Search - japan

 
 
A Russian IL-38 patrol aircraft is seen in this image taken by the Air Self-Defense Force on Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2024

Japan fighters fire flares after Russian military plane enters airspace

A Russian IL-38 patrol aircraft violated Japanese airspace off Hokkaido’s Rebun Island three times, with the ASDF firing flares for the first time in response.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (left) holds talks with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi (right center), during their 55-minute meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 24, 2024

China urges Japan to deal with stabbing 'calmly' as details of motive elude

Beijing has been trying to prevent the stabbing of the 10-year-old Japanese boy from spiraling into a wider diplomatic row between the Asian powers.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Sazanami arrives in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean during a scheduled port visit in July. The Sazanami became the first Japanese warship to sail through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 26, 2024

Japan MSDF warship sails through Taiwan Strait for first time

The transit on Wednesday, which follows a spate of Chinese military moves near Japan, drew a strongly worded warning from Beijing.
Yonaguni Mayor Kenichi Itokazu speaks to a Ground Self-Defense Force soldier at the town hall on Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost inhabited island in Okinawa Prefecture last  November.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2024

Deterring Taiwan conflict is top priority for Japan's ‘front-line’ mayor

The mayor believes the U.S. and Japan must do away with "strategic ambiguity" over Taiwan if they intend to keep China in check.
Visitors take photos of Shin Shin at Ueno zoo in Tokyo on Saturday. Saturday was the last chance for Japan's panda-lovers to see Shin Shin and Ri Ri before their return to China.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2024

Japan's legions of panda-lovers bid farewell to beloved pair in Tokyo

Avid fans of the pandas congregated outside Ueno zoo overnight to secure a spot in line to see the pair for one minute each.
A scene from "Whale Restaurant," a documentary film about whale food culture in Japan
JAPAN / Society
Sep 30, 2024

Documentary on whale food culture in Japan showing in U.S.

Director Keiko Yagi said she found it difficult to find theaters that would agree to show the film.
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine shot in Tokyo on Tuesday as this year's routine vaccination program for people age 65 or older began.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 1, 2024

Routine COVID-19 vaccinations begin for elderly in Japan

The program mainly targets people age 65 or older. It began on Tuesday and will run until March 31 next year.
The icebreaker CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier at the Port of Yokohama on Wednesday. The vessel arrived on Monday after conducting a series of patrols to detect and deter illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the northern Pacific, a region critical to implementing Canada’s overarching Indo-Pacific Strategy.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2024

Canada marks expansion of coast guard cooperation with Japan port call

The move will set the stage for greater cooperation with partners in the region as Ottawa ramps up efforts to tackle illegal fishing in the Pacific, experts say.
Newly appointed Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya speaks during his first news conference as Japan's top diplomat at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 3, 2024

Japan's new top diplomat calls 'Asian NATO' an idea for the future

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya hinted that such a grouping would be open to all countries and partners in the region — including rivals such as China.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba listens to a reporter's question as he attends a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 2, 2024

South Korea's Yoon and Japan's Ishiba agree to continue 'shuttle diplomacy'

In his first phone call with the South Korean leader, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stressed the importance of the two countries’ maintaining close communications,
Paul Watson speaks at a news conference on the sidelines of the U.N. climate summit in Paris in December 2015.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 4, 2024

Japan says Paul Watson case 'nothing to do with whaling'

The co-founder of Sea Shepherd was arrested in Greenland in July on an arrest warrant issued by Japan.
Aziz Ahmed talks about young language carers in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture, on Sept. 18.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 5, 2024

Young language carer hopes to support others facing hardships in Japan

Aziz Ahmed came to Japan from Pakistan at the age of 9 and remembers the hardships he faced interpreting for family members who do not speak Japanese.
The units under construction at Jera's liquefied natural gas fired power plant inside the company's Anegasaki Thurmal Power Station in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, in June 2022
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2024

Japan and South Korea to expand initiative to cut methane emissions

Methane's greenhouse effect is believed to be more than 20 times that of carbon dioxide. Leaks of methane from gas fields are a major issue that need to be dealt with.
Kuo Yu-jen, vice president of the Institute for National Policy Research, speaks in Taipei on Sept. 30.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 7, 2024

Taiwan welcomes Japan's security 'policy shift'

Of the Group of Seven major powers, Japan is the sixth country to have sailed through the Taiwan Strait.
A man receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Tokyo on Oct. 1. Experts say fears over the newly approved replicon vaccine are unwarranted.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2024

