Benchmark bond yield hits 26-year high

Benchmark bond yield hits 26-year high

A financial monitor in Tokyo shows the yield on the newly issued benchmark 10-year government bond rising to 2.015 percent, its highest in about 26 years and four months, on Dec. 19, 2025, following a Bank of Japan raise earlier in the day in its key interest rate to a 30-year high of around 0.75 percent.

Benchmark bond yield hits 26-year high

Benchmark bond yield hits 26-year high

A financial monitor in Tokyo shows the yield on the newly issued benchmark 10-year government bond rising to 2.015 percent, its highest in about 26 years and four months, on Dec. 19, 2025, following a Bank of Japan raise earlier in the day in its key interest rate to a 30-year high of around 0.75 percent.

Benchmark bond yield hits 26-year high

Benchmark bond yield hits 26-year high

A financial monitor in Tokyo shows the yield on the newly issued benchmark 10-year government bond rising to 2.015 percent, its highest in about 26 years and four months, on Dec. 19, 2025, following a Bank of Japan raise earlier in the day in its key interest rate to a 30-year high of around 0.75 percent.

Benchmark bond yield hits 26-year high

Benchmark bond yield hits 26-year high

A financial monitor in Tokyo shows the yield on the newly issued benchmark 10-year government bond rising to 2.015 percent, its highest in about 26 years and four months, on Dec. 19, 2025, following a Bank of Japan raise earlier in the day in its key interest rate to a 30-year high of around 0.75 percent.

Benchmark bond yield hits 26-year high

Benchmark bond yield hits 26-year high

A financial monitor in Tokyo shows the yield on the newly issued benchmark 10-year government bond rising to 2.015 percent, its highest in about 26 years and four months, on Dec. 19, 2025, following a Bank of Japan raise earlier in the day in its key interest rate to a 30-year high of around 0.75 percent.

Police sent to Cambodia to transport Japanese scam suspects

Police sent to Cambodia to transport Japanese scam suspects

Officers from Japan's Aichi prefectural police are pictured at Chubu Centrair International Airport in Tokoname in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, on Aug. 19, 2025, before departure to Cambodia. About 80 officers are tasked with transporting to Japan 29 Japanese men and women detained in Phnom Penh for suspected involvement in a fraud scheme in Poipet, northwestern Cambodia. ==Kyodo

Food fair in Shanghai

Food fair in Shanghai

Photo taken on May 19, 2025, shows a Japan External Trade Organization area in a just-opened international food fair in Shanghai, China. About 5,000 companies from over 110 countries and regions are taking part.

ANA expo plane arrives in quake-hit city

ANA expo plane arrives in quake-hit city

An All Nippon Airways chartered plane with the design of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka lands on April 19, 2025, at Noto airport in Wajima, an Ishikawa Prefecture city hit by a massive earthquake in January 2024. About 30 people took the flight from Kansai airport in Osaka Prefecture to engage in volunteering work in the central Japan city.

World's first humanoid half-marathon

World's first humanoid half-marathon

The world's first humanoid half-marathon is held in Beijing on April 19, 2025. About 20 two-legged robots competed in the race, with the winner (C) completing the 21-kilometer course in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

World's first humanoid half-marathon

World's first humanoid half-marathon

The world's first humanoid half-marathon is held in Beijing on April 19, 2025. About 20 two-legged robots competed in the race, with the winner completing the 21-kilometer course in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

World's first humanoid half-marathon

World's first humanoid half-marathon

The world's first humanoid half-marathon is held in Beijing on April 19, 2025. About 20 two-legged robots competed in the race, with the winner completing the 21-kilometer course in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

World's first humanoid half-marathon

World's first humanoid half-marathon

The world's first humanoid half-marathon is held in Beijing on April 19, 2025. About 20 two-legged robots competed in the race, with the winner completing the 21-kilometer course in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

World's first humanoid half-marathon

World's first humanoid half-marathon

The world's first humanoid half-marathon is held in Beijing on April 19, 2025. About 20 two-legged robots competed in the race, with the winner completing the 21-kilometer course in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

World's first humanoid half-marathon

World's first humanoid half-marathon

The world's first humanoid half-marathon is held in Beijing on April 19, 2025. About 20 two-legged robots competed in the race, with the winner completing the 21-kilometer course in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

World's first humanoid half-marathon

World's first humanoid half-marathon

The world's first humanoid half-marathon is held in Beijing on April 19, 2025. About 20 two-legged robots competed in the race, with the winner completing the 21-kilometer course in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Japan probe lands on Moon

Japan probe lands on Moon

Photo taken at a Sharp Corp. plant in Yamatokoriyama in Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 19, 2024, shows a solar battery, weighing about five times less than a conventional solar panel, mounted on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's SLIM lunar lander. The spacecraft successfully landed on the Moon in the small hours of Jan. 20, marking Japan's first lunar landing.

