The Latest Breaking News from The Japan News/Yomiuri

NEW YORK -- Japan was first in the men's baseball rankings released by the World Baseball Softball Confederation on Dec. 31, a spot it has held since 2014. Samurai Japan will compete in the World Baseball Classic international tourney in March.

Komazawa University runners were in perfect stride at the Tokyo-Hakone Intercollegiate Ekiden.

Panasonic Corp., which has produced electric rice cookers for more than 60 years, will end domestic production of the traditional appliance by June and transfer its domestic production base to China.

ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi -- The walls are there to protect them from the sea that a decade ago rose up in a tsunami and caused such destruction. With their view now obscured, residents of the Tohoku region have opted to turn the drab concrete barriers into works of art.

The conveyor belts carrying the plates constantly advance in the same direction, but the giant sushi chains are diverging in pricing strategy as the days of the 100 yen plate gradually recede into the past.

Mobile payment giant PayPay Corp. is offering a service for electronically sending "otoshidama," cash gifts that are usually given to children at New Year.

YAMAGATA -- A landslide in the early hours of Saturday morning crashed into a cluster of houses and other buildings in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, leaving two people missing, the police said.

The Defense Ministry is planning to move command centers underground at four Self-Defense Forces facilities by fiscal 2028 and implement measures against electromagnetic pulse attacks at five Air Self-Defense Force bases by fiscal 2029 in preparation for such situations as an emergency in Taiwan, according to government sources.

To maintain Japan's domestic manufacturing of defense-related equipment, the government is planning to provide comprehensive financial support to the declining defense industry and nationalize manufacturing plants of firms that may find it difficult to continue operating even with such support.

World-renowned architect Arata Isozaki died Wednesday at the age of 91.

HANOI/BANGKOK -- Thousands of young people from Southeast Asia seeking job opportunities have been sold to gangs of Chinese scammers who force their victims to take part in crimes and physically assault them.