Tag - relations

 
 

RELATIONS

Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2025
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
A decision is expected in the “coming months,” a senior government official in Manila said, following an inspection of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested that an agreement between the U.S. and Japan will be made public soon.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 26, 2025
Agreement on Japan’s $550 billion investment pledge to be released this week
The U.S. commerce secretary continues to insist that the U.S. president will control the funds.
Japan has lodged a protest with China over the latter's unilateral development of gas fields in disputed waters between both countries.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 26, 2025
Tokyo lodges protests with Beijing over gas field in East China Sea
Japan says China is unilaterally setting up drilling rigs in the area where their exclusive economic zone claims overlap.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at a photo session for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reacts, in Yokohama, last week.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 26, 2025
Misinformation over JICA’s Africa ‘hometown’ initiative sparks controversy
Media reports claiming the initiative would include a special visa category for skilled Africans who want to come to Japan exacerbated the confusion.
Daiki Hama, lecturer at Tama University in Tokyo, shows his creation of a virtual Siberian internment camp and a virtual reality headset in April.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2025
Japanese lecturer digitally re-creates post-WWII Siberian detention camp
The virtual camp has been used for hands-on events for children at a museum and training sessions for student storytellers at the Maizuru Repatriation Memorial Museum.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate in Sagami Bay off Kanagawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2025
Australian defense chief to inspect Japanese frigate
Richard Marles will also attend a "two-plus-two" meeting of foreign and defense ministers from Japan and Australia.
The Metropolitan Police Department has launched an investigation into the fatal shooting of two Japanese tourists in Manila this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 26, 2025
Tokyo police launch probe into murder of two Japanese tourists in Manila
Hideaki Satori and Akinobu Nakayama were shot shortly after getting out of a taxi near their hotel on Aug. 15.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba presents Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong (left) with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun on Monday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2025
Ishiba presents Japan's Grand Cordon Honor to ex-Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba presented the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun to Singaporean Senior Minister and former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday.
Traffic along a highway in New Delhi. India, the world's third largest emitter of carbon dioxide, will be able to access Japanese decarbonization technologies at low cost under a joint crediting mechanism.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 25, 2025
Japan and India to use joint crediting mechanism in emission-cutting plan
The yet-to-be-announced plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in India using Japanese technologies will allow Japan to count part of the reductions as its own.
Takemasa Kinjo, who was a high school student when his mother was killed by a U.S. Marine in 1974, looks on at the construction site of the new Henoko military base for U.S. forces near his residence in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, in June.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Aug 25, 2025
Decades after WWII, Okinawa is a reluctant host for U.S. troops
A string of incidents over the years involving American troops and base personnel, including sexual assault cases, have angered residents.
People hold Taiwanese flags during the event to commemorate the end of World War II at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Aug. 16.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 25, 2025
Taiwan and China battle it out in competing World War II narratives
Both sides are claiming credit for the victory over Japan.
Japanese companies showcase products and services at a business event held on the sidelines of the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Aug 25, 2025
Risk reduction key to boosting Japanese investment in Africa
At TICAD 9, Japan promised to help African states develop 300,000 workers in cooperation with Japanese firms.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and  Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands at joint press announcement after summit talks in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 24, 2025
At meeting rich in symbolism, Ishiba and South Korea's Lee agree to steadily build ties
In the two countries' first joint document in 17 years, the leaders agreed to work together "to advance future-oriented and mutually beneficial common interests."
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (right) and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from right) inspect the Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier Kaga and receive an explanation about the SH-60K patrol helicopter in the hangar at the MSDF's Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 24, 2025
Ishiba inspects MSDF de facto aircraft carrier and British vessel
The Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier Kaga is undergoing refitting and training to make it a de facto aircraft carrier.
Statues of bulls in Pudong's Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai on Aug. 18
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 24, 2025
Bubble risks grow as China’s stock bull run defies economy angst
A deflationary spiral that’s eroded corporate pricing power in the world’s second-largest economy is one of the biggest reasons to doubt the sustainability of the current rally.
Chinese military personnel take part in a rehearsal ahead of the parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, which will be held on Sept. 3, in Beijing on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Aug 24, 2025
History, triumph and trauma to take center stage at China's WWII military parade
The event will be a projection of China's growing military might amid deep-seated mistrust in the West and territorial rows with neighboring countries.
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 23, 2025
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
The monster dolls may be driving fans wild elsewhere, but Japan has long had plenty of its own domestically produced characters that know exactly what consumers want.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a speech at the closing ceremony of the Japan-led Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD 9, on Friday in Yokohama.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2025
TICAD adopts Yokohama Declaration to strengthen multilateral trade
The communique emphasized proposals to solve problems facing African states, apparently reflecting Japan's wish to highlight a different approach to that of China.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during an event in Washington, in July. Huang says Nvidia is currently in talks with the U.S. over the potential offering of a more powerful chip for sale in China.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 22, 2025
Nvidia CEO says in talks with U.S. over new China chip
The tech giant is reportedly working on a new chip based on its latest Blackwell architecture that will be more powerful than a model currently greenlit for sale to China.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung meet ahead of a summit in Kananaskis, Canada, in June. The two leaders will meet again on Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2025
Japan and South Korea to expand working holiday program
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung are expected to agree on the matter when they meet in Tokyo on Saturday.

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’