The Japanese government will require a new vehicle model to be equipped with a device that prevents errors in the use of the pedal starting September 2028.

This provision follows the case of an elderly driver who caused an accident because he mistakenly accelerated instead of braking.

However, the move is likely not to have a major impact on automakers as most vehicles manufactured in Japan in recent years have installed the device, according to Kyodo News April 10.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation, and Tourism will revise ministerial regulations based on the Road Transportation Vehicle Act, requiring all automatic vehicles to be equipped with these devices.

It said the change would not apply to vehicles with manual transmission.
The new regulations require the device to prevent vehicles from accelerating suddenly when there are 1.0 to 1.5 meters hurdles in the depot, keeping speeds below 8 kilometers per hour, even as the driver steps on the gas pedal completely.

Drivers will be notified via notification in the vehicle that the system is operating or their feet must be removed from the pedal.

It is known, based on a survey by the Ministry of Industry, as many as 93.8 percent of domestically produced cars by 2023 have been equipped with devices capable of controlling the forward and backward movement of vehicles.
 

Cherry blossoms of the Somei-Yoshino variety have started blooming in a town on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido.

Officials in Matsumae Town on the southern tip of the island announced on Sunday that the blooms had appeared. They confirmed more than five blossoms on the benchmark tree in Matsumae Park.

They say the tree bloomed seven days earlier than usual, and four days later than last year.

Tourists gathered around the tree to take photos.

A visitor from Taiwan praised the combination of cherry blossoms and a nearby castle.

He said cherry blossoms in Japan are very beautiful because of their colors.
Matsuura Shinya, a town official in charge of tourism, said he feels relieved the blooms have appeared as temperatures had been low recently.

The park has roughly 10,000 cherry trees and there are about 250 varieties. Officials say visitors will be able to enjoy the cherry blossoms for about one month as the varieties bloom at different times.
 
 

Japan will make no concession that could affect food safety in its tariff negotiations with the United States, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday.

"We will not concede over food safety. We must protect the safety of Japanese citizens," he said in a television program of public broadcaster NHK, or Japan Broadcasting Corp., showing a careful approach to the issue of agricultural market access.

Ishiba also said that expansion of liquefied natural gas imports will be examined as a bargaining chip, considering that U.S. President Donald Trump is giving priority to eliminating his country's trade deficit with Japan.

Washington has complained about Japanese nontariff barriers for automobiles. After noting differences in safety standards and traffic rules between the two countries, Ishiba said, "We'll properly work out measures so that we will not be criticized as unfair."

He also commented on Trump's dissatisfaction with Japan's current share of the costs for U.S. forces stationed in the Asian nation.
 
 

A bus driver with 29 years of service lost his retirement package worth $84,000 after being fired for stealing $7 from passengers' fares.

The city of Kyoto sacked the man, who was not named, after he was filmed by a bus security camera taking ¥1,000 ($7) in 2022.

After he was denied his retirement money of more than ¥12 million, the driver sued the city but lost the case.

The verdict was overturned in his favor, with a court ruling that the punishment was excessive.

But on Thursday the Supreme Court delivered a final ruling in the city's favor, reinstating the original penalty.

It ruled that the man's conduct could undermine public trust in the system and the sound operation of the bus service.

In the original incident a group of five passengers entered the bus and paid him ¥1,150, according to the ruling.

The driver instructed the group to drop ¥150 worth of coins into a fare collection box, and accepted a ¥1,000 bill by hand and didn't report it properly.

Despite being caught on camera, he tried to deny taking the bill during a meeting with his superior.

The driver had been reprimanded several times during his career over various incidents, according to the ruling.

This included repeatedly smoking an electronic cigarette while on duty, albeit when there were no passengers on board.
The city of Kyoto hailed the decision.

"Each one of the bus drivers works alone and handles public money," said Shinichi Hirai, an official at Kyoto's public transport bureau. "We took it very seriously that embezzlement related to this area of our work took place.

"If our strict measures were not accepted, then our organization could become careless and it could result in eroding the public's trust," he said.
 
 

Akie Abe, widow of slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said Saturday that Taiwan's security is directly tied to Japan's, offering her view on remarks made by her late husband about the self-ruled democratic island.

"What he truly meant was, if Taiwan is safe, then Japan is safe," Akie Abe said in a speech at a symposium in Taiwan on security in the Indo-Pacific region.

Her husband said in December 2021, during a virtual appearance at a Taiwan think-thank event, "A Taiwan contingency is a contingency for Japan," a remark now widely known in Taiwan.

In Japan, when people care deeply about someone important, they wish them peace and safety, according to Akie Abe.

"I think my husband wanted to offer this heartfelt wish to the people of Taiwan, whom he dearly loved because Taiwan's peace and safety were closely connected to himself and to Japan," she said.

Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, was assassinated by a lone gunman during an election campaign speech in July 2022.

Abe remained friendly toward Taiwan even after stepping down as prime minister in 2020 due to health issues.

China regards Taiwan as a part of its territory.
 
 

Don’t freak out when you try to board a flight to this southwestern Japanese prefecture and the destination on the ticket says “Hello Kitty” — you’re definitely on the right plane.

