Japan advises against travel to 49 more nations, including U.S.
Japan on Tuesday warned citizens to avoid all travel to 49 more countries and regions including the United States, China, South Korea and Taiwan amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Foreign Ministry raised its travel advisory for these areas to Level 3 — the second-highest level ...
Hundreds of Japanese stranded overseas amid coronavirus travel curbs
Hundreds of Japanese nationals are currently stranded overseas due to travel restrictions meant to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. A ministry official said he could not say precisely how many are stranded in total because the number is ...
Japan asks citizens to avoid overseas travel due to coronavirus
The government advised citizens on Wednesday to refrain from all nonessential overseas travel as the coronavirus continues to spread. The Foreign Ministry raised its travel advisory for the rest of the world to Level 2 on its scale of four, the broadest warning it has ...
Japan to ban entry from 18 European nations and Iran in toughest move yet
Foreign travelers who have been to any of the 19 countries within 14 days of arriving in Japan will be turned away.
Japan won't back U.N. exhibition unless Fukushima references removed, hibakusha say
The Foreign Ministry has said it may withdraw its backing for an upcoming exhibition at the United Nations unless references to the Fukushima nuclear disaster are removed, a group representing hibakusha has said. The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations is set to ...
Japan to improve how its passports show birth names of married citizens
The Foreign Ministry will change the way it records birth names in passports for those who adopt the surname of their spouse, in order to display both names more clearly, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Wednesday. "The current method of using parentheses makes it hard ...
Japan names ambassadors to Bolivia, Cyprus, East Timor, Iceland and UNESCO
The government named on Tuesday new ambassadors to Bolivia, Cyprus, East Timor, Iceland and UNESCO, effective Wednesday. Osamu Hokida, 63, will become the top envoy to Bolivia after serving as the consul general in Leon, Mexico for a little more than two years. His previous ...
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Friday that it will launch a trial next week at convenience stores at three government ministries and an agency to test ways to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags. The test will be conducted for three ...
Former Syria hostage Jumpei Yasuda sues Japan for denying him passport
The journalist says denying him a passport is “a violation of the Constitution that guarantees freedom of movement abroad.”
Motegi to discuss North Korea and other issues with U.S. and South Korean foreign ministers
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will meet with his U.S. and South Korean counterparts in San Francisco on Tuesday to discuss their cooperation on the denuclearization of North Korea. Motegi's meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is ...
Funeral prep for Emperor Hirohito began seven years before his death: declassified documents
The Foreign Ministry began funeral preparations for Emperor Hirohito seven years before his death, holding secret talks with the Imperial Household Agency on the matter in 1982, recently declassified ministry records show. The late monarch, posthumously known as Emperor Showa, died in 1989. The ministry and ...
Japanese officials and U.S. envoy agree to stay in step on North Korea
The top U.S. envoy for North Korea agreed with senior officials of the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday to continue working closely together amid a standstill in denuclearization talks with Pyongyang. Stephen Biegun and Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba confirmed the importance of trilateral cooperation with ...
