Tag - relations

 
 

RELATIONS

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to the media after a meeting in Tokyo last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 19, 2025
Ishiba says Japan considering role in security guarantees for Ukraine
The “coalition of the willing,” which groups 30 nations backing Ukraine that includes Japan, has been working for months to craft a comprehensive package of security guarantees.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and U.S. President Donald Trump. Son has promised to invest $100 billion in the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 19, 2025
SoftBank buying about 2% of Intel for $2 billion
CEO Masayoshi Son earlier pledged to invest a total of $100 billion in the United States.
The Bank of Japan maintains a wait-and-see approach as calls grow for it to raise rates.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Aug 19, 2025
Bank of Japan encouraged to increase rates soon, before it’s too late
Business and political leaders argue that inflation is too high and must be brought under control soon.
An evening street in Manila. Philippine police have arrested two male suspects over the deadly shootings of two Japanese nationals in Manila last week.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 19, 2025
Two men arrested in deadly shootings of Japanese nationals in Manila
Authorities said that the victims were a 53-year-old and a 42-year-old traveling in the Philippines and that someone may have hired the suspects to kill them.
Shoichi Takahashi holds a photo of himself when he was younger, in Otaru, Hokkaido, on May 17.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2025
103-year-old remembers Soviet attack right after WWII
"Since we had been fighting Americans, it was beyond my imagination that Soviets launched an attack on us three days after the end of WWII," Takahashi said.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in an online meeting focused on Ukraine, with leaders from the "coalition of the willing," a group of nations that have pledged support for Kyiv against Russian aggression, late Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 18, 2025
Japan watches nervously as Trump ramps up pressure on Zelenskyy
The U.S. president is pushing the Ukrainian leader to reach a quick peace deal with Russia — an agreement that could have broad ramifications for Japan.
Beijing imposed a ban on imports of Japanese fisheries products in August 2023.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2025
JETRO struggles to expand scallop supply chain in U.S.
Steep tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump left prospects for the project uncertain, apparently making businesses reluctant to invest in it.
Stocks are hitting new highs on a daily basis as quiet market optimism takes hold.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 18, 2025
Tokyo stocks hit record highs for the third time in a week
A general sense of optimism has taken hold despite the lack of specific market-boosting news.  
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
JAPAN / Society
Aug 18, 2025
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
Officially connecting municipalities that already have existing ties with African countries will allow Japan to strengthen exchanges.
The Firefly Aerospace mission operations center in Leander, Texas
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 18, 2025
Firefly Aerospace eyes Japan rocket launches for Asia market
The plan could make Japan the first launch site in Asia for Firefly, the Texas-based rival to Elon Musk's SpaceX.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (left) and Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya attend a joint press event at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 18, 2025
Top Japanese and German diplomats vow to boost economic security cooperation
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, have agreed to strengthen supply chains for semiconductors and critical minerals.
Michi Saito touches a piece of a dummy atomic bomb that took away her brother's life in 1945, during an interview at Zuiryu Temple in Fukushima on July 14.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Aug 18, 2025
98-year-old woman recalls brother's death from dummy atomic bomb
A U.S. military unit dropped dummy bombs in various parts of Japan as part of exercises aimed at training forces to gain the high skills required to drop nuclear weapons.
Commuters cross the street through traffic in Manila.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 18, 2025
Two Japanese nationals shot dead in Manila
Officials at the Japanese embassy in the Philippine capital confirmed the two deaths Sunday.
U.K. Prime Miniter Keir Starmer speaks at the Jaguar Land Rover automobile manufacturing plant in Solihull, U.K. Starmer declared in May that his trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump included a cut in U.S. tariffs on British steel to zero.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 18, 2025
Trade partners grow restless waiting for Trump’s tariff breaks
While deals have been cut, the lower tariff rates agreed have yet to kick in.
Atomic bomb survivor Keiko Ogura (left) speaks with students in Sydney on Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2025
Hiroshima hibakusha calls for nuclear abolition in Australia
Ogura has been talking about the devastation from the nuclear attack in about 50 countries.
Australia’s decision to select Japan's upgraded Mogami-class warship, seen in this computer-generated image, has been “well received across Japanese industry," a Defense Ministry official said.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 17, 2025
Winning warship bid gives Japan confidence boost as Tokyo eyes more exports
Japan’s successful offer of state-of-the-art warships to Australia is seen as a "model" case for the future export of entire military systems, including to Southeast Asia.
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto (left) and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Walter Mondale during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo in April 1996 announcing the decision to return to Japan the site for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 17, 2025
Okinawa’s backers in LDP dwindle, prompting concern
At present, not many lawmakers are putting priority on Okinawa after measures taken by the government in the past for the development of the prefecture produced certain results.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba holds a news conference in Tokyo last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 16, 2025
Japan to accelerate development of logistics network in Africa
The planned corridor, which will link the inland African country of Zambia and a port in Mozambique, is aimed at enhancing supply chains for mineral resources.
U.S. President Donald Trump during a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2025
Trump releases message on WWII victory over Japan
The U.S. leader stated that "the Japanese Empire was defeated" and the world was "spared from the oppressive clutches of destruction and tyranny."
Demonstrators burn a Rising Sun flag featuring a portrait of Hideki Tojo, former leader of Japan's Imperial Army and prime minister during World War II, outside the Japanese Consulate in Hong Kong in September 2015.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 14, 2025
Continued demands for an apology ignore Japan’s postwar progress
As the 80th anniversary of World War II’s end nears, demands for renewed Japanese apologies risk empowering authoritarian narratives, especially from China.

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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’