Category: Japan

Japan Minister Discusses Security, China Pact in Visit to Solomon Islands

Japan’s foreign minister met with the Solomon Islands leader on Sunday and brought up about a controversial security pact that Beijing and the Pacific Island nation entered into last year, according to Japan’s government. During his visit to Honiara, foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare that Japan has been “closely…


Japan’s Indo-Pacific Strategy in Focus on Kishida’s Upcoming Visit to India

Japan’s prime minister will visit India next week with a focus on promoting a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry, amid concerns over Beijing’s military assertiveness in the region. The ministry stated that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will embark on his two-day visit to India on Sunday and meet with his Indian…


North Korea Says It Launched ICBM to Warn US, South Korea Over Drills

SEOUL—North Korea said that Thursday’s launch was its largest Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), fired during a drill to demonstrate a “tough response posture” to ongoing U.S.–South Korea military drills, state media reported. Photos released on Friday by North Korea’s state media showed Kim Jong Un watching the launch with his daughter, and included pictures…


South Korea, Japan Rebuild Ties in Face of North Korean Threat

The leaders of Japan and South Korea have agreed to restore bilateral ties, including the “complete” normalizing of a military intelligence-sharing pact to counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a summit in Tokyo on Thursday, where both promised to turn the…


Japan Posts Fewest Births in Record History, Amid an Increasingly Aged Society

New Analysis Japan saw the fewest number of births in its recorded history last year, health ministry data showed. The number of newborns in the country fell to 799,728 in 2022, down 5.1 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Feb. 28, marking a…


Japan to Deploy Over 100 Ammunition Storage Facilitates

The Japanese government is poised to set up about 130 ammunition storage facilities across the country in the next ten years, gearing toward boosting constant fighting capability to tackle the Taiwan Strait crisis. The first four ammunition depots are expected to be constructed in 2023 in Aomori and Oita, two prefectures in the Self-Defense Force…


Chinese Ambassador to Japan Resigns Upon Failure to Complete CCP-Tasked Missions

News Analysis Chinese ambassador to Japan, Kong Xuanyou resigned on Feb. 28 from his post and returned home to China. A 2019 analysis in Nikkei suggests that Kong’s departure was due to his failure to achieve the objective given to him by Beijing to restore and improve China-Japan relations. Kong, 63, was born to an…


Japan Agrees to Join Alternative WTO Trade-Dispute Resolution System

Japan has agreed to join an alternative dispute resolution system to the World Trade Organization (WTO) after a prolonged inactivity of the WTO Appellate Body left the country’s dispute cases in limbo. The cabinet approved the decision to participate in the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) on Friday, according to the Japanese Ministry of…


Bird Flu Creates Egg Shortages in Japan, Affecting Restaurant Chains, Retailers

Restaurant chain operators and retailers in Japan are struggling to source eggs, according to reports, as the country faces its worst avian influenza outbreak. Teikoku Databank said that at least 18 listed restaurant chain operators in Japan, including McDonald’s Holdings Co., have temporarily stopped selling egg-related menu items as of March 5, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile,…


BOJ Keeps Low Rates as Kuroda Sticks to Script at Swan Song Meeting

TOKYO—The Bank of Japan (BOJ) maintained ultra-low interest rates on Friday and held off making changes to its controversial bond yield control policy, leaving options open ahead of a leadership transition in April. Though widely expected by most analysts, the decision sent the yen and local bond yields tumbling as some investors unwound bets that…