Search - japan

 
 
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House earlier this year. Ishiba said Monday that farmers won't be sacrificed for automakers in Japan's tariff negotiations with the U.S.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 12, 2025

Japan might be playing long game in U.S. tariff talks

Tokyo is resisting making any major concessions, possibly in the hope that mounting domestic pressure will force U.S. President Donald Trump to give it a better deal.
The deep sea explorer Urashima 8000 is unveiled Monday at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 13, 2025

Japan unveils new deep-sea probe for 8,000-meter dives

The Urashima 8000 improves on the design of a previous iteration that can dive to a depth of 3,500 meters.
Japan captain Michael Leitch
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
May 13, 2025

Japan rugby tightens eligibility rules on foreign-born players

More than half of the players who started last season's final of the Japan Rugby League One championship were born overseas.
Takashi Hashimoto, who was rescued by the crew of an Okinawan fishing boat 45 years ago, on March 4 in Tokyo's Minato Ward
JAPAN
May 14, 2025

Former Vietnamese refugee says he is thankful for Japan after 45 years

The native of now-defunct South Vietnam boarded a small bamboo boat crowded with 24 people in the central city of Da Nang in March 1980.
Trade Minister Yoji Muto will skip the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, a decision that will likely lower Tokyo’s chances of securing an opportunity for bilateral talks with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 14, 2025

Japan’s key officials to skip APEC meet attended by U.S. trade representative

This won’t be the first time Japan’s trade minister will miss the APEC gathering in recent years, but sending a lower-ranking official may make it harder to hold one-on-one talks.
A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is tugged toward a thermal power station in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture, in 2017.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2025

Japan under pressure from U.S. to invest in Alaska LNG pipeline

Doubts over the pipeline's profitability and viability leaves Japan's participation in the $44 billion (nearly ¥6.7 trillion) project uncertain.
Japan ranked 14th out of 36 developed countries in the latest child well-being survey, improving from 20th place in the previous survey released in 2020, a report by a UNICEF research institute showed Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 14, 2025

Japan ranks 14th in UNICEF child well-being survey

Top positions in the latest overall rankings were held by the Netherlands, Denmark and other European countries.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass eats California rice at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday along with Mitsuko Tsuchiya, vice president of retailer Aeon.
JAPAN
May 14, 2025

Japanese retailers turn to California rice for cheaper alternative

Major retailer Aeon announced Tuesday it will start selling the “Karoyaka” variety of California rice from June 6.
The government should "design a specific system by around fiscal 2026 to make standard childbirth expenses free of charge,” an expert panel said, as the aging nation seeks to reverse its declining population and shrinking pool of tax-paying workers.
JAPAN
May 15, 2025

Expert panel suggests Japan’s government make childbirth free

The proposal follows a child care policy package adopted in 2023 to reverse Japan’s declining birthrate by supporting families with young children.
Scott Callon, CEO of Japan Display Inc, will step down on June 1 to take responsibility for the company's poor performance.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2025

Japan Display to cut 1,500 jobs in Japan on consecutive years of losses

The struggling maker of small and midsize liquid crystal display panels reported a consolidated net loss of ¥78.2 billion ($538.7 million) for fiscal 2024.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's tariff czar, after the first round of talks in Washington. Media reports indicate he may be headed back to the United States next week for the third round of negotiations.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 15, 2025

Third round of U.S.-Japan tariff talks may be held next week: report

Akazawa’s two previous visits to Washington yielded no tangible results.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 15, 2025

Russia to conduct drill in waters near disputed island off Hokkaido

The Japanese government has lodged a protest with Russia over the planned drills near Shikotan.
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
BASEBALL
May 15, 2025

Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan

The widely held belief is that American Horace Wilson introduced the sport to Japan in 1872. Fitts' discovery revises the timeline to 1869.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump as first lady Melania Trump and Akie Abe look on while on board the Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Kaga, stationed at the Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 28, 2019.
JAPAN
May 16, 2025

SDF activities expand 10 years after key security legislation

Japan has enhanced cooperation with the United States and other friendly nations in the face of challenges such as China's maritime expansion.
The Upper House passed the active cyberdefense bill on Friday with majority support spanning the ruling bloc and the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
May 16, 2025

