World News by Wild Rose

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...

Manila, Oct. 9 (Jiji Press)--Japan and the Philippines applied their Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, or ACSA, for the first time during a joint exercise in the Philippines, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force said Friday. During the Doshin Bayanihan exercise with the Philippine Air Force, held from Sunday through Friday on Leyte and Mactan islands, a C-130H transport aircraft of the...

Tokyo, Oct. 9 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Financial Services Agency on Friday called on financial institutions to review their cybersecurity measures in response to a recent series of customer data breaches caused by unauthorized access. The agency asked financial institutions to examine their response procedures in the event of a cyberattack and take necessary measures promptly if any deficienci...

A senior Japanese government spokesperson said it was regrettable that the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office had requested that Dutch authorities extradite International Criminal Court president Tomoko Akane and eight other officials. “Time and again we have conveyed to the Russian side that measures targeting individuals connected to the ICC are unfair and unacceptable. We find it regrettable that the Russian side has nevertheless requested various nations to extradite these individuals,”...

Overseas investors dumped the most Japanese stocks on record last week while buying up cash equities amid growing uncertainty over whether a rally in shares will continue.

New York, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)--Japanese alcoholic beverage makers have entered the growing U.S. market for ready-to-drink, or RTD, products, including those known as "can chuhi" in Japan but not canned beer. While U.S. consumers are steering away from alcohol amid the soaring cost of living and rising health consciousness, RTD beverages are increasing their presence. According to British ...

Japan’s household spending fell for a ninth month even as wages continued to climb, showing consumers remain cautious as persistent inflation squeezes purchasing power.

Global financial institutions are beefing up their debt capital market teams in Japan, hiring bankers and relocating staff, to capture a boom in fundraising driven by mergers, acquisitions, and artificial intelligence capital.

Japan and the United States will rehearse moving anti-ship missiles, air defences and communications networks onto islands near Taiwan this month in an expanded military exercise that analysts say could complicate Beijing’s planning for a Taiwan or East China Sea conflict. Keen Sword 27, which runs from October 19 to 29, will involve about 45,000 Japanese personnel, 6,100 vehicles, 40 ships and 260 aircraft, up from about 33,000 personnel, 30 ships and 250 aircraft in 2024. About 12,000 US...

Tokyo, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)--A Russian national believed to be a key member of the notorious "Qilin" international hacker group was arrested by German authorities after being extradited from Japan, Japanese police said Thursday. According to Japan's National Police Agency, German authorities had obtained an arrest warrant for the 28-year-old Russian citizen on suspicion of extortion for alle...

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will support a Japanese initiative to bolster oil supplies in Southeast Asia after war-driven disruptions heightened concerns over energy security.

Kobe, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)--Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. held a ceremony to launch a new 80.5-billion-yen nonnuclear submarine for the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force at a shipyard in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, on Thursday. The Shogei submarine, the seventh Taigei-class, is scheduled to be commissioned in March 2028. It measures 84 meters long and 9 meters wide, has a st...

Tokyo, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)--Since Japan stopped accepting new foreign workers in the restaurant industry with the Type I residency status for specified skilled workers in April, rising demand for such workers has driven them to urban areas, exacerbating labor shortages in regional areas. A private-sector survey showed that the number of job openings in the industry for foreign workers with ...

US President Donald Trump pressed Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during last month’s summit to end a deep freeze in relations with Japan’s Sanae Takaichi, the South China Morning Post reported. Trump raised Japan’s grievances over Chinese restrictions imposed following Takaichi’s comment in November that the Japanese military might intervene in the event of conflict in the Taiwan Strait, according to Thursday’s report, which cited people familiar with the discussions. Beijing regards Taiwan as...

Baku, Oct. 7 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Haruka Kaju won gold for the women's 63-kilogram category at the 2026 World Judo Championships on Wednesday, claiming the title in the weight division for the second straight year. The 26-year-old secured her ninth consecutive international judo tournament victory since December 2024, when she won the Grand Slam event in Tokyo. The reigning world No. 1 ...

Japan’s 30-year government bond auction drew stronger demand than its 12-month average as elevated yields attracted investors.

Tokyo, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Supreme Court is expected to issue a unified ruling within this year over lawsuits demanding that the results of the 2025 election for the Senate, the upper chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament, be invalidated due to large vote-value gaps. Final arguments over the case were made at the top court's Grand Bench, presided over by Supreme Court Chief...

Japan is expected to float the idea of acquiring a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines in revised security documents to be released later this year, with analysts suggesting that Tokyo’s initial aim is to promote discussion of the issue and overcome the public’s concerns. Analysts acknowledge there will inevitably be pushback from some sectors of Japan – the only nation to have suffered a nuclear attack – but say there is a growing recognition that regional rivalries are worsening and Japan...