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz at Sasebo port

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz at Sasebo port

Photo shows the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz making a port call at Sasebo port in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan on May 19, 2023, for the first time in about nine years.

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz at Sasebo port

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz at Sasebo port

Photo shows the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz making a port call at Sasebo port in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan on May 19, 2023, for the first time in about nine years.

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz at Sasebo port

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz at Sasebo port

Photo shows the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz making a port call at Sasebo port in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan on May 19, 2023, for the first time in about nine years.

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz at Sasebo port

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz at Sasebo port

Photo shows the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz making a port call at Sasebo port in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan on May 19, 2023, for the first time in about nine years.

Explosive attack on Japanese prime minister

Explosive attack on Japanese prime minister

Photo taken April 19, 2023, shows a hole in a container, believed to be a by-product of an explosive attack on Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a fishing port in the western Japan city of Wakayama on April 15. The container sits about 60 meters away from the explosion site.

Robot searches for missing in 2011 quake-tsunami disaster

Robot searches for missing in 2011 quake-tsunami disaster

A self-moving robot searches for those still unaccounted for on a beach in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 19, 2023, about 12 years after the earthquake and tsunami disaster left more than 15,000 dead and about 2,500 still missing nationwide.

Carp manager's mental training in front of fire

Carp manager's mental training in front of fire

Japanese pro baseball club Hiroshima Carp manager Takahiro Arai chants a Buddhist sutra in front of a fire for about 90 minutes at the Shojoshin-in temple in the Wakayama Prefecture town of Koya, western Japan, on Jan. 19, 2023. The Central League club manager took part in the offseason mental training ahead of spring training camp starting in February.

Carp manager's mental training in front of fire

Carp manager's mental training in front of fire

Japanese pro baseball club Hiroshima Carp manager Takahiro Arai chants a Buddhist sutra in front of a fire for about 90 minutes at the Shojoshin-in temple in the Wakayama Prefecture town of Koya, western Japan, on Jan. 19, 2023. The Central League club manager took part in the offseason mental training ahead of spring training camp starting in February.

Emperor, empress attend IBA annual meeting in Tokyo

Emperor, empress attend IBA annual meeting in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - Japan Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko raise their glasses during a reception for an annual meeting of the International Bar Association in Tokyo on Oct. 19, 2014, a day before the empress' 80th birthday. About 4,000 lawyers from around 130 countries are attending the six-day meeting.

Emperor, empress attend IBA annual meeting in Tokyo

Emperor, empress attend IBA annual meeting in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addresses the opening ceremony for an annual meeting of the International Bar Association in Tokyo on Oct. 19, 2014. About 4,000 lawyers from around 130 countries are attending the six-day meeting.

Emperor, empress attend IBA annual meeting in Tokyo

Emperor, empress attend IBA annual meeting in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attend the opening ceremony for an annual meeting of the International Bar Association in Tokyo on Oct. 19, 2014, a day before the empress' 80th birthday. About 4,000 lawyers from around 130 countries are attending the six-day meeting.

Disaster drill held to prepare for Mt. Fuji eruption

Disaster drill held to prepare for Mt. Fuji eruption

SHIZUOKA, Japan - Workers line up concrete blocks to change the course of an assumed lava flow in a disaster drill simulating an eruption of Mt. Fuji in the city of Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Oct. 19, 2014. About 2,700 people took part in the drill, the first of its kind involving Shizuoka, Yamanashi and Kanagawa prefectures, which are home to or close to Japan's highest active volcano.

Disaster drill held to prepare for Mt. Fuji eruption

Disaster drill held to prepare for Mt. Fuji eruption

KOFU, Japan - Ambulance workers carry a person assumed to be injured in a disaster drill simulating an eruption of Mt. Fuji in the village of Narusawa, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Oct. 19, 2014. About 2,700 people took part in the drill, the first of its kind involving Yamanashi, Shizuoka, and Kanagawa prefectures, which are home to or close to Japan's highest active volcano.

