Tag - shigeru ishiba

 
 

SHIGERU ISHIBA

Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, is expected to head to Washington soon for a sixth round of high-level trade talks with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 10, 2025
Akazawa talks of 'dense fog' in U.S. trade talks ahead of G7 summit
Japan is sticking to its demand that all new tariffs be removed, the country's tariff czar insists.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 10, 2025
Ishiba agrees to strengthen ties with South Korea's Lee in call
Reaffirming the significance of bilateral ties, the two leaders agreed to meet in person to further develop relations.
Japan faces soaring rice prices, a powerful farming cooperative resistant to change, declining farmer numbers, falling rice consumption and conflicting government policies that hinder effective reform of the sector.
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2025
How ‘vintage’ rice is shaking up Japanese politics
Rice is where consumers have drawn the line. The staple rose by 98% in the past year, adding almost half a percentage point to headline inflation.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at an Upper House session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 9, 2025
No-confidence motion against Ishiba Cabinet could lead to double election
A double election could result in more political stability if either bloc manages to capture both chambers, or continued instability if neither holds a majority.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's top tariff negotiator, speaks to reporters in Washington on Friday after holding talks with U.S. officials.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2025
Akazawa vows to redouble efforts for tariff accord with U.S.
Ishiba and Trump may hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the three-day Group of Seven summit in Canada from June 15.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba visits Jins Park in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 7, 2025
Ishiba vows to set up council for regional revitalization
He hopes to include the plan in a basic concept of his signature "Regional Revitalization 2.0" program.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a forum in Tokyo on May 29.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 7, 2025
Ishiba and Lee might have first meeting at G7 summit
New South Korean leader Lee Jae-myung will attend the G7 summit in Canada for three days starting June 15, and could meet Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Tokyo's Asakusa district near Sensoji Temple. The Japanese government vowed to realize pay raises that exceed price increases in a stable way.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 7, 2025
Japan highlights wage hikes as cornerstone of economic growth strategy
Seeing wage hikes as a key part of its growth strategy, the government vowed to realize pay raises that exceed price increases in a stable way.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 7, 2025
Japan to hold WWII panel discussions after summer Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's administration was considering setting up the panel as early as April.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during ministerial meeting meeting on foreign residents in Japan on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2025
Foreign tourists with unpaid medical bills in Japan to be denied entry
There have been growing calls for legislative reform to address unpaid medical fees and health care premiums — deficits filled by taxpayers' money.
Ishiba also called for the promotion of talks on setting up regional offices of the agency to enhance support for developing antidisaster measures tailored to the specific circumstances of each region.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 6, 2025
Ishiba eager to submit disaster agency bill next year
Ishiba called for the promotion of talks to enhance support for developing antidisaster measures tailored to the specific circumstances of each region.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to the media as he inspects a warehouse storing stockpiled rice in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 30.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 6, 2025
From ridicule to redemption: Rice crisis returns Koizumi to the spotlight
The lawmaker, sometimes said to be long on image and short on substance, has won praise for bringing down the price of rice.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a National Resilience Promotion Headquarters gathering on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 6, 2025
Japan adopts ¥20 trillion anti-disaster program
The program, starting next April, focuses on rebuilding aging infrastructure and stepping up preparations for huge disasters.
Japan and the United States are aiming for a meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and President Donald Trump at the Group of Seven leaders summit on June 16 and 17.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 4, 2025
U.S. doubles steel and aluminum tariffs as Japan counts on a breakthrough
The United Kingdom is exempt from the higher rates because it struck an early trade deal with the United States.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions during a budget committee session of the House of Councilors on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 4, 2025
Ishiba eyes dissolving Lower House in wake of possible no-confidence motion
The prime minister is apparently sending a warning to the main opposition at a time when battles between the ruling and opposition camps are intensifying.
The number of "zombie companies" in Japan, which do not make enough to cover their interest payments, was estimated to have grown some 228,000 in fiscal 2023, one of the highest in a decade.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 3, 2025
'Zombie company' apocalypse might be the point of Japan's minimum wage push
Government efforts to accelerate the pace of pay increases could lead to poorly performing companies going out of business.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba offers a flower during a ceremony to pay respects to unidentified war dead from World War II at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo on May 26.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 3, 2025
Ishiba faces political and diplomatic quandary ahead of WWII anniversary
There is fierce opposition among conservatives to any form of official reflection on the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at an Upper House Budget Committee meeting on Monday as agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi looks on.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2025
Japan to set up minister-level meeting to address rice supplies
The government released a further 300,000 metric tons of stockpiled rice last week in a bid to bring down prices.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House in Washington in February.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 2, 2025
Ishiba eyes trade meeting around Trump's birthday before G7 meet, report says
Some government officials have said a deal announced on June 14 — the U.S. president's birthday — might have special symbolic significance for him.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, is in Washington again for a fourth round of high-level negotiations with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 30, 2025
Tariff talks with U.S. a mix of slow progress, ever-present uncertainty 
Japan's chief negotiator is back in Washington for another round of high-level negotiations.

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