Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–Former Bank of Japan Policy Board member Sayuri Shirai has said that the central bank’s unprecedented quantitative and qualitative monetary easing regime, characterized by massive purchases of mainly Japanese government bonds, “reached its limit” around the second half

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–Eleven railway and subway operators in eastern Japan said Wednesday that they will accept tap-and-go credit card payments at 729 stations on 54 lines from March 25, about double the current numbers. The new payment option will be

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–The dollar was weak below 153 yen in Tokyo trading Wednesday, after remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump welcoming the greenback’s softness prompted the currency to plunge in New York overnight. At 5 p.m. in Tokyo, the dollar

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–Japan and Mercosur countries have held the first meeting to discuss their strategic partnership, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. At the meeting, which took place in Asuncion, Paraguay’s capital, on Tuesday, senior officials from Japan and the

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–Overseas assets held by wealthy residents of Japan in 2024 rose 26.3 pct from the previous year to a record high of 8,194.5 billion yen, the National Tax Agency said Wednesday. The tally was based on documents that

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi will hold talks with his South Korean counterpart, Ahn Gyu-back, in his hometown of Yokosuka on Friday, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. In their meeting at the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Yokosuka base, the

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–The Bank of Japan forced ahead unprecedented qualitative and quantitative easing despite its failure to overcome deflation in the country more than two years after the introduction of the massive easing policy, the minutes of the central bank’s

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–Labor unions at Japanese electronics makers will demand a pay scale hike of at least 18,000 yen a month, a record high, in this year’s “shunto” spring wage talks, their umbrella organization said Tuesday. Last year, member unions

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Asahi Kasei Corp. and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. have said they will consolidate their ethylene production facilities in western Japan as early as fiscal 2030. Specifically, the ethylene production facility in Kurashiki in the western prefecture

Hiroshima, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese court on Wednesday ordered the government to pay 3.3 million yen in compensation to bereaved relatives of three hibakusha atomic bomb survivors who returned to South Korea after the bombing some 80 years ago and could

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–The Bank of Japan’s decision at a monetary policy meeting in December to raise its policy rate to 0.75 pct reflected concerns over higher inflation stemming from a weak yen, according to the minutes of the meeting released

Brussels, Jan. 27 (Jiji Press)–Japan and Belgium held the opening ceremony for events commemorating the 160th anniversary of their diplomatic relations at the Egmont Palace in Brussels on Tuesday. About 250 guests, including government officials, business leaders and representatives from the education

Chengdu, China, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–Twin giant pandas, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, arrived in Sichuan Province in southwestern China on Wednesday after leaving Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo the previous day. Upon arrival, they were sent to the China Giant Panda Protection and

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–The dollar was weak below 153 yen in Tokyo trading Wednesday morning, after remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump welcoming the greenback’s softness prompted the currency to plunge in New York overnight. At noon in Tokyo, the dollar

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–The share of women in all candidates in Japan’s House of Representatives election next month stands at 24.4 pct, up 1.0 percentage point from the previous Lower House poll in October 2024 and marking a record high for

London, Jan. 27 (Jiji Press)–Finance ministers of the Group of Seven major industrial nations at an online meeting Tuesday discussed measures to enhance supply chains for critical minerals. Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told reporters after the meeting that the participants agreed

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–The maximum vote-value disparity between single-seat constituencies for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, stands at 2.10 times, a Jiji Press estimate has found. The maximum disparity was logged between the No.

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–In depopulated areas across Japan, the withdrawal of supermarkets and other businesses has left essential services, vital to residents’ daily lives, at risk. To address this problem, some local governments are turning to resident-led nonprofit organizations known as

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–In their campaign for the Feb. 8 general election, Japanese political parties are focusing on measures to support people’s daily lives amid inflation. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its new coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, have

(Adnkronos) – The European Union and India’s historic free trade accord “is excellent news” for Italian companies in a raft of sectors, Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday.  “The signing of the free trade agreement between the EU and India

(Adnkronos) – New videos verified by the BBC reveal the extent of the repression in Iran, where protests that erupted in late December were violently suppressed by security forces. The images show bodies piled up in hospitals, snipers positioned on building roofs,

(Adnkronos) – The political pressure around Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security in the Trump administration, shows no sign of abating. She found herself in a storm after the killings in Minneapolis of two American citizens – Renée Good and Alex Pretti

(Adnkronos) – After chairing his last government meeting, the 733rd, the Christian Democrat Reiner Haseloff, Germany’s longest-serving regional premier, who has headed the government of the state of Saxony-Anhalt since 2011, today left his post. This is to best prepare his party

(Adnkronos) – The Iraqi Parliament has postponed the vote for the election of the president, scheduled for today, to allow rival Kurdish groups to reach an agreement on a shared candidate. The official news agency Ina reported this, without indicating a new

(Adnkronos) – The federal chief judge of Minnesota has ordered the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), Todd Lyons, to appear in person in court on Friday, threatening contempt of court proceedings for the failure to execute numerous judicial orders.

Beijing, Jan. 27 (Jiji Press)–Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Tuesday criticized Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s latest remarks on Taiwan, saying that Japan is in no position to meddle with affairs related to Taiwan. During a Japanese television program on

(Adnkronos) – Italy is signalling the need for “clarity” by recalling its envoy to Switzerland following last week’s release from custody on bail of the owner of a bar in the ski resort of Crans Montana where 40 people died in a

Tokyo, Jan. 27 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Supreme Court has instructed courts across Japan to reconsider the use of handcuffs and waist ropes on defendants when entering courtrooms for criminal trials, informed sources said Tuesday. Defendants in detention often wear handcuffs and waist ropes

(Adnkronos) – Foreign minister Antonio Tajani is set to open an event in Rome on Wednesday outlining the government’s planned events this year to boost worldwide exports of Italian goods, with a special focus on international trade fairs, the foreign ministry said

Tokyo, Jan. 27 (Jiji Press)–The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, and the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, held a meeting of their leaders on Tuesday, effectively starting this year’s “shunto” spring wage talks. At the meeting in Tokyo, Keidanren Chairman Yoshinobu