Search - japan

 
 
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2024

Kishida vows to conclude peace pact with Russia

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday vowed to conclude a peace treaty with Russia after resolving a territorial row over four northwestern Pacific islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan.
Taiwanese soldiers train at a base in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Tuesday. The island has decided to extend compulsory military service for young males from four months to one year amid increasing threats from China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 7, 2024

Taiwan extends military conscription, a system Japan might want to consider

As Japan struggles to fill its military ranks, compulsory national service might be its only solution.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 9, 2024

Japan to end technical intern program and allow transfers to new jobs

A planned new system will focus on securing and developing essential workers from abroad to tackle the country's current labor shortage.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 13, 2024

Japan startup creates pigs with organs suitable for human transplants

Research in the field helped produce pigs that have a smaller chance of immune rejection by human recipients by manipulating 10 related pig genes.
A sign erected in Hokkaido’s port of Nemuro calls for the return of the Russian-occupied islands that Japan calls the Northern Territories.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 13, 2024

Geopolitical chess: Unpacking the Northern Territories conundrum

While domestic motivation for Tokyo to resolve the Northern Territories dispute may endure, the opposite is true in Moscow.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 17, 2024

Japan’s space agency successfully launches latest H3 rocket

With the H3, JAXA aims to maintain Japan’s prowess in rocket development technologies and give a jolt to related industries.
A model of the next-generation fighter jet set to be built by Japan, Britain and Italy is seen at the DSEI defense event in London last September.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2024

Japan looks to limit third-country defense exports to next-gen fighter jet

Tokyo plans to limit — at least for now — exports of finished defense equipment co-developed with others to the jet being built with Italy and Britain.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Feb 20, 2024

Can Japan’s new H3 rocket compete with Elon Musk’s Falcon 9?

In order to seriously compete with the Falcon 9, which currently dominates the market, experts say price and usability of the H3 would be key.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is flanked by security personnel as he arrives at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan for a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2024

Ukrainian PM cautions of war’s spillover as he looks to tamp down fatigue fears

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal warned in Tokyo that a Russian victory would prompt more conflicts across the globe.
Eleven portraits of Ainu chieftains, completed in 1790, are now held by the Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology in Besancon, France. There were originally 12 paintings in the original set, collectively known as the “Ishu Retsuzo,” but one has disappeared.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Feb 26, 2024

The ongoing mystery of the Ainu portraits in France

A former Hokkaido journalist is hoping to find out how portraits of Ainu chieftains from 1790 made it to Europe.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with Ukraine's prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, during the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Growth and Reconstruction in Tokyo on Monday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 23, 2024

Where others dither, Japan delivers on aid to Ukraine

Japan is doing all it can to prove to the Kremlin that it will ultimately be Ukraine, not Russia, that will prosper when the war is over.
Japan's players pose for a group picture ahead of their soccer match against North Korea in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.
SOCCER
Feb 27, 2024

Coach urges Japan to be 'aggressive' against North Korea

The teams drew 0-0 in Saturday's first leg in Saudi Arabia and the winners will claim one of two Asian berths at the Games.
1924
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Mar 1, 2024

Japan Times 1924: Japan nice but men dress in queer ways

A piece by women visiting Tokyo gives us a century-old take on what tourists in the 1920s thought of "weird Japan."
While Tokyo and Washington have maintained strong ties under U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida amid intensifying concern over China’s regional ambitions, Japanese officials are still hedging their bets by sending out feelers in the event of another term under Donald Trump.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 28, 2024

Ex-senior Trump official reassures Tokyo over possible comeback

A former deputy assistant to the ex-president swatted away concerns, saying Trump's 2024 White House bid "is a very different effort than 2016."
SOCCER
Feb 28, 2024

Japan beats North Korea to clinch Olympic spot

The two sides drew 0-0 in Saturday's first leg on neutral ground in Saudi Arabia.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hold a joint news conference during a trilateral summit at Camp David, Maryland, on Aug. 18. The summit dealt with security and economic security coordination.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 5, 2024

The U.S.-Japan gap: a challenge in economic security cooperation

While such ties appear to be progressing, the two countries’ interests in the field are not necessarily fully aligned.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 29, 2024

