The Japanese Diet convened its ordinary session on Monday. The governing and opposition parties are expected to hold heated debates, as the opposition camp is set to step up an offensive over scandals, including an alleged bribery case over planned integrated resorts.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will address the plenary session of both houses in the afternoon.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the Japan-US alliance is an immovable pillar for protecting world peace.
On January 19, 1960, the revised Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security was signed by Abe's grandfather, Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, and US President Dwight Eisenhower.
A Japanese government survey shows that more than half of the respondents think the country accepts only a limited number of refugees. But only around a quarter want a more welcoming approach.
The Cabinet Office conducted its first survey on the country's immigration policy in November of last year, covering 3,000 people aged 18 or older. 1,572 people responded.
Japan will start issuing passports featuring art by ukiyoe master Katsushika Hokusai for people applying as early as February.
The new passport has 24 landscapes from the "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" series from the 19th century. The prints serve as background for the visa pages used for entry and exit stamps. The design of the front page remains the same.
Sunday marks ten years since Japan Airlines went bankrupt. The carrier has succeeded in rebuilding its business but now faces new challenges, including the expansion of flight routes and global warming.
The company failed on January 19, 2010. The government bailed out JAL to the tune of about 3 billion dollars. JAL laid off 16,000 workers as part of its restructuring plan. That was one-third of its workforce.
The Japanese Communist Party, or JCP, has amended its platform for the first time in 16 years. It has also adopted a resolution intended to strengthen its cooperation with opposition parties.
The party finished a five-day convention in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Saturday.
Japan's defense minister has decided to hold a meeting with defense chiefs from Pacific island nations in connection with China's growing maritime presence in the region.
The ministry is to invite officials, including the defense ministers of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Tonga, to the conference in Tokyo in April. Invitations are expected to extend to representatives of the United States, Australia, and France.
A long-running joke that orange juice flows like water in western Japan's Ehime Prefecture has come true.
Two faucets serving up the fruit juice have been set up at an orange festival that started in a department store in the city of Matsuyama on Saturday.
Sources say the suspect in last year's arson attack on a Kyoto Animation studio has recovered enough from his burns to speak clearly. Police plan to arrest him when he is well enough to enter detention.
The attack in Kyoto on July 18 killed 36 people, all employees of Kyoto Animation. A further 33 employees were injured. Two of them are still receiving treatment in hospital.
Unified college and university entrance examinations are underway for high school students and graduates across Japan.
The two days of tests began on Saturday. About 550,000 applicants are sitting for this year's exams at 689 sites.
A Japanese government survey shows about 80 percent of respondents support maintaining the death penalty.
The Cabinet Office conducted the survey on the country's use of capital punishment in November 2019, covering 3,000 people aged 18 or older. 1,572 people responded.
Members of a high school rugby club in western Japan have performed a Haka dance to encourage students who will take the unified university entrance exam this weekend.
The event was held for about 300 third-year students at a high school in the city of Oita on Friday, the day before the start of exams.
Public health experts in Japan say a new coronavirus is unlikely to cause a pneumonia outbreak in the country, but that the elderly and people with chronic diseases could develop serious symptoms if infected.
The National Institute of Infectious Diseases on Friday held a media briefing on the virus believed to be the cause of pneumonia in China.
A former senior official of the Air Self-Defense Force has been arrested for allegedly leaking confidential data on US early warning aircraft to a Japanese trading house.
58-year-old Sou Kanno is a former colonel and section chief at the ASDF's Air Development and Test Command.