October 20, 2018
SEOUL (Jiji Press) — South Korea’s Supreme Court said Friday it will rule on Oct. 30 on a damages lawsuit against Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. filed by four people who were forced to work ...
MOSCOW (Jiji Press) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Japanese sanctions on Russia are undermining confidence between the two countries. Speaking at a forum in the southern Rus...
THIMPU (AFP-Jiji) — Bhutan’s voters on Thursday gave an overwhelming victory to a new party headed by a surgeon in only the third democratic election held by the Himalayan kingdom, according to pr...
Japan and China plan to sign an Agreement on Search and Rescue Regions (SAR agreement, see below) shortly, aiming to implement the agreement by the end of this year, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. ...
BRUSSELS (Jiji Press) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed Thursday to accelerate efforts for putting an economic partnership agreement between J...
U.S. political scientist Ian Bremmer said on Wednesday that Japan, which has a functioning democracy, is serving as a good model for the world, and that it should further exercise leadership in the g...
PARIS (Jiji Press) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his country’s willingness on Wednesday to strengthen maritime security cooperation with France. “The two countries’ cooperation is mo...
TOKYO (Jiji Press) —The government has decided not to make arrangements for a visit by South Korean President Moon Jae In to Japan at least until next year, government sources said Wednesday. The ...
MADRID (Jiji Press) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez, agreed Tuesday to upgrade the bilateral ties to a strategic partnership covering many fields ranging from...
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The Defense Ministry took steps on Wednesday to counter Okinawa Prefecture’s withdrawal of approval for landfill work necessary for the relocation of a U.S. military base wit...
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left for a five-day tour of three European countries Tuesday, planning to underline the importance of free trade at an international meeting. Abe a...
The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry plans to launch an experiment next fiscal year to promote the use of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies to streamline the administ...
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his decision to raise the consumption tax on Oct. 1, 2019 from the current 8 percent to 10 percent as planned, in an extraordinary Cabinet meeting on Monday afterno...
Historian Ikuhiko Hata has been alarmed by the unbalanced availability of information on the thorny issue of wartime comfort women (see below) and is eager to reach more people with information that ...
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided to announce his decision on Monday to allow the consumption tax rate to rise from 8 percent to 10 percent as planned on Oct. 1, deeming the tax raise to be inevit...
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The Environment Ministry has decided to obligate retailers including supermarkets and convenience stores to charge fees for plastic checkout bags or provide loyalty points to s...
SINGAPORE — The 16 countries participating in negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreed at a ministerial meeting in Singapore on Saturday to make all efforts to ...
The government is considering procuring about 20 additional F-35A stealth fighter jets for the Air Self-Defense Force, starting from as early as fiscal 2020, in a bid to counter China’s rapidly expa...
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The Japanese and Russian governments are considering holding two more bilateral summit meetings by the end of this year, informed sources said Friday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe...
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — New Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki on Friday reiterated his opposition to the planned relocation of a key U.S. base within the prefecture, at his first meeting with Prime Minister Sh...
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The government set up a committee on Friday to oversee a series of ceremonies related to the Emperor’s abdication on April 30, 2019, and Crown Prince Naruhito’s accession t...
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The government presented Friday an outline for a planned residence status program for foreign workers, which it aims to introduce in April next year.
The outline, featuring th...
BEIJING (AFP-Jiji) — Shinzo Abe will pay the first visit to China by a Japanese prime minister since 2011 later this month, Beijing announced Friday, in the latest sign of warming ties between the r...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. federal government will tighten rules on foreign investment in sensitive industries like technology and telecommunications next month, the Treasury Department said on...
CANBERRA (AP) — Australia and Japan on Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to pressuring North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program and enforcing sanctions on Pyongyang.
Australian Foreig...
The “Rikkoshi no Rei” ceremony that will proclaim Prince Akishino as “koshi” — the Imperial heir who is first in line to the throne — following the Emperor’s abdication and the crown pri...
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung Wha told Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono on Sept. 11 that Seoul would dissolve the Reconciliation and Healing Foundation (see below), a body set up under a...
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japanese and African foreign ministers and other officials agreed Sunday that it is important to focus on the quality of assistance to Africa in order to ensure debt sustainabi...
MOSCOW (Jiji Press) — Russia refrained from conducting its Vostok 2018 military drill on the northern territories last month in line with a Japanese proposal, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu...
The leaders of Japan and five Southeast Asian countries along the Mekong River adopted a joint statement at their summit in Tokyo on Tuesday, calling for realization of the “Free and Open Indo-Pacif...
