2025 - Page 28

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)–Four major Japanese banks said Friday that they will raise their annual interest rates on ordinary deposits to 0.3 pct from current 0.2 pct, effective Feb. 2, 2026, following the Bank of Japan’s latest rate hike decision. The

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan and five Central Asian nations kicked off their first-ever leaders’ meeting in Tokyo on Friday, aiming to deepen cooperation on energy and mineral resources and on artificial intelligence. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, chair of the two-day

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling parties agreed Friday to seek to reduce the country’s medical costs by 188 billion yen per year, by revising the eligibility of certain drugs for insurance coverage. The agreement was struck between the policy chiefs of

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is considering adding Japanese language proficiency as a requirement for permanent residency for foreigners, sources familiar with the matter said Friday. To obtain the status, foreigners will also be mandated to take a

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)–Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. said Friday that it plans to invest some 396.2 billion Indian rupees, or about 682.3 billion yen, in major Indian nonbanking financial company Shriram Finance Ltd. The Japanese megabank group will acquire, through

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Emperor Naruhito held separate meetings with the visiting presidents of four Central Asian countries–Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan–at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Friday. The Emperor and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev talked about, among other things,

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Friday instructed relevant government agencies to work to hold a summit on artificial intelligence in Japan as early as possible. The envisaged summit would bring together government officials and researchers from countries

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japanese opposition parties on Friday urged Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to dismiss a senior government official who has said that the country should possess nuclear weapons. The government has emphasized that it remains committed to the three nonnuclear

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)–The Fair Trade Commission on Friday recognized bid-rigging by Central Japan Railway Co., or JR Tokai, and five other firms regarding inspection work for bridges installed over railroad tracks in violation of the antimonopoly law, ordering them to

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Defense Ministry resumed ground improvement work in Oura Bay in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on Friday for the construction of a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air base also in the southernmost prefecture,