Oita, a scenic region known for its natural hot springs on the Japanese island of Kyushu, has recently renamed its air hub Oita Hello Kitty Airport to lure fans and tourists.

The six-month rebrand, which runs from now through October 13, will inject the otherwise sleepy airport with an extra dose of the country’s quintessential cuteness — or “kawaii” in Japanese.

As expected, Hello Kitty (who is, by the way, not a cat) is everywhere.
Arriving passengers peeking through plane windows will get their first greetings from the Japanese character painted on the boarding bridge.

As they make their way to the luggage conveyor belt, they will see posters of Hello Kitty dragging a suitcase and riding on a miniature plane.

 

The rebranding rides on the hype of Osaka Expo 2025 and seeks to offer an alternative destination to the already congested ones, as Japan grapples with record numbers of tourists.

The tourism boom — which hit a record-breaking 10.5 million in the first three months of 2025 — has given the world’s fourth-biggest economy a needed kick but also created headaches for locals.

“We hope to encourage more tourists, particularly those who typically visit high-traffic destinations like Tokyo and Kyoto, to travel to Oita instead,” a spokesman from Oita Prefectural Government’s tourism bureau told CNN on Thursday.

Oita is about one hour away from Osaka by plane and four hours by train.
Joining Hello Kitty at the Oita airport are friends like My Melody, Little Twin Stars and Pochacco. All are characters from Sanrio, the merchandising company behind her universe of cuteness.

 

Why Oita, though? Sanrio runs a theme park called Harmonyland in the prefecture. The company will be selling exclusive Hello Kitty key chains and T-shirts at the domestic terminal.

“In addition to attracting visitors not only from major metropolitan areas such as the Tokyo and Kansai regions but also by highlighting the unique appeal of Oita Prefecture and Kyushu such as hot springs, nature, and cuisine, we aim to leverage the global popularity of Japan’s Sanrio characters and their theme park,” Sanrio said in a statement.

“We are filled with the hope that this airport will become a bridge connecting countless smiles,” Sanrio Entertainment President Aya Komaki said during a recent launch, before touting Hello Kitty’s slogan written on a flag she holds in posters at the airport: “Hello from Oita to the world.”

Oita prefecture sits about 40 miles southeast of Fukuoka, Kyushu’s biggest city, and is home to some of Japan’s most sought-after onsen towns, like Beppu and Yufuin.

It’s more popular among local tourists than international visitors, though. Almost 80% of 530,033 visitors recorded last month were domestic travelers.

 

The airport operates mainly domestic flights, but also runs a few international routes to Seoul in South Korea and Taipei in Taiwan.

It is not the first airport to name itself after the nation’s much-worshipped cartoon characters, with Japanese manga and anime being among the country’s most influential exports.

In the central city of Tottori, officials renamed its airport Tottori Sand Dunes Conan Airport in 2015 to pay tribute to “Case Closed,” a Japanese manga and anime series about a child detective, Conan, who battles criminals with cool gadgets a la James Bond.

The neighboring Yonago Kitaro Airport also took its name from another manga and anime series, “GeGeGe no Kitaro,” which follows the quest of a young boy named Kitaro who fights off demons — or yokai in Japanese — to protect humans.

Other airports have also featured popular characters from Super Mario Bros and Pokemon in their tourism campaigns, even though they weren’t down for a name change.

The country with one of the most complex train networks in the world also puts its favorite characters on trains, including — guess who — Hello Kitty.
 
 

Many in Japan have recently fallen victim to scams in which their online securities accounts are hijacked and used to trade shares, possibly for market manipulation by criminal groups.

Securities houses are urging customers to beware of such scams. The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission is closely monitoring the market.

The problem came to light when Rakuten Securities Inc. made a related announcement late last month. It has been discovered also at industry peers including Nomura Securities Co. and SBI Securities Co.

 

According to the companies, criminal groups lead victims to fake websites that mimic the companies' real websites to steal their user identification codes and passwords by utilizing a method called phishing. The groups then use the obtained information to log in to accounts and buy and sell shares.

Fraudulent trades mainly involved foreign stocks at first, prompting Rakuten Securities and others to briefly suspend buy orders for Chinese stocks. The illicit activity soon spread to Japanese stocks, however, leading to suspensions in trading of some issues.
 
 

President Donald Trump touted "big progress" in tariff talks with Japan on Wednesday, in one of the first rounds of face-to-face negotiations since his barrage of duties on global imports roiled markets and stoked recession fears.

Japan had not expected the president to get involved in Wednesday's talks, viewing them as a preliminary, fact-finding mission, a sign that Trump wants to keep tight control over negotiations with dozens of countries expected over coming days and weeks.

Tokyo had also been hoping to limit the scope of the talks to trade and investment matters. But announcing his involvement early Wednesday, Trump said thorny issues including the amount Japan pays towards hosting U.S. troops were among discussion topics.

"A Great Honor to have just met with the Japanese Delegation on Trade. Big Progress!" Trump said in a social media message that contained no details of the discussions.

Opposite Trump was Ryosei Akazawa, a close confidant of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba who serves in the relatively junior cabinet position of economic revitalisation minister.

Speaking to reporters after the talks, Akazawa gave few details but said the parties had agreed to hold a second meeting later