World News by Wild Rose

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...

Activist investor Flashlight Capital Partners urged Japan’s Secom Co. to roughly double its interest in South Korea’s S-1 Corp. and Taiwan Secom Co., roping in a new party after its earlier bid to acquire an S-1 stake was rejected.

India and Japan to convene Foreign, Defence Ministers dialogue by the end of the year, senior Japanese Foreign Affairs official tells The Hindu; calls for maritime law to be respected in disputed South China Sea islands

Tokyo, Sept. 28 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government Monday held the first meeting of an expert panel on strengthening intelligence capabilities, initiating discussions on formulating a national intelligence strategy. Discussions at the panel will also focus on anti-espionage legislation, such as a foreign interference prevention law, and the establishment of a proposed external intelligen...

Tokyo, Sept. 28 (Jiji Press)--Precipitation was observed in Central Tokyo for 33 consecutive days from Aug. 27 through Monday, due in part to rains brought by fronts and typhoons, tying the record for the longest such spell since statistics were first compiled in 1886, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The agency's observation point for Tokyo, located in Kitanomaru Park in the J...

Tokyo, Sept. 28 (Jiji Press)--Major Japanese beer companies are revamping flagship products and reclassifying quasi-beer items as beer as they prepare for intensifying competition following Thursday's unification of liquor taxes on beer and related products. As the tax rate change will narrow the price differences among beer, "happoshu" quasi-beer products and beer-like beverages known as th...

Hong Kong customs officers have seized 400 so-called slimming injections imported from Japan, with an estimated market value of about HK$290,000 (US$36,970), and arrested two local residents in an operation earlier this month. The case came to light on September 5, when officers intercepted a suspicious postal packet imported from Japan at the Air Mail Centre. “Upon inspection, customs officers found and seized 400 anti-obesity injection vials suspected to contain Part 1 poisons from the...

The yen surged, erasing earlier losses, after Japan’s currency czar issued another warning about its weakness.

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:...

Warburg Pincus CEO, Jeffrey Perlman, says Japan is undergoing structural changes that are making the country more attractive to global private equity firms. He spoke exclusively on Bloomberg's Insight with Haslinda Amin about the opportunities emerging in the Japanese market. (Source: Bloomberg)

Takuji Aida, Chief Japan Economist at Credit Agricole and an economic advisor to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, says any expansion of Japan’s defense spending will likely be spread over many years and shouldn’t become a source of significant market anxiety in any single year. He speaks with Shery Ahn on Bloomberg: The Asia Trade. (Source: Bloomberg)

Japan’s two-year government bond yield is closing in on the key 2% threshold as investors ramp up bets on further Bank of Japan rate hikes.

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. ...

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Sept. 27 (Jiji Press)--A Chinese marine research ship was spotted within Japan's exclusive economic zone off Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday, the Japan Coast Guard said. The research ship Kexue was seen dropping what appeared to be a wire into the sea within the EEZ about 72 kilometers north of the southernmost prefecture's Ishigaki Island, according to the 11th Regional C...

Tokyo, Sept. 27 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese and Turkish governments will open Turkish-Japanese Science and Technology University, or TJU, in Ankara in October to train experts who can play core roles in fields such as artificial intelligence and earthquake disasters. Japan aims to develop educational, scientific and technological cooperation with Turkey into a strategic partnership that incl...

Otaki, Nagano Pref., Sept. 27 (Jiji Press)--A memorial ceremony was held Sunday in the village of Otaki, Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, for the victims of the eruption of Mount Ontake that occurred 12 years ago, leaving 58 people dead and five missing. The event at Matsubara Sports Park was co-hosted by Otaki and the town of Kiso in the same prefecture. About 60 people attended, includin...

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. 26 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government is seeking clarity on Thursday's U.S.-China summit after U.S. President Donald Trump referred to China as an ally during World War II. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering calling Trump for a direct briefing on the summit, as the president's remark caused confusion within the Japanese government. "I won't comment on e...

Tokyo, Sept. 25 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Friday she and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reaffirmed at their online meeting the same day that "the undervaluation of the yen is a problem." Katayama revealed this in talks with reporters after the virtual meeting. "We exchanged views on financial market developments," she also said. "We also reconfi...

Tokyo, Sept. 25 (Jiji Press)--About half of 120 civic groups working in Japan to save and rehome dogs and cats received more requests to take in such animals for protection in the past year than in the preceding year, a private-sector survey shows. According to the survey, conducted by pet care-related company Inuneko-Seikatsu Co., the 120 groups took in a total of 8,718 dogs and cats in th...

Tokyo, Sept. 25 (Jiji Press)--Japanese municipalities are turning their low name recognition into tourism promotion opportunities, using self-deprecating jokes to attract attention. The Akita prefectural government's tourism strategy division launched a campaign from May to July this year to distribute accommodation coupons under a catchy slogan, "Akita Prefecture: Still Unnoticed." The ...

Japan’s Financial Services Agency is stepping up its scrutiny of financing for AI data centers by the country’s biggest banks and life insurers, as major financial institutions increase their exposure to the rapidly expanding sector.

Tokyo, Sept. 25 (Jiji Press)--Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. is considering going private, with a consortium of Japanese and British investment funds having proposed acquiring the company and overhauling its management, sources said Friday. According to the sources, Japan's Nippon Sangyo Suishin Kiko Ltd. and Britain's CVC Capital Partners PLC have proposed a tender offer for the Japanese drugm...

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. 25 (Jiji Press)--New Japanese agriculture minister Kazuo Yana said in a recent interview that the top focus of his agricultural policy will be ensuring appropriate prices for agricultural products. "With prices of production materials rising, it is difficult for farmers to secure profits," Yana said. "Establishing appropriate prices and creating conditions that enable farmers t...

Tokyo, Sept. 25 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will visit Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Tuesday to meet with people affected by a powerful earthquake in July, according to a plan approved by the government at a cabinet meeting Friday. In their one-day trip, the Imperial couple will visit areas in the cities of Yatsushiro and Uki and the town of Hika...