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July 12, 2026
 

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DRIVING

Fatalities resulting from traffic accidents in Japan saw a new record low last year, according to the National Police Agency.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2026
Japan traffic deaths hit record low in 2025
Traffic accident deaths fell by 4.4% from the previous year, with 2,547 deaths recorded in 2025.
The Hamamatsu Nishi Police Station in Shizuoka Prefecture, where actor Ryoko Hirosue was detained after being arrested at a hospital on April 8 following a rear-end collision involving a vehicle she was driving. A summary court last month ordered Hirosue to pay a fine over the collision.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 6, 2026
Actor Ryoko Hirosue fined ¥700,000 for negligent driving
Her vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer on April 7 after changing lanes at approximately 185 kph inside a tunnel on the Shin-Tomei Expressway in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Waymo autonomous taxis on Bush Street in San Francisco earlier this month
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Dec 28, 2025
Waymo’s San Francisco outage raises doubts over robotaxi readiness during crises
Driverless taxis from Alphabet unit Waymo, a ubiquitous feature on the city’s streets, were stuck at intersections with their hazard lights turned on.
Under the current law, the definition of dangerous driving is vague, referring to "such high speed that it is exceedingly difficult for the person to control the motor vehicle."
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2025
Panel outlines bill to expand scope of dangerous driving
The ministry plans to submit the bill during the next ordinary Diet session, expected to start on Jan. 23.
Japan hopes to harness large-scale data obtained via its next-generation electronic toll collection system for a variety of purposes, including easing traffic congestion.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2025
Japan to broaden use of ETC’s driving data for disaster response and tourism
The government aims to harness large-scale data from ETC 2.0 for a variety of public and economic purposes, including easing traffic congestion and improving disaster response.
The crime of dangerous driving carries a prison sentence of at least one year and up to 20 years in cases resulting in deaths.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 15, 2025
Man rearrested over fatal hit-and-run in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward
The suspect, Yusuke Yokoo, was initially apprehended at his home in the same ward on Nov. 24 on suspicion of stealing a car from a dealership.
Yoriko Koseki (right) submits a petition to the Justice Ministry in Tokyo on Tuesday, calling for the statute of limitations for hit-and-run cases to be abolished.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 10, 2025
Mother of hit-and-run victim seeks to end statute of limitations for such cases
The mother’s petition argues that the statute of limitations for hit-and-run cases is short, allowing perpetrators to benefit from fleeing the accident site.
Under a draft legal revision, the offense of dangerous driving will apply when drivers exceed the speed limit by 60 kph on expressways or other roads where limits are set at more than 60 kph.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 9, 2025
Government proposes numerical criteria for dangerous driving
The criteria are expected to remove ambiguity in standards for what constitutes dangerous driving resulting in death or injury.
Families of victims observe a moment of silence on the 13th anniversary of the Sasago Tunnel accident on Tuesday in the city of Otsuki in Yamanashi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 2, 2025
Victims mourned on 13th anniversary of Sasago Tunnel disaster
During a ceremony Tuesday, Nexco Central President Tadashi Nawata apologized again to bereaved families for the tunnel incident that “took the peaceful lives” of the victims.
A Saitama district court sentenced Deng Hongpeng, a Chinese national and demolition worker, to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years, for hitting a group of elementary school children with his car and fleeing the scene while driving under the influence.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2025
Chinese national sentenced for hit-and-run that injured four children in Saitama
Demolition worker Deng Hongpeng was driving under the influence and struck a group of ten children, injuring four sixth-grade boys.
The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Longform
Oct 22, 2025
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.
From the desperate and defeated to the blissful and breezy, readers share their experiences of getting a driver’s license in Japan.
Toyota sold 10.8 million cars in 2024, a slight drop from the previous year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 8, 2025
Toyota arm that keeps 150 million cars on road also top-earning
Toyota’s value chain arm is set to exceed operating profit from new car sales during the fiscal year ending March 2026 after reaching a record ¥2 trillion the previous year.
The total length of Japan's expressways in service stood at 10,328 kilometers as of the end of March 2025.
BUSINESS
Oct 1, 2025
20 years after privatization, free expressways still 90 years away
The privatization was a key policy of then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Japan Post's mini cargo vehicles parked at a post office in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 1, 2025
Japan Post served notice suspending mini cargo vehicle use
The transport ministry suspended 111 post offices from using such vehicles over their failure to properly conduct roll calls for drivers.
A new draft proposal is aimed at clarifying the charge of dangerous driving resulting in death or injury.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 30, 2025
Justice Ministry proposes criteria for dangerous driving offenses
The proposal is aimed at clarifying the charge of dangerous driving resulting in death or injury.
Sayaka Togitani's daughter Hinami was delivered via emergency cesarean section but suffered fetal hypoxia, which left her with a severe disability.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 3, 2025
Family calls for daughter born after car accident to be recognized as a victim
The family of a pregnant woman who died after being hit by a car wants the daughter, born afterward with a severe disability, to be deemed a victim.
Japan Post has been under investigation by the transport ministry since it was revealed that improper alcohol and health checks were widespread across the company.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2025
Japan Post ordered to suspend delivery vans at 100 post offices
Light commercial vans are the company’s primary means of transportation for deliveries, but Japan Post says it will continue operations as usual.
Heavy traffic on the nation's highways is just as much a part of the Bon holiday period as visiting ancestral graves.
LIFE / Bilingual
Aug 7, 2025
Brave the Bon holiday traffic to discover tourism gems off the beaten path
Learn how to ask about secret spots, regional dishes and specialty gifts using natural Japanese structures on your summer travels.
The transport ministry plans to introduce autoflow roads, which will be built on medians of expressways or underneath them, in some expressway sections between Tokyo and Osaka in the mid-2030s.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2025
Japan to test autoflow roads for self-driving freight vehicles
The ministry plans to introduce autoflow roads, which will be built on medians of expressways or underneath them, between Tokyo and Osaka in the mid-2030s.
The number of car accidents in Japan resulting in death or serious injury that were caused by foreign drivers in the first half of 2025 totaled 258, up by 19 from a year earlier and exceeding 250 for the first time since 2008, according to the National Police Agency.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 30, 2025
Ratio of serious car accidents caused by foreign drivers hits record 2.1%
A total of 258 of such accidents, which caused death or serious injury, occurred in the first half of 2025, according to National Police Agency data.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

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