Category Archives: Japan

Japan broadcaster apologises after disputed Senkaku Islands called ‘Chinese territory’ on air

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Unscripted remarks about the Japanese-administered islands were made during during a Chinese-language programme on the public broadcaster NHK

Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, has apologised after a member of staff referred to the disputed Senkaku Islands as “Chinese territory” during an internationally broadcast radio programme this week.

The presenter, a Chinese national in his 40s, made the unscripted remarks for about 20 seconds during a Chinese-language broadcast on Monday on the NHK World-Japan and Radio 2 channels, according to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.

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Owner of 7-Eleven stores receives buyout offer from Canadian rival

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Proposal to Tokyo-based Seven & i by ACT could become biggest foreign takeover of a Japanese firm

The owner of the global convenience store chain 7-Eleven has received an offer from a Canadian rival to buy the company, in what could be Japan’s biggest ever foreign takeover.

The Tokyo-based Seven & i revealed on Monday that it had received a bid from the Canadian convenience store multinational Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) to buy its stake in the company.

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Who will be Japan’s next PM? Ruling LDP set to begin ‘especially chaotic’ party election

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Two women and two MPs under the age of 50 are on potential list of candidates for next Liberal Democratic Party leaders

After a week in which Japan’s citizens braced themselves for a possible megaquake, the biggest seismic shift came from its political epicentre, as the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, announced his decision to step down next month.

His three years in office will end in late September when his ruling Liberal Democratic party [LDP] selects a new president, who is assured of being approved as Japan’s next prime minister in the LDP-controlled parliament.

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Anti-whaling activist to stay in Greenland jail while extradition decided

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Paul Watson fighting efforts byJapan to have him stand trial there for 2010 confrontation with whalers

A Greenland court has ordered the anti-whaling activist Paul Watson to remain in custody until 5 September pending a decision on his possible extradition to Japan.

Watson, an American-Canadian who has been detained since his arrest in Nuuk in July, had appealed against the court’s decision, the statement on Thursday added.

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Japan PM Fumio Kishida announces he will step down in September

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Kishida’s three-year term has been marked by scandal, rising living costs and record defence spending

Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has said he will not run for the presidency of his ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) next month – a decision that will result in the appointment of a new leader of the world’s fourth-biggest economy.

Kishida, who has been battling low approval ratings and a damaging fundraising scandal, said he would step down as LDP leader in September, telling reporters on Wednesday that the party needed an “open contest to promote debate”.

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Japan’s PM cancels overseas trip after experts issue ‘megaquake’ warning

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The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued its first-ever warning of the risk of a huge earthquake along the Pacific coast

Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has cancelled a visit to central Asia this weekend after experts warned that the risk of a “megaquake” occurring off the country’s Pacific coast had increased following Thursday’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake in the south-west.

Kishida, who is battling low approval ratings and faces challenges to his leadership in a ruling party presidential election next month, announced his decision at a press conference on Friday.

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US ambassador to skip Nagasaki bomb commemoration over Israeli exclusion

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City’s mayor says Israel not invited because of risk of protests at event honouring victims of 1945 nuclear blast

The US ambassador to Japan will skip this year’s memorial service for the nuclear attack on Nagasaki because Israel has not been invited, the embassy has said.

Rahm Emanuel would not attend the event on Friday because it had been “politicised” by Nagasaki’s decision not to invite Israel, the embassy said. Instead, he would honour the victims of the Nagasaki bombing at a ceremony at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo and a lower-ranked US official would attend the Nagasaki event, it said.

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Earthquake strikes off Japan’s coast and triggers tsunami warning

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No immediate signs of damage reported after powerful quake hits off eastern coast of Kyushu

A powerful earthquake struck off Japan’s southern coast on Thursday, triggering a tsunami advisory, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said, but there were no immediate signs of major damage.



The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake registered a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 and was centred off the eastern coast of Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu at a depth of about 30km (18.6 miles).

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Japanese stocks soar after massive sell-off shook global markets

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Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closes more than 10% up with other Asia markets rebounding on Tuesday

Japanese stocks soared more than 10% on Tuesday, a day after experiencing their biggest fall in 37 years, setting markets tumbling in Europe and on Wall Street.

Other markets in Asia also appeared to settle somewhat after the rollercoaster ride that started the week.

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Weather tracker: Flooding may hit Florida and Georgia as Storm Debby intensifies

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Japan suffers under extreme heat but cooler conditions in Europe provide welcome reprieve at Olympics

Significant flooding may be about to hit parts of Florida and Georgia. Over the weekend, Tropical Storm Debby developed and intensified in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, moving slowly northwards off the west coast of Florida. At the time of writing, forecast models were indicating that the storm was likely to develop into at least a category 1 hurricane before making landfall on Monday, with sustained winds in excess of 75mph. As the storm encounters the very warm coastal waters off western Florida, it may briefly develop into an even stronger storm.

The eye of the hurricane is expected to landfall around the Florida Big Bend region before crossing northern Florida, Georgia, into the eastern Carolinas, and into the Atlantic, during Tuesday and Wednesday. As well as potentially damaging winds, storm surge warnings are in place in coastal regions of Florida. Rainfall totals in excess of 10-20in (250-500mm) may lead to serious flooding across parts of northern Florida, south-east Georgia and South Carolina.

