Mari Yamaguchi

Associated Press

This computer graphics image released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the Hayabusa2 spacecraft above the asteroid Ryugu. The Japanese spacecraft is nearing Earth after a yearlong journey home from a distant asteroid carrying soil samples and data that could provide clues to the origins of the solar system, a space agency official said Friday, Nov. 27, 2020.

Spacecraft Carrying Asteroid Soil Samples Nears Home

The samples could provide clues to the origins of the solar system.

The Japanese carrier ship MV Wakashio seen from the coast of Mauritius, Aug. 16, 2020.

Ship Operator to Pay $9M Over Oil Spill

The MV Wakashio struck a coral reef and caused a widespread oil spill off the coast of Mauritius earlier this summer.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, speaks during a meeting on countermeasures against the new coronavirus infections at his official residence in Tokyo Tuesday, March 10, 2020.

Japan Unveils $4B Package to Fight Virus

The package includes subsidies for parents who need to take time off work due to school closures, funding for development of virus vaccines and test kits and for extra production of protective masks.

In this Dec. 3, 2019, file photo, weeds grow in an abandoned apartment complex, in Futaba, Fukushima prefecture, Japan.

Japan Opens Last Off-Limits Town

It has been off-limits due to radiation since the Fukushima nuclear disaster nine years ago.

In this Oct. 12, 2017, file photo, ever-growing amount of contaminated, treated but still slightly radioactive, water at the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant is stored in about 900 huge tanks.

Fukushima Water Release to Sea

It is meant to solve a growing problem for the plant's operator.

This March 11, 2012, file photo, shows three melted reactors, from left, Unit 1, Unit 2 and Unit 3 at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. Japan revised a roadmap on Friday, Dec. 27, 2019, for the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant cleanup, further delaying the removal of thousands of spent fuel units that remain in cooling pools since the 2011 disaster.

Japan Revises Fukushima Cleanup Plan

The nation is delaying key steps.

In this Nov. 12, 2014, file photo, a Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) official wearing a radioactive protective gear stands in front of Advanced Liquid Processing Systems during a press tour at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Japan's economy and industry ministry has proposed gradually releasing or allowing to evaporate massive amounts of treated but still radioactive water at the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant. The proposal made Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, to a body of experts is the first time the ministry has narrowed down the options available to just releasing the water.

Government Wants to Release Fukushima Water

Radioactive water continues to accumulate as water used to keep the cores cool leaks from the damaged reactors and is stored in tanks so it won't escape into the ocean or elsewhere.

This April 15, 2019, file image released by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) shows an operation to remove fuel from a cooling pool at Unit 3 of the Fukushima nuclear plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan. Japan’s economy and industry ministry unveiled a draft revision Monday, Dec. 2, 2019, to its decades-long roadmap to clean up the radioactive mess at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was wrecked by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Fukushima Melted Fuel Removal to Begins 2021

Nearly nine years after the accident, the decommissioning of the plant, where three reactors melted, remains largely an uncertainty.

Whalers Complete Hunt

The fleet brought back an estimated 1,430 tons of frozen whale meat, down 670 tons from last year’s Antarctic hunts.

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Prosecutors Appeal TEPCO Acquittal

Residents of the area appealed the acquittal of three former Tokyo Electric Power Co. executives.

In this Sept. 30, 2019, photo, a signboard reads 'Consumption tax hike, 8 percent to 10 percent', at a mass home electronics retailer in Tokyo.

Japan Ups Sales Tax to 10%

Previous tax increases, a 2-point increase to 5% in 1997 and another to 8% in 2014, brought on recessions.

Akio Toyoda, center right, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corp., with a group of the Japanese automakers chiefs, speaks to Japanese Trade Minister Isshu Sugawara, left standing, during a meeting Thursday in Tokyo.

Japan Welcomes US Trade Pact, but Automakers Appeal for Help

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Donald Trump signed a trade agreement covering agricultural, industrial and digital trade.