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Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's top tariff negotiator, speaks to reporters in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 14, 2025

Japan seeks possibility of trade deal with U.S. as G7 summit looms

Japan's top tariff negotiator offered no hint whether a deal could be announced at the upcoming G7 summit in Canada.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's economic revitalization minster, speaks to members of the media in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 15, 2025

Japan and U.S. trade negotiators spoke again Saturday

Japan's top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick spoke by phone and explored the possibility of a trade deal.
Japan captain Mai Yanagida bats against Hong Kong during the women's Sano City International Trophy cricket tournament on June 4 in Sano, Tochigi Prefecture.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
Jun 15, 2025

From samurai threat to Asian Games as Japan cricket fights obscurity

Japan's cricket association says the sport is slowly gaining popularity and hopes next year's home Asian Games and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics can take it to a new level.
Guillaume Ollagnier, director general of strategic, security and disarmament affairs at the French Foreign Ministry, says that the global nonproliferation architecture should be further strengthened — lest a nuclear arms race erupt.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 15, 2025

France doubles down on opposition to new nuclear states, top official says

With Pyongyang and Beijing ramping up their nuclear capabilities, calls are growing louder in Seoul and elsewhere to develop their own nukes.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung (center) speaks as leading business executives listen during a meeting at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 15, 2025

South Korea’s Lee open to trilateral meet with Ishiba and Trump at G7

Any talks would be the first trilateral meeting for all three leaders since taking office, and would symbolize a commitment to continuing to build closer security ties.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Sunday ahead of his departure for a Group of Seven leaders' summit in Canada.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

Ishiba arrives in Canada for G7, with Trump trade deal on his mind

The Japanese leader hopes to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to drop trade tariffs that have imperiled his country's economy.
A screenshot of a submarine cable map on TeleGeography’s website shows a network of cables connecting with Japan.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 16, 2025

The underlying risks to Japan’s undersea cables

What exactly are undersea cables, and how real is the threat of disruption in Japan?
Kazuyoshi Miura takes part in a training session for Yokohama FC in Yokohama, Japan on March 21, 2017.
SOCCER
Jun 16, 2025

Japan's 'King Kazu' wants more after first appearance of 40th season

The former international forward, who turned 58 in February, came on as a late substitute in Atletico Suzuka's 2-1 win over YSCC Yokohama on Sunday.
Rare earths from Australia's Mount Weld mine. Japanese companies have a supply agreement with a company that sources rare earths from the mine.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 16, 2025

Japan and the U.S. face challenges in economic security discussions

In their trade negotiations, the subject is much discussed, especially as rare earths become an issue.
U.S. President Donald Trump (left) speaks with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Group of Seven summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 17, 2025

No breakthrough on tariffs at Ishiba-Trump meeting in Canada

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump met for 30 minutes on Monday during the annual Group of Seven gathering in Alberta.
After decades of dominance by foreign wrestlers, last month Onosato became just the second Japanese this century to be named to sumo's highest rank of <i>yokozuna</i>.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 17, 2025

The national sport of Japan wrestles with a generational change

As one legend departs, another star is rising. In a new era, sumo is grappling with its future.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s reversal on the Nippon Steel deal creates a "win-win-win-win" situation benefiting both companies, the U.S. economy, and the Japan-U.S. alliance, but the golden share raises concerns about increased government control.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 17, 2025

Nippon Steel deal signals a win for the U.S. economy and Japan alliance

Last week, Trump lifted the Biden block, saying that the acquisition could go forward if the two companies signed a national security agreement with the U.S. government.
Citing challenges such as a declining workforce and rising costs, four major newspapers will discontinue their Saturday evening editions from August, in a shift away from a publishing tradition that has endured for decades in Japan.
JAPAN / Media
Jun 18, 2025

Four newspapers in Japan to cease Saturday evening editions from August

The announcements mark a shift away from a publishing tradition that has endured for decades in Japan, where evening newspapers had been a staple of the media landscape.
A video from the National Police Agency aimed at educating people about the illegality of online casinos is shown at a movie theater in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2025

Japan revises law to ban online casino ads as it cracks down on offshore gambling

The revised law makes gambling on overseas sites explicitly illegal, allowing internet service providers and social media platforms to remove content more proactively.
The first five months of 2025 saw 18,140,100 visitors enter Japan, up from 14,641,780 in the same period last year.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025

