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August 12, 2026
 

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NARA

Japan's first prison-turned-hotel, Hoshinoya Nara Prison offers as much luxury as it does surprisingly thoughtful reflections on the former facility's place in the country's march toward modernity.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 8, 2026
Locked up in luxury at the new Hoshinoya Nara Prison hotel
Open from July, the lodging occupying an Important Cultural Property prompts guests to reflect on societal progress and the role of prisons.
Citizens of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, celebrate the addition of the Asuka-Fujiwara archaeological sites in Nara Prefecture to the World Heritage List on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ Asuka-Fujiwara sites added to UNESCO list
Including natural heritage sites, the total number of World Heritage properties in Japan now stands at 27.
Cafe owner Takahiro Yamazaki hopes an expected registration of the Asuka-Fujiwara ancient capitals in Nara Prefecture as a UNESCO World Heritage site will give more people a chance to think about Japan's ancient times.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 20, 2026
Nara cafe owner hopeful about ancient capitals¡¯ World Heritage listing
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee¡¯ is deliberating in Busan, South Korea, whether to add the Asuka-Fujiwara ancient capitals to its list of World Heritage sites.
People observe a moment of silence in Nara on Wednesday, which marks four years since the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 8, 2026
Abe remembered four years after fatal shooting
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot on July 8, 2022, during a stump speech in front of Kintetsu Railway¡¯s Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara.
Nara police have arrested a self-proclaimed "messenger of God" and six others over the confinement of a company executive's teenage son at a relative's house in Yokohama.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 10, 2026
¡®Messenger of God¡¯ and six others arrested over teen¡¯s confinement
The seven people, including a company executive, allegedly confined the executive¡¯s teenage son to a relative¡¯s house in Yokohama between May 6 and 8.
The Asuka-Fujiwara archaeological sites in western Japan have been recommended to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2026
Asuka-Fujiwara ancient capitals to join World Heritage list
A UNESCO advisory panel has recommended adding the archaeological sites in western Japan to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list.
Stains caused by a liquid-like substance were found on the National Treasure Bussokuseki at Yakushiji Temple.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 14, 2026
Police investigate stains found on national treasure at Nara temple
Law enforcement is looking into the case on suspicion of violation of the cultural properties protection law.
A protester rallies in Nara on Jan. 21 against the life sentence handed down to Tetsuya Yamagami for fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2026
Assassin of Shinzo Abe files appeal against life sentence
Tetsuya Yamagami reportedly agreed to appeal after strong persuasion from his lawyers.
Outside the Nara District Court in the city of Nara ahead of the sentencing of Tetsuya Yamagami, the man behind the July 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2026
Shinzo Abe¡¯s assassin gets life sentence
The sentence meted out to Tetsuya Yamagami, who shot the former prime minister in Nara in July 2022, brings an end to the trial for a murder that shocked Japan.
News reporters gather in front of the Nara District Court on Oct. 28, when the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, opened.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 20, 2026
Shinzo Abe¡¯s assassin faces verdict
One of the key points in the trial is how the judges will weigh on Tetsuya Yamagami¡¯s troubled upbringing and motivations for fatally shooting the former prime minister.
The head priest of Horyuji temple greets Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, on Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 2026
Takaichi and Lee beat the drums for better bilateral ties
Among the discussed items were cooperation to promote regional stability, economic security, the complete denuclearization of North Korea and transnational crime.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, in October in Gyeongju, South Korea
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 11, 2026
Takaichi and Lee set for talks on cementing ties as China-Japan dispute simmers
Despite a stated goal of strengthening ties between Tokyo and Seoul, the meeting comes in the looming shadow of the ongoing row with Beijing.
South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung will travel to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's picturesque hometown of Nara next week for talks with Takaichi, Seoul said Friday, days after meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 9, 2026
Fresh from China, South Korea president to visit Japan
The planned summit in Nara follows major Chinese military drills around Taiwan and North Korea firing ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.
Tetsuya Yamagami in Nara in July 2022. Earlier that month Yamagami had shot the former prime minister with an improvised shotgun at point-blank range.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Dec 23, 2025
The making of Shinzo Abe¡¯s assassin
Tetsuya Yamagami¡¯s path to the assassination had many turning points, but his alarm over the Unification Church¡¯s ties with the prime minister, and financial woes, drove him on.
The Nara District Court in November. Prosecutors in the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with the fatal shooting of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have focused on the cruel and premeditated nature of the killing.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 18, 2025
Prosecutors demand life sentence for suspect in Shinzo Abe shooting
Tetsuya Yamagami, who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, is standing trial for murder and other charges at Nara District Court.
The Nara District Court where Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, is on trial for the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe's wife, Akie, attended the trial on Wednesday for the first time.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 4, 2025
Man accused of shooting Abe apologizes to former PM¡¯s widow and family
Describing his actions as inexcusable, Tetsuya Yamagami said they caused pain to the former prime minister¡¯s family even though he held no grudge against them.
Dragons feature prominently in Japanese folklore, though tracing their physical steps through the countryside requires some rural excursions.
LIFE / Travel
Nov 29, 2025
Chasing dragons across the temples of Nara
In two rural prefectures, dragon myths ¡ª and a cave that purports to host some ¡ª make for a unique way to explore the Japanese countryside.
A court sketch shows Tetsuya Yamagami standing in trial in his first questioning session at the Nara District Court on Nov. 20.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 26, 2025
Abe shooter says ¡®despair and sense of crisis¡¯ triggered 2022 attack
Tetsuya Yamagami explained how he came to view the politician as a friend of the Unification Church and the urgency he felt to stop their interactions.
An illustration of Tetsuya Yamagami (left) being questioned by his lawyer on Thursday at the Nara District Court
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 21, 2025
¡®I should not have lived this long,¡¯ man accused of killing Abe tells court
Describing his troubled upbringing and the misery caused by his mother¡¯s devotion to the Unification Church, Tetsuya Yamagami expressed regret.
"I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart for the terrible crime committed by my second son, Tetsuya," the mother of Tetsuya Yamagami, who is charged with the 2022 murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said at the start of her testimony Thursday at the seventh hearing of his lay-judge trial at Nara District Court.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 14, 2025
Mother of Abe shooter Yamagami apologizes in court
¡°I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart for the terrible crime committed by my second son, Tetsuya,¡± said the mother, a follower of the Unification Church.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Strong wind and heavy rain forecast as tropical storm approaches Japan
Tropical Storm Chan-hom is expected to make landfall in northern Kanto between late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.

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