Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday approved a bill that criminalizes vandalism of the Japanese national flag. The party plans to submit the bill during the ongoing Diet session after coordinating with its junior coalition partner, the

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Japan will launch an investigation to judge whether antidumping duties need to be imposed on steel products from China, South Korea and Taiwan, the finance and industry ministries said Monday. The probe into hot-rolled steel strips and sheets

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan agreed Monday to put the government’s fiscal 2026 supplementary budget bill to a vote by a House of Councillors committee on Friday and then to

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held telephone talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday, calling for maximum flexibility to end the U.S.-Iran conflict. During the call, Takaichi said that she expects the two countries to reach a

(Adnkronos) – 53% of Germans do not believe that replacing Friedrich Merz would benefit the conservative bloc of the Cdu/Csu. According to a Forsa poll conducted for the weekly Stern and for Rtl, the majority of the population believes that the two

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government plans to promote public knowledge about gender and sexual diversity through a multilayered approach in its first basic program designed to promote understanding of LGBT people and other sexual minorities, a draft showed Monday. The

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–SoftBank Group Corp. became the most valuable Japanese company on Monday, ending Toyota Motor Corp.’s 22-year reign. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, SoftBank Group shares jumped about 14 pct, boosting the company’s market capitalization to 48,784.8 billion yen,

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Japanese convenience store chain FamilyMart Co. made newly installed automated teller machines developed by Seven Bank available for use by store visitors Monday. FamilyMart, which installed the first of its Seven Bank-made ATMs in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, aims

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Recruitment activities, such as job interviews, for college students scheduled to graduate next spring were given the official starting signal in Japan on Monday, although the bulk of job-hunting students had already received informal employment offers. Trading house

(Adnkronos) – The second tranche of documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the United States will be published today, according to three sources involved in the process who spoke to the BBC. Although Downing Street has refused to

(Adnkronos) – The French Interior Minister stated that almost 900 people were arrested in clashes that erupted after Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the Champions League, which the Parisian team won for the second consecutive year last weekend. “We made over 890 arrests.

(Adnkronos) – Tehran has the right to impose an environmental tax on ships for transit through the Strait of Hormuz. This is according to Arman Khorsand, head of the Iranian Center for International Affairs and Environmental Conventions, who added that oil pollution,

New Delhi, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Japanese experts have been helping Sri Lanka restore a huge amount of flood-soaked court documents. Late last November, Cyclone Ditwah hit the island nation in the Indian Ocean, affecting more than 2.2 million people and leaving some

Beijing, June 1 (Jiji Press)–China’s coast guard said Monday that it has conducted patrols in waters east of Taiwan, in response to the decision by Japan and the Philippines last week to begin talks to delimit a maritime boundary between the two

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–The share of pregnant women in Japan who underwent prenatal checkups mainly for fetal chromosomal abnormalities quadrupled to 11.5 pct in 2023 from 3.2 pct in 2011, a Japanese research team said. The surge followed the 2013 introduction

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–SoftBank Group Corp. became the most valuable Japanese company on Monday, ending Toyota Motor Corp.’s 22-year reign. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, SoftBank Group’s market capitalization reached 48,784.8 billion yen, surpassing Toyota’s 45,892.3 billion yen. The milestone comes

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Jun Hashimoto, who wrote many Japanese oldies songs, died of cirrhosis at a Tokyo hospital on May 21. He was 86. His works include “Blue Chateau,” sung by Jackey Yoshikawa and His Blue Comets, which won the Japan

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Salesforce Japan Co., a customer relationship management software company, plans to step up investments in artificial intelligence, focusing on data management, to help Japanese companies deploy AI effectively, Chairman and CEO Shinichi Koide said. “Data management is particularly

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s key Nikkei 225 stock average finished at a fresh closing high Monday after briefly topping 67,000 for the first time, as growing optimism over the continuation of peace talks between the United States and Iran boosted purchases

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Typhoon Jangmi swept north with a violent wind zone toward the main island of the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa on Monday morning. The sixth typhoon of the year is expected to pass through Okinawa’s main island on

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. on Monday started the second round of treated water discharges for fiscal 2026 from its disaster-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The plant will release 7,800 tons of treated water containing

Hida, Gifu Pref., June 1 (Jiji Press)–An artificial intelligence-powered system that detects bears and automatically sprays repellent is being tested in the central Japan prefecture of Gifu in response to a rise in bear incursions into populated areas. The system, dubbed AIBeS,

(Last para should have read “… that became the first to make informal job offers …,” instead of as sent) Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Recruitment activities, such as job interviews, for college students scheduled to graduate next spring were given the official

Japan Light Motor Vehicle and Motorcycle Association June 1 Yr/Yr Change Total 118,003 units Down 2.1 pct Passenger Cars 89,424 Down 2.3 Trucks 28,579 Down 1.6 -Brand- Suzuki 42,124 Down 3.0 Daihatsu 35,928 Down 0.7 Mitsubishi 4,143 Down 19.1 Subaru 921 Down

Japan Automobile Dealers Association June 1 Yr/Yr Change Total 214,994 units Up 5.6 pct Over-2,000-c.c. Cars 120,416 Up 3.5 Smaller Cars 67,070 Up 8.7 Trucks 26,589 Up 6.5 Buses 919 Up 56.8 -Brand- Daihatsu 2,265 Up 22.8 Honda 23,989 Up 7.7 Lexus

Tokyo, May 30 (Jiji Press)–The parliamentary affairs chiefs of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Centrist Reform Alliance have agreed on a deliberation schedule for the government’s draft fiscal 2026 supplementary budget. At a meeting Friday, Hiroshi Kajiyama of

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Japanese nonfinancial companies’ combined ordinary profits grew 14.6 pct from a year earlier to 32,627.1 billion yen in January-March, the Finance Ministry said Monday. The rise was driven by growing demand related to artificial intelligence data centers and

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average briefly gained more than 900 points to top 67,000 for the first time on Monday morning, supported by expectations for continued U.S.-Iran negotiations over the Middle East situation. At 10:27 a.m., the

Seoul, June 1 (Jiji Press)–South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back on Sunday told reporters that he and his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, discussed a possible bilateral acquisition and cross-servicing agreement, or ACSA, during their meeting in Singapore on Saturday, South Korea’s Yonhap

Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)–Cannabis abuse is becoming widespread among young people in Japan, especially in Tokyo. In 2025, people in their 20s and younger accounted for more than 70 pct of all those taken into police custody or otherwise processed in