Japanese news in English is thinner than it looks.
The English-language Japanese press is a fraction of the domestic one, and what does get translated skews to whatever an international audience is assumed to care about. Read only that and you get a version of Japan assembled for outsiders.
shortnews.be reads The Japan Times and The Mainichi in English and NHK in Japanese, then summarises to 60 words. The NHK line matters: it means domestic stories reach the feed whether or not an English desk decided they were worth translating that day.
Japan gets its own tab, next to Belgium. Same format, same length, same lack of click-bait — one swipe from the Belgian news you also need to keep up with.
An English-language haiku published for October 20, 2026, reflects on meditation and the deepening scent of jasmine. The poem is credited to Mary Hind, identified with Melbourne, Australia. …
Japan has launched a five-year space mission to attempt the first landing on one of Mars’s moons and collect a sample. The probe’s work could provide clues about how the solar system formed …
Japan’s oldest poetry anthology offers a window into life roughly a millennium ago, when poetry was a widespread part of society. Its verses explore beauty, humor, love and sorrow, themes th…
A survey found that more than 16% of Japanese companies experienced, or potentially experienced, data breaches. The rate was substantially higher among large businesses, reaching 30.2%, comp…
The Philippine government summoned China’s ambassador in Manila on Monday to protest remarks it said threatened the use of force. Philippine authorities treated the comments as serious enoug…
Japan’s government plans to restart accepting foreign workers for meal-service jobs at some facilities. The proposal is scheduled for adoption at a Cabinet meeting in December, marking a pla…
Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and a subsidiary of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. said Monday they aim to generate 1 trillion yen ($6.3 billion) in sales by fiscal 2030. The companies ma…
China has revealed that an advanced nuclear-powered submarine was used to test-fire a missile, marking a notable change from its previously publicised launches. Before July, China had conduc…
Researchers have identified a new sperm whale species from fossils found in Gunma, Japan. The species combines traits of ancient and modern sperm whales, linking characteristics from both st…
The Mainichi has ranked its five most-read stories from the previous week. The selection covers articles published on its news site between October 10 and 18, presented from first to fifth p…
A male teacher at a public junior high school in southern Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, suffered serious injuries after a student assaulted him. The attack involved a shoulder throw, a move i…
Two people with foreign roots have launched a new political group in Japan, calling for “co-creation” in society and politics. The group was launched this summer and plans to field candidate…
Pick Japan as your home country in Settings and its headlines get their own tab. Belgium stays exactly as it is. Free, and no account needed.
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