As defense chief, Taro Kono faces test to prove himself as potential successor to Shinzo Abe
Having been handed the defense portfolio in the Sept. 11 Cabinet reshuffle, Defense Minister Taro Kono is now under a spotlight as observers watch for him to prove his credentials as a potential successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Formerly foreign minister, Kono is now ...
Scholarship honoring historical figures in Yamaguchi aims to get grads into world's top universities
The city of Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, has initiated a scholarship program to help high school graduates enter the world's top universities in honor of Hirobumi Ito, Japan's first prime minister, and other local historical figures who studied abroad. The program was inspired by the members ...
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Tuesday to launch full-fledged Diet discussions on constitutional amendment. He was speaking after visiting the grave of his father, Shintaro Abe, who served as foreign minister during his political career. "I reported (to my father) that now is the time to ...
Japan resumes commercial whaling after three decades; at least two taken on first day
Japanese whaling fleets set sail Monday to hunt whales commercially for the first time in 31 years, a day after Tokyo formally left the International Whaling Commission. As an IWC member, Japan halted commercial whaling in 1988. But it continued hunting whales for what it ...
Japan Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya apologizes over errors in Aegis deployment survey
The apology comes a week after the governor of Akita Prefecture criticized the ministry’s erroneous survey in connection with the deployment of the land-based Aegis Ashore missile defense system.
Hundreds in Hiroshima region evacuate amid downpours as rainy season begins in much of Japan
Heavy rainfall hit parts of western Japan beginning early Friday, causing more than 800 people to evacuate their homes and disrupting train services throughout the region. In Hiroshima Prefecture alone, 775 people had fled to shelters as of 10 a.m. Friday, while dozens more in ...
Regional bank in Japan battles ultralow interest rates with wine bar and sea urchins
As years of near-zero interest rates in Japan make traditional lending barely profitable, one regional bank is seeking to drum up business through less conventional enterprises, from opening wine bars to helping fishermen farm sea urchins. The new approach comes as regulators cautiously loosen the ...
Japan's news outlets toe the line over Aegis Ashore anti-missile system
On March 21, a female student at the Akita University of Art in Araya Okawamachi, Akita Prefecture, was slated to give a valedictory speech at the college's graduation ceremony. According to the Asahi Shimbun on March 31, the unnamed woman wanted to talk partly ...
The deputy land minister boasted that he helped get funds for a highway project without Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and deputy Taro Aso having to tell him to.
Yamaguchi court rejects residents' call to halt last Ikata nuclear reactor in Ehime Prefecture
A district court on Friday rejected a plea by residents to halt a reactor at the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture. The decision by the Iwakuni branch of the Yamaguchi District Court is in line with rulings made by other regional courts and ...
Two crew members rescued after ASDF fighter jet crashes in Sea of Japan
The two crew members of an Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter jet were rescued Wednesday morning after their aircraft crashed into the Sea of Japan off the coast of Yamaguchi Prefecture during training. The fighter, based at the Tsuiki Air Base in Fukuoka Prefecture, disappeared ...
Japan's two Aegis Ashore anti-missile candidate sites run into local opposition
Located in northwestern Honshu on the Sea of Japan coast, Akita Prefecture has long been thought of in Tokyo and especially western Japan as remote — part of poet Matsuo Basho's famed "The Narrow Road to the Deep North." The prefecture is well-known for the ...
