World News by Wild Rose

Tokyo, Oct. 26 (Jiji Press)--The Tokyo metropolitan government is considering building small public crematoriums, each with two to four cremation furnaces, in the Japanese capital's 23 special wards to ensure stable cremation capacity. Building such crematoriums would require a review of existing regulations in the 23 wards, including an ordinance stipulating that crematoriums must be locat...

Osaka, Oct. 26 (Jiji Press)--Police in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, have taken action against 43 minors for harassing behavior targeting police, such as throwing firecrackers, shouting a slogan and making prank calls. Such acts, known as "shorinji racing," are spreading across the country. "We will deal strictly with such behavior as serious criminal acts," an Osaka police official said....

With China flexing its naval power across the Pacific and bilateral tensions running high, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is weighing a move long viewed as taboo – nuclear-powered submarines for the Maritime Self-Defence Force fleet. “We will seriously consider [the possibility] in a concrete and realistic manner,” Takaichi told the Japanese parliament on October 14. Yet with Tokyo set to revise its core security documents by year’s end, the proposal is dividing the ruling coalition. The...

Tokyo, Oct. 25 (Jiji Press)--U.S. Democratic Rep. Ami Bera, a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, condemned Russia's recent detention of a Japanese journalist as unacceptable, during an interview with Jiji Press in Tokyo this weekend. "I don't think there's any place where it's acceptable for them to detain reporters," Bera said while referring to past cases involving American...

Tokyo, Oct. 25 (Jiji Press)--Opposition party officials demanded Sunday that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi clearly explain her government's consumption tax cut legislation in the Diet herself. During a televised debate, opposition representatives questioned the lack of details about a planned benefit program included in the legislation, as well as the uncertain economic impact of c...

Tokyo, Oct. 24 (Jiji Press)--Japan's revised Imperial House Law came into effect Saturday, allowing male, paternal-line descendants of former Imperial Family branches to be adopted into the Imperial Family, and female Imperial Family members to remain within the family after marriage. The government has stressed the significance of the law in addressing the declining number of Imperial Fami...

Tokyo, Oct. 23 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, will visit Singapore on Nov. 17-21, the government said Friday. Princess Aiko was invited by Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam as this year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The trip will be the princess' second official overseas ...

Sao Paulo, Oct. 21 (Jiji Press)--Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori is scheduled to visit Japan on Nov. 19-20, the Nippon Foundation, a Japanese philanthropic group, said Wednesday. The visit will mark Fujimori's first trip to Japan since she took office in July. She is scheduled to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18-19. Fujimori, a third-ge...

Tokyo, Oct. 21 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration has steadily delivered on its promises to the public over the past year, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Wednesday, the first anniversary of her taking office. "We have worked boldly to build a strong economy and establish strong diplomacy and national security, steadily delivering on what we pro...

Tokyo, Oct. 21 (Jiji Press)--Japanese new agriculture minister Arata Takebe on Wednesday apologized over a weekly magazine report about his alleged receipt of a political donation from a public works contractor. "I instructed relevant officials to promptly investigate the facts and take action to return the money or correct the political funds disclosure report accordingly," Takebe told rep...

Washington, Oct. 20 (Jiji Press)--The leaders of the Quad, a collaborative framework among Japan, the United States, Australia and India, are expected to meet in Manila next month, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Indian media on Tuesday. The summit will be held on the sidelines of meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Rubio told the me...

A Chinese student who draped himself in the Japanese rising sun flag in a Russian university classroom has been expelled and asked to leave the country, according to state-run newspaper Global Times. The flag was used by the Japanese military during its imperial expansion and is still used by Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force. It remains a symbol of Japanese militarism and aggression in China and other parts of Asia. Moscow State University made the decision after the student was criticised by...

The arrest of a Japanese journalist in Russia has finally woken Tokyo up to the fact that Moscow is playing hardball in their diplomatic relationship, and the country’s apparent unwillingness to push back with commensurate force could encourage the Kremlin to test its neighbour’s resolve, analysts say. Japan lodged an official protest with the Russian ambassador in Tokyo on Wednesday, a day after Moscow announced the arrest of Yuki Imai from the Hokkaido Shimbun Press on suspicion of espionage....

Tokyo, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)--An expert panel of Japan's National Police Agency held its first meeting Monday for discussions on requiring stalkers to wear GPS devices to prevent them from getting near their targets. The panel, made up of lawyers, university professors and family members of stalking victims, will also consider requiring perpetrators to get counseling or visit medical institu...

Tokyo, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)--The first de facto replacement of a cabinet minister since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office a year ago has exposed the weaknesses of her grip on power. Information crucial to Takaichi's decision on whether to replace embattled former agriculture minister Kazuo Yana did not reach her. This included an allegation that Yana's camp provided free...

China strongly condemned what it called Japan’s “negative moves” concerning the Yasukuni Shrine, saying the actions were a provocation against the postwar international order, according to a Saturday statement from the Chinese Embassy in Japan.

Japan has long established itself as a pioneer of mediation in Southeast Asia. In 1990, for example, its officials helped broker talks between Cambodia’s warring factions, supplementing international efforts to end conflict in the country. Now, Tokyo is seeking to upgrade its diplomatic toolkit. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ International Peace Mediation Unit was set up in March, followed by the launch of the Parliamentary Association for Peace Mediation in May. Around the same time, the...

Rio Times · Asia Intelligence Brief October 16, 2026 — Indonesia's Jakarta Composite fell more than 10% after MSCI warned its emerging-market status was no longer appropriate; South Korea's Kospi rose 2.1% and Japan's Nikkei rose 1.4% in partial recovery; China's Wang Yi told Israel to stop West Bank settlement expansion. The post Asia Intelligence Brief — Friday, October 16, 2026 appeared first on The Rio Times.

Tokyo, Oct. 16 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi apologized on Friday over the resignation of scandal-hit former agriculture minister Kazuo Yana and vowed to restore public trust in her government. "I feel remorseful, and I take my responsibility seriously for appointing" Yana, who resigned earlier this week, the prime minister said at a meeting of the Budget Committee of...

Japan’s hopes for a visit by Donald Trump during his trip to Asia next month may be hanging in the balance as relations between China and the United States steadily improve. The US president spent three days in Japan ahead of last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and his meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was hailed as a sign of a “new golden age” in the countries’ relationship. But since then Trump’s growing rapport with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping has caused...

Tokyo, Oct. 15 (Jiji Press)--Russian Ambassador to Japan Nikolay Nozdrev has rejected Japan's requests regarding the detention of a Japanese journalist by Russian authorities, the Russian Embassy in Tokyo said Thursday. On Wednesday, the Japanese Foreign Ministry summoned Nozdrev and requested information on the matter and humanitarian consideration for the detained journalist, while protes...

Tokyo, Oct. 15 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday appointed Arata Takebe of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party as the new agriculture minister following the resignation of his embattled predecessor, Kazuo Yana. Takebe, 56, a former state minister of agriculture, officially took office after an attestation ceremony at the Imperial Palace in the afternoon. Ta...

Four Russian-held islands keep Japan and Russia from a formal peace treaty, and the frozen conflict now tests the US-Japan alliance in the North Pacific. The post Japan’s Northern Territories Dispute Explained for 2026 appeared first on The Rio Times.

A Japanese journalist has been detained in Russia on suspicion of spying for Japanese intelligence.