Amsterdam, June 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, on a trip to the Netherlands as state guests, visited a pediatric cancer center in Utrecht on Friday. The Imperial couple as well as Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima interacted with

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government Friday decided to appoint Atsushi Ueno, 61, ambassador to Cambodia, as new ambassador to Indonesia, the post that had been vacant for more than six months. The post remained unfilled after former Ambassador to Indonesia

(Adnkronos) – Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani has called off a visit to the United States on Monday due to president Donald Trump’s “serious and offensive” remarks about premier Giorgia Meloni after this week’s G7 summit in France, the minister has announced. 

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s transport ministry on Friday showed new cost estimates for eight candidate routes for the planned extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train line between Tsuruga Station in the central prefecture of Fukui and Shin-Osaka Station in the

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–A vessel carrying three Japanese crew members has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, heading for Japan, meaning that no vessels carrying Japanese nationals remain in the Persian Gulf, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Friday. No health problems

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–Junya Ogawa, leader of Japan’s main opposition Centrist Reform Alliance, on Friday urged the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito to formally enter negotiations with the CRA on a merger among the three parties. Ogawa separately met

(Adnkronos) – The interim peace accord signed this week between the United States and Iran gives Italy’s economy “some breathing room” but as shipping resumes through the key Strait of Hormuz waterway the cost of oil is set to fall, meaning consumer

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–The dollar rose above 161 yen in Tokyo trading Friday, lifted by expectations for a U.S. interest rate hike. Yen selling accelerated on views that the interest rate gap between the United States and Japan would widen, despite

(Adnkronos) – Italy wants to accelerate “booming” exports to the United States and to reach 700 billion euros worth of global exports annually by end-2027, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Friday ahead of a Business Forum which he is chairing in

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–A fire on Friday at an elementary school in a densely populated area of Tokyo left 11 people, mainly children, injured. Around 11 a.m., there was an emergency call reporting that “smoke was coming from the music room

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–Masahiro Futahashi, who served as deputy chief cabinet secretary for administrative affairs under former prime ministers Junichiro Koizumi and Yasuo Fukuda for a total of four years, died of pneumonia on June 8. He was 84. In 1964,

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–Junya Ogawa, leader of Japan’s main opposition Centrist Reform Alliance, on Friday urged the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito to formally enter negotiations with the CRA on a merger among the three parties. Ogawa separately met

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average rose 196.57 points, or 0.27 pct, to 71,250.06 in Tokyo trading on Friday, hitting a record closing high for the fifth session in a row. Semiconductors and other artificial intelligence-related issues continued

Otsu, Shiga Pref., June 19 (Jiji Press)–Japanese public prosecutors said Friday that they will not seek to prove guilt in a retrial of a man who received a life term for a 1984 robbery-murder in Shiga Prefecture and later died in prison,

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–U.S. artificial intelligence developer OpenAI said Friday that it has begun a trial for displaying advertisements in its ChatGPT generative AI chatbot for users in Japan. The ads will appear on the free version and the Go plan,

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–The Diet, Japan’s parliament, on Friday enacted a bill to revise the postal privatization and related laws, paving the way for subsidies to preserve the nationwide post office network. The House of Councillors, the upper chamber, adopted the

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–The Diet, Japan’s parliament, on Friday ratified acquisition and cross-servicing agreements with the Philippines, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The ACSAs, which facilitate the reciprocal provision of fuel and munitions between the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the militaries

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament, passed a bill to revise the law on national referendums on constitutional amendments by a majority vote at a plenary session on Friday. The bill

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government Friday decided to extend the deployment of Self-Defense Forces personnel to the headquarters of the U.N. Mission in South Sudan, or UNMISS, by one year until the end of June 2027. The deployment, conducted under

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–A member of the Bank of Japan Policy Board backed the idea of raising interest rates every few months at their meeting in April, it was learned Friday. At the April 27-28 meeting, three of the nine members

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–A fire burned part of an elementary school in a densely populated area of Tokyo on Friday, leaving 10 people, mainly children, injured. At Takinogawa Daisan Elementary School in Kita Ward, the fire started around 11 a.m. It

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s core consumer prices in May rose 1.4 pct from a year earlier, growing for the 57th consecutive month, the internal affairs ministry said Friday. The pace of increase in the core consumer price index, which excludes volatile

Amsterdam, June 18 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Emperor Naruhito visited Leiden University on Thursday during his state visit to the Netherlands, holding talks with students learning about Japan. The oldest university in the Netherlands, established in 1575, is the only one in the country

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama on Friday warned against speculative movements in the foreign exchange market, signaling authorities’ readiness to intervene as the dollar soared to its highest levels in nearly two years against the yen. Japanese authorities

Nashville, Tennessee, June 18 (Jiji Press)–Japanese men’s national soccer team midfielder Takefusa Kubo will miss Saturday’s FIFA World Cup Group F match against Tunisia in Mexico due to a left knee injury, it was learned Thursday. Kubo, 25, who plays for Real

New York, June 18 (Jiji Press)–The dollar rose as high as 161.81 yen at one point in New York trading on Thursday, the highest level since July 2024, amid growing expectations of an interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve later

Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average advanced to hit yet another record intraday high just below 72,000 on Friday morning, with technology issues drawing buying on U.S. stocks’ overnight ascent amid easing concerns over the situation in the

(Adnkronos) – The government does not oppose sanctioning goods from from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and continues to back sanctions against Israel’s far-right police minister Itamar Ben Gvir for taunting and mistreating activists from the intercepted Global Sumud Gaza aid

(Adnkronos) – Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani on Thursday welcomed Irans’ re-opening of the key Strait of Hormuz waterway to maritime traffice, hailing it as “a positive sign including for the entire world of commerce.”   “The restoration of freedom of navigation

(Adnkronos) – Italian merchant ship ‘Grande Torino’ was among the first vessels to cross the Strait of Hormuz just hours after the signing of an interim deal to end the three-month United States-Israeli war on Iran, foreign minister Antonio Tajani wrote Thursday