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Tag - kobe

 
 

KOBE

Mamoru Hase, the father of a boy murdered in a series of attacks on elementary schoolchildren in 1997, speaks during an interview in Kobe earlier this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 25, 2026
Father still searching for answers 29 years after Kobe child murders
For 70-year-old Mamoru Hase, whose son was one of two elementary schoolchildren killed by a 14-year-old boy in 1997, there is no such thing as closure.
The former Suma Belt Conveyor Tunnel is used as a filming location for "City Hunter"
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 7, 2026
Film commissions give economic boost to local communities
The nonprofit entities provide help with location-hunting, site coordination and filming operations free of charge.
The Japan Times in May 1976 carried news of a riot in which one person died.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
May 1, 2026
Japan Times 1976: Disappointed hot-rod fans kill cameraman
Fifty years ago, a Kobe riot turns deadly; 25 years ago, a dictator's son slips into Tokyo Disneyland.
Koji Yamaguchi, a teacher at Rokko Gakuin Junior and Senior High School in Kobe, shows in January a picture of a beach in Shichigahama, Miyagi Prefecture, which was affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2026
Teacher in Japan who experienced two disasters works to pass down memories
The Kobe teacher's central message to his students is the importance of "everyday life before the disaster."
The revised antistalking law, enforced Dec. 30, bans the installation of antiloss tags to gain information on a target's location without their permission.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 19, 2026
First action taken against tracker abuse under antistalking law in Kobe
The revised antistalking law, enforced Dec. 30, bans the installation of antiloss tags to gain information on a target's location without their permission.
Stars Kobe (in solid blue), the Kansai region's first professional ice hockey team, has introduced the sport to a whole new audience since beginning play in September of last year.
MORE SPORTS / Ice Hockey
Jan 28, 2026
Kansai¡¯s first pro ice hockey team chases fans and wins
Stars Kobe¡¯s first win gave Kansai its first taste of pro hockey joy, but now comes the hard part: growing the fan base in a market ruled by baseball.
Mappa¡¯s employees work at the anime studio¡¯s office in the city of Osaka in September. Some parts of the image are blurred for privacy reasons.
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2026
Growing number of anime studios setting up bases outside Tokyo to secure talent
More companies are drawn to other cities by advantages such as easier access to local graduates and the potential to offer a better work-life balance.
People observe a moment of silence at a memorial ceremony marking the 31st anniverary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, in Kobe on Saturday.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2026
Kobe marks 31st anniversary of Great Hanshin Earthquake
At a memorial gathering at park in Kobe, participants lit bamboo and paper lanterns and offered a silent prayer at 5:46 a.m., the exact time the earthquake struck.
The Jian Zhen Hao ferry in Shanghai in June 2024. Ferry services between Japan and China have been halted amid tensions.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2025
Japan-China passenger ferry services halted
The move apparently comes in response to Beijing urging its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan amid tensions between the countries.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito (front second from right) and other participants announce the "Hyogo Declaration" during the creative reconstruction summit on Saturday in the city of Kobe.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2025
¡¯Creative Reconstruction Summit¡¯ held in Kobe 30 years after major quake
The meeting introduced reconstruction efforts in areas damaged by large-scale disasters throughout Japan.
Kobe Mayor Kizo Hisamoto addresses in May in Kobe a meeting of a study group discussing the idea of taxing owners of vacant units in high-rise condominiums.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Sep 10, 2025
Kobe eyes tax on vacant or underused units in high-rise condos
Since taking office, Kobe Mayor Kizo Hisamoto has highlighted problems associated with high-rise condominiums, pushing to strengthen regulations and address aging buildings.
Security camera footage shows a person who appears to be Masashi Tanimoto on Aug. 20, the day when a woman was murdered in Kobe.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 29, 2025
Kobe murder suspect targeted victim because she was his ¡®type¡¯
Masashi Tanimoto, 35, had also allegedly followed a different woman home prior to last week¡¯s incident.
Masashi Tanimoto arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a woman in Kobe, is sent to prosecutors on Sunday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 24, 2025
Man arrested in Kobe stabbing had been staying at hotel near victim¡¯s home
The suspect, a resident of Tokyo, is believed to have followed the woman home from a nearby train station.
Masashi Tanimoto, 35, the suspect in the deadly stabbing a 24-year-old woman, is taken into custody in Kobe on Friday night.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 23, 2025
Man arrested over deadly stabbing of woman in Kobe
The victim was found bleeding from multiple stab wounds on the sixth-floor landing of an apartment building Wednesday.
Investigators from the Hyogo Prefectural Police examine an area near an apartment building where a 24-year-old woman was fatally stabbed in Kobe on Wednesday evening.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 21, 2025
24-year-old woman fatally stabbed in Kobe apartment building
Police are treating the case as a homicide and are searching for the suspect, believed to be in his 20s or 30s.
English forward Marcus Rashford during his introductory news conference after he joined Barcelona on loan from Manchester United on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Jul 24, 2025
¡¯It feels like home¡¯: Rashford joins Barcelona on loan from Manchester United
Meanwhile, Barcelona canceled a preseason friendly against Vissel Kobe on Wednesday, citing "serious contractual breaches" by the tour promoter.
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
BASEBALL
May 15, 2025
Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan
The widely held belief is that American Horace Wilson introduced the sport to Japan in 1872. Fitts' discovery revises the timeline to 1869.
Yamaguchi-gumi executives (center and right) leave the Hyogo Prefectural Police headquarters in Kobe after submitting a pledge to end turf battles on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 8, 2025
Yamaguchi-gumi pledges end to yakuza war
The crime syndicate has been involved in turf battles with the rival Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, formed by more than a dozen gangs that splintered from it, since 2015.
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 2, 2025
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
The man has said the gun was for self-defense and that he had packed the firearm by mistake.
The building of new high-rise residential buildings has some alarmed that they could empty and fall into disrepair as Japan's population shrinks.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 24, 2025
The high cost of letting Japan¡¯s condos crumble
With rising repair costs, dwindling reserve funds and an aging population of owners, thousands of buildings are at risk of falling into disrepair.

Longform

Community programs and tracking systems are expanding across Japan as local governments search for ways to prevent dementia-related disappearances.
He told his wife he was ¡®coming home.¡¯ Then he disappeared.

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN