Tag - japan

 
 

JAPAN

Akira Amari, a senior Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, says Nippon Steel’s acquisition of United States Steel would help counter China’s dominance in steel-making.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2024
Japanese lawmaker says U.S. steel deal would help counter China risks
The $14.1 billion deal would be a win-win for both companies and both economies, said former minister Akira Amari.
Tan Tan was supposed to be sent back to China in 2020, but her return was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 1, 2024
Japan’s oldest panda, Tan Tan, dies at 28
The giant panda leased from China lived in Kobe Oji Zoo for 24 years as a symbol of recovery from the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
A boy watches Self-Defense Forces live-fire drills in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in 2017. Japan’s defense posture is shifting, as the government’s recent approval of new arms export regulations signals.  
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 1, 2024
Is Japan leaving pacifism behind?
How a previous generation of Japanese leaders, those who made defense budget and arms export limits a national credo, would view the current shift.
All Blacks forward Ardie Savea wants New Zealand Rugby to reconsider the rule that only allows domestic-based players to be selected for the national team.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Apr 1, 2024
Savea calls for change in All Blacks' eligibility regulations
A number of high-profile New Zealanders have moved away from home, with a handful contracted to Japanese clubs.
Tadashi Imai, who became Nippon Steel's new president on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2024
Nippon Steel emphasizes its roots in the U.S. as it pursues deal
The Japanese firm has agreed to buy U.S. Steel for roughly $15 billion but the deal faces an uphill battle to approval in a U.S. election year.
Children wash their hands with a new public pump installed as part of a climate resilient water system in Inn Chey in Kratie Province.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Mar 31, 2024
Japan sits at the forefront of climate resilient infrastructure in Southeast Asia
Japanese businesses and government agencies are pouring billions of yen into various programs across Cambodia and Southeast Asia to reduce climate risks.
Blue pipelines to transport seawater, part of the facility for releasing treated radioactive water to sea from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, are seen during a treated water dilution and discharge facility tour for media, in Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, last August.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 31, 2024
Experts from Japan and China discuss Fukushima water release
The two Asian powerhouses have spared over the issue since Japan began releasing the water into the Pacific Ocean last August.
With emerging headwinds in the U.S. and Japan, U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will have their work cut out for them next month as they look to maintain the momentum driving change in the alliance between both countries.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2024
Kishida heads to U.S. with a mission — maintain alliance momentum amid challenges
Defense and security will likely top the agenda, though it is unclear how the PM will handle the issue of Ukraine assistance amid a split U.S. Congress.
Jin-Oh Hyun searches for wild king cherry trees and their relatives on Geoje Island, off the coast of South Korea, on March 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 30, 2024
Wanted in South Korea: imperialism-free cherry blossoms
Activists want to replace a variety of cherry tree associated with the Japanese colonial era with one they say is Korean. The science is messy.
A U.S. military Osprey aircraft flies over the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the center of the city of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, in August 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 30, 2024
Japan designates U.S. bases in Okinawa as security-linked sites
The government has designated 184 sites in 28 of the country's 47 prefectures as critical to national security in the fourth round of such designations.
U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson Works facility is seen in Braddock, Pennsylvania. A group of automakers have warned that a deal by steelmaker Cleveland Cliffs for U.S. Steel could "drive up the cost of both steel and e-steel, and ultimately increase the cost of finished vehicles (including EVs) for American consumers."
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 30, 2024
Automakers urge White House to oppose U.S. Steel sale to Cleveland-Cliffs
Cleveland-Cliffs has said it would consider another bid for U.S. Steel if the deal with Nippon Steel — opposed by President Joe Biden — falls apart.
The 2024 grand prix winner was Zerogravity, a marine activity provider with a focus on accessible tours and accommodation.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 29, 2024
Japan Travel Awards promote inclusive tourism
While currently far from a global player, the Japan Travel Awards is filling a void for recommendations on forward-looking travel-centric organizations.
Japan’s Cabinet agreed to ease defense export rules for the nation’s next-generation fighter jet, a concept model of which is seen on display here at a defense show in Chiba in March 2023.
EDITORIALS
Mar 29, 2024
Japan greenlights its defense industry
The government's steps on easing defense export rules will allow Japanese companies to participate more fully in the global market for defense equipment.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who chairs the German parliament's defense committee, argues that the security of Europe is inseparable from that of the Indo-Pacific.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 28, 2024
German MP warns of complacency amid growing Indo-Pacific threats
Closer attention need to be paid to the often-belligerent rhetoric coming from places such as China and North Korea, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said.
Kim Jong Un and his daughter Kim Ju Ae attend the opening ceremony of the Gangdong Greenhouse in North Korea in this picture released on March 16.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Mar 27, 2024
North Korea reaches for familiar playbook in talks with Japan
Pyongyang blowing hot and cold on a potential leaders summit is meant to gain the upper hand in negotiations to realize such a meeting.
Japanese chocolatier Yasushi Sasaki holds a box of chocolates in his workshop in the Brussels commune of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 27, 2024
A Japanese 'flavor wizard' conquers the homeland of chocolate
Yasushi Sasaki has been named Brussels' chocolatier of the year by the prestigious Gault & Millau food guide.
The meeting between Japanese Ambassador to China Kenji Kanasugi and a Japanese employee of Astellas Pharma who has been detained by Chinese authorities on suspicion of espionage lasted about 30 minutes.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2024
Japan's envoy to China meets detained Astellas worker
The meeting was held in Beijing for about 30 minutes. The man had no particular health problems, according to the sources.
Kim Yo Jong, who serves as a top adviser to her brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Tuesday that Pyongyang had ruled out holding a leaders' summit with Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 26, 2024
North Korea rules out summit with Japan and rejects more talks
The sister of leader Kim Jong Un said that a meeting was not of interest to the North, alluding to Tokyo's unyielding stance on the abductions issue.
High school students visit seawalls in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on Thursday during a weeklong tour of areas hit by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in the prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 26, 2024
Students from wildfire-struck Hawaii learn about disaster recovery in Miyagi
The students visited four municipalities in Miyagi Prefecture to study their efforts to rebuild following the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami.
Afghan evacuees arrive at Narita International Airport in October 2021. Applicants from Afghanistan made up the majority of those recognized as refugees by the Japanese government last year, similar to 2022.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 26, 2024
Japan granted refugee status to record 303 asylum-seekers in 2023
While this is a jump from the 202 people in 2022 and a new record high, the number is still considerably lower when compared with Western countries.

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