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Shares in New York and London tumble on fears of US recession

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FTSE 100 on track for its lowest close since April and Japan’s Nikkei suffers biggest fall since crash of 1987

Shares on Wall Street and in London have fallen heavily amid a global stock market rout triggered by fears of a recession in the US.

The tech-focused Nasdaq index dropped by 6% as trading in New York opened on Monday, while the broader S&P 500 index fell by 4.2% in a sell-off triggered by weak US jobs data. The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 1,100 points, a 2.8% decline.

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Fear of US recession rattles global markets as tech shares fall

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Europe’s main indices all decline and Japanese equities suffer worst day since 2020 while gold hits fresh record

Stock markets in Europe, Asia and New York tumbled on Friday as fears of a US economic slump grew and technology shares were hit by underwhelming earnings.

Concerns that the US could be sliding towards a recession spurred a global sell-off, which accelerated after a poor employment report on Friday showed that the US jobs market was cooling fast, pushing up the unemployment rate.

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Australian government ‘deeply disappointed’ by Japan’s decision to expand commercial whaling target list

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Japanese government confirms it will allow whalers to catch and kill up to 59 fin whales, a species conservationists consider vulnerable

The Australian government is “deeply disappointed” by Japan’s decision to add the world’s second-largest whale species to the list of species its commercial whale hunters will target.

Tanya Plibersek, the environment minister, attacked Japan’s decision to hunt fin whales – the world’s second-longest whale and considered vulnerable.

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Japan’s rice stocks drop to lowest level in decades amid tourist boom and poor crop yields

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Japan’s agriculture ministry blames shortage on tourists’ vast demand for rice and low crop yields last year

Japan’s rice stockpile has fallen to the lowest level this century, with a tourism boom part of the cause, government officials say.

Private-sector inventories of rice fell to 1.56m tons in June, down 20% from a year earlier and the lowest since 1999, when comparable data was first gathered, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. It attributed the decrease to the high temperatures that hit crops in 2023 as well as demand from inbound visitors. Last year Japan recorded its hottest September since records began 125 years ago.

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Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson could face up to 15 years’ prison in Japan if convicted

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Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd and co-founder of Greenpeace, has been arrested on an international warrant and is facing charges including accomplice to assault and ship trespass

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson could face up to 15 years in prison in Japan, after the founder of US-based group Sea Shepherd was arrested on an international warrant in Greenland earlier this month.

According to the Japan Coast Guard, Watson, who is also a co-founder of Greenpeace, is facing charges including accomplice to assault and ship trespass, after he was arrested on an international warrant in Greenland.

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Japan cracks down on use of rideable electric suitcases amid tourist boom

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Use of the motorised luggage which is popular in parts of Asia, require safety equipment and a driver’s licence, according to Japanese law

As record numbers of tourists flock to Japan to take advantage of the weakness of the Japanese yen, some are running into trouble with authorities thanks to the growing popularity of motorised, rideable suitcases.

Two major Japanese airports have already asked travellers not to ride motorised suitcases within their facilities, according to Kyodo news agency, while police are urging domestic retailers to warn customers of the strict laws concerning their use.

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Japan and US upgrade military ties citing threat from China as ‘greatest strategic challenge’

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US defence secretary says China is 'engaging in coercive behaviour, trying to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas’

Japanese and US defense chiefs, as well as top diplomats, agreed to further bolster their military cooperation by upgrading the command and control of US forces in the east Asian country and strengthening American-licensed missile production there, describing the rising threat from China as “the greatest strategic challenge.”

US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, joined their Japanese counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa and Minoru Kihara, at the Japan-US Security Consultative Committee in Tokyo – known as “2+2” security talks – where they reaffirmed their bilateral alliance in the wake of President Joe Biden ’s withdrawal from the November presidential race.

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Businesses in Japan consider charging tourists more amid surge in visitors

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Record-high 17.78 million foreign tourists came to Japan in the first half of year, with arrivals in June led by travellers from South Korea, China, Taiwan and the US

Businesses in Japan are considering a dual pricing system for foreign tourists and local people amid a surge in inbound visitors and the continued weakness of the yen.

The head of the Hokkaido Tourism Organization has called on businesses in Japan’s northernmost prefecture, known for its beautiful scenery and winter resorts, to set lower prices for locals.

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Head of Japan drugmaker to resign over dietary supplement potentially linked to 80 deaths

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President of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical standing down after damning report said company failed to act with sufficient urgency after alarm was raised in January

The chairman and president of a major Japanese dietary supplement maker is to resign, as the company probes up to 80 deaths potentially linked to dietary supplements meant to lower cholesterol.

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, a household name in Japan, is at the centre of heath fears linked to its over-the-counter tablets containing red yeast rice, which is fermented with a mould culture.

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Japan asks young people why they are not marrying amid population crisis

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Consultation launched as surveys show people have little chance to meet partners and worry about high cost of living

The Japanese government has begun to consult young people about their interest in marriage – or lack thereof – as Japan continues to struggle with a demographic crisis that is expected to result in a sharp population decline over the next decades.

The Children and Families Agency, launched in April 2023, held its first working group meeting on Friday to support young people in their efforts to find partners through dating, matchmaking and other means. Attenders included those considering marriage in the future and experts versed in the challenges facing younger people.

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