Talks on easing Japan defense export rules pushed back to March

The Liberal Democratic Party and junior coalition partner Komeito failed to reach an agreement on revisions to existing restrictions on Wednesday.
Prospective foreign vocational school graduates who finish education ministry-accredited academic courses will be granted “technology, humanities and international affairs” residence status intended for white-collar workers such as engineers, interpreters and designers, even if their jobs don’t necessarily relate to what they have studied.
JAPAN
Feb 29, 2024

Japan eases residency rules for foreign graduates of vocational schools

The relaxation of rules is aimed at retaining highly skilled professionals amid a chronic labor shortage.
An MQ-9 Reaper drone stands on the runway at Naval Base Ventura County Sea Range, Point Mugu, near Oxnard, California. The Defense Ministry is considering purchasing the Reaper for intercepting foreign aircraft approaching Japanese airspace.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 1, 2024

New drone tech in spotlight as Japan eyes boosted capabilities

As Tokyo seeks to beef up its unmanned systems, inspiration could come from the latest tech displayed at this year's Singapore Airshow.
The revamped BYD Atto 3 in Tokyo. A perceived resistance in Japan to battery EVs and foreign brands is seen as a major barrier for BYD.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 1, 2024

BYD bolsters Japan push with EV lineup and dealership network

The Chinese carmaker has sold less than 1,500 passenger cars in 2023 in the Japanese market, which is dominated by hybrids.
PFAS does not break down easily and remains in the body and the environment for a number of years, and is thus called “forever chemicals.”
JAPAN / Explainer
Mar 4, 2024

Japan’s food safety panel drafts intake limit for 'forever chemicals'

The report spells out the “tolerable daily intake” of PFAS through food for the first time. Here's what you need to know.
A Vietnamese worker picks tomatoes at a farm in Asahi, Chiba Prefecture. Japan is set to sharply increase the number of foreign nationals it accepts under its skilled worker visa, with plans to receive up to 800,000 people in the next five years.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 6, 2024

Japan considers doubling limit on skilled foreign workers

The government is said to be considering adding the road transportation, railway, forestry and timber sectors to those eligible for the visa.
The U.S and Japan are working together to secure a stable semiconductor supply chain and maintain their leading position in this critical technology amid concerns over China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 5, 2024

Semiconductors are back to center stage in the Japan-U.S. alliance

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of semiconductors to the 21st century. They’re everywhere and in every digital item.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2024

Prominent Japanese political scientist Makoto Iokibe dies at 80

He is renowned for his research on Japan's relations with the United States during postwar U.S. occupation.
A LNG tanker at the Negishi LNG Terminal, which is jointly operated by Tokyo Gas and JERA, in Yokohama
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2024

Japan boosts reliance on allies for long-term LNG supplies

LNG accounts for about a third of Japan's power generation and it is the world's second-largest importer behind China.
Air Self-Defense Force F-35 stealth fighters are displayed at the U.S. military's Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

Japan's arms imports up 155% over last five years, report finds

The Asian nation was the sixth-largest weapons importer in the world, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 13, 2024

Japan's Space One rocket explodes shortly after launch

The firm's solid-fuel Kairos rocket burst into flames just seconds after liftoff, in a major setback for Japan’s space development aspirations.
Paraguay Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano says that the free trade agreement to be negotiated between Tokyo and Mercosur would include goods and services, including agricultural products, which is very important for Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 13, 2024

Mercosur ‘ready’ to resume FTA talks with Japan, Paraguay foreign minister says

The bloc is keen to expand ties with Asia as it seeks to boost trade and deepen economic integration with partners beyond the U.S., Europe and China.
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Programme's fighter jet is displayed at the DSEI Japan defense show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba in March 2023.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2024

Japan's ruling coalition approves export of future joint fighter jet

The step removes a potentially critical hurdle for the multinational Global Combat Aircraft Program involving the U.K. and Italy.
An Yong Hak, a former North Korean soccer player, in Yokohama on Thursday. An played 40 times in midfield for North Korea, and appeared with the team at the 2010 World Cup.
SOCCER
Mar 18, 2024

North Korean World Cup player says Japan game more than just soccer

This week's qualifier is a special occasion for some ethnic Koreans in Japan.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes