Reiji Yoshida - The Japan Times

November 04, 2025

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Reiji Yoshida

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Reiji Yoshida

Reiji Yoshida is a staff writer and deputy manager of the Domestic News Division. Since joining The Japan Times in 1993, he has intensively covered domestic politics, diplomacy and defense issues as well as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis.

JAPAN

Mar 18, 2020

Suicide note reignites Moritomo scandal that rocked Abe administration

The wife of a former Finance Ministry official who killed himself filed a lawsuit against the ministry and the former chief of its financial bureau, seeking damages of u00a5110 million.

JAPAN / Politics

Mar 4, 2020

Abe reaches across aisle for COVID-19 emergency law as Japan cases top 1,000

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met separately with top opposition leaders Wednesday, seeking nonpartisan cooperation to swiftly enact a special emergency law.

Japan Times

BUSINESS / Companies

Mar 2, 2020

Japan's Luminous Cruising blames coronavirus as it files for bankruptcy

A cruise ship company in Kobe was effectively bankrupted by the coronavirus crisis on Monday after filing for protection from creditors under the corporate rehabilitation law.

JAPAN

Feb 21, 2020

SDF on Diamond Princess get more protection after 'chaos' claim in video

The Defense Ministry has bolstered protective measures for its medical staff on the Diamond Princess, applying a stricter protocol for using gear on the infected cruise ship, Defense Minister Taro Kono said Friday.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 20, 2020

COVID-19 spread on Diamond Princess before quarantine, report suggests

Transmission toward the end of the quarantine period occurred mostly among crew or within passenger cabins, the report also said.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Feb 19, 2020

Expert stirs controversy with video on 'inadequate' virus controls on Diamond Princess

Controversy was stirred among the public and at the Diet Wednesday, after an infectious disease expert posted a now-deleted video online in which he claimed to have seen inadequate anti-virus contamination measures on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

JAPAN

Feb 18, 2020

Ten Kyodo News staff rode vehicle driven by man confirmed to have COVID-19

A man in his 60s confirmed to have been infected with the COVID-19 virus drove a total of 10 Kyodo News staff members in a hired vehicle from late January to early February, the news service said Tuesday, confirming that it had notified member organizations.

JAPAN / FOCUS

Jan 31, 2020

Virus poses stark challenges to Abe's tourism goals as Tokyo Olympics loom

The coronavirus outbreak is posing myriad challenges for the Japanese economy, including a key Abe administration policy initiative — the promotion of inbound tourism.

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 17, 2020

Opposition grills LDP on risks facing Japan's SDF mission to Mideast

Any overseas SDF mission is politically sensitive, but U.S.-Iran tensions are so high that debate on the constitutional hazards has ensued even before the Diet has opened.

Japan Times

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 10, 2020

Abe to visit Middle East as originally planned despite earlier media reports of cancellation

The prime minister's trip is still a go after U.S. President Donald Trump eased Japanese fears of full-scale war with Iran.

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 8, 2020

Abe to cancel Middle East trip after Iran attacks U.S. forces in Iraq, government source says

The decision to cancel the visit came after Iran launched missiles targeting Iraqi bases hosting American troops in response to the U.S. killing last week of a top Iranian general.

JAPAN / Politics / Outlook 2020

Jan 2, 2020

Japan faces a diplomatic balancing act in 2020 as it seeks to manage ties with the U.S. and China

In the spring, President Xi Jinping is set to come to Japan, the first visit by a Chinese president in nine years.

JAPAN

Dec 27, 2019

Japan’s Cabinet adopts plan to send SDF to Mideast amid Iran tensions

The “investigation and research” mission will send the destroyer Takanami into an area where tensions over Iran's nuclear program are high and an attack could drag Japan into war.

JAPAN

Dec 20, 2019

Iran's Hassan Rouhani urges Abe to strengthen bilateral economic ties during Tokyo visit

On the 90th anniversary of diplomatic ties, the first Iranian president to visit since 2000 urges more concrete steps to promote the bilateral relationship.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Dec 18, 2019

Hopes low for Japan-Iran summit, with Tokyo hemmed in by competing interests

It's unlikely Japan will be able to bypass U.S.-imposed sanctions and resume importing crude oil from Iran in accordance with Tehran's apparent wishes, experts say.

JAPAN / Politics

Dec 13, 2019

Abe postpones talks with India's Modi due to unrest in Assam over citizenship law

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has postponed a three-day visit to India, the government said Friday, as violent protests continue over a controversial citizenship law in Gauhati, a northeastern Indian city in Assam state where Abe had planned to meet his counterpart, Narendra Modi.

JAPAN

Nov 29, 2019

Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, a political titan who spanned eras, dies at 101

The enduring statesman, who bolstered the military alliance with the U.S. and privatized the Japanese National Railways, led Japan onto the world stage in the 1980s.

JAPAN

Nov 25, 2019

In Japan, Pope Francis urges rethink of reliance on nuclear energy

Meeting survivors of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster that triggered the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear crisis, Pope Francis has a poignant message.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Nov 24, 2019

Pope Francis says in Nagasaki speech money used for nuclear weapons better spent on eradicating poverty

Pope Francis strongly criticizes the concept of nuclear deterrence and warned of arms races while calling on world leaders to instead use money and resources to cope with environmental issues and poverty.

Japan Times

JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS

Nov 23, 2019

GSOMIA lives, but what's next for Japan and South Korea ties?

After South Korea's surprise announcement to remain a party to a key intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, wartime labor, the issue at the heart of strained bilateral ties, remains far from being resolved.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.

The second life of Japan's net cafes

By Alex K.T. Martin

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