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Health officials racing to identify cause of rise in streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, which has a 30% fatality rateExperts warn that a rare but dangerous bacterial infection is spreading at a record rate in Japan, with officials struggling to identify the cause.The number of cases in 2024 is expected to exceed last year’s record numbers, while concern is growing that the harshest and potentially...

First attempt with private Kairos rocket was intended to test viability of homegrown commercial launch businessA rocket made by a Japanese company has exploded seconds after it was launched with the goal of putting a satellite into orbit.Tokyo-based Space One’s 18-metre Kairos rocket blasted off from the company’s launch pad in the Wakayama region of western Japan, carrying a small government test satellite, on...

Employee of metal plant in Fukuyama spotted a trail of yellowy-brown paw prints leading away from a container of hexavalent chromiumIt could be the opening scene from a new Marvel film. Residents of a Japanese city have been warned not to approach or touch a missing cat that appears to have fallen into a vat of toxic chemicals before scampering off.The search for the...

Master Japanese director wins his second Oscar for story of a young boy searching for his mother during the second world warOscars 2024: full list of winnersFull report: Oppenheimer wins best pictureThe Boy and the Heron, supposedly the final film from Japanese master director Hayao Miyazaki, has won the Oscar for best animated feature film at the 96th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.Inspired by...

Shibuya district is offering tours of its architect-designed public facilities that feature in Perfect DaysJapan’s hi-tech toilets have long fascinated visitors who rave about their heated seats, bidet function, automatic flushing, and even background noises to mask the unwelcome sounds that can accompany the call of nature.Now, international interest in the country’s public conveniences is surging thanks to the German director Wim Wenders, whose...

Japanese artist remembered for his ‘unique world of creation’ including comic series that spawned films, video games and TV seriesAkira Toriyama, the influential Japanese manga artist who created the Dragon Ball series, has died at the age of 68.He died on 1 March from an acute subdural haematoma. The news was confirmed by Bird Studio, the manga company that Toriyama founded in 1983. Continue...

Gion residents asked city council to crack down after rise in tourist numbers leads to increased harassment of traditional entertainersVisitors to the geisha district of Gion – one of Kyoto’s most popular sightseeing spots – will be banned from entering its picturesque alleyways as authorities in Japan attempt to tackle a dramatic rise in tourism.Residents of Japan’s ancient capital have struggled to reconcile the...

Congestion charge comes amid boom in tourism that has put pressure on infrastructure and increased potential for accidentsPeople hoping to ascend Mount Fuji along its most popular route will be charged ¥2,000 (£10.50, $13.35, A$20.50) when the climbing season starts in the summer, as local authorities try to ease congestion fuelled by Japan’s tourism boom.The trails leading up Japan’s highest mountain – a Unesco...

The Pritzker prize has been won by the 78-year-old Japanese master whose whose work ranges from an open-access Hiroshima fire station to a building seemingly made of booksFrom rows of public housing connected by elevated walkways and shared terraces, to sleek glass university buildings designed for maximum transparency between departments, the architecture of Riken Yamamoto has always been about seeing and being seen. Now...

High-budget series with largely Japanese cast avoids well-worn western orientalist fantasies and wins plaudits in JapanJapanese audiences could have been forgiven for bracing themselves when Disney announced Shōgun, a 10-part adaptation of James Clavell’s classic 1975 novel.With few exceptions, Hollywood depictions of Japan and the Japanese have relied on one-dimensional characters whose purpose is to confirm cultural stereotypes, set against the backdrop of an...

Report accused Hideo Kojima of inappropriate touching and patting female workers on their headsA Japanese mayor facing 99 allegations of sexual harassment has resigned after he denied some cases and wept at a press conference.An official investigation accused Hideo Kojima, the mayor of a town in the central Gifu region, of several incidents of harassment, including touching a colleague’s breasts and buttocks. Continue reading...

Average number of births per woman falls to 0.72 in country that already has the world’s lowest rate, and has spent billions since 2006 to reverse the trendSouth Korea’s demographic crisis has deepened with the release of data showing its birthrate – already the world’s lowest – fell to a new record low in 2023, despite billions of dollars in government schemes designed to...

Unmanned Slim spacecraft responds to signal from Earth after touching down at awkward angle in JanuaryJapan’s moon lander has responded to a signal from Earth, suggesting it survived the two-week lunar night, the country’s space agency has said.The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) touched down last month at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way. But as...

The earthquake hit parts of the Ishikawa region on New Year’s Day killing 241 people and sparking a major fire, water remains cut off to some areasJapan will spend an additional $660m rebuilding areas ravaged by a devastating New Year’s Day earthquake, prime minister Fumio Kishida said, taking the total amount of relief to $1.7bn.The new financial aid was announced by the prime minister...

Row over £1.05m amenities block comes amid growing concern over the cost of the event, which is taking place in Osaka in 2025Visitors to next year’s world exposition in Japan could find themselves spending a penny in toilets that cost more than £1m to build, with recent construction estimates for restrooms sparking a row over the event’s spiralling costs.Japanese media reported this week that...

Takeshi Ebisawa is being charged over a conspiracy to traffic uranium and plutonium from Myanmar, believing Iran would use it to make weaponsThe head of a Japanese crime syndicate conspired to traffic uranium and plutonium in the belief that Iran would use it to make nuclear weapons, US prosecutors have alleged.Federal officials said Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, and others showed samples of nuclear materials that...

Rail company inundated with requests after putting up for sale 50 of the disused trolleys from the Tokyo-Osaka shinkansen routeThey are simple, practical items that have rolled seamlessly along bullet train aisles for decades, carrying snacks to millions of hungry travellers as they are whisked along at speeds of around 300km/h (186mph).But now the humble food and beverage trolleys of one of Japan’s shinkansen...

The environmentally friendly LignoSat probe – set to orbit this summer – has been created to combat harmful aluminium particlesJapanese scientists have created one of the world’s most unusual spacecraft – a tiny satellite that is made of timber.The LignoSat probe has been built of magnolia wood, which, in experiments carried out on the International Space Station (ISS), was found to be particularly stable...

Space agency announces ‘successful liftoff’ and says rocket has already released one micro-satelliteJapan’s space agency has successfully launched a second test model of its new flagship rocket H3, in a welcome boost to its space program after last year’s inaugural flight failed.The launch further burnishes the country’s space credentials after the historic “pinpoint” moon landing of Japan’s Slim spacecraft last month. Continue reading...

Hong Kong fans need answers over missed fixture, government says, amid online furore over Inter Miami tourChinese state media, Hong Kong politicians and fans have cried foul after Lionel Messi played in a match in Japan, just days after he stayed on the bench for a highly-anticipated match in Hong Kong.Many in Hong Kong were dismayed on Sunday when the 36-year-old Argentinian player did...

Ruling comes months after supreme court ruled that requiring sterilisation before a change of gender in official records was unconstitutionalA court in western Japan has approved a transgender man’s request to have his gender changed in official records without undergoing sterilisation surgery, the first known ruling of its kind since the country’s top court struck down a surgery requirement for such record changes.Tacaquito Usui,...

Pod of orcas in north Japan freed themselves as gaps between the ice grew, officials sayA pod of killer whales trapped by drift ice off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island, have apparently safely escaped, officials have said.The orcas were initially spotted by a fisher who reported them to officials in the town of Rausu, on the north-east coast of Hokkaido, on...

Karolina Shiino had already caused controversy when she became first European-born woman to win titleA Ukraine-born woman who was criticised for not being “Japanese enough” after winning the Miss Japan contest last month has relinquished the title after a weekly magazine revealed she had been having an affair with a married man.Karolina Shiino drew praise and criticism after she won the Miss Japan title...

Singer should be able to see boyfriend Travis Kelce in person despite 17-hour time change and 12-hour flight, embassy saysJapan’s embassy in Washington has assured an angsty public that Taylor Swift should make it to the Super Bowl in time to see her boyfriend Travis Kelce play in the big game – as long as her post-concert flight from Tokyo leaves on time.The embassy’s...