Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo police have arrested four suspects, including a Chinese national, for allegedly exchanging counterfeit commemorative 10,000-yen silver coins at financial institutions in at least seven of Japan’s 47 prefectures. The Metropolitan Police Department did not disclose whether the

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–An advisory panel to Japan’s prime minister will launch discussions as early as Jan. 19 on the roles of municipal governments and large cities, people familiar with the matter told Jiji Press. In June last year, a study

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara on Thursday emphasized the importance of the United States’ role in the international community, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the country’s withdrawal from 66 international organizations including the U.N. Framework Convention

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–Mizuho Bank said Thursday it will set its long-term prime lending rate for January at 2.75 pct, up from 2.60 pct at present and the highest level since 2.90 pct for February 1999. The new rate will take

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hopes to enhance ties with partner countries amid China’s coercive behavior, as she is set to receive South Korean and Italian leaders next week. Her summit diplomacy for 2026 will go into full

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–New gas field development activity by China has been confirmed near the median line between Japan and China in the East China Sea, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a press conference Thursday. Tokyo lodged a

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–Major Japanese supermarket operator Aeon Co. is set to make drugstore chain Tsuruha Holdings Inc. a subsidiary next week following a tender offer that ended Tuesday. Aeon said Wednesday that it received sell offers for 50.11 pct of

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–Japanese police plan to strengthen penalties for illegal transfers of bank accounts and regulate so-called remittance side jobs as part of their efforts to beef up crackdowns on money laundering involving scam proceeds. The measures were included in

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–Koichi Hagiuda, executive acting secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has said that his party should prioritize expanding its coalition framework over dissolving the House of Representatives for a snap election. In an online show recorded Tuesday

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–Asian black bear sightings in Japan from April to November 2025 totaled 47,038, marking the highest figure since comparable data became available in fiscal 2009, according to the Environment Ministry. The eight-month figure nearly doubled from the previous

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s inflation-adjusted real wage index fell 2.8 pct year on year in November 2025, marking the 11th straight month of decline as wage growth failed to outpace rising prices, government data showed Thursday. Nominal wages per worker, including

Kashiwara, Osaka Pref., Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–A horse park in the western Japan prefecture of Osaka is protecting and raising “Dosanko” Japanese horses, with only some 1,000 of the breed to be found in Japan. Masashi Yokoyama, 71, operates a park where

Tokyo, Jan. 7 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government will set up a Japanese version of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, to conduct a cross-ministerial review of foreign investments in Japanese companies. The plan to establish a Japanese

(Adnkronos) – “Russia and China have zero fear of a NATO without the United States, and I doubt that (the Alliance, editor’s note) would be there for us if we really needed it.” The President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated

(Adnkronos) – A group of 46 Italian tourists were set to arrive in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Wednesday after they were stranded on Yemen’s remote island of Socotra when the United Arab Emirates withdrew its troops from Yemen last week

(Adnkronos) – The United States has taken control of the Marinera oil tanker after more than two weeks of pursuit in the Atlantic. An American official told Nbc, specifying that the operation was led by the Department of Homeland Security with the

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Jan. 7 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Wednesday met with Nago Mayor Taketoyo Toguchi to seek local understanding for relocating the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air base to the southern Japan city. The first meeting between Koizumi

(Adnkronos) – A coup has been thwarted in Burkina Faso, which involved the killing of President and military leader Ibrahim Traoré. This was denounced by Burkina Faso’s Minister of National Security, Mahamadou Sana, according to whom the plan had been organized by

(Adnkronos) – Berlin is counting on Italy’s approval of the agreement with Mercosur. “The Mercosur dossier is about to be closed. We are very confident that Italy will now approve this agreement with Mercosur, after which the federal government will continue to

(Adnkronos) – The United States is pressuring Venezuela’s interim government to expel officials and advisors from China, Russia, Cuba, and Iran. American officials told the New York Times that the request was presented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a private

(Adnkronos) – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke in recent hours with the Argentine Foreign Minister and the President of Ecuador, with whom he discussed the situation in Venezuela. Rubio – reported State Department Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Piggot – spoke with

(Adnkronos) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked his team, engaged in ”another session” of talks today in Paris with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to “discuss possible formats for leader-level meetings between Ukraine, other European states, and the United States.”

Tokyo, Jan. 7 (Jiji Press)–An employee of the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority’s secretariat lost a work-issued smartphone in China during a private trip last year, it was learned Wednesday. The smartphone contained information such as the names and contact details of staff

Beijing, Jan. 7 (Jiji Press)–The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday claimed that the country’s ban on exports of dual-use goods to Japan is completely legitimate and legal. At a press conference that day, ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that the measure is

Beijing, Jan. 7 (Jiji Press)–China’s Ministry of Commerce launched an antidumping investigation Wednesday into Japanese dichlorosilane, a compound used in semiconductor manufacturing. The ministry claims that the domestic industry was affected by rising imports of Japanese dichlorosilane between 2022 and 2024. The

(Adnkronos) – Career diplomat Nicola Lener is Italy’s new envoy to Australia, the foreign ministry wrote Wednesday on X, congratulating Lener on his posting.   “Congratulations to Nicola Lener, new Ambassador of Italy to Australia,” read the post, which contained emojis of

Tokyo, Jan. 7 (Jiji Press)–The market for so-called “social gifts,” which allow people to send presents through social media or email, is expanding rapidly in Japan, with its size estimated at 600 billion yen this year, 3.8 times larger than six years

Nagoya, Jan. 7 (Jiji Press)–Shunsuke Niwa, president of Central Japan Railway Co., or JR Tokai, has stressed that the company will continue promoting the construction of the Chuo Shinkansen high-speed magnetic levitation train line. “We will steadily work (on the construction),” he

(Adnkronos) – Italy has urged Switzerland to safeguard journalists covering investigations into the deadly fire at a bar in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montanta, which killed 40 people, including six Italian teenagers and injured over 100 people on New Year’s Eve. 

Tokyo, Jan. 7 (Jiji Press)–The average retail price of regular gasoline in Japan as of Monday fell 2.3 yen from a week before to 155.7 yen per liter, down for the eighth straight week, the industry ministry said Wednesday. The average price