Foreign visitors to Japan rise at record pace

Foreign visitors to Japan rise at record pace

Foreign tourists walk around Gotokuji temple in Tokyo on October 7, 2025. The number of foreign visitors to Japan between January and September was around 31.65 million, marking the fastest pace on record to surpass 30 million within a year.

U.S.-Japan relations expert Joseph Nye dies at 88

U.S.-Japan relations expert Joseph Nye dies at 88

File photo taken in October 2014 shows international relations scholar Joseph Nye. Known for pioneering the theory of "soft power," the former dean of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and U.S. assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs under U.S. President Bill Clinton died at age 88, Harvard said on May 7, 2025.

Tokyo-born panda in China

Tokyo-born panda in China

Tokyo-born giant panda Xiang Xiang is shown to the Japanese press at a giant panda research center in China's Sichuan Province, on Nov. 7, 2023. The 6-year-old female panda was put on public view there in early October following her arrival in China in February.

Tokyo-born panda in China

Tokyo-born panda in China

Tokyo-born giant panda Xiang Xiang is shown to the Japanese press at a giant panda research center in China's Sichuan Province, on Nov. 7, 2023. The 6-year-old female panda was put on public view there in early October following her arrival in China in February.

Tokyo-born panda in China

Tokyo-born panda in China

Tokyo-born giant panda Xiang Xiang is shown to the Japanese press at a giant panda research center in China's Sichuan Province, on Nov. 7, 2023. The 6-year-old female panda was put on public view there in early October following her arrival in China in February.

Tokyo-born panda in China

Tokyo-born panda in China

Tokyo-born giant panda Xiang Xiang is shown to the Japanese press at a giant panda research center in China's Sichuan Province, on Nov. 7, 2023. The 6-year-old female panda was put on public view there in early October following her arrival in China in February.

Tokyo-born panda in China

Tokyo-born panda in China

Tokyo-born giant panda Xiang Xiang is shown to the Japanese press at a giant panda research center in China's Sichuan Province, on Nov. 7, 2023. The 6-year-old female panda was put on public view there in early October following her arrival in China in February.

Tokyo-born panda in China

Tokyo-born panda in China

Tokyo-born giant panda Xiang Xiang is shown to the Japanese press at a giant panda research center in China's Sichuan Province, on Nov. 7, 2023. The 6-year-old female panda was put on public view there in early October following her arrival in China in February.

Japan PM Kishida visits dairy farm in Tochigi

Japan PM Kishida visits dairy farm in Tochigi

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida drinks milk during a visit to a dairy farm in Nasukarasuyama, Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Oct. 7, 2023. He is visiting the farm to hear opinions from local farmers amid rising feed prices ahead of the release of the government's stimulus package in late October. (Pool photo)

Japan PM Kishida visits dairy farm in Tochigi

Japan PM Kishida visits dairy farm in Tochigi

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (3rd from R) visits a dairy farm in Nasukarasuyama, Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Oct. 7, 2023, to hear opinions from local farmers amid rising feed prices ahead of the release of the government's stimulus package in late October. (Pool photo)

Japan PM Kishida visits dairy farm in Tochigi

Japan PM Kishida visits dairy farm in Tochigi

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (far R) visits a dairy farm in Nasukarasuyama, Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Oct. 7, 2023, to hear opinions from local farmers amid rising feed prices ahead of the release of the government's stimulus package in late October. (Pool photo)

Japan PM Kishida visits dairy farm in Tochigi

Japan PM Kishida visits dairy farm in Tochigi

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (front, R) visits a dairy farm in Nasukarasuyama, Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Oct. 7, 2023, to hear opinions from local farmers amid rising feed prices ahead of the release of the government's stimulus package in late October. (Pool photo)

Research whaling begins in northern Japan coastal areas

Research whaling begins in northern Japan coastal areas

KUSHIRO, Japan - A minke whale is unloaded in Kushiro port in Hokkaido, northern Japan, on Sept. 7, 2014. Japan plans to catch up to 51 minke whales in waters off Kushiro in the seasonal hunting of the species for research purposes, which began the same day and will be conducted through the end of October to survey the impact on coastal fishing by checking the contents of the whales' stomachs.

Gov't orders SDF to shoot down any incoming N. Korea missile

Gov't orders SDF to shoot down any incoming N. Korea missile

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows a weapon believed to be the intermediate-range ballistic missile Musudan at a military parade in Pyongyang in October 2010. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera on April 7, 2013, ordered the Self-Defense Forces to prepare for the shooting down of North Korean ballistic missiles in the event that any are launched, government sources said.

