Tokyo, Oct. 20 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Empress Emerita Michiko, wife of Emperor Emeritus Akihito and mother of Emperor Naruhito, marked her 91st birthday on Monday. The Empress Emerita broke her right thigh bone in October last year, but has recovered to almost the

Osaka, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), which are aiming to form a coalition government, are expected to exchange policy agreement documents at a leaders’ meeting on Monday, informed sources said Sunday. This

Tokyo, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)–Sanae Takaichi, the new leader of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, did not visit war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo during its three-day autumn festival through Sunday. As Takaichi is expected to be nominated as the country’s new prime minister

Osaka, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), which are aiming to form a coalition government, are expected to reach policy agreements at a leaders’ meeting on Monday, informed sources said Sunday. This would

Moscow, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)–A privately organized Japanese culture festival called “Hinode” was held in Moscow for two days through Sunday. Although Japan, which imposes sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, has been designated by Moscow as an “unfriendly nation,”

Tokyo, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)–The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said Sunday it has postponed the launch of the seventh unit of its H3 liquid fuel rocket, which was scheduled for Tuesday, due to a bad weather forecast. The new launch

Tokyo, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)–Batteries are taking center stage behind the scenes in Japan’s electric vehicle market, with domestic automakers striving to improve performance of their latest models by adopting lighter and more efficient packs as well as technologies popular among Chinese

Bellevue, Washington, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)–Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. will consider using digital technologies including generative artificial intelligence to support its sales agents, Yukinori Takada, president of the Japanese insurer, said in a recent interview with Jiji Press. The comment followed a

Tokyo, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) on Saturday advanced final negotiations toward forming a coalition government, with Nippon Ishin considering options including supporting the LDP from outside the cabinet. Even in the

Jakarta, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)–Morinari Watanabe, president of the International Gymnastics Federation, or FIG, on Saturday expressed understanding for the International Olympic Committee’s statement that showed concern over the Indonesian government’s refusal to issue visas to the Israeli gymnastics team ahead of

Tokyo, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)–Japanese brewers Suntory Holdings Ltd. and Sapporo Breweries Ltd. have announced a partial halt to sales of their beer sets for end-of-year gifts, as they are receiving a flood of orders amid delays in product shipments from cyberattack-hit

(The second paragraph from the last should have read, “…have helped…,” instead of as sent. A substitute story follows.) Japan to Conduct Survey on Online Hate Speech Tokyo, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese Justice Ministry is considering conducting the first nationwide survey

Tokyo, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)–The average price of rice sold at some 1,000 supermarkets across Japan in the week through Sunday dropped 63 yen from the previous week to 4,142 yen per 5 kilograms, the agriculture ministry has said. The average was

Tokyo, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s three megabanks are planning to jointly issue corporate-use stablecoins pegged to legal tender like the yen and the dollar, aiming to promote their use in the country. MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Bank intend

Tokyo, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government decided Friday to award the Order of Culture for fiscal 2025 to eight people, including baseball legend Sadaharu Oh, 85, currently chairman of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks professional baseball team, and Susumu Kitagawa, 74, special

(Adnkronos) – Italy’s overseas development agency (AICS) in Lebanon and Syria’s new head, Liana De Rosa, on Friday met Italian non-governmental organisations operating in Lebanon to mark the start of her posting.  “Today, meeting w/ Italian civil society organizations active in Lebanon,

(Adnkronos) – Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to a 48-hour extension of the two-day ceasefire in effect since Wednesday to facilitate negotiations that will begin tomorrow in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The Taliban negotiating team confirmed this to Tolo News broadcaster,

Tokyo, Oct. 17 (Jiji Press)–The 11-country Asia Zero Emission Community held a ministerial meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, affirming the importance of financing for decarbonization projects, such as the procurement of liquefied natural gas, which emits relatively low carbon dioxide when

(Adnkronos) – North Korea is increasingly involved in Moscow’s war effort. Cluster munitions – that is, munitions that break apart in flight into multiple explosives or incendiary weapons that fall over a wide area – of North Korean manufacture are being used

(Adnkronos) – Two well-known generals and seven other high-ranking officers are under investigation for corruption. This is happening in China, where Xi Jinping’s purges continue, affecting prominent officials. He Weidong, number two of the powerful Central Military Commission and one of the

(Adnkronos) – Lebanese authorities have ordered the release – upon payment of an 11 million dollar bail – of Hannibal Gaddafi, one of the sons of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who has been detained for 10 years in Lebanon without ever

(Adnkronos) – The ‘no Kings’ protest returns across America, with demonstrations scheduled for tomorrow in over 2500 locations nationwide. The day, which is the second after last June’s, which saw the mobilization of 5 million people, is organized by a coalition of

(Adnkronos) – Michelle Bolsonaro, the wife of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempted coup, has not ruled out her possible candidacy in the 2026 presidential elections, emphasizing, however, that the decision rests with God and

(Adnkronos) – Almost half of Poles would be ready to fight in case of an attack on their country. This is what emerges from a survey conducted by the Ibris institute for the newspaper Rzeczpospolita, according to which 25.6% of respondents would

Berlin, Oct. 17 (Jiji Press)–Authorities in a Berlin district said Friday that they have removed a statue symbolizing “comfort women,” or those who worked as prostitutes for Japanese troops before and during World War II. The decision to remove the statue, set

(Adnkronos) – Training is a key plank of Italy’s multi-billion euro Mattei plan to stabilise Africa and propel its economic development, deputy foreign minister Edmondo Cirielli said at the Med Dialogues conference in Naples on Friday.  “Training is at the heart of

Tokyo, Oct. 17 (Jiji Press)–Members of Japanese ruling and opposition parties expressed their sadness over the death of former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on Friday. As then president of the Liberal Democratic Party, former House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono, 88, made

Tokyo, Oct. 17 (Jiji Press)–The leaders of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) held their second round of policy talks on Friday and agreed to accelerate arrangements to form a new coalition government. “We made

(Adnkronos) – Training is a key plank of Italy’s multi-billion euro Mattei plan to stabilise Africa and propel its economic development, deputy foreign minister Edmondo Cirielli said at the Med Dialogues conference in Naples on Friday.  “Training is at the heart of

Tokyo, Oct. 17 (Jiji Press)–A total of 78 pct of Japan’s rice farmers said they plan to maintain or increase production of staple rice in five years, a Japanese agriculture ministry survey showed Friday. Those who want to maintain the current level