Exhibit in Osaka reviews racial discrimination in soccer

Exhibit in Osaka reviews racial discrimination in soccer

OSAKA, Japan - An exhibition is under way at the Osaka Human Rights Museum in Osaka, western Japan, on Aug. 19, 2014, to raise awareness of racial discrimination in football games. The exhibition, running until Sept. 20, is the first sport-related event in the museum's history of about 30 years.

Japanese student peace envoys deliver anti-nuke signatures to U.N.

Japanese student peace envoys deliver anti-nuke signatures to U.N.

GENEVA, Switzerland - A group of Japanese high school students serving as peace envoys pose for photos after delivering about 130,000 signatures, collected during a campaign calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons, at the U.N. European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on Aug. 19, 2014.

Sand art exhibition begins in Yokohama

Sand art exhibition begins in Yokohama

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Visitors take pictures in front of sand sculptures at the Sand Art Exhibition in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, as it opened on July 19, 2014, for a run until Nov. 3. A total of 10 sand sculptors from Japan, South Korea and China created sand sculptures featuring historic figures in the three countries and the World Heritage sites for about two weeks. Some 1,300 tons of sand used for the sculptures were carried from the Tottori Sand Dunes in western Japan.

Sand art exhibition begins in Yokohama

Sand art exhibition begins in Yokohama

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Visitors look at sand sculptures at the Sand Art Exhibition in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, as it opened on July 19, 2014, for a run until Nov. 3. A total of 10 sand sculptors from Japan, South Korea and China created sand sculptures featuring historic figures in the three countries and the World Heritage sites for about two weeks. Some 1,300 tons of sand used for the sculptures were carried from the Tottori Sand Dunes in western Japan.

Mt. Fuji climbers

Mt. Fuji climbers

TOKYO, Japan - Climbers aim for the summit of Mt. Fuji, Japan's highest mountain (3,776 meters) and a UNESCO world heritage site, around its 8th station on the Yoshida Trail in Yamanashi Prefecture in June 2013. The Japanese Society of Travel Medicine reported June 19, 2014, about 50 percent of children developed symptoms of altitude sickness climbing Mt. Fuji. The survey was conducted on 245 children (5-12 year old) climbing down at the 5th station in August 2012 and 2013.

Japanese expert, Filipino farmer check buckwheat flowers

Japanese expert, Filipino farmer check buckwheat flowers

BUMBARAN, Philippines - Japanese agricultural expert Takeyoshi Sumikawa (L) and a Muslim farmer examine buckwheat flowers in Bumbaran on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on April 19, 2014. The Philippines and its largest Muslim rebel group signed a final peace pact in March, ending about 45 years of conflict.

Some Yonaguni residents oppose building of GSDF facility

Some Yonaguni residents oppose building of GSDF facility

YONAGUNI, Japan - Some residents of Yonaguni Island, the westernmost Japanese island near a group of islands whose ownership is contested by China, voice opposition to the construction of a facility for a coastal surveillance unit of the Ground Self-Defense Force near the groundbreaking ceremony venue on the island on April 19, 2014. The residents are concerned that because of the GSDF presence only about 150 kilometers north of the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, the island could become a target in times of contingency involving Japan and China.

Japan gov't faces damages over Ghanaian man's death

Japan gov't faces damages over Ghanaian man's death

TOKYO, Japan - A portrait of Abubakar Awudu Suraj is held by his widow who was heading for the Tokyo District Court on March 19, 2014. The court ordered the Japanese government to pay about 5 million yen in damages over the death of the Ghanaian man in 2010 while he was being deported from Narita airport near Tokyo. His Japanese wife requested that a photo of her face not be published.

Bikini Atoll radiation survivor continues antinuclear fight

Bikini Atoll radiation survivor continues antinuclear fight

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken Jan. 19, 2014 shows Matashichi Oishi (L), a former crew member of the Fukuryu Maru No. 5, and his daughter, Yoshiko Tanaka, standing in front of the trawler preserved and displayed at the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall run by the Tokyo metropolitan government in Tokyo's Koto Ward. The tuna fishing boat was exposed to nuclear fallout from a U.S. hydrogen bomb test on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands on March 1, 1954, while fishing about 160 kilometers east of the atoll.

