Japan

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Trump's Joke Revives Awkward Debates in Japan

Prime minister receives criticism for not calling president out over the current war

(Newser) - Senior American and Japanese officials usually shy away from making public comments about Japan's 1941 attack on US forces at Pearl Harbor. So there was embarrassment, confusion, and unease on Saturday in Japan after President Trump casually used the World War II attack to justify his secrecy before launching...

Trump Cracks Pearl Harbor Joke With Japan's Leader

'Who knows better about surprise than Japan?'

(Newser) - President Trump made a Pearl Harbor joke while hosting Japan's prime minister at the White House on Thursday, reports the Hill . Asked by a Japanese reporter why he didn't inform allies such as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in advance of the attack on Iran, Trump invoked the infamous...

Trump: 'I'm Not Putting Troops Anywhere'

President adds that 'we will do whatever is necessary'

(Newser) - President Trump on Thursday appeared to reject the notion that he was on the brink of ordering ground troops into the Iran war. "I'm not putting troops anywhere," Trump told a reporter who asked about US military plans, reports Reuters . "If I were, I certainly wouldn'...

Trump Blasts Allies Over Gulf Request

But 'we don't need anybody,' he says after lukewarm reaction to request for warships

(Newser) - President Trump publicly criticized US allies on Monday for turning down or slow-walking his push to send warships to guard commercial traffic through the Persian Gulf. Trump, who argues nations that rely more heavily than the US on the region's oil should step up, said "numerous countries" had...

Seoul: North Korea Just Launched 10 Ballistic Missiles

They were reportedly fired toward the sea, amid joint South Korea-US military drills enraging the North

(Newser) - North Korea on Saturday fired about 10 ballistic missiles toward the eastern sea, South Korea's military said, staging its own show of force as the rival South conducts a joint military exercise with the United States. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired from...

In Japan, People Are Randomly Shoving Other People

'Bumping man' phenomenon perpetrated by both men and women is causing frustration, tension

(Newser) - A smiling kid posing at Tokyo's famed Shibuya crossing is now central to Japan's latest public-behavior worry: the rise of the "bumping" attacker. Viral video from Feb. 25 shows the young girl, visiting from Taiwan, knocked flat from behind by a masked woman who keeps walking, per...

'A Bear May Be in Front of Your House When You Wake Up'

Cloudy skies tied to climate change are leading to food shortages, spurring bear attacks in Japan

(Newser) - Residents in northern Japan now have a new hazard to worry about: hungry bears. The country is seeing an unprecedented spike in attacks, with more than a dozen people killed and upward of 200 injured in 2025, prompting the government to deploy troops in Akita prefecture, and the US Embassy...

PM's Assassination Exposed Chilling Ties to the 'Moonies'

Grievances of Abe's killer revealed alleged abuses, political clout of Unification Church in Japan

(Newser) - The fatal shooting of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022 didn't just shatter the country's sense of safety—it blew open a long-muted scandal around the Unification Church, better known as the "Moonies" cult, named after founder Sun Myung Moon. Writing for the New ...

Japan Court: Unification Church Must Disband
Japan Orders
'Moonies'
Church to
Disband
UPDATED
Mar 4, 2026 9:16 AM CST

Japan Orders 'Moonies' Church to Disband

Unification Church will have to liquidate assets, lose tax-exempt status

(Newser) - The "Moonies" church will in fact become the first religious organization to be disbanded in Japan, reports the BBC . The Tokyo High Court rejected the Unification Church's appeal of last year's order to cease and desist, which came in the wake of allegations that it coerced followers...

World Leaders React to US-Israel Attack on Iran

Nations voice concern as some back strikes, others condemn escalation

(Newser) - World leaders are lining up to assess, condemn, or cautiously back US and Israeli strikes on Iran as fears of a wider Middle East conflict grow. What some are saying as updates continue to trickle out of the region, per CNN , Reuters , and the New York Times :
  • Antonio Costa, president
...

