Tag - relations

 
 

RELATIONS

The remains of three Ainu indigenous people kept at the University of Edinburgh will be returned to Japan and placed at the National Ainu Museum and Park in Shiraoi, Hokkaido.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2025
Remains of Ainu people in Britain to be returned to Japan
It marks the third time that Ainu remains that were taken abroad for research have been returned to Japan, following similar arrivals from Germany and Australia.
Resona Bank officials attend a ceremony in Los Angeles on Friday to open its first U.S. office in 21 years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 27, 2025
Resona Bank sets up U.S. office for first time in 21 years
The move reflects the bank's aim to enhance business support for some 1,200 client companies operating in the United States.
Takuya Yokota, the leader of a group of families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago (left), asks people for signatures to seek their return during a campaign held in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2025
Family members of North Korea abductees hold Tokyo campaign to seek their return
Meanwhile, in Washington, 17 members of U.S. Congress sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to "prioritize" the return of the Japanese abductees.
As Japan gears up for the trade talks, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is also seeking to cushion the blow that the U.S. tariffs may have on the domestic economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 26, 2025
Japan to resist Trump efforts to form trade bloc against China
Any demands from Washington on Tokyo to downgrade its economic relationship with China would potentially deal Japan a major economic blow.
U.S President Donald Trump meets with Japan's Ryosei Akazawa, who is in charge of trade negotiations with Washington, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 16.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Apr 26, 2025
Japan is a test case for Trump's tariff deals. But talks may be tortuous.
While some expect an agreement at the June G7 summit in Canada in June, others say it will be risky for Tokyo to cede ground before Upper House elections expected in July.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato listens to a question during an interview at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo on April 17.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Apr 26, 2025
Yen and BOJ's rate policy may remain focus in Japan-U.S. trade talks
A look at finance officials' descriptions of a recent meeting suggests currencies and the BOJ's interest rate policy may remain key factors in broader trade negotiations.
U.S. President Donald Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, stops to speak to reporters as he leaves the White House on Friday morning.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 26, 2025
Conflicting U.S.-China talks statements add to global trade confusion
U.S. President Donald Trump has asserted that tariff negotiations were underway with China, but Beijing has denied this is the case.
Arunima Mazumdar, a New Delhi-based communications professional, began sharing her love of Japanese literature online in 2022. The platform has grown into a robust community known as Dokusha Book Club.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 26, 2025
Arunima Mazumdar: ‘Japanese literature has a niche but deeply engaged readership in India’
The founder of Dokusha Book Club talks about why Indian readers love Japanese books and the community that she’s forged, online and offline.
On the surface, "Wildcat Dome" tells a personal story of damaged children — now adults — bound together by tragedy. Underneath, there’s a constant undercurrent of political consequence, invisible and pervasive like radioactive particles.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 26, 2025
‘Wildcat Dome’ challenges Japan's historical narratives
Prolific writer Yuko Tsushima explores themes of militarization, colonialism and occupation through the identities of mixed-race orphans in postwar Japan.
A Maruti Suzuki concept electric SUV at a trade show in Gandhinagar, India, last January
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2025
Maruti Suzuki profit misses estimate on higher input costs
The disappointing earnings for the sector leader come amid a broader consumption slack in the world’s most populous country.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks about U.S. tariffs in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025
Japan doubles down on stimulus to counter effects of Trump tariffs
The government will implement measures that build on ones announced earlier with the aim of boosting domestic spending and shoring up corporate balance sheets.
Amid U.S.-China trade tensions, the U.S. may be looking at Japan as a potential country to make up for a drop in corn exports to China.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025
Japan looks to increase U.S. corn imports ahead of more tariff talks
The idea appears to be aimed at appeasing U.S. President Donald Trump's criticisms about Japan's tariffs and could be used as leverage in next week's bilateral negotiations.
Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa is leading Japan's negotiations to forge a trade deal with the U.S. Carefully contemplated and measured retaliatory levies are one of the tools at the tariff czar's disposal.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 25, 2025
Japan needs clarity as an antidote to contradictory tariffs
With incompatible goals and an erratic timeline, Trump's tariff strategy has more holes than Swiss cheese. In response, Japan should bring a strong, coherent strategy to the table.
Stephen Dacus, incoming chief executive officer of Seven & I Holdings, speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday. Dacus plans to boost investments in its U.S. stores using cash from a planned listing of its American retail operations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2025
Seven & I’s new CEO plans aggressive investments in U.S. stores
In addition to investing in its North America operations, Stephen Dacus is also looking to review the company’s supply chain globally.
U.S. President Donald Trump has touted the $44 billion Alaska liquefied natural gas project, which would deliver gas from the state's North Slope fields via a 1,300 kilometer pipeline for domestic use and send it to customers in Asia as LNG, bypassing the Panama Canal.
WORLD
Apr 25, 2025
U.S. expected to press Japan and South Korea for support of Alaska LNG project
The $44 billion Alaska liquefied natural gas project would send gas to customers in Asia as LNG, bypassing the Panama Canal.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025
No discussion of yen target, Kato says after Bessent meeting
The two countries possibly committing to a specific number in terms of the yen-dollar exchange rate has helped drive up the value of the Japanese currency.
Giant panda Rauhin at Adventure World in Wakayama Prefecture. She and her three daughters are expected to be sent to China in June.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2025
All four giant pandas at western Japan zoo to be sent to China
If no new additions join the zoo, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo would be the only remaining giant pandas housed in Japan.
Toyota Motor’s sales rose 8% from a year earlier to 231,336 units, while Honda Motor recorded a 13% jump, according to data released Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Japanese carmakers’ U.S. sales surge ahead of Trump tariffs
Toyota Motor’s sales rose 8% from a year earlier to 231,336 units, while Honda Motor recorded a 13% jump, according to data released Thursday.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato is is expected to meet with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 24, 2025
U.S. indicates no hard target for yen ahead of key trade talks
The United States has argued that the yen is too weak, making its value against the dollar a top agenda item in trade discussions.
A worker labors on a spinning machine at a factory in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia in September 2019. For Indonesia, China’s trade power means lost jobs and hard choices.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2025
Asia would welcome trade deals that exclude China
The real cost to developing countries of China’s trade practices runs deeper: lost jobs can be counted, but missed opportunities can’t.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’