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Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (right) and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during Lammy's visit to Tokyo in March
JAPAN / Politics
May 11, 2025

Japan and U.K. to promote personal data transfers

Japanese universities and other research institutes will be able to use information about clinical trials and diseases held by their British counterparts.
Masataka Yuhara, secretary-general of the Friends of Lee Teng Hui Association in Japan, which has been calling for "Taiwan" to be permitted as a place of origin in family registers.
JAPAN
May 14, 2025

Japan to recognize Taiwan as place of origin in family registration system

Residents of Taiwanese descent in Japan and their support groups have welcomed the change.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency President Hiroshi Yamakawa speaks at a press briefing in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 17, 2025

Japan remains committed to moon missions as Trump cuts NASA budget, JAXA chief says

U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed a $6 billion cut to NASA's budget could upend the Artemis program to return people to the moon.
Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate for South Korea's Democratic Party, gestures during an election campaign rally in Seoul on Monday. Officials in Tokyo are closely watching Lee’s remarks for hints of how bilateral relations could shift if he is elected.
JAPAN / Politics
May 21, 2025

South Korean presidential front-runner says he's not hostile toward Japan

Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung has in recent months sought to highlight a more centrist agenda ahead of the presidential election.
Japan Coast Guard on Monday spotted a Chinese maritime survey vessel "extending what appeared to be a wire into the waters in Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) 270 kilometers east of Okinotori island," government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
JAPAN
May 27, 2025

Japan says China conducted research near Pacific atoll

The alleged activity took place on Monday near the remote atoll of Okinotori in the Philippine Sea.
Yonaguni Island in Okinawa Prefecture. China has removed its last buoy from Japanese economic waters near the island.
JAPAN
May 29, 2025

Tokyo says China has removed its last buoy from Japan's economic waters

Japanese media said this could signal an intention by Beijing to improve strained ties with Tokyo.
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Program's fighter jet during an exhibition at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on May 21
JAPAN
May 30, 2025

Japan frets over fighter rollout target and weighs stopgap options, sources say

The joint Global Combat Air Program is falling behind schedule due to a lack of urgency from Britain and Italy, one of the sources said.
If Japan Post loses its general cargo vehicle license, it would be barred from reapplying for a new one for five years.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 5, 2025

Japan Post may lose cargo license over widespread driver check failures

A transport ministry audit in April revealed enough instances of missed checks in the Kanto region to surpass the threshold for license revocation.
Joseph Nye (left) joins then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he speaks at Harvard’s Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in April 2015. The deaths of Nye and Richard Armitage, two giants in Japan-U.S. relations, will surely leave a lasting impact on the alliance they helped shape.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 5, 2025

A new generation of 'Japan hands' and a changing world

For decades, Joseph Nye and Richard Armitage helped shape a vision of U.S.-Japan ties grounded in shared values, strategic trust and mutual respect.
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sails through the Miyako Strait near Okinawa on its way to the Pacific in April 2021.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2025

Chinese aircraft carrier enters Japan's economic waters, says Tokyo

China's growing military clout and use of naval and air assets to press disputed territorial claims have rattled the United States and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region.
Gen. Jennie Carignan, Canada’s Chief of the Defense Staff, attends an interview with The Japan Times on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2025

Japan ‘priority’ as Canada eyes bigger Asian footprint, military chief says

Ottawa's concerns about what it sees as growing challenges to the current world order are driving its Asia push.
As the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump does not respect multilateralism, former Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki warned the president may start saying his country will no longer participate in the G7 summit.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 11, 2025

Former Japan envoy to U.S. calls for avoiding Trump's isolationist policies at G7

Former Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki warned U.S. President Donald Trump may start saying his country will no longer participate in the summit.
First responders gather outside a building that was hit by an Israeli strike in Tehran on Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2025

Japan condemns Israeli strikes against Iran and urges restraint

Tokyo is concerned that further instability in the Middle East will have significant negative effects on the supply of oil.
A statue of Mohandas Gandhi in Tetsugakudo Park, Tokyo. The Indian nationalist saw lessons for humanity in the trajectory of modern Japan and the violence wrought by — and perpetrated upon — the nation.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Jun 21, 2025

Gandhi and Japan: Turning away from ‘brute force’ and toward love

“I did not move a muscle when I first heard that an atom bomb had wiped out Hiroshima.”
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung ahead of their meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Kananaskis in Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 18, 2025

