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Tokyo, Oct. 15 (Jiji Press)--A majority in Japan support legislation to cut the consumption tax on food and introduce an income-linked benefit program, a Jiji Press opinion poll showed. The poll found that 55.3 pct of respondents supported the legislation while 37.3 pct opposed it. The legislation is designed to cut the 8 pct consumption tax on food to 1 pct for two years from next April...
Washington, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday attributed the selection of a U.S. semiconductor plant construction project for the third batch of Japanese investments in the United States to his "historic" trade deals. The investment deal "is a result of my historic trade deals," Trump said in a social media post after U.S. semiconductor contract manufacturer Glo...
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama warned speculators that she was prepared to take action in the currency market again if needed, after the yen touched its weakest level against the dollar this month following a heating up of US inflation figures.
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.
Tokyo, Oct. 15 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Imperial Household Agency on Thursday released the list of approximately 1,700 invitees for an autumn garden party to be hosted by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on Oct. 29. The event will bring together distinguished individuals from various fields and local government officials, and their spouses. Among ...
A Japanese journalist has been detained in Russia on suspicion of spying for Japanese intelligence.
Partnership with 150-year-old Japanese institution to strengthen collaboration in biotechnology, food and agricultural sciences
Rio Times · Asia Intelligence Brief October 14, 2026 — China's September exports rose 36.3% and the trade surplus hit US$133.53 billion, drawing IMF calls for domestic consumption; Japan protested a Chinese delegation's visit to Russian-held Iturup; Taiwan's Hai Kun submarine completed its 24th sea trial. The post Asia Intelligence Brief — Wednesday, October 14, 2026 appeared first on The Rio Times.
Japanese Agriculture Minister Kazuo Yana said he had tendered his resignation following allegations of possible vote-buying, lining him up to become the first senior minister in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government to quit over a scandal. The prime minister had resisted calls to have Yana step down after local media reports said he claimed to have cut roadworks funding to municipalities that did not support him in February’s general election. The tide turned after allegations surfaced that...
Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--Senji Kuroi, a prominent writer of the "introverted generation" in Japan, died of pneumonia on Monday. He was 94. Kuroi, whose real name was Shunjiro Osabe, published "Aoi Kojo" in 1958 while working for Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., now Subaru Corp., after graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1955. In 1970, Kuroi won the Art Encouragement Prize for New A...
Kobe, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--An after-school program in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, is helping children with developmental problems build confidence and independence through theater activities, a relatively unusual approach in the country. The provider of the after-school program, Hokagorubi, offers creative activities through improvisational plays. It was established by Masatoshi...
Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--About 30 pct of Japan's working population, or some 20 million people, may be eligible for a financial aid program that the government aims to introduce alongside a planned consumption tax cut for food, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Wednesday. The figure was calculated based on similar systems in other countries, Takaichi told a meeting of the Budget Commit...
Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi urged agriculture minister Kazuo Yana on Wednesday to give full explanations on his alleged public offices election law violation. At a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the Japanese parliament, Takaichi said she received a report by phone from Yana on Tuesday ni...
A business delegation from northeastern China has visited a Russian-controlled, Japanese-claimed island off Hokkaido to explore joint economic projects, a move that has prompted protests from Tokyo. Officials and business leaders from Heilongjiang province, which borders Russia’s far east, travelled to Etorofu – known to Russians as Iturup – to survey potential investment opportunities, according to the Sakhalin Oblast government, which oversees the island. Etorofu is the largest island in a...
Japan’s prime minister said on Wednesday she probably spent “three or four more hours” than her male predecessors tackling household duties on top of her already packed daily schedule. “In the morning, I bathe, fix breakfast and then wash dishes, not to mention apply make-up,” Sanae Takaichi, elected last year as Japan’s first woman prime minister, told parliament. “I feel like I’m spending three or four more hours than male prime ministers doing these things.” A self-described workaholic,...
Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government is apparently struggling to persuade Washington to change its stance after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions against the International Criminal Court. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has expressed her country's continued support for the ICC. But the situation may have consequences for the rule of l...
Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government has proposed a draft bill to introduce criminal penalties for unauthorized transactions of land around important facilities, including Self-Defense Forces bases, and on uninhabited border islands. The bill to revise the law to regulate such land use and conduct related land surveys was presented to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on T...
A growing number of Japanese regard the United States as the greatest threat to world peace ahead of traditional rival China, according to a new survey. The annual poll, released by the Japan Press Research Institute on Saturday, found 26.8 per cent of respondents named the US as the biggest threat to global peace. That was up 9.3 percentage points on last year and far above the 6.6 per cent recorded in 2024. Russia came top of the list in 2025 but slipped to third place this year, with 18.3 per...
Tokyo, Oct. 13 (Jiji Press)--Sushi and other food delivery service operator Ride On Express Holdings Co. said Tuesday that the personal information of up to about 6.5 million registered customers may have been compromised through unauthorized server access. According to the company, the affected data includes the names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth and encry...
Tokyo, Oct. 13 (Jiji Press)--A delegation from China has visited Etorofu, one of the four Russian-controlled northwestern Pacific islands claimed by Japan, the government of the Sakhalin region in the Russian Far East said Tuesday. The visit by the mission, comprising local government officials and business representatives from the northeastern China province of Heilongjiang, which borders ...
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Tuesday that officials were reviewing the off-base code of conduct for US troops in Japan following the alleged killing of an Okinawan woman by a US marine. Crimes including rapes, assaults, hit-and-runs and drunk driving by US military personnel have long triggered protests on the southern Japanese island, which has for years urged other regions in the country to share the burden of hosting US troops. “We plan to hold discussions including...
Bangkok, Oct. 13 (Jiji Press)--The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised its economic growth projection for Japan to 0.7 pct for 2026, up 0.1 percentage point from its July forecast. The IMF's World Economic Outlook report cited "fiscal support measures partly cushioning the impact from higher energy prices." Japan's growth rate is now expected to be 0.7 pct in 2027, unchanged fr...
Tokyo, Oct. 12 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama will become the next chair of the joint ministerial committee of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced on Monday. Katayama will be the first Japanese national to chair the joint committee, also known as the Development Committee, since its establishment in 1974. T...
Tokyo, Oct. 12 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has strongly condemned the pro-Iran Houthi militant group in Yemen for attacking international airports in Saudi Arabia. Among the series of attacks since last week, Saturday's attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 12 people and injured more than 300. In a statement issued on Sunday, Motegi of...
A communique issued by the RSS said the meeting focused on ways to strengthen India–Japan relations, with particular emphasis on civilisational ties, cultural cooperation and people-centric initiatives.
The Hague, Netherlands, Oct. 9 (Jiji Press)--Japan and seven other countries on Friday voiced their strong objections to U.S. sanctions against the International Criminal Court, which is based in The Hague in the Netherlands. In a statement issued by their foreign ministers, Japan, Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Britain said, "As committed supporters of the ICC...
Tokyo, Oct. 9 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Friday expressed her deep concern over the U.S. government's decision to add the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, the Netherlands, to its sanctions list. In a social media post, Takaichi said that the U.S. decision, announced earlier in the day, is "incompatible with" Japan's position. "Japan has consi...
Tokyo, Oct. 9 (Jiji Press)--Japan's agriculture ministry said Friday that it had taken enforcement action against an Asian food store that stocked and sold meat products from Vietnam and Indonesia, whose imports are prohibited in principle, in the first such crackdown. On Sept. 29, the Animal Quarantine Service inspected the store in the city of Koga in Ibaraki Prefecture, eastern Japan, an...
Tokyo, Oct. 9 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Supreme Court on Friday upheld a damages order against a website operator who made imitation band scores available for free. The top court's Second Petty Bench thus finalized the Tokyo High Court order that the website operator pay about 169 million yen in damages to the plaintiff, Fairy Inc., the Tokyo-based publisher of the original band scores. The ...
Tokyo, Oct. 9 (Jiji Press)--The average number of new influenza cases per regularly monitored medical institution in Japan stood at 11.35 in the week through Sunday, exceeding the alert level of 10, the health ministry said Friday. The figure, based on reports from about 3,000 such medical institutions nationwide, surpassed the level indicating the possibility of an outbreak within four wee...