Tag - us-japan-relations

 
 

US JAPAN RELATIONS

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio shakes hands with Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (left) and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (right) at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 23, 2025
Japan, U.S. and South Korea reaffirm commitment to ridding North Korea of nukes
The countries’ top diplomats poured cold water on the chances of the U.S. ditching its denuclearization policy, after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hinted he is open to talks.
Demonstrators protest at the port of Mutsu-Ogawara in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, in March 1997, as a British freighter arrives with processed nuclear waste, whose fissile elements can be 
fabricated into new nuclear mixed-oxide fuel.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 23, 2025
Could pacifist Japan ever arm itself with nuclear weapons?
It has always been a question of having the will to act and the belief that the U.S. nuclear deterrence commitment to Japan was beyond question.
A business class suite of an Airbus SE A350-1000 aircraft operated by Japan Airlines is seen during a media preview at the company's hangar at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in January last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2025
Boom in business class travel from Japan fuels airlines profits
As tariffs change trade patterns and roil global supply chains, corporate Japan is dealing with it by getting executives in the air.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about trade at the Granite City Works steel coil warehouse in Granite City, Illinois, in July 2018.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2025
Trump officials used 'golden share' to block U.S. Steel from stopping work at plant
The move highlighed the federal government’s continued influence over an iconic American firm after approving its takeover by Nippon Steel.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is considering increasing its stake in Jefferies Financial Group as the Japanese lender deepens ties with the U.S. investment bank.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2025
Sumitomo Mitsui mulls raising stake in Jefferies to 20%
The two firms are also in discussions to merge parts of their equities businesses in Japan, potentially through the establishment of a joint venture.
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda said it would take a century for the bank to sell all its ETFs at the pace proposed.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 19, 2025
Bank of Japan to start unloading ETFs in surprise move that rattles market
After the announcement, the Nikkei 225 fell from a record high and the yen strengthened.
The Izumo destroyer docks at a port in Singapore after completing a mission to escort a U.S. vessel under Japan's security laws, in May 2017.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2025
10 years on, security laws continue to boost Japan-U.S. defense ties
The laws, enacted in 2015, allow Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense and have helped the SDF expand its activities with like-minded countries.
U.S. military personnel board the USS Wasp aircraft carrier at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 2019.
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2025
U.S. State Department sees Japanese role in AUKUS defense pact
Japan "expressed interest in a range" of projects underway as part of the second leg of the pact, an assessment said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 17, 2025
Japan won't recognize Palestinian state given U.S. ties: media report
Recent reports said the U.S. had prompted Japan to forgo the recognition through diplomatic channels, while France had urged the opposite.
The Bank of Japan has maintained a wait-and-see approach for most of the year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 17, 2025
Bank of Japan set to hold rates steady even as inflation remains high
It is expected to keep the policy rate at 0.5% at its meeting this week.
Proxy-shopping services — companies that ship Japanese products ranging from cosmetics and snacks to limited-edition stationery on behalf of customers abroad — are already feeling the impact of the U.S. suspending de minimis exemptions.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2025
End of U.S. de minimis exemption causes headaches for some businesses in Japan
Companies that ship to the U.S. are hoping customers will tolerate higher costs or that the de minimis treatment will be restored, but many believe it's gone for good.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong at the State Department in January.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2025
Japan and India must anchor America in the Indo-Pacific
Neither Japan or India possess the military strength to counter China independently.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, speaks on Tuesday about the implementation of the Japan-U.S. trade deal.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 16, 2025
U.S. tariffs on Japanese autos formally cut to 15% from 27.5%
The reduction is a long-awaited implementation of the terms of a July 22 agreement.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, arrives at the Vostochny Сosmodrome before a meeting between her brother and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia's far eastern Amur region in September 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 14, 2025
North Korea condemns 'reckless' U.S.-Japan-South Korea drills
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister condemned the upcoming joint military drills as a "reckless show of strength" that would bring "bad results."
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Aegis destroyer Chokai at its Sasebo base in Nagasaki Prefecture
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2025
MSDF Aegis destroyer Chokai to test-fire Tomahawk missiles
If successful, the SDF would gain the ability to directly strike the territory of other countries using cruise missiles.
Sailors aboard the U.S. Navy's guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn conduct a small boat operation during a "Maritime Cooperative Activity" with the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Osumi tank-landing ship and the Philippine Navy's Jose Rizal frigate in the South China Sea on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 14, 2025
Beijing denounces joint U.S.-Japan-Philippines patrol of South China Sea
China criticized the joint trilateral exercises, alleging that Manila has “frequently colluded with non-regional countries” to organize the patrols.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato reaffirmed in a joint statement their commitment to allowing markets to determine currency exchange rates and not targeting them for competitive advantage.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 12, 2025
U.S. and Japan pledge not to manipulate forex for competitive advantage
Tokyo has spent close to $150 billion in the last three years trying to prop up the yen with the last move in July last year.
A U.S. Air Force serviceman in Okinawa Prefecture has appealed to the Supreme Court against a high court ruling that upheld a five-year sentence for abducting and sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 16 in the prefecture, it was revealed on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 12, 2025
U.S. airman appeals to top court in Okinawa assault case
Brennon Washington filed the appeal Wednesday after receiving the ruling by the Fukuoka High Court's branch in Naha that day.
Convenience stores are a fixture of Japanese life and 7-Eleven, a chain that began in the U.S. in 1927, opened its first store in Japan in 1974 — and then became wholly Japanese-owned in 2005 through parent company Seven & I Holdings.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2025
Is America ready for Japanese-style 7-Elevens?
Facing a stagnant and highly competitive retail market in Japan, Seven & I’s growth is expected to come from overseas.
The Bank of Japan's wait-and-see approach is likely to continue given the political climate and the tariff situation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 11, 2025
Rate increase in Japan less likely following Ishiba's resignation
Political uncertainty will make a move higher in October difficult.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan