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Tokyo, Sept. 30 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government has approved the lifting of sanctions imposed on 16 organizations linked to Syria. The decision on Tuesday came after Tokyo lifted sanctions on four entities in May last year, leaving 59 individuals and 15 entities still subject to Syria-related sanctions. Japan began imposing sanctions in stages on the regime of then-Syrian President...
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi met Japan’s former foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya, who is leading a 50-member delegation of corporate executives, in Beijing on Monday, marking the highest-ranking Chinese official reception for a Japanese visit in nearly a year. During the talks, Wang warned that bilateral relations were facing a “severe situation” and had “yet to be normalised” ahead of next year’s 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties, according to a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry. “A...
Beijing, Sept. 29 (Jiji Press)--Wang Yi, China's top diplomat, urged Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to correct her remarks about Taiwan during his meeting in Beijing Monday with former Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Japan's leader needs to correct mistaken remarks about the issue of Taiwan as soon as possible, said Wang, foreign minister ...
Tokyo, Sept. 29 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government told the Diet, the country's parliament, on Tuesday that an extraordinary session will be convened Monday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara conveyed the plan to the boards of the steering committees in both Diet chambers. The Diet session is expected to run for 69 days through Dec. 12. It will be the first time that full-scale po...
Japan risks being pulled into a spiral of online disinformation about foreign crime that is stoking xenophobia and playing into the hands of the far-right, researchers warn. The trend is reportedly deepening divisions within Japanese society and creating a feedback loop that experts say will be difficult to break. In August, Constella Security Japan, a Tokyo-based cybersecurity firm commissioned by the government to counter online disinformation, hosted a webinar for officials and media on fake...
Tokyo on Monday rebuked Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after he voiced opposition over the weekend to Japan’s drive for permanent membership of the UN Security Council, claiming the country was on a “path of militarisation”. Lavrov’s comments came as the security council, tasked with safeguarding peace, is facing calls for reform amid accusations it failed to prevent recent conflicts such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, due largely to the veto power of its five permanent members:...
Yokohama, Sept. 27 (Jiji Press)--Former Yokohama Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka, who resigned earlier in September over a harassment scandal, plans to run for re-election, sources said Sunday. Yamanaka, 54, is expected to announce his candidacy at a press conference as early as Monday. The mayoral election in the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture, which neighbors Tokyo, is set to take place Oct. 18. ...
Tokyo, Sept. 27 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is worried that fresh attention may be directed to the issue of money and politics in the extraordinary parliamentary session beginning on Oct. 5. Behind the worry are Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's controversial appointments of two lawmakers involved in her LDP's slush fund scandal as ministers. The two members of the House...
Tokyo, Sept. 26 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday confirmed that their countries will continue working together to address China-related issues including economic security and defense. In a 20-minute telephone conversation, Takaichi received a direct explanation from Trump regarding the results of his meeting with Chinese Presid...
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is reportedly trying to arrange a phone call with Donald Trump following the US president’s nostalgic invocation of the alliance with China during World War II, references that sent shock waves through Tokyo. Trump made the references as he welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday for his first state visit to Washington in over a decade. Both Trump and Xi repeatedly invoked their nations’ wartime alliance against Japan in their...
Tokyo, Sept. 25 (Jiji Press)--The upcoming extraordinary session of the Diet, Japan's parliament, is set to run for 69 days from Oct. 5 until Dec. 12, it was learned Friday. Yoshihiko Isozaki, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Diet affairs chief in the Senate, the upper chamber previously called the House of Councillors, informed his counterpart at the opposition Constitutional Democrat...
Tokyo is raising the bar for permanent residency amid a broader rightward shift in the Asian nation's politics.
Tokyo, Sept. 24 (Jiji Press)--The Democratic Reform Party said Thursday that the new Japanese opposition party has started its activities with 18 member lawmakers who departed from the Centrist Reform Alliance. The 18, all House of Representatives lawmakers, are former members of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Also on Thursday, they formed a parliamentary group in the lowe...
Tokyo, Sept. 24 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Immigration Services Agency will boost cooperation with other government divisions to crack down on illegal foreign workers. Starting as early as October, agency officials will join land ministry inspections of demolition and construction sites. The land ministry conducts regular patrols of demolition and construction sites. However, its construction...
Starkly contrasting receptions for the Japanese leader and the Chinese president in the United States have sparked debate over Washington’s treatment of Tokyo as an ally. Sanae Takaichi arrived in New York at the start of the working week, beginning a trip where she addressed the United Nations General Assembly for the first time as the country’s prime minister. A photo taken on her arrival shows her waving across a relatively empty tarmac at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Footage...