Everyone's Rooting for Lonely Baby Monkey and His IKEA Toy

Viral orphaned macaque Punch clings to stuffed orangutan for comfort—for now

(Newser) - If there's a symbol of the world's love for a baby monkey abandoned by his mother in the Japanese zoo he calls home, it's IKEA's Djungelskog stuffie , suddenly flying off shelves. Punch, a 7-month-old macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo near Tokyo, has become an online fixation...

Man Gives City 46 Pounds of Gold to Fix Infrastructure

Osaka mayor says 'staggering' gift will be used to replace aging water pipes

(Newser) - Osaka's aging water pipes just got an unusual boost: 46 pounds of gold bars from someone who doesn't want their name known. The stash, valued at about $3.6 million, was handed over in November by a donor who wanted to improve the city's pipes, Mayor Hideyuki...

They Took a 14-Hour Flight, Got Nowhere

Engine oil issue forces All Nippon Airways flight into a lengthy roundtrip

(Newser) - The flight took 14 hours as scheduled, but it ended up exactly where it started. All Nippon Airways Flight 223 departed Tokyo around 11am Tuesday bound for Germany, only to reverse course more than six hours in, while flying above the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska. The Boeing 787 then...

Embassies Are Pushing Hard for 'America 250' Donations

Former ambassador says push for corporate cash could be hurting America's image

(Newser) - US embassies are turning their usual Fourth of July receptions into something closer to a global fundraising drive for a blockbuster 250th birthday party—and some diplomats are leaning hard on corporate guests to pay for it. In recent months, American missions in places like Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore...

Japan PM's Election Gamble Pays Off

Sanae Takaichi called snap parliamentary election, and she's on track for a huge mandate

(Newser) - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took what the New York Times describes as the "biggest bet" of her three-month tenure, and the gamble has paid off. Takaichi called a snap parliamentary election for Sunday to take advantage of her popularity, and exit polls show that her Liberal Democratic Party...

The Rarest of Japan's Political Candidates: A Pregnant One

Running for House of Reps there, Hikaru Fujita talks openly about expecting, maternity bias

(Newser) - In Japan's latest national election, one of the most closely watched candidates began her campaign with two words rarely heard in that arena: "I'm pregnant." Hikaru Fujita, a 35-year-old former diplomat with a Harvard degree, is running for her nation's House of Representatives as a...

How Japan's Famous Snow Monsters Came to Be

Ancient volcanic collapse rerouted winds

(Newser) - Japan's famed "snow monsters" may actually be ghosts of an ancient blast. For years, the hulking, ice-coated trees that blanket the Zao mountain range each winter have been explained largely by weather and the hardy conifers themselves. But Fumitaka Yanagisawa of Yamagata University says the real story starts...

'Major Turning Point' for Japan as It Turns Nuke Plant Back On

Restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex comes amid climate goals, public distrust, safety concerns

(Newser) - Japan has flipped the switch on the world's biggest nuclear power plant again, and the move is stirring up old fears, along with new energy ambitions. The Tokyo Electric Power Company this week restarted Reactor No. 6 at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex in Niigata prefecture, its first major reactor revival...

Lost Phone Causing Big Headache for Japan's Nuke Regulator

(Newser) - Japan's nuclear watchdog is dealing with an embarrassing security lapse involving a lost work phone in China. Japanese media report that an employee of the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) misplaced a government-issued smartphone containing confidential contact information for staff of its nuclear security division, which handles protection of nuclear...

Tokyo Woman Dies, 6 Hospitalized After Choking on Mochi

New Year treat claims another life despite annual mochi safety warnings

(Newser) - One of Japan's most cherished New Year foods has again turned deadly in Tokyo. Japan Today reports that according to the Tokyo Fire Department, seven older adults were hospitalized in the capital after choking on mochi during the first three days of 2026. A woman in her 80s died...

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