Japan enacts active cyberdefense law

Through the law, the government aims to set up defenses against cyberattacks that are on par with or better than major Western countries.
Houses along canal with heavy steam and mist in Beppu, Oita Prefecture. The Meteorological Agency announced the arrival of rainy season in the southern part of the Kyushu region, making it the first time the season began in the area before any other region since records began in 1951.
JAPAN
May 17, 2025

Japan's rainy season begins in southern Kyushu

This is the first time since statistics began in 1951 that southern Kyushu has entered the rainy season earlier than any other region in Japan.
A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 19, 2025

That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb

A tragic accident in Saitama shows how aging pipes, soft soil and climate threats are straining the country’s infrastructure.
An illustration of Nipponopterus mifunensis, a new genus and species of pterosaur
JAPAN
May 19, 2025

Pterosaur fossil found in Japan identified as new species

This is the first time that a pterosaur has been named based on a fossil found in Japan.
Police officers stand guard on May 7 outside Todaimae Station in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward after a random stabbing that injured a University of Tokyo student.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
May 19, 2025

Random stabbing cases in Japan raise fears: Could the next victim be me?

Experts say these incidents often reflect a deeper issue at the societal level.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, at a news conference on Tuesday. He said that when Japan states it wants the tariffs reviewed, it means Tokyo wants them removed.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 20, 2025

Japan confirms hard-line position ahead of possible tariff talks in Washington

Tokyo wants all new levies put into place by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump completely removed.
Singaporean Ambassador to Japan Ong Eng Chuan says his country hopes to “collaborate closely” with Japan in the area of quantum computing technology.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 20, 2025

Singapore envoy eyes stronger cyber and digital links with Japan

Quantum computing is one particular area of interest as Japan develops its technical capability via a collaboration with Intel.
If tax exemptions are revised, small parcels containing products bought from Shein and PDD Holdings' Temu shipped into Japan could be subject to the country’s sales tax, which mostly stands at 10%.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 20, 2025

Japan considers taxing small parcels as Shein and Temu expand

An experts group has discussed problems related to existing exemptions, including concerns about the channel being a conduit for illegal drugs and counterfeit goods.
An aircraft approaches Haneda Airport. During the month of June, many travelers from South Korea landing at the airport will be eligible for fast-track entry procedures.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2025

Japan and South Korea to trial priority lanes for travel between the countries

The one-month trial program in June will be available to passport holders from either country who have visited the other at least once within the previous year.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's top tariff negotiator, is set to visit Washington to have talks with U.S. officials as early as Saturday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 21, 2025

Japan and U.S. may hold third round of tariff talks as early as Saturday

Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa is set to make a three-day visit to the U.S. from Friday.
A mock-up of Japan's state-of-the-art railgun, which is currently undergoing testing, is displayed at the three-day DSEI Japan defense exhibition in the city of Chiba on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 21, 2025

Railguns, missiles and lasers: Japan uses massive defense event to highlight shift

The range of products and systems being displayed at DSEI Japan in Chiba is both diverse and sophisticated, and comes amid soaring international tensions.
A crowd of tourists walk on the street near Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. There has been growing pushback from residents in the tradition-steeped city as visitor numbers continue to rise.
JAPAN / Society
May 21, 2025

Japan's tourist arrivals soared 28.5% in April to hit record 3.9 million

For the first four months of the year, foreign visitor arrivals totaled 14.4 million, a 24.5% increase.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato (right) and Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda wait for a group photograph to be taken at a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors’ in Banff, Canada, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 22, 2025

Japan and U.S. reaffirm commitment to letting markets set currency rates

Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have made a point of not discussing a target yen-dollar rate.
Tokyo police have arrested a postal worker on suspicion of making a threatening call to a woman using personal information found on her mail.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2025

Postal worker accused of making threatening call to woman using delivery info

Suspect Yoichi Nose allegedly called the woman using a phone number found on her mail and threatened her by referencing voyeuristic videos he claimed to have had of her.
Paraguayan President Santiago Pena speaks during an interview with The Japan Times in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2025

As Taiwan looks to boost ‘unofficial ties,’ Paraguay’s leader offers facilitator role

Paraguayan President Santiago Pena stressed his government is “more than willing to support and be a strong ally” to Taiwan.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
May 23, 2025

Japan pledges immediate rice price cuts to stop shift to foreign brands

The government has been releasing some of its stockpiled rice since March but that has yet to translate to lower supermarket prices.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear