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 ...
Defense Ministry starts field survey for Aegis Ashore deployment in western Japan
The Defense Ministry began a field survey at a Ground Self-Defense Force training area in Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Monday for the envisaged deployment of the Aegis Ashore land-based missile defense system. The ministry will conduct a similar survey at a GSDF training area in ...
The municipal assembly for Abu, named in May as a potential host site, unanimously adopted a petition asking the Defense Ministry to retract its plan to deploy the missile system.
The recent discovery of an uninjured 2-year-old boy who had been missing for three days on an island in western Japan is being called a miracle.
Mother of toddler found safe in western Japan 'overcome with emotion'
The mother of a 2-year-old boy who was found safe three days after he went missing on an island in Yamaguchi Prefecture expressed her relief and joy at being reunited with her son. "I didn't think I would be able to meet him alive," Mio ...