Experts move to allay replicon COVID shot fears in Japan amid backlash

The health ministry and experts say concerns around "shedding" are unwarranted.
Gen Nakatani (center), who was named defense minister last week, attends an extraordinary session of the Lower House at parliament in Tokyo on Oct. 1.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2024

U.S. and Japan defense chiefs agree to beef up Nansei Islands presence

Two controversial proposals put by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba — an Asian version of NATO or revising the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement — were not discussed.
Food replicas displayed on a table in the shape of the Japanese archipelago in an exhibition in London
JAPAN / Society
Oct 9, 2024

Japan House London introduces food replica culture

Food replicas, which were first made in Japan and are displayed at restaurants across the country, have recently become popular among foreign tourists as souvenirs.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost, the new commander of U.S. forces stationed in Japan, speaks at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2024

New chief of U.S. forces in Japan vows to strengthen alliance

Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost takes charge of reorganizing the U.S. Forces Japan headquarters into a joint force headquarters to tighten the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Chinese residents living in Japan take part in a “white paper” protest in solidarity against China's COVID-19 lockdowns, in Tokyo in November 2022.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2024

Chinese nationals in Japan testify to harassment by Beijing, report says

One man said Chinese police had used his relatives to try and lure him back to the country.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya asked his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to provide a proper accounting of the facts in the stabbing death of a schoolboy in China last month during their telephone talks on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 10, 2024

Japan still pushing China for explanation over killing of schoolboy

Japan wants an explanation as soon as possible, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
People engage in discussions during a program of School for Life Compath in Biei, Hokkaido, in August 2021.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 11, 2024

Danish-style 'schools for life' gaining popularity in Japan

The schools promote personal growth and lifelong learning, covering topics such as self-discovery, societal exploration, modern art and forest adventures.
Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano (left), South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun (center) and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell during a trilateral meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Wednesday
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2024

Japan, U.S. and South Korea unveil team to monitor North sanctions

Washington and Seoul say North Korea and Russia have made illicit military transactions.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 20, 2024

Japan and U.S. defense chiefs voice 'sense of crisis' amid China military moves

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also agreed to work toward bolstering their command-and-control frameworks.
The Grand Egyptian Museum, built with the help from Japan, is showcasing over 10,000 ancient Egyptian artifacts.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2024

Japan-aided Grand Egyptian Museum opens exhibition for trial run

Low-interest yen loans from the Japanese government totaling around ¥84.2 billion were used to build the museum.
The addition of an area in Pacific waters east of Chichijima in the Ogasawara Islands saw Japan's continental shelf expanded by 120,000 square kilometers in July.
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2024

Japan expands its continental shelf by 120,000 square kilometers

The expansion has sparked optimism for potential resource development.
Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki helped mark the first seven decades of the America-Japan Society of Hokkaido on Sept. 19.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Oct 28, 2024

America-Japan Society of Hokkaido celebrates 70th anniversary

The society is poised for further growth, with more firms from the U.S. and elsewhere looking to set up shop in Hokkaido.
Limited to fall, "Saba Nouveau" is served with in-flight meals for first-class passengers of Japan Airlines domestic flights and sold at supermarkets in urban areas.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2024

Mackerel from Norway boosting presence in Japan

130,000 to 140,000 tons of Norwegian mackerel is consumed in Japan annually, including imports via China and Vietnam.
Then-astronaut candidates Ayu Yoneda (bottom, sixth from left) and Makoto Suwa (bottom center) take part in parabolic flight training.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2024

Japan’s lunar ambitions advance with two new astronauts

The pair are preparing to become the first non-U.S. astronauts to set foot on the moon.
United Nations' vehicles escort a damaged truck that was reportedly used by workers of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, in Gaza last week.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2024

Japan and others concerned over Israeli bill against UNRWA

The bill, now being debated by Israel's parliament, is aimed in part at revoking UNRWA's privileges and immunities.
Hugh Jeffrey, the Australian Department of Defence’s deputy secretary for strategy, policy and industry, says the next 18 to 24 months will see Tokyo and Canberra not only test and share new technologies and capabilities, it will also see increased military deployments to each other’s territories.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2024

Japan and Australia gear up for boosted defense tie-ups over next two years

In an interview, a senior Australian defense official spoke about cooperation in the industrial and technical fields in addition to military-to-military ties.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?