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A liquefied natural gas plant operated by Sakhalin Energy in Sakhalin, Russia. Japan, the world's second biggest LNG buyer, depends on Russia for 9% of its LNG.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 12, 2024

Rival supplies and depleting fields give Japan an exit from Russian gas

Japan, the world's second-biggest liquefied natural gas buyer, depends on Russia for 9% of its LNG.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump, U.S. President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife, Akie Abe, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in May 2019
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2024

Widow of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hopes to meet with Trump

Akie Abe's late husband was once dubbed the “Trump Whisperer” for his close ties with the former U.S. president.
A Congolese health official administers an mpox vaccination to a Congolese Red Cross worker at a hospital in Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province in October.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2024

Congo to get Japan's mpox vaccine for children, Africa CDC says

Japan pledged in September to donate doses from its national stockpile of LC16m8 vaccines.
Yutaka Mataebara (second from left) dines with his managerial colleagues at an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of The Japan Times.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 13, 2024

Here's to Yutaka Mataebara, the 'iron man' of The Japan Times

Mataebara was a pillar of the JT: During his 44 years at the paper until he retired in 2006, he worked in a variety of departments, including as the editor in chief.
Attendees view a concept model of the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) fighter plane at the BAE Systems pavilion at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, England, in July.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2024

Trilateral fighter project takes big step with joint venture deal

The U.K.-headquartered entity, to be set up by mid-2025, will be responsible for the industrial side of Japan, Britain and Italy's Global Combat Air Program.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (left) meets with Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki at the Okinawa Prefectural Government Office on Sunday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2024

Okinawa governor seeks timetable for transfer of U.S. marines

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki on Sunday called on the government to provide a concrete timetable for the transfer of U.S. Marines in Okinawa to Guam, following the recent start of the relocation.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (right) shakes hands with Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone during an ASEAN summit closing ceremony to hand over the grouping's chairmanship to Kuala Lumpur at the National Convention Center in Vientiane, Laos, in October.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 16, 2024

Lowering tensions key priority for incoming ASEAN chair Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur will reach out to key players including Japan to try and jointly tackle the critical security issues affecting Southeast Asia, Malaysian envoy says.
 A poster for Hayao Miyazaki's anime film "The Boy and the Heron" (in the foreground) is displayed at a theater screening the film in Beijing.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2024

Japanese films tug at Chinese moviegoers' heartstrings

Most of the Japanese movies making waves in China are anime titles capable of making solid profits.
Japan's labor productivity ranked last place among the Group of Seven major economies in 2023.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2024

Japan's labor productivity rises to 29th among OECD countries

Japan's per-hour productivity in 2023 came to $56.8, or ¥5,379 based on purchasing power parity, up two notches from the all-time low logged the year before.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (second from left) speaks at a ministerial meeting on foreign workers at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2024

Japan begins process to replace controversial foreign trainee program

An expert panel has been appointed to assist the government in drafting a system to replace the controversial Technical Intern Training Program.
Nils Nielsen coaches Switzerland during the a match in September 2022. On Wednesday, the Dane was introduced as the next coach of Nadeshiko Japan.
SOCCER
Dec 18, 2024

New Nadeshiko Japan coach Nils Nielsen targets World Cup glory

The 53-year-old Dane becomes Japan's first foreign-born women's coach and succeeds Futoshi Ikeda, who left at the end of his contract in August.
National team great Michael Leitch participates in the Japan Rugby League One season-opening news conference on Dec. 9.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 20, 2024

Japan Rugby League One plays leading role through tough days in Japanese rugby

At the JRLO’s official 2024-25 season kickoff press conference in Tokyo on Dec. 9, the mood could only be described as festive and upbeat.
Greenpeace activists protest next to a fake whale's tail in front of the Japanese Embassy in Berlin in 2010. The real motivation behind Japan's whaling may lie in asserting its maritime sovereignty, as the country defends its exclusive economic zone amid territorial disputes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 19, 2024

For Japan, whaling is intertwined with maritime sovereignty

While Japan has an undeniable culture surrounding seafood, the current generation of people do not show much interest in whale meat.
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson talks to journalists after he was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, at the Place de la Republique in Paris on Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2024

Freed activist Paul Watson vows to 'end whaling worldwide'

The 74-year-old returned to France after spending five months in detention in Greenland due to an extradition demand from Japan.
Japan, which relied on coal and natural gas for more than 60% of electricity generation last year, has been slow to shift to lower-emission energy sources.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2024

Japan aims for 60% emissions cut by 2035 in target seen as lax

The target was proposed last month, and was criticized by experts who said the plans don’t align with international ambitions to curb global warming.
Japan is considering introducing a system to allow the government to temporarily acquire factories to prevent important technologies from being taken abroad.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024

Japan plans system for temporary control of key plants during emergencies

The system would be activated when production of specified critical products designated in the economic security promotion law are disrupted.
The United Nations headquarters in New York
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 25, 2024

Japan to stay the third-largest U.N. contributor

The share of Japan's contribution to the United Nation's regular budget will drop by about 1 percentage point from the current level to 6.930%.
The wreckage of a Japan Airlines plane after a collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft, at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Jan. 5, three days after the crash.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024

Human error caused JAL jet collision at Haneda Airport: safety board

The pilot and co-pilot of the Japan Coast Guard plane mistakenly believed they got cleared to enter the runway just before the Jan. 2 incident.
The labor ministry conducted the survey on foreign workers, the first of its kind, in October to November last year.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2024

Many foreign workers in Japan face high employment agency fees

The survey found that 14.4% of foreign workers in Japan are facing problems or difficulties at work.
New Nadeshiko Japan coach Nils Nielsen (center) poses for photos with JFA President Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (left) and Norio Sasaki, the JFA’s women’s soccer chair, during a news conference on Dec. 18.
SOCCER
Dec 26, 2024

JFA hopes Nils Nielsen's international focus leads Nadeshiko Japan back to glory

Nils Nielsen was officially unveiled as the new Nadeshiko boss at a packed news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 18. 
U.S. Steel workers who support the takeover by Nippon Steel rally outside the company's headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in September.
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2024

Rejecting the Nippon Steel bid is a slap in the face to Japan

Nippon Steel has not given up and continues to lobby U.S. officials and steelworkers, arguing the deal would grow U.S. Steel, protect jobs, and strengthen the industry.
Cabinet ministers at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2024

Japan's Cabinet approves ¥115.5 trillion budget

The proposal exceeded ¥110 trillion for the third consecutive year in order to increase spending on defense and social welfare costs.
Evacuated people rest at a green house converted into an evacuation center in the aftermath of an earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 2. Japan is preparing to create a disaster management agency, with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba particularly keen to improve the conditions of emergency shelters for disaster evacuees.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 30, 2024

Japan preparing to create disaster management agency

Disaster-related deaths exceeded 220 in the 2016 quake disaster in Kumamoto Prefecture and topped 240 in the Noto Peninsula temblor.
Ground Self-Defense Force members conduct a military drill next to an anti-ship missile unit on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Dec 29, 2024

Japan defense spending goals hit by inflation, weak yen and political uncertainty

A slew of obstacles are jeopardizing Tokyo's pursuit of raising defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product by fiscal 2027.
A Japan Coast Guard vessel sails in front of Uotsuri island, one of the disputed Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by Beijing as the and Diaoyu, in the East China Sea in August 2013.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2024

Chinese government vessels seen near Senkakus for record 353 days in 2024

The record comes as Beijing continues to ramp up its activities near the tiny islets that it also claims in the East China Sea.
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in October.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 29, 2024

Meiji Seika Pharma files suit against lawmaker over 'unfounded' vaccine claims

CDP Lower House lawmaker Kazuhiro Haraguchi has said that the drugmaker's replicon vaccine is "akin to a biological weapon."
A Self-Defense Forces soldier from a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile unit takes part in a drill at Yokota Air Base in Fussa, western Tokyo, in August 2017.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2024

U.S. military coordination unit eyed in central Tokyo

Such a location near the Defense Ministry is expected to allow both sides to smoothly draw up joint operational plans.
Atsushi Mimura, vice minister of finance for international affairs, speaks during an interview at the ministry on Dec. 20.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 30, 2024

Japan sees G7 role increasing in divided world

"There are not many countries like Japan that can speak with the U.S. on equal terms," said top financial diplomat Atsushi Mimura.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira share a laugh ahead of talks in Tokyo in June 1979.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2024

Jimmy Carter's surprising connection to Japan: his Christian faith

The former U.S. president, who died Sunday, bonded with his counterpart, Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira, over their shared faith.
A concept model of a next-generation fighter jet under joint development among Japan, Britain and Italy
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 5, 2025

Japan to map out defense export strategy within 2025

The strategy, which will present medium- and long-term targets for defense equipment exports, will be worked out via cooperation among government ministries.

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