Tag - japan

 
 

JAPAN

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Japan does not intend to seek direct confrontation with the U.S. over the newly levied tariffs, during a parliamentary committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 7, 2025
Japan to avoid direct confrontation with the U.S. over Trump tariffs
The Japanese prime minister is calling for a more diplomatic and fact-based approach, in part by examining U.S. allegations about trade barriers.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a news conference in Tokyo on April 1. The approval rating for Ishiba's Cabinet fell to 30.6% over the weekend, according to a JNN poll.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 7, 2025
Ishiba under pressure to take stronger stance against U.S. on tariffs
Some opposition leaders are urging the prime minister to rally his party around a strategy before speaking with the U.S. president, but others are eyeing his removal.
A medical helicopter pilot and other survivors are rescued after the aircraft crashed off the coast of Tsushima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2025
Three dead after medical helicopter crashes in waters off Nagasaki
An 86-year-old female patient, her 68-year-old son and a 34-year-old doctor died in the crash.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte speaks during a news conference at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels last week.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 7, 2025
With focus on ‘projecting power,’ NATO eyes greater Indo-Pacific role
NATO chief Mark Rutte expects the alliance to ramp up its engagement in the strategically important region as threats become increasingly interconnected.
Japan will take a leading role in U.S.-Japan defense cooperation during a Taiwan conflict and could eventually join AUKUS, expert says.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2025
Japan to play major defense role during Taiwan conflict, U.S. expert says
"Japan's own self-interest is much more at stake in a Taiwan contingency or in a Japan contingency than the United States is," Weinstein said.
As the 80th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War approaches, the U.S.-Japan alliance faces a new turning point, with both Japan Society and the International House of Japan ready to play crucial roles in strengthening cultural and diplomatic ties amid global geopolitical shifts.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 6, 2025
How the U.S. and Japan can keep partnering for the future
Today, we are at another turning point. The world confronts another major season of geopolitical changes — not seen since the 1950s or the 1920s.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 5, 2025
Ishiba says he plans to speak to Trump about tariffs in coming days
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that these talks could see Japan offer a fresh investment package, though he ruled out a small, piecemeal deal.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte plans to visit Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday — his first to the Indo-Pacific region since taking office in October, as he seeks to implement lessons from the ongoing war in Ukraine.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 5, 2025
‘Let’s make it practical’: NATO chief eyes greater defense-industrial ties with Japan
Japan and NATO plan to take their partnership to the next level by stepping up information-sharing and defense-industrial cooperation, Secretary-General Mark Rutte said.
Anti-Yoon protesters hold up placards reading "Let's build a democratic government!" during a rally in Seoul on Friday after South Korea's Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 5, 2025
Yoon's ouster prompts Japanese concerns about ties with South Korea
Japan is worried that Yoon's removal from power will undo the improvements in bilateral relations made under his administration.
Nadeshiko Japan's Yuka Momiki (left) and Yui Hasegawa celebrate after Momiki's goal against the United States during the SheBelieves Cup in San Diego on Feb. 27.
SOCCER
Apr 4, 2025
Yuka Momiki and Nadeshiko Japan brimming with confidence under Nils Nielsen
Momiki said playing with Yui Hasegawa has been the most enjoyable experience of her career.
A Nissan manufacturing complex in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Nissan says it will not take new orders from the United States for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs following new auto tariffs levied by the U.S.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 4, 2025
Nissan says it will not take new U.S. orders for Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs
It says it will maintain two shifts of production of its Rogue SUV at its Smyrna, Tennessee, plant following the announcement of new U.S. tariffs on automobiles.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on April 1. He has said that Japan is facing a "national crisis" following the introduction of new tariffs by the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 4, 2025
Japan digs deep to address 'national crisis' caused by Trump tariffs
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vows to "unite the entire country" in response to the crisis.
Anti-Yoon protesters react after the Constitutional Court's verdict on the impeachment of South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 4, 2025
South Korea upholds Yoon impeachment, prompting snap election within 60 days
The move, while deepening a divide in South Korea between conservative and progressive voters, could also have broad implications for relations with neighboring Japan.
Unexploded U.S. military ordnance found in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture, on March 24
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2025
Unexploded ordnance still haunts Okinawa 80 years after WWII battle
Despite decades of clearance efforts, roughly 1,900 metric tons of deadly remnants are estimated to remain buried beneath the land.
Lawyer Shoichi Ibuski (right) speaks during a news conference in Tokyo along with Wayomi, younger sister of Wishma Sandamali who died in 2021 while in detention.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 4, 2025
Family of Sri Lankan woman who died in custody to sue Japan for footage
Attorney Shoichi Ibuski, representing the family, told reporters that the government's refusal suggests there may be “inconvenient information for immigration authorities.”
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 3, 2025
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
The duty rate for Japanese products is the "worst among the scenarios that had been imagined" by the market.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's contradictory statements on U.S. military strategy and alliances with Europe and Asia raise questions about his true stance, reflecting the chameleon-like nature of U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2025
Will the real Pete Hegseth please stand up?
The same fears remain in terms of security. Even if the Trump administration seeks to deter China, it is unlikely to shift its policy of so-called pacifism.
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 3, 2025
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
The higher "reciprocal” rates are based on a government tally of levies and nontariff barriers that countries impose on U.S. goods.
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 3, 2025
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
NHK's new four-episode miniseries, “After the Quake,” probes the ripple effects of past major disasters across Japanese society.
Aeon launches blended rice "Nisui no Takumi" on Wednesday in the city of Chiba.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2025
Retailer Aeon to sell Japan-U.S. blended rice
Under the name "Nisui no Takumi," the blended rice will be sold from around April 10 at some 2,000 stores across Japan except the Hokkaido and the Tohoku region.

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Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.