In-depth News Features | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

Thirteen years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. The disaster triggered a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and ever since, the operator has been trying to decommission the facility. NHK World's Yoshikawa Ayano got a rare look at the state of the reactors.

In the aftermath of the 2011 accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the 16,000 residents of nearby Tomioka Town were ordered to evacuate. Most have never returned. But one former resident is back with a new product he hopes will help revive his disaster-hit hometown.

An extension to Japan's bullet train network is laying the groundwork for a surge in tourism in one of the country's least visited areas.

A college student who turned down a highly-prized job with a leading manufacturer to join an eco-startup is typical of a new type of Japanese jobseeker, who prioritizes environmental, social, and other ethical causes over traditional career paths.

Soy sauce, or shoyu, is a staple of Japanese cuisine. Different localities have their own unique flavors. Western Japan's Kyushu region is known for its distinctly sweet soy sauce, which has a surprisingly recent history.

The honest people of Japan handed in a record 22.8 billion yen ― roughly 146 million dollars ― in misplaced cash in 2023, as the amount of all lost property turned over to police climbed to a fresh high of almost 30 million items, the National Police Agency says. Among the items most frequently dropped off at police stations were small electronic devices, umbrellas, and pets.

"The yakuza used to have their own code of rules called 'suji'," explains lawyer Morohashi Yoshitomo, who was once himself a member of a yakuza crime syndicate. "But they've started to turn to activities that deviate from suji. And their crimes have become more heinous."

Morohashi says the change is highlighted by a recent case involving the deportation of an alleged gang member from the Philippines.

The operator of a long-standing public bathhouse in rural Japan is looking to find someone to take over the business that his family has run for four generations.

The Bank of Japan implemented a seismic policy shift this month by raising rates for the first time in 17 years. Policymakers lifted the key rate out of negative territory ― from minus 0.1 percent to a range of zero to 0.1 percent ― in their first tentative move away from a long-standing ultra-easy monetary policy. The change ended Japan's outlier status as the world's only economy with negative interest rates.

At last year's men's soccer World Cup, one player stood out: French forward Kylian Mbappe. His team may have lost in the final to Argentina, but the wearer of the number 10 jersey was honored with the Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals at the tournament.