Fire at Japanese Embassy

Fire at Japanese Embassy

KINSHASA, Congo - Photo shows the building housing the Japanese Embassy in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Nov. 19, 2013, about five months after the diplomatic office located on the third and fourth floors of the building was partially destroyed by fire on June 20. Soot is still seen on its outer wall. A diplomat who worked for the embassy was arrested on Dec. 2 on suspicion of setting a fire at the embassy office to destroy evidence of his fund embezzlement, police said.

Lolita fashion

Lolita fashion

SAPPORO, Japan - About 30 women clad in the so-called Lolita fashion visit a tourist spot, the former Hokkaido prefectural government office in Sapporo, northern Japan, during an event on Oct. 19, 2013.

Lolita fashion

Lolita fashion

SAPPORO, Japan - About 30 women clad in the so-called Lolita fashion visit a tourist spot, the former Hokkaido prefectural government office in Sapporo, northern Japan, during an event on Oct. 19, 2013.

2 and a half years after quake

2 and a half years after quake

SENDAI, Japan - Combination photos taken from a Kyodo News helicopter show a coastal area in the town of Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 19, 2011 (L), shortly after the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake, and about two and a half years later on Sept. 6, 2013 (R) with a breakwater under construction.

2 and a half years after quake

2 and a half years after quake

SENDAI, Japan - Combination photos taken from a Kyodo News helicopter show the downtown area of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on March 19, 2011 (top), soon after the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake, and about two and a half years later on Sept. 6, 2013 (bottom).

New outlet mall near Narita airport

New outlet mall near Narita airport

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken April 19, 2013, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows Shisui Premium Outlets that opened the same day in the town of Shisui, Chiba Prefecture. The new outlet, run by Mitsubishi Estate-Simon Co., is located about 12 kilometers southwest of Narita International Airport, targeting not only people in the greater Tokyo area but foreign tourists as well.

New outlet mall near Narita airport

New outlet mall near Narita airport

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken April 19, 2013, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows Shisui Premium Outlets and its parking lot crowded with cars on the morning of its opening day in the town of Shisui, Chiba Prefecture. The new outlet, run by Mitsubishi Estate-Simon Co., is located about 12 kilometers southwest of Narita International Airport, targeting not only people in the greater Tokyo area but foreign tourists as well.

New outlet mall near Narita airport

New outlet mall near Narita airport

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken April 19, 2013, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows Shisui Premium Outlets and its parking lot crowded with cars on the morning of its opening day in the town of Shisui, Chiba Prefecture. The new outlet, run by Mitsubishi Estate-Simon Co., is located about 12 kilometers southwest of Narita International Airport, targeting not only people in the greater Tokyo area but foreign tourists as well.

Chocolate cherry blossom

Chocolate cherry blossom

TOKYO, Japan - A cherry blossom artwork made of chocolate is unveiled to the media in Tokyo on Dec. 19, 2012. Students from the University of Tokyo and Tokyo University of the Arts as well as an artist took part in the project to make the work, about 1.20 meters in diameter and weighing around 85 kilograms, using KitKat, a chocolate product made by Nestle Japan Ltd., to encourage students preparing for entrance examinations. The work will be exhibited at Cafe Nescafe Harajuku in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward from Dec. 20 through Jan. 8.

Astronaut returns to Earth

Astronaut returns to Earth

ARKALYK, Kazakhstan - Photo shows Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide after returning to Earth on a Soyuz spacecraft along with an American and a Russian colleague in the suburbs of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Nov. 19, 2012. Hoshide spent about four months in the International Space Station.

Astronaut returns to Earth

Astronaut returns to Earth

ARKALYK, Kazakhstan - Photo shows Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide (C) after returning to Earth on a Soyuz spacecraft along with an American and a Russian colleague in the suburbs of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Nov. 19, 2012. Hoshide spent about four months in the International Space Station.

Astronaut returns to Earth

Astronaut returns to Earth

ARKALYK, Kazakhstan - Photo shows Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide (C) after returning to Earth on a Soyuz spacecraft along with an American and a Russian colleague in the suburbs of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Nov. 19, 2012. Hoshide spent about four months in the International Space Station.