Category: Japan

Japanese Lawmakers Eye Ban on TikTok, Others If Used Improperly

TOKYO—A group of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers plans to compile a proposal next month urging the government to ban social networking services such as TikTok if they are used for disinformation campaigns, an LDP lawmaker said on Monday. Many U.S. lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to ban the Chinese-owned social…


Russia Says It Test-Fired Anti-Ship Missiles in Sea of Japan

MOSCOW—Moscow test-fired anti-ship missiles in the Sea of Japan, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday, with two boats launching a simulated missile attack on a mock enemy warship about 100 kilometers (60 miles) away. The ministry said the target was successfully hit by two Moskit cruise missiles. The Moskit, whose NATO reporting name is the SS-N-22…


US Envoy Says ‘Anti-Coercion Coalition’ Needed to Tackle China’s Economic Coercion

The world’s leading economies should set up an “anti-coercion coalition” to combat Beijing’s persistent use of economic coercion to achieve its political goals, the U.S. ambassador of Japan said on March 27. U.S. envoy to Japan Rahm Emanuel said that collective action is needed to address instances where a country utilizes economic measures to penalize…


Japan’s Uno Retains World Title to Delight Home Crowd

SAITAMA, Japan—Shoma Uno retained his men’s figure skating world title with a nerveless free skate on home ice on Saturday after Madison Chock and Evan Bates overcame a fall in their free dance to win their first ice dance world title. After overcoming an ankle injury this week, Uno was not at his best but…


Ex-Vietnamese Intern Acquitted in Newborn Abandonment Case in Japan

Japan’s court on Friday acquitted a former Vietnamese technical trainee of abandoning the bodies of newborns she gave birth to at home in 2020, in a case that highlighted the strain pregnant foreign trainees in Japan faced. The Supreme Court overturned the verdicts of Le Thi Thuy Linh, 24, who received a suspended jail sentence…


Japan’s Longest-Serving Iron Chef Kenichi Chen Dies at Age 67

Japan’s famous Chinese cuisine chef Chen Kenichi died at a Tokyo hospital on March 11 due to interstitial pneumonia. He was 67. Chen is best known for his role as the “Iron Chef Chinese” on the television series Iron Chef, a popular Japanese cooking show produced by Fuji TV. He was the longest-serving Iron Chef…


Trevor Bauer, Shunned by MLB, Introduced by Japanese Team

YOKOHAMA, Japan—The Trevor Bauer era in Japan began Friday at an introductory news conference, where he pulled a blue and white Yokohama DeNA BayStars jersey over a white shirt and red tie. The 2020 Cy Young Award winner is in Japan on a one-year deal that could let him prove himself and return to Major…


Japan’s Consumer Inflation Off 41-year High but Cost Pressure Persists

TOKYO—Japan’s core consumer inflation slowed in February but an index stripping away energy costs hit a four-decade high, data showed on Friday, suggesting cost-push pressures may persist longer than policymakers thought. With inflation still exceeding the Bank of Japan’s 2 percent target, the data will keep alive market expectations of a tweak to its bond…


South Korea, Japan Forms ‘Mini-Nato’ in Asia in Face of Communist Aggression: Expert

New Analysis After a 12-year hiatus in reciprocal visits between the leaders of South Korea and Japan, the recent visit to Japan by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was seen as an ice-breaking trip. A political analyst told The Epoch Times that Japan and South Korea had achieved an “epoch-making reconciliation” and created a “mini-NATO”…


Japan Plans $75 Billion Investment Across Indo-Pacific to Counter China

TOKYO/NEW DELHI—Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday announced a new plan to promote an open and free Indo-Pacific, promising billions of dollars in investment to help economies across the region in everything from industry to disaster prevention. The plan he announced in New Delhi is seen as Tokyo’s bid to forge stronger ties with…