Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will not send any cabinet minister to an annual ceremony for the Takeshima Islands, now under effective control of South Korea, in Shimane Prefecture, it was learned Monday. As usual, the Cabinet Office’s

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission conducted a compulsory search at the main office of Mizuho Securities Co. last month on suspicion that an employee had been involved in insider trading, informed sources said Monday. The commission is

Natuna, Indonesia, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan has been beefing up its fishery-related aid to Indonesia’s remote Natuna Islands in the southern part of the South China Sea, likely in hopes of curbing China’s influence in the area. Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone around

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Retail rice prices in Japan are still above 4,000 yen per 5 kilograms on average, almost double the level before supply shortages hit consumers, even after the government’s releases of stockpiled rice to keep prices low. In February

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo District Court on Monday handed down a life sentence to a senior member of a Japanese crime ring that was led by individuals called “Luffy” in the Philippines and behind a series of high-profile robbery and other

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Following her ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in the Feb. 8 House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is poised to use the firm base of her administration to support her diplomacy. Next month, she

Saitama, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–A 43-year-old man accused of murder and other charges Monday pleaded not guilty to killing three members of a family at a house in Hanno, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, in December 2022. In the first hearing of

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Junya Ogawa, leader of the Centrist Reform Alliance, plans to appoint Takeshi Shina as secretary-general of the main Japanese opposition party, people familiar with the matter said Monday. Shina, 59, is a former member of the Constitutional Democratic

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s real gross domestic product in October-December last year rose 0.1 pct from the previous quarter, posting an annualized gain of 0.2 pct, the government said Monday. The result, which marked the first rise in two quarters after

(5th para should have read “… several …,” instead of as sent) Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea have decided to soften their hardline stance on the authoritarian state on condition that the Japanese government brings

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government is working to update its vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Monday. The vision “needs to be evolved in the most appropriate way to adapt to changing times”

Osaka, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–A dispute stemming from alleged harassment of a woman may have triggered an incident in the western Japan city of Osaka at the weekend, in which a teenage male was stabbed to death and two others were injured,

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Lotteria Co. changed its name to Burger One Co. on Monday, the Japanese hamburger chain owned by restaurant operator Zensho Holdings Co., said. Starting in April, the company will change the name of all its stores to “Zetteria.”

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–A decade has passed since Tokyo’s Shibuya and Setagaya wards introduced Japan’s first “partnership system” in November 2015, offering public recognition to LGBTQ+ and other sexual-minority couples. Since then, the system has spread across the country. Such systems

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s seasonally adjusted gross domestic product in October-December last year rose 0.1 pct from the previous quarter in price-adjusted real terms, up for the first time in two quarters, the government said Monday. At an annual rate, the

Milan, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Miho Takagi won bronze in the women’s 500-meter speed skating event at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Sunday, clinching her second medal at the ongoing Winter Games. She secured bronze in the women’s 1,000-meter event Monday. With the

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–A senior official of the Centrist Reform Alliance has suggested that the Japanese opposition party will carefully consider whether to join a proposed national congress for talks on issues including a possible consumption tax cut to zero for

Tokyo, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s seasonally adjusted gross domestic product in October-December last year rose 0.1 pct from the previous quarter in price-adjusted real terms, up for the first time in two quarters, the government said Monday. At an annual rate, the

Munich, Feb. 16 (Jiji Press)–Microsoft Corp., NTT Inc. and other major technology firms from around the world are planning to form an alliance to boost the credibility of cross-border technologies. A total of 16 companies from 11 countries announced the planned launch

Milan, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Ikuma Horishima won the silver medal in the men’s freestyle skiing dual moguls at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Sunday, the 10th day of the Games in Italy. It was his second medal in the Games after

Inuyama, Aichi Pref., Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Kyoto University’s Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior has launched a memorial website for Ai, a chimpanzee known as a “genius ” for her cognitive abilities, one month after she died at the age

Osaka, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Members of the Japan Innovation Party have voted not to hold a leadership election despite the party’s sluggish results in the Feb. 8 parliamentary election, a move that allows Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura to remain its leader, officials

London, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was featured as “the world’s most powerful woman” in an article that ran in the latest issue of the British magazine The Economist, after she led her ruling Liberal Democratic Party to a

Osaka, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Three 17-year-old boys were attacked in a stabbing in the Dotonbori downtown area in the western Japan city of Osaka around midnight Sunday, with one of them confirmed dead later at a hospital. One of the other two

Munich, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Saturday criticized his Chinese counterpart for making groundless comments critical of Japan at an international conference in Germany. The claims made by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference

Milan, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Japanese ski jumper Ren Nikaido won the silver medal in the men’s individual large hill event at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Saturday. Nikaido earned his third medal at these Winter Games, after taking two bronze medals in the

Tokyo, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Japan will provide 15 million euros in additional assistance to Ukraine, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said at an online press conference. Motegi unveiled this plan when he held talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Munich, southern

Munich, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–The foreign ministers from the Group of Seven major democracies on Saturday confirmed their policy of closely cooperating to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and developments in the Middle East. At their meeting in Munich, Germany, they

Munich, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday agreed to work closely to make an upcoming summit between the leaders of the two countries an opportunity to demonstrate the unwavering Japan-U.S. alliance.

Munich, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)–Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi again criticized Japan at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks from last year regarding a possible Taiwan contingency. Responding to a moderator’s question about