Prince Mikasa's heart function deteriorates

Prince Mikasa's heart function deteriorates

TOKYO, Japan - File photo taken in October 2008 shows Prince Mikasa, uncle of Emperor Akihito. The 96-year-old prince, the youngest brother of Emperor Hirohito, experienced a deterioration of heart function on July 7, 2012, at a hospital in Tokyo and was moved to the intensive care unit, the Imperial Household Agency said early on July 8.

Ogasawara Islands to be World Heritage sites

Ogasawara Islands to be World Heritage sites

TOKYO, Japan - File photo taken in October 2007 shows Futami port on Chichijima Island, part of the Ogasawara Islands off Tokyo. An advisory panel to UNESCO has recommended registering the islands and the Hiraizumi area in northeastern Japan as World Heritage sites, the Japanese government said May 7, 2011.

Highly touted Kikuchi moves into Seibu Lions dormitory

Highly touted Kikuchi moves into Seibu Lions dormitory

TOKOROZAWA, Japan - Highly touted left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (L), who has just joined the Seibu Lions baseball club as the club's first-round pick in the Japanese baseball draft in October, practices near the club's dormitory in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, on Jan. 7, 2010, with Kenta Matsushita after moving into his dorm room the same day.

Highly touted Kikuchi moves into Seibu Lions dormitory

Highly touted Kikuchi moves into Seibu Lions dormitory

TOKOROZAWA, Japan - Highly touted left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, who has just joined the Seibu Lions baseball club as the club's first-round pick in the Japanese baseball draft in October, heads for his room in the club's dormitory in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, on Jan. 7, 2010.

Highly touted Kikuchi moves into Seibu Lions dormitory

Highly touted Kikuchi moves into Seibu Lions dormitory

TOKOROZAWA, Japan - Highly touted left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, who has just joined the Seibu Lions baseball club as the club's first-round pick in the Japanese baseball draft in October, waves from the window of his room in the club's dormitory in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, on Jan. 7, 2010, after he moved in the same day.

Grand Slam record breaker Sugiyama enjoying life off court

Grand Slam record breaker Sugiyama enjoying life off court

TOKYO, Japan - Ai Sugiyama, the 34-year-old former tennis doubles world No. 1, speaks at a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Dec. 7, 2009. Sugiyama, who retired after the Toray Pan Pacific Open in October, said she is loving life outside the WTA Tour.

Hideki Tojo

Hideki Tojo

Born on Dec. 30, 1884 and died on Dec. 23, 1948. Tojo was army general and served as prime minister from 1941 to 1944. In July 1940, Tojo was appointed to the post of army minister and pushed for the conclusion of the tripartite pact with Germany and Italy. Following his taking office as prime minister in October 1941, Japan made a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 (Dec. 8 Japan time). In July 1944, he was removed from office. Just before being arrested as a class A war criminal, he attempted to kill himself on Sept. 11, 1945. Tojo was indicted by the International Military Tribunal and was hanged on Dec. 23, 1948.

Swan sanctuary in Niigata

Swan sanctuary in Niigata

Photo taken on Nov. 7, 2022, which is ritto, or beginning of winter in the lunar calendar, shows swans spreading their wings and creating a splash at Lake Hyo in Agano, Niigata Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo. The lake is now home to more than 6,000 migrating swans that started arriving from Siberia in early October.

Swan sanctuary in Niigata

Swan sanctuary in Niigata

Photo taken on Nov. 7, 2022, which is ritto, or beginning of winter in the lunar calendar, shows swans flying over Lake Hyo in Agano, Niigata Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo. The lake is now home to more than 6,000 migrating swans that started arriving from Siberia in early October.

Swan sanctuary in Niigata

Swan sanctuary in Niigata

Photo taken on Nov. 7, 2022, which is ritto, or beginning of winter in the lunar calendar, shows swans spreading their wings and creating a splash at Lake Hyo in Agano, Niigata Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo. The lake is now home to more than 6,000 migrating swans that started arriving from Siberia in early October.

Swan sanctuary in Niigata

Swan sanctuary in Niigata

Photo taken on Nov. 7, 2022, which is ritto, or beginning of winter in the lunar calendar, shows swans flying over Lake Hyo in Agano, Niigata Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo. The lake is now home to more than 6,000 migrating swans that started arriving from Siberia in early October.