South Korea's Lee touts ‘inseparable’ Japan ties after Ishiba meeting

Seeking to ride the momentum that has pushed the neighbors closer following years of chilly ties, the pair also reaffirmed their commitment to trilateral cooperation with the U.S.
Japan Post President Tetsuya Senda speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2025

Japan Post to accept loss of truck transport business permit

The transport ministry is expected to revoke the permit by the end of this month at the earliest.
A J-15 fighter jet from the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong makes an unusual approach to a Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C patrol aircraft that was conducting surveillance above the Pacific Ocean on June 8.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2025

In rare move, Japan releases map showing Chinese aircraft carrier activities

The decision to release the map comes as concerns grow over Beijing’s apparent efforts to alter the status quo in the region.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani attend the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on May 31.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025

Pentagon says Japan must meet ‘global standard’ and spend 5% of GDP on defense

Both allies had been mum on whether the U.S. would press Japan specifically to hit the 5% target amid political sensitivities over the issue.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo on March 30.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 21, 2025

Japan scraps ‘two-plus-two’ meeting with U.S. over defense spending demand, report says

The talks’ cancellation reportedly came after the U.S. asked Japan to hike its defense budget to 3.5% of gross domestic product.
Members of the Japan Coast Guard prepare to toss a dummy into the sea for a rescue operation simulation during a maritime exercise with the Philippine Coast Guard ship Teresa Magbanua, the United States Coast Guard cutter Stratton and the Japan Coast Guard ship Asanagi in the waters around the southern city of Kagoshima on Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2025

Japan, U.S. and Philippine coast guards simulate crisis amid China threat

The joint coast guard exercises held off Japan's southwest shore follow a warning from the three countries about Chinese activity in disputed regional waters.
South Korean Ambassador to Japan Park Cheol-hee attends an interview on June 17 in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 22, 2025

South Korean envoy calls ties with Japan best ever

The ambassador called for closer relations in the face of deepening cooperation between North Korea and Russia and pressure from China and the current U.S. administration.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 23, 2025

Japan denies U.S. directly asked it to hike defense spending to 5% of GDP

Tokyo’s top government spokesman also said it was untrue that Japan had postponed a key bilateral security meeting over the issue.
Trucks parked at Japan Post's post office in Tokyo's Koto Ward earlier this month
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025

Japan Post stripped of truck transport business license

The company will not be allowed to operate its approximately 2,500 trucks and other vehicles for five years.
Japan said on Tuesday that it had lodged a protest with China after observing a new structure in a natural gas field in the East China Sea.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025

Japan protests new Chinese construction in East China Sea

In the latest development, Japan said on Tuesday it lodged a protest with China after observing a new structure in a natural gas field in the East China Sea.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at a news conference Monday that there are "various arguments from the viewpoint of international law" regarding U.S. strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 26, 2025

U.S. strikes against Iran create dilemma for Japan

After criticizing Israel's attacks on Iran, Japan would have been accused of adopting a double standard if it did not decry the U.S.' actions.
German Ambassador to Japan Petra Sigmund says that Tokyo and Berlin "face similar security challenges," and that they must "invest in defense, deterrence and diplomacy alike."
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 1, 2025

‘No time to lose’: Germany aims to boost defense-industrial ties with Japan

Berlin’s ambassador to Tokyo says her country is looking to quickly ramp up cooperation amid a growing Russian threat.
A front-page article from July 1950 reported that Kyoto's historic Kinkakuji had been "totally razed" in a fire.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jul 5, 2025

Japan Times 1950: Kyoto’s ‘Golden Temple’ burns to the ground

The historic Kinkakuji was destroyed in an act of arson in July 1950, a shocking event that would serve as the inspiration for a novel by Yukio Mishima.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (left) and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meet at the U.S. State Department in Washington on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 2, 2025

Rubio urges Japan to beef up defenses, but leaves out spending target

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said that no specific spending figure was broached in talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung holds a news conference to mark his first month in office at the Blue House in Seoul on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2025

South Korean president hopes to visit Japan soon

Lee Jae Myung, who marked his first month in office, expressed hopes of promoting dialogue with Japan through mutual visits.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Abukuma-class destroyer Chikuma (front) and the Australian Navy's Hobart-class guided-missile destroyer Brisbane sail in formation during a military exercise in the Pacific Ocean in November 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 7, 2025

Japan eyes used warship transfer to Philippines in bid to counter China

Sending the Abukuma-class vessels to Manila would mark Tokyo’s first export of an entire major naval platform in decades.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.