Category: Japan

Japan Signs up With Malaysia’s Petronas to Secure LNG Supplies

The Japanese government has signed an energy agreement with Malaysia’s state oil and gas firm Petronas that includes supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks in the event of an emergency. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with Petronas at the LNG Producer-Consumer Conference in Tokyo on Thursday. The…


The Best Advice Washington Ever Got on US-Japan Defense

Commentary It’s exhilarating that Japanese leaders are talking about spending much more on defense and improving the nation’s defense capabilities. But they are short on specifics, and with communist China out looking for a fight, it’s dangerous to hope Japan figures things out at its own pace. The Americans, who shoulder the heaviest load in…


Japan Demands Apology From Russia Over ‘Coercively’ Detaining Consul

Japan’s government on Tuesday demanded an apology from Russian authorities for “coercively” detaining a Japanese consulate official, who was accused of espionage and ordered to leave Russia. Tatsunori Motoki, a Japanese consul in Valdivostok, was detained on Sept. 22 and declared “persona non grata”—a term used for an unwelcome person—for allegedly engaging in spying, which…


Russia’s FSB Detains and Expels Japanese Consul for Alleged Spying: Russian State Media

Russia’s FSB security agency said on Monday it had detained a Japanese consul in Russia’s Pacific port city of Vladivostok for alleged espionage and ordered him to leave the country, Russian news agencies said. The consul was released after a few hours of detention by the Russian agency, Japan’s Kyodo news reported on Tuesday, citing government sources. The…


Russia’s FSB Detains and Expels Japanese Consul for Alleged Spying, Japan Demands Apology

Russia’s FSB security agency said on Monday it had detained a Japanese consul in Russia’s Pacific port city of Vladivostok for alleged espionage and ordered him to leave the country, Russian news agencies said. The consul was released after a few hours of detention by the Russian agency, Japan’s Kyodo news reported on Tuesday, citing government sources. The…


Harris and Kishida Affirm ‘Ironclad Commitment’ to Counter CCP Aggression in Taiwan Strait

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Sept. 26. The two leaders affirmed their nations’ support for one another and condemned Chinese communist aggression in the Taiwan Strait. “The Vice President underscored that the U.S.-Japan Alliance is the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, and…


Japan’s Factory Activity Expands at Slowest Pace in 20 Months: Flash PMI

TOKYO—Japan’s factory activity growth hit a 20-month low in September, as firms struggled with a global slowdown and pressure from high energy and raw material prices that was exacerbated by a weak yen. The au Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slipped to a seasonally adjusted 51.0 in September from the prior…


EXCLUSIVE: The Story of Aiko Kawasaki, A Korean Japanese Who Escaped North Korea

A seventeen-year-old Aiko Kawasaki went aboard the ship leaving for North Korea from the harbor of Niigata, Japan. As her parents begged her in tears not to leave, she insisted on going and promised them that they would see each other a year later in “an earthly paradise”—North Korea. Kawasaki told The Epoch Times that…


Typhoon Lashes Central Japan, Killing 2

TOKYO—A typhoon lashed central Japan on Saturday with torrential rain and fierce winds, killing two and leaving tens of thousands of households without power, the Kyodo news agency reported. Shizuoka city, southwest of the capital, Tokyo, was hit especially hard, seeing a record 417 mm (16.42 inches) of precipitation since the rain started on Thursday,…


Japan to Reinstate Visa-Free Travel as COVID-19 Fades

Japan will resume visa-free entry for individual travelers and scrap its daily entry cap on Oct. 11, effectively ending its tight COVID-19 regulations on foreign tourists after nearly two and a half years. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that Japan would further relax its border measures and remove the daily arrival cap, which is…