Visitors to Kuji, Iwate Prefecture, can enjoy a special exhibition featuring kokeshi doll-shaped lanterns created by actress-cum-artist Non.

The kanji for bear was announced as kanji of the year for 2025 on Friday.

A tsunami advisory for Hokkaido and the Tohoku region was issued on Friday following a magnitude 6.7 earthquake that hit northern Japan at 11:44 a.m.

SAPPORO — A passenger plane bound for Akita from Sapporo diverted due to mechanical problems and landed at Hakodate Airport on Thursday.

Two new terms reflect a recent boom among stuffed doll-loving people: “plushie activities,” which means spending quality time with your favorite stuffed dolls, and “plushie photography,” which means taking photos with them. One such adult, actor Shinya Owada, has caused a sensation on social media with his plushie hobby.I asked Owada, 78, about the appeal of the hobby and his love of stuffed dolls.“It was so hard for me to decide which ones to bring with me today,” Owada said in his attractive deep voice, taking his favorite plushies out of his bag.The stuffed dolls he brought included characters from Pokémon, “The Lion King” and “Astro Boy,” as well as a Shiba Inu. He said he had selected particularly memorable ones from his collection, which he says fills an entire wall in his home.In February, Owada posted a video on X showing himself at an aquarium holding stuffed dolls of Pokémon characters with his back to the camera, and then turning to look at it.The contrast between the veteran actor’s dignified look and his “plushie activities” instantly sparked a buzz, which has spread.Owada has played important roles in many television series, films and stage productions. Recently, he has also gained attention as a video game streamer on YouTube.

AKITA — A train derailed and fell 5 meters below the tracks at the Akita Nairiku Jukan Tetsudo Railway in Kitaakita, Akita Prefecture, on Friday morning. There were no passengers on board. The driver suffered a head injury.

The government and ruling parties secured enough support to pass a supplementary budget bill for fiscal 2025 in the House of Representatives by actively incorporating proposals from Komeito and the Democratic Party for the People.

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held phone talks on Friday morning in which they expressed serious concern over China’s military activities and affirmed that Japan and the U.S. will continue to cooperate closely.

The government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party intend to raise the “annual income barrier” — the income threshold for the imposition of income tax — from the current level of ¥1.6 million to ¥1.78 million.

A draft of guidelines on how police and the Self-Defense Forces will implement measures as part of Japan’s active cyber defense to neutralize servers behind a cyberattack was presented at a Liberal Democratic Party meeting on Monday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry again urged its citizens on Thursday to refrain from traveling to Japan, citing Monday’s earthquake off the east coast of Aomori Prefecture.

A top officer in the Self-Defense Forces has commented on the recent incident in which a Chinese military aircraft directed its radar at Japan Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets, stating that it would have been a “highly stressful” experience for the SDF pilots.