Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Bank of Japan policymaker Naoki Tamura said Friday that the central bank’s 2 pct inflation target could be deemed to have been achieved as early as this spring. In a speech in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo,

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Cavity rates for kindergarten, elementary, junior high and high school students in Japan all rewrote record lows, an education ministry survey for fiscal 2025 showed Friday. According to the survey for the year ending next month, 19.44 pct

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese opposition Centrist Reform Alliance on Friday elected Junya Ogawa, former secretary-general of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, as its new leader. Ogawa, 54, gained 27 of the votes cast by the new party’s 49 House

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Nearly 60 pct of companies in Japan do not want the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates over the next year, a poll by Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. showed Friday. The results indicated that many companies are

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Dentsu Group Inc. said Friday that it logged a record consolidated net loss of 327.6 billion yen for the year through December 2025 due chiefly to an impairment loss of 310.1 billion yen from sluggish overseas operations. The

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party plans to recommend former Justice Minister Eisuke Mori as speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament, senior LDP officials said Friday. Mori, a 77-year-old LDP

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department sent papers on two U.S. Marines to public prosecutors on Friday, alleging that they broke into restaurants in the Japanese capital and stole cash, Jiji Press has learned. The Marines, aged 20 and 26

Fukuoka, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Japan has seized a Chinese fishing vessel and arrested its 47-year-old Chinese captain after the boat allegedly tried to flee an inspection in the Japanese exclusive economic zone off an island in Nagasaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan. It was

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government will come up with an outline of a consumption tax cut and a refundable tax credit by June, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Friday. The administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to set up

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–An advisory panel to Japan’s health minister on Friday recommended raising medical fees under the country’s health insurance system to reflect rising prices and support wage increases for medical workers. According to the recommendations by the Central Social

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s opposition Centrist Reform Alliance on Friday elected Junya Ogawa, former secretary-general of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, as its leader. In the leadership election, Ogawa, 54, gained 27 votes from the new centrist party’s 49 lawmakers,

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. said Friday its smartphone payment service unit PayPay Corp. will go public on the U.S. Nasdaq stock market. PayPay filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a statement explaining its initial public offering

Washington, Feb. 12 (Jiji Press)–Japan and the United States have yet to work out the first batch of U.S.-bound investment deals worth 550 billion dollars planned by Tokyo, visiting Japanese economic minister Ryosei Akazawa said Thursday. After a 90-minute meeting with U.S.

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–The Diet, Japan’s parliament, will kick off a special session on Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told party representatives on Friday. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is expected to be re-elected on the first day of the session

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Dentsu Group Inc. has decided to book an impairment loss of 310.1 billion yen for the year through December 2025, due to sluggish overseas operations, it was learned Friday. For the business year, the major Japanese advertising group

Milan, Feb. 12 (Jiji Press)–Japanese snowboarder Mitsuki Ono and skier Ikuma Horishima each won a bronze medal at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Thursday. Ono secured her bronze in the women’s snowboard halfpipe, which marked Japan’s record-setting fourth medal in snowboarding during a

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has told his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, that Japan will continue to support the war-torn Eastern European country and impose sanctions against Russia in coordination with its Group of Seven partners and the

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp. plans to issue a stablecoin, a type of digital asset, whose value is linked to legal tender, in fiscal 2026 starting in April, President and CEO Hiroshi Kubota said in a recent

(Adnkronos) – Horror in the Burgundy region, France, where a woman in her fifties was arrested by police after the discovery of the bodies of two newborns in the freezer of her home in Aillevillers-et-Lyaumont. Le Figaro reports that the woman is

(Adnkronos) – A 6.1 magnitude earthquake on the Richter Scale was recorded in northern Chile with an epicenter near 15 kilometers southeast of Fray Jorge Park, in the Coquimbo region. This was announced by the national seismological center. The tremors were also

(Adnkronos) – “President Trump has promised mass deportations (of migrants, ed.), and that is what this country will have.” This was stated by the ‘border czar’, Tom Homan, during a press conference in Minneapolis in which he announced that Operation Metro Surge

(Adnkronos) – Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani is among over 1,000 guests including some 50 world leaders attending the Munich Security conference on Friday through Monday. Security, defence, global crises and the future of Europe’s relationship with the US amid frayed transatlantic

Tokyo, Feb. 12 (Jiji Press)–The labor union at Japan’s Daihatsu Motor Co. plans to demand a wage increase of 22,000 yen per month in this year’s “shunto” spring labor-management negotiations, Jiji Press learned Thursday. The figure will surpass last year’s request of

Tokyo, Feb. 12 (Jiji Press)–Softbank Group Corp. said Thursday that its consolidated net profit in April-December last year increased fivefold from a year before to 3,172.6 billion yen, thanks to investment profits mainly from U.S. artificial intelligence powerhouse OpenAI. Subsidiaries of the

Tokyo, Feb. 12 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Rakuten Group Inc. said Thursday that it logged a consolidated net loss of 177.8 billion yen in the fiscal year ended December 2025, marking the seventh consecutive year of red ink. The result was worse than the

Yokohama, Feb. 12 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. said Thursday it expects to post a group net loss of 650 billion yen for fiscal 2025 ending next month, marking its second straight year in the red. As the reasons for the dismal

(Adnkronos) – The foreign ministry and state-backed financial conglomerate Poste Italiane on Thursday inked an accord to help small-to-medium-sized companies strengthen their presence in international markets and boost exports of Italian-made goods.  Foreign minister Antonio Tajani, Poste Italiane’s chief executive Matteo Del

Tokyo, Feb. 12 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc. said Thursday that it has confirmed 1,155 cases of unauthorized data transfers by 64 employees seconded from affiliated insurance companies to 28 agents, including banks. The information taken without permission included personal data

Tokyo, Feb. 12 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may visit South Korea in March to hold talks with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, informed sources said Thursday. The plan has emerged among Japanese and South Korean government officials as part of

(Adnkronos) – The U.S. House of Representatives has approved the Save America Act, which would radically change voting rules, requiring proof of citizenship at the time of voter registration and significantly reducing mail-in voting. The bill, approved with 218 votes in favor