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Francis Tang
Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto told a local weekly that a lawsuit is possible if the company's proposed buyout of U.S. Steel gets blocked without proper procedures being followed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 13, 2024
Nippon Steel does not rule out lawsuit if U.S. Steel deal nixed, CEO says
If the deal falls through without a legitimate reason or proper procedures, the Japanese steelmaker would consider suing the U.S. government, CEO Eiji Hashimoto says.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump greets Sen. Marco Rubio during a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Nov. 4. Trump is expected to name Rubio, a loyalist who Trump passed over as his vice presidential running mate, as secretary of state.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 12, 2024
Trump diplomacy and security picks likely to anger China but reassure Japan
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to select Sen. Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state and Rep. Mike Waltz to be national security adviser.
American voters in Tokyo gather at an election watch party, organized by Democrats Abroad Japan, at a British bar in Tokyo's Shimokitazawa district on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2024
American voters in Japan reflect divisions in home country
Several Republican voters said they believed Trump’s leadership could address the problems they are most concerned about, such as illegal immigration.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (right) shakes hands with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell before their meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Friday morning, ahead of the announcement of Japan and the EU's new defense and security partnership.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 1, 2024
Japan and EU launch defense and security tie-up amid mutual China concerns
The move is aimed at developing, deepening and strengthening cooperation and dialogue across all areas of security and defense, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya says.
Vietnamese technical interns work at a food processing factory in Saitama Prefecture.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2024
Criteria revealed for technical interns in Japan looking to change jobs
Applicants can select from a wide range of specific "unavoidable" situations, such as being the victim of harassment, set out in a list attached to the application form.
Members of the public listen as a candidate for the Hyogo gubernatorial election speaks in Kobe on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2024
Campaigning kicks off for Hyogo gubernatorial election
Former Gov. Motohiko Saito is among seven candidates in an election that follows months of stagnated governance after allegations of misconduct surfaced against him.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Chisato Morishita bows to reporters on Sunday in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, after she was projected to win a seat in the Lower House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2024
Record number of women elected to Japan's Lower House
A total of 73 female candidates won seats in Sunday’s general election, making up about 16% of the membership of the chamber of parliament.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also LDP president, dissolved the Lower House only eight days after assuming office on Oct. 1
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2024
Why Ishiba’s strategy of a surprise battle backfired
His dissolution of the Lower House only eight days after assuming office and backtracking on previously touted policies left voters with little to base votes on.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to voters in Aichi Prefecture on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 25, 2024
LDP rapped over funds for local chapters of scandal-tainted candidates
The LDP secretary-general said the funding was provided to the local chapters to expand the party’s influence, not to support individual candidates.
Imports of Japanese koi were suspended in November 2023, when Chinese authorities stopped renewing import permits to fish farms once they expired from the end of October 2023.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2024
China resumes imports of Japanese koi fish
Imports were suspended in November 2023, when Chinese authorities stopped renewing import permits to fish farms once they expired.
Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Oct. 7. The number of Japanese nationals who traveled abroad in the first half of this year totaled 5.8 million, a 60.4% increase from the same period in 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 18, 2024
Mid- to long-term foreign residents in Japan hit record high
A total of 3.31 million foreign nationals were residing in the country for three months or longer as of the end of June, up 5.8% from the end of 2023.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends the East Asian Summit in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 15, 2024
Ishiba openness to nuke ban treaty involvement puts pact in spotlight
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said his government will “seriously consider” participating as an observer in a conference of signatories to the U.N. treaty.
Toshiyuki Mimaki, the co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, speaks at an event held in November at United Nations headquarters in New York on the sidelines of the second meeting of state parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2024
Nihon Hidankyo awarded Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to achieve nuclear-free world
The organization was given the honor for its work to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.
Justice Minister Hideki Makihara speaks during a joint interview with media outlets at his office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 11, 2024
Justice minister says he has severed all ties with Unification Church
Hideki Makihara has promised to follow the Liberal Democratic Party’s commitment on ceasing ties with the group moving forward.
Ishiba addresses the ASEAN-Japan Summit meeting in Laos on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 10, 2024
Ishiba keeps low profile as he makes diplomatic debut
The prime minister made pledges to strengthen maritime security and promote decarbonization during his first international trip since taking office.
Some 930,000 defective SIM cards of NTT Docomo and other carriers that use Docomo's network might become unusable even if they are functioning normally now.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 10, 2024
NTT Docomo recalling almost a million defective SIM cards
The defective cards were manufactured between December 2021 and October 2022, with serial numbers that start with GD06.
Pope Francis addresses the crowd from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter's Square during the Angelus prayer in the Vatican on Sunday. The pontiff announced the appointment of 21 new cardinals on Sunday.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 7, 2024
Japanese archbishop named cardinal
Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, the archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Tokyo, will also be eligible to vote in a papal conclave.
Children walk home from school in Ishikawa Prefecture on Sept. 26. Cases of hand, foot and mouth disease peaked a second time this year in the second week of September.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 4, 2024
Hand, foot and mouth disease rebounds in Japan
The latest data — for the week of Sept. 16 to 22 — showed cases averaging roughly six times the number from the same week last year.
Community leaders discuss the role of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in ending the HIV/AIDS threat to public health by 2030 at a seminar hosted by Gilead Sciences in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 1, 2024
HIV prevention drug remains out of reach for many in Japan despite approval
The drug's high cost together with insufficient knowledge and awareness are hindering efforts to broaden access to it, experts and community leaders say.
Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday. Koizumi stressed that the granting of the special residency permits to children subjected to deportation orders was a one-time measure.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 27, 2024
Japan fine-tunes issuance of humanitarian visas
The move comes amid a near-tripling of technical intern trainees from Myanmar going missing from their programs in 2023.

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Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.