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July 12, 2026
 

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DRIVING

Reiwa Shinsengumi leader Taro Yamamoto speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 10, 2026
Reiwa Shinsengumi head Taro Yamamoto to resign and quit politics
The opposition party will change its name and hold a leadership election on July 31.
Kaoru Mitoma’s agency said he is taking the incident very seriously and has expressed concern and apologies toward the injured cyclist.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 9, 2026
Kaoru Mitoma involved in minor traffic accident in Tokyo
Prominent Japanese soccer player Kaoru Mitoma hit a cyclist in Tokyo while driving at around 8.45 a.m. on Wednesday, according to a statement from his agency.
Reliant on Nvidia hardware for AI training and inferencing since its outset, Turing now handles roughly 10% of its AI training needs with Advanced Micro Devices graphics processing units.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 6, 2026
Self-driving startup Turing gets AMD backing and adopts AMD GPUs
The five-year-old Japanese startup is adding to its capabilities as it builds toward a commercial launch.
A bill to revise the law on punishment of acts causing death or injury by automobile driving is enacted at a plenary session of the Lower House on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 25, 2026
Japan enacts bill that sets numerical standards for dangerous driving
The bill stipulates the charge of dangerous driving be uniformly applied to accidents causing death or injury by drivers exceeding the speed limit by over 50 kph on ordinary roads.
The driving skills test for older drivers was introduced in 2022 with the aim of preventing accidents by assessing the decline in their physical functions.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2026
Japan to review elderly driving test after higher accident rate
The rate of accidents caused by drivers who took the test was 2.8 times the level recorded for those who were not subject to it, according to a study released Thursday.
Taxi-hailing app provider Go traded 21% above its IPO price on Tuesday after shareholders of the company raised ¥88.6 billion ($553 million) in the offering for a market value of ¥186 billion last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 16, 2026
Goldman-backed Go soars 21% after biggest Japan IPO this year
The successful debut of the taxi-hailing app provider offers a much-needed tailwind for Japan’s IPO market.
The share of drunken-driving accidents involving specified small motorized two-wheel vehicles, including electric kick scooters, is "extremely high," Japan's annual white paper on traffic safety noted.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2026
10% of e-scooter accidents in Japan resulted from drunken driving in 2025
Of the 386 accidents involving specified small motorized two-wheel vehicles, including electric kick scooters, drunken driving was blamed for 43 of them.
A vehicle modified to look like an unmarked police car before being driven by a man suspected of drunken driving is seized by Tokyo police on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2026
Saitama man arrested over alleged drunken driving of fake police car
Ren Nakamura, 23, is suspected of driving the vehicle, which had been modified to look like an unmarked police car, and crashing it into a utility pole.
An expressway toll gate in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, that only accepts cars equipped with ETC systems
JAPAN
May 6, 2026
ETC-only expressway gates increasing as Japan ditches cash toll payments
The number of interchanges that do not allow toll payments with credit cards and cash is increasing as Japanese operators aim to complete the transition by fiscal 2030.
Family members Takuya Matsunaga (right) and Yoshinori Uehara offer flowers during a memorial service on Sunday for Mana and Riko Matsunaga who were killed in a car crash in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district seven years ago.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 20, 2026
Investigator urges people not to forget deadly 2019 Ikebukuro crash
The incident attracted significant attention and prompted many older drivers to voluntarily give up their drivers’ licenses.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki (third from the left) speaks at a subcommittee meeting of the Council for Japan's Growth Strategy at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2026
Japan targets 25% share of global autonomous vehicle market
The government aims to acquire an about 25% share of the global market in self-driving vehicle sales in the 2030s.
The government will step up its ability to intervene against fuel stations that overcharge consumers.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2026
Japan to boost effort to stop gasoline stands from price gouging
The government will step up its ability to intervene against fuel stations that overcharge consumers.
The government adopted legislation at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday to revise auto laws by setting numerical standards for speeding and alcohol levels to clarify the application of dangerous driving offenses, aiming for enactment during the ongoing parliamentary session.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2026
Legislation adopted to set numerical thresholds for dangerous driving
Application requirements for the crime of dangerous driving are vague under current rules, and many cases have ended with convictions for negligent driving instead.
Cars line up at a gas station in Seoul on March 9.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 30, 2026
South Korea weighs first driving curbs in 35 years on oil crunch
The country has already imposed driving restrictions on civil servants, curbing how often they can access government buildings by car.
In Japan, through data collection and analysis, Aioi Nissay focuses on telematics insurance products whose premiums vary based on driver characteristics.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 13, 2026
Aioi Nissay to use driving data in Uzbekistan to reduce traffic accidents
The company aims to begin selling onboard equipment and offering related services in the Central Asian country by the end of March next year.
The government adopted a bill Friday to support logistics systems that let truck drivers limit work to day trips.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2026
Government adopts bill to promote drivers’ work-style reform
Under the bill, the government will subsidize the costs of drawing up plans for multiple logistics firms to relay cargo.
The percentage of foreign drivers who passed the written test for a Japanese driver’s license dropped to 42.8% between October and December last year, and the practical test, to 13.1%, police figures show.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 3, 2026
Foreign driver’s license conversion rates plunge after tighter rules brought in
The passing rate for the written test plummeted to 42.8% between October and December, while that for the practical test tumbled to 13.1%.
Tsuyoshi Imamura, chief of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police, apologizes at a news conference over a misconduct scandal involving improper traffic violation enforcement, in the city of Yokohama on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 20, 2026
Kanagawa police officers referred to prosecutors over falsified traffic tickets
The seven officers, who served on the same squad, allegedly falsified traffic violation tickets and related investigation reports.
Japan Post has a total of some 32,000 delivery minivehicles at 3,188 post offices offering collection and delivery services across the country.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2026
Japan Post ordered to halt 3,333 delivery vehicles
Japan Post has a total of some 32,000 delivery minivehicles at 3,188 post offices offering collection and delivery services across the country.
Fujitsu's physical AI system, which allows robots to move autonomously and in coordination with one another, is showcased at the CES tech show in Las Vegas on Wednesday. The robots are made by external manufacturers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2026
Fujitsu showcases automotive software tech at CES
Fujitsu’s AI can help mitigate the costs and labor needed for developing programs for software defined vehicles.
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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