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Tokyo High Court will decide on March 4 whether to back a lower court's order for the Unification Church to disband itself, informed sources said Wednesday.

The Japan Federation of Basic Industry Workers' Unions decided Wednesday to demand a monthly pay scale increase of 15,000 yen in this year's "shunto" spring wage negotiations.

Calls are rising for more discussions on whether to boost Japan's defense capabilities during the campaign for Sunday's House of Representatives election, the first national poll since the departure from the ruling coalition of Komeito, which had long served as a "brake" on security policy.

Retail gold prices in Japan have been volatile over the past week, swung by developments outside the country.

The Japanese government and ruling parties are considering convening the Diet for a 150-day session from Feb. 18, after Sunday's general election, informed sources said Wednesday.

The Japan Innovation Party is worried that it is overshadowed by popular Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in campaigning for Sunday's House of Representatives election.

Japan's foreign exchange fund special account is attracting attention as a possible source of funding for consumption tax reduction or elimination proposed by many parties ahead of Sunday's general election.

The defense for Tetsuya Yamagami filed an appeal with Osaka High Court on Wednesday to challenge the indefinite prison term handed down by Nara District Court for the 2022 murder of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Tokyo police have arrested a nursery school teacher for allegedly sexually abusing a boy during an overnight program, people familiar with the investigation said Wednesday.

The Japanese Olympic Committee has established a special team to protect athletes participating in the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics from defamation, the first such effort for both the summer and winter games.

Changes must be made across a wide range of settings to overcome deeply rooted gender roles and achieve gender equality, Tomoko Yoshino, president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, the umbrella organization for labor unions in the country, said in a recent interview.

A total of 117 Japanese lawmakers said they believe the country should sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a survey by the hibakusha atomic bomb survivor group Nihon Hidankyo has shown.

A popular annual snow festival kicked off in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, on Wednesday, showcasing 210 ice and snow sculptures across three venues.

Japan Airlines has said that its passenger revenue on China routes last December was about 20pctlower than its initial plan, following Beijing's notices advising Chinese citizens against traveling to Japan.

Prudential Life Insurance Co. said Wednesday it will suspend new policy sales for 90 days in response to a large-scale fraud scandal that came to light last month.