Japan
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Japan’s government said on Friday (Feb 14) it will release its stockpile of rice – the nation’s cherished staple food – reserved for emergency use in response to soaring prices. The government has tapped into its rice reserves in the past during emergencies such as major earthquakes, but this will be its first time doing…
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Authorities in Kyoto announced on Tuesday (Jan 14) plans for a big hike in hotel lodging taxes, as Japan’s picture-perfect ancient capital seeks to assuage grumbles from locals about too many tourists. Lured by its myriad sights and a weak yen, Japan has seen foreign tourism numbers explode in recent years, with arrivals in 2024…
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Japan’s foreign minister held talks in South Korea with top officials on Monday (Jan 13) as the Asian neighbours seek to strengthen ties before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump. Takeshi Iwaya met counterpart Cho Tae-yul for discussions in the capital Seoul, the South Korean foreign ministry said, with the two later holding a…
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Japan and South Korea have solidified their positions at the top of their respective 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifying groups, after Japan’s 3-1 victory over China and South Korea’s 1-1 draw with Palestine on Tuesday. Determined to redeem themselves after a 7-0 humiliation in their previous encounter with Japan, China started defensively. However, in…
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Japan’s weather agency on Sunday morning downgraded its heavy rain emergency warning for parts of Ishikawa Prefecture to a warning, but authorities called for continued vigilance against possible floods and landslides. The emergency warning issued on Saturday, the highest level of alert on the agency’s scale of one to five, covered the cities of Wajima,…
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Japan braced on Wednesday (Aug 28) for its strongest typhoon of the year, with authorities advising tens of thousands of people to evacuate and issuing the highest warning level for wind and storm surges on the main southern island of Kyushu. “Typhoon Shanshan is expected to approach southern Kyushu with extremely strong force through Thursday and…
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The headquarters of Toyota Motor has been visited in Japan as part of an investigation into official safety certifications affecting models across five major carmakers in the country. Hours after Toyota’s embattled chairman issued an apology for cheating tests on seven models, officials from Japan’s transport ministry descended on the offices in Toyota city to probe irregularities…
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Japan’s real wages fell 2.2 percent in fiscal 2023 from the previous year, logging the sharpest drop in nine years, as inflation outpaced pay increases, the government said Thursday. The inflation-adjusted wages declined for the second straight year following a 1.8 percent decrease in fiscal 2022, marking the largest drop since fiscal 2014 when real…
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China’s central bank conducted 2 billion yuan (about 281.57 million U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 percent Monday. The move aims to keep liquidity reasonable and ample in the banking system, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement. A reverse repo is a process in which the…
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Tokyo stocks closed lower on Monday, as investors stayed cautious before the release of earnings reports by major Japanese companies later this week. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock index, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, ended down 49.65 points, or 0.13 percent, from Friday at 38,179.46. The broader Topix index, meanwhile, finished 4.13 points, or 0.15 percent,…
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“There’s no such thing as overcapacity,” Tang Jin, a senior researcher at Japan’s Mizuho Bank, told Xinhua in a recent interview, highlighting the global consensus and trend towards green and low-carbon pursuits, as well as the burgeoning development of electric vehicles worldwide. Tang pointed out that among about 90 million units in annual global sales…
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OpenAI, the developer of the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, has opened its first office in the Asian region in the Japanese capital, Tokyo. “We chose Tokyo as our first Asian office for its global leadership in technology, culture of service, and a community that embraces innovation,” said company in an official statement. Company’s CEO Sam…
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Fumio Kishida and his wife will visit the White House on Tuesday evening ahead of Wednesday’s official visit and formal state dinner. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida began a much-anticipated visit to Washington on Tuesday that spotlights shared concerns about provocative Chinese military action in the Pacific. Mr Kishida and his wife will visit the…
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As Japan seeks to attract more foreign workers amid an aging and shrinking workforce, on February 9, the Japanese government approved a new foreign trainee program to replace its current “Technical Intern Training Program.” The current program, introduced in 1993, has been criticized as a cover for importing cheap labor under abusive conditions and with…
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The Japanese Coast Guard said that for several weeks, Chinese coast guard vessels have been passing by waters claimed by Japan in the East China Sea, and in recent days, China’s warships have been spotted near Japan’s southwestern islands. It added that last week, a fleet of four Chinese coast guard vessels passed just outside…
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China’s coast guard issued an order recently, directing a Japanese fishing vessel and several patrol ships to vacate the waters surrounding the small Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea. This incident highlights ongoing tensions between the two nations. China asserts its sovereignty over these islands and does not acknowledge Japan’s claim to the uninhabited…
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