Foreign visitors to Japan at record high for May

The increase in visitors during May was driven by travelers from China, Taiwan and the United States, who visited for holidays and on cruise ship port calls.
A view of Kunashir — known as Kunashiri in Japanese — one a group of Russian-controlled islands off Hokkaido that are claimed by Japan
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2025

Memorial services at sea to be held off disputed islands

Two of the five events will involve an overnight stay on a ship, with participants offering prayers toward part of Kunashiri Island.
A U.S. military plane takes off at the Kadena U.S. Air Force Base in Okinawa Prefecture in August 2023.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025

Okinawa marks 80 years since 'Typhoon of Steel,' with U.S. presence still a burden

On June 23, Japan’s southernmost prefecture commemorates the end of the Battle of Okinawa, among the bloodiest ground battles of World War II.
Japan’s trade surplus with the U.S. last year stood at ¥8.6 trillion ($59.3 billion). Roughly 82% of the gap was due to Japan’s surplus in cars and auto parts.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 19, 2025

U.S. focus on auto trade gap is sticking point for Japan deal

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba briefed CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda and others about the latest developments in the bilateral trade negotiations.
Upper House lawmaker Hirofumi Yanagase in his office on June 9. Last month in parliament, he urged the criteria for naturalization to be revised.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 20, 2025

Calls to make naturalization more difficult emerge in parliament talks

Naturalization requires applicants to have lived in Japan for at least five consecutive years, or half of the duration required for permanent residency.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will be the first reigning emperor and empress to visit Mongolia.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025

Emperor and empress to visit Mongolia in July

They will be the first reigning emperor and empress to visit Mongolia. The emperor visited the country in 2007 when he was Crown Prince.
Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa deflected a question over whether Japan will seek an extension of the deadline for the across-the-board tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 20, 2025

Japan won’t fixate on July 9 in U.S. trade talks, says Akazawa

Tokyo's top trade negotiator deflected a question over whether Japan will seek an extension of the deadline for the across-the-board tariffs.
By pioneering stem cell therapies, Japan is not only treating disease but also seeking to rejuvenate a nation grappling with aging and decline.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2025

Japan is helping lead the way in regenerative medicine

In pristine labs across Japan, scientists are tinkering with the architecture of regeneration.
A helicopter takes off from China's Shandong aircraft carrier in waters south of Okinawa Prefecture in April 2023.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025

Chinese aircraft carriers conducted over 1,000 sorties during Pacific training

Japan says the takeoffs and landings highlight the Chinese Navy’s growing ability to operate in distant seas and airspace.
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa has said that his U.S. counterparts are open to an extension of the July 9 deadline for countries that are making an effort toward a deal.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 20, 2025

Japan hopes good-faith negotiations will buy it some time in U.S. tariff talks

U.S negotiators have said that the July 9 deadline is flexible and that extensions might be granted.
A model of a next-generation fighter jet that is being developed by Japan, Italy and the U.K. is displayed at the DSEI Japan defense exhibition in Chiba in May.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025

GCAP industry partners launch joint venture for trilateral fighter project

Named Edgewing, the new firm will be responsible for the fighter’s design and development and will remain the design authority for the life of the product.
Okinawan rapper Awich ruled the summer music festival circuit last year. Which act will prove to be the most memorable in 2025?
CULTURE / Music
Jun 23, 2025

Stage dive into summer: Japan’s best music festivals, month by month

The weather will be hot, but the concert calendar is looking even hotter.
People pray during a visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15, the 79th anniversary of Japan's surrender during World War II.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2025

Why only Japan is criticized for honoring its war dead

Other countries honor the ultimate sacrifice regardless of whether the war was just, later judged a mistake or involved actions that could be seen as war crimes.
Malaysian military personnel take part in a seven-day training program in Japan focused on the operation and maintenance of drones, which are set to be provided to Malaysia through Japan's official security assistance program.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2025

Japan aims to double number of military aid recipients this year

Tokyo is looking to add five new countries to its official security assistance (OSA) program, which is intended to help maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 23, 2025

Ishiba to skip key NATO summit following Iran strikes

Two other invitees — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung — have also decided not to attend the gathering.
Japanese companies are rushing to protect their employees and brace operations in the Middle East for the fallout from U.S. strikes on Iran.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2025

Japan’s banks pull staff from Middle East after U.S. strikes Iran

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has started to pull staff out of locations including Dubai, and halted unnecessary travel in and out of the region.

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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