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Typhoon Bavi is forecast to make its closest approach to the Sakishima Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, from early to late morning Saturday while maintaining its severe intensity.

Four children of Sachio Senmoto, co-founder of one of the predecessors of telecommunications carrier KDDI Corp., had failed to pay taxes on lifetime gifts from their father, it was learned Thursday.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi is making arrangements to visit Mexico, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador in early August for talks with his counterparts, informed sources said Thursday.

FamilyMart Co. will open its first flagship store in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Friday, the Japanese convenience store chain said Thursday.

The Bank of Japan kept its economic assessments unchanged for all nine regions of the country in a quarterly report released Thursday.

A total of 148 people, including criminal law scholars, in Japan issued a statement Thursday opposing a bill that would criminalize the act of damaging the Japanese national flag.

The municipal assembly of Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, on Thursday unanimously approved an ordinance to impose a tax on owners of vacant housing in the city.

Japan's health ministry on Thursday proposed forgoing tightening regulations on heated tobacco products to the same extent as for cigarettes, as part of a review of measures against passive smoking.

An 18-year-old man has been arrested for his suspected involvement in a cyberattack on the operator of the Kaikatsu Club internet cafe chain, according to investigative sources.

The House of Representatives' steering committee decided at a board meeting Thursday to put the government's bill to revise the Imperial House Law to a vote by the full Lower House on Friday.

The average summer holiday budget has increased for the first time in three years in Japan, standing at 58,902 yen for 2026, a survey by research company Intage Inc. showed Thursday.

Japan's National Police Agency signed an agreement with three major e-commerce site operators Thursday to share information and prevent fraudulent transactions.

A draft of the Japanese government's upcoming annual economic and fiscal policy guidelines, nicknamed "honebuto," has spurred a jump in long-term interest rates, forcing the government to revise some of the wording.

A male prosecutor in Tokyo had a relationship with a woman whom he had questioned in a political funds scandal involving the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, informed sources have said.

U.S. President Donald Trump said that a U.S. aircraft carrier had been attacked by "the Islamic Republic of Japan," apparently intending to say the Islamic Republic of Iran, while speaking about U.S. actions against Iran during a meeting in Ankara, Turkey.

Japanese chipmaker Rapidus Corp. plans to price its advanced semiconductors with a circuit line width of 2 nanometers no higher than the price of similar chips produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Rapidus President Atsuyoshi Koike has said.

Japan's health ministry plans to defer, for the time being, tighter regulations on heated tobacco products that have been under consideration as part of its review of measures against secondhand smoke, informed sources said Wednesday.

Japanese soccer star Kaoru Mitoma is suspected of running a red light before his vehicle collided with a bicycle in Tokyo on Wednesday morning, injuring a 48-year-old woman, investigative sources said.

Japan's Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday it has started a survey of some 370 domestic media companies that operate news websites in order to gather information on the unauthorized use of articles by search services utilizing generative artificial intelligence and article usage fees.

The major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan decided Wednesday to oppose a government-backed bill to revise the Imperial House Law that is aimed at maintaining a sufficient number of Imperial Family members.

Japan's House of Representatives is expected to approve a bill to revise the Imperial House Law as early as Friday after opposition parties on Wednesday agreed to return to parliamentary debates in the Lower House following concessions by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to their demands.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, affirmed bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas, including security, during their meeting in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday.

The Diet, Japan's parliament, on Wednesday enacted a bill designed to stabilize rice supply and demand.

Japanese opposition lawmakers submitted a bill to provide relief to surviving civilian victims of the Pacific War to the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, or parliament, on Wednesday.

An international conference to discuss the management of Pacific bluefin tuna stocks started in Nagasaki, a city in southwestern Japan, on Wednesday.