI. Few workers have used it.