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July 05, 2026
 

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OSAKA

Mappa’s employees work at the anime studio’s office in the city of Osaka in September. Some parts of the image are blurred for privacy reasons.
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2026
Growing number of anime studios setting up bases outside Tokyo to secure talent
More companies are drawn to other cities by advantages such as easier access to local graduates and the potential to offer a better work-life balance.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura speaks to reporters on Friday at the Osaka Prefectural Government building.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 18, 2026
Major parties other than JIP to skip Osaka double election
The Liberal Democratic Party, the Constitutional Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party and Komeito have all indicated they will not field candidates.
The Osaka District Court dismissed a request on Friday by three death-row inmates seeking to have executions by hanging banned.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 16, 2026
Osaka court dismisses request to ban executions by hanging
Three inmates, whose death sentences have been finalized, claimed that executions by hanging violate an international treaty that prohibits cruel punishments.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura (left) submits his resignation to the prefectural assembly speaker on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 16, 2026
Yoshimura gambles on double election to push plan to merge Osaka city’s wards
The Osaka governor’s resignation has drawn criticism from within the Japan Innovation Party, which he also leads.
Osaka Prefectural Police suspect the two men arrested are members of a group of real estate scammers.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 15, 2026
Judicial scrivener arrested over property scam in Osaka
Osaka police believe the two men arrested on suspicion of fraudulently conducting real estate ownership transfer registration are members of a group of real estate scammers.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura (left) in Tokyo in December
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 13, 2026
Osaka governor mulls stepping down to pave way for secondary capital designation
Both the governor and mayor of Osaka are considering resigning from their posts to pave the way for the city to become a backup capital.
Shinsekai, the renowned culinary district of Osaka. Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura has called for the creation of a secondary capital in prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 9, 2026
Race to become Japan’s secondary capital heats up
As the Japan Innovation Party works to get Osaka designated the country’s secondary capital, other municipalities are looking to muscle in.
Osaka police arrested a man on Thursday after he allegedly accelerated toward a policeman and drove about 700 meters with the officer on his car’s hood.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 9, 2026
Man arrested over attack on policeman with car in Osaka
The suspect allegedly accelerated toward a policeman and then drove about 700 meters with the officer on his car’s hood.
Johannes Vermeer's painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring" in The Hague in October 2022. The 17th century masterpiece will make a rare trip abroad in 2026 when it is loaned to Japan in August and September.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 9, 2026
‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ to make rare trip abroad to Japan
The 17th century masterpiece will be loaned to the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka in August and September while its home in The Hague undergoes renovations.
The Osaka city government is standing by its plan to sell about 500,000 square meters of prime land at the center of the Osaka Expo site.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jan 8, 2026
Debate begins on how to sustain legacy of Osaka Expo
Despite concerns about being able to preserve the legacy of the Osaka Expo, the city government is standing by its plan to sell about 500,000 square meters of land at the site.
A woman wearing traditional Japanese attire enjoys horseback riding on a native Dosanko horse on Dec. 5 in Kashiwara, Osaka Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2026
Horse park in Osaka aims to protect Japanese breed
The park offers opportunities for people to experience riding a Dosanko Japanese horse while wearing traditional Japanese clothing, including armor.
An image of an integrated resort to be constructed on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2025
Japan to begin selection process for new casino resort sites
Under the integrated resort implementation law, up to three locations can host integrated resort facilities, leaving two slots available.
Plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeing to halt a number of nuclear reactors hold up papers reading “unjust ruling” following a court ruling on Thursday in the city of Otsu, Shiga Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 26, 2025
Court dismisses plea to shut down nuclear plants in Fukui
The plaintiffs plan to appeal the ruling to a higher court, while Kansai Electric said that the ruling reflects the court’s understanding of its claims.
West Japan Railway’s completed facility to preserve a train involved in the 2005 Fukuchiyama Line derailment, in the city of Suita, Osaka Prefecture
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2025
Facility to preserve crashed JR West train completed
The April 2005 crash in Hyogo Prefecture killed 106 passengers and the train’s driver.
The Moritomo documents, totaling more than 170,000 pages, were voluntarily submitted by the Finance Ministry to prosecutors.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 18, 2025
Japan shows fifth set of Moritomo papers to ex-official’s widow
The Moritomo documents, totaling more than 170,000 pages, were voluntarily submitted by the ministry to prosecutors.
People pose for pictures in front of festive light installations at Mohri Garden in Roppongi district, in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 17, 2025
For the first time, Tokyo reaches second place in Global Power City Index
The executive director of the Mori Memorial Foundation, which releases the index, said other Japanese cities — such as Fukuoka and Osaka — were rapidly moving up the rankings, too.
The sister of Kotaro Nishizawa, who died in an arson attack on an Osaka clinic in 2021, offers a prayer Wednesday in front of the building that housed the clinic.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 17, 2025
Victims of 2021 Osaka clinic arson attack remembered
The incident killed 26 people, including the 49-year-old head of the clinic.
Nobuko Nishizawa, sister of a psychosomatic clinic director who was killed in an arson attack in 2021, speaks with an inmate in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, in July.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 16, 2025
Four years on, Osaka arson victim’s sister helps to rehabilitate inmates
A journalist once asked Nobuko Nishizawa what could have been done to prevent the 2019 deadly arson on Kyoto Animation, prompting her to begin providing rehabilitation support.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, will reconsider the route of the planned Hokuriku Shinkansen section between Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture and Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka Prefecture.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2025
Japan to reconsider route of planned Hokuriku Shinkansen section
The existing plan, adopted by the then LDP-Komeito coalition in 2016, has faced opposition from some due to environmental and fiscal concerns.
A street leading to the Tsutenkaku tower in Osaka's Shinsekai district. Local reports and social media posts point to thinner crowds in Shinsaibashi and Shinsekai, once favorite haunts for Chinese groups.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2025
Osaka tourism endures heavy hit as China-Japan tensions simmer
China bookings for Osaka-bound flights for winter and early spring departures are down 55% to 65% — a sharper drop than the nationwide average.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japanese police arrest nine over Sierra Leone-based special fraud
Japanese police have arrested nine individuals for their alleged involvement in a special fraud case using Sierra Leone as a base.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan's renewable goals.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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