New York, Sept. 22 (Jiji Press)--Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy apparently expressed hope for military support from Japan during his first face-to-face meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in New York on Tuesday. In their 20-minute meeting, Takaichi conveyed her country's commitment to continue supporting Ukraine, still battling Russia's invasion, in cooperation with...
US President Donald Trump praised his strong relationship with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in New York on Tuesday, days before he is due to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The talks, held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, came at a time when relations between Beijing and Tokyo show no signs of thawing. Both leaders hailed their good working relationship, with Takaichi saying the two countries looked forward to deepening ties. Trump lavished praise on the...
The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed to resist “economic coercion” and emphasised the need for stability in the Taiwan Strait, taking an implicit shot at China just days before President Xi Jinping’s White House summit. The three countries plan new talks on economic security and enhancements to a trilateral supply chain early warning system, according to a statement issued after a meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and counterparts Toshimitsu Motegi of Japan and Cho...
When Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets US President Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday, the leader casting the longest shadow over the meeting will not even be in the building. Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington on Thursday – two days after Takaichi meets the US leader on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. It will be Xi’s first state visit to the US in over 10 years. Faced with an unpredictable American president eager for tangible results...
Tokyo, Sept. 21 (Jiji Press)--Former Japanese internal affairs minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is drawing attention within the country's ruling Liberal Democratic Party over his next move after leaving the cabinet in a reshuffle on Thursday. Of the four candidates who ran against Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the LDP leadership election last autumn, Hayashi was the only one not to remain in e...
Tokyo, Sept. 19 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held phone talks on Friday night and reaffirmed their countries' commitment to advancing a wide range of security cooperation in order to further strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance. The 10-minute phone call came after Koizumi was reappo...
Tokyo, Sept. 18 (Jiji Press)--The reshuffled cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces some daunting diplomatic challenges, such as responses to a potential rapid pivot in U.S.-China relations. A major goal of the new Takaichi cabinet, launched Thursday, is maintaining a stable relationship with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which has been unpredictable in...
Tokyo, Sept. 17 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday described her second cabinet, which she launched the same day, as one that will make decisions, take on challenges and act. "I will pursue a responsible and proactive fiscal policy to make Japan strong and prosperous," Takaichi said at a press conference. Regarding the planned consumption tax cut for food ne...
Japan’s proposed port upgrades in Indonesia’s Natuna Islands reflect Tokyo’s push to bolster South China Sea security without building an overt military footprint. However, analysts stress that the move does not mean Jakarta is siding with Japan in its efforts to contain Beijing. Japan, which earlier this year eased its restrictions on lethal weapons exports, is ramping up security cooperation with Indonesia – a crucial bellwether for Southeast Asia. The expanding partnership includes joint...
The leadership change in Okinawa could deal a quiet blow to Beijing’s attempts to leverage local opposition to remilitarisation and the US-Japan military alliance, according to analysts. They added that the shift would compel Chinese academics and state media to recalibrate their messaging and approach towards the strategically vital Japanese prefecture. Genta Koja, the 42-year-old backed by Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party to become Okinawa’s new governor, defeated incumbent Denny Tamaki...
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is expected to retain many of her Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) executives on Wednesday, in her first reshuffle since taking the helm of the ruling party about a year ago. Takaichi is likely to keep the influential former prime minister Taro Aso as vice-president and his brother-in-law, Shunichi Suzuki, as secretary general, sources familiar with the matter have said, as she seeks to maintain continuity ahead of what is likely to be a packed legislative...
Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)--Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Eisuke Mori, speaker of Japan's House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, discussed energy support for Ukraine at their meeting in Kyiv on Tuesday, the presidential office said. Zelenskyy expressed gratitude for Japan's consistent support for Ukraine since Russia started to invade the neighboring coun...
Tokyo, Sept. 15 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Supreme Court has dismissed appeals against the guilty rulings of Taisei Corp. and Kajima Corp., as well as former executives of the two major general contractors, in a bid-rigging case involving the Chuo Shinkansen magnetic levitation train line project. On Monday, the five justices on the top court's Third Petty Bench, presided over by Justice Eriko W...
Tokyo, Sept. 15 (Jiji Press)--Junichi Ishii, secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the Senate will be replaced from his post, it was learned Tuesday. Ishii, 68, was informed of the replacement by Masaji Matsuyama, the LDP's chairman in the upper chamber of the Diet, party sources said. This personnel change appears to reflect Prime Minister and LDP President Sanae ...
Beijing, Sept. 15 (Jiji Press)--A senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official has told visiting Japanese lawmakers that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks last November on a possible Taiwan contingency are the main reason for difficulties in bilateral relations, it was learned Tuesday. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin criticized Takaichi during a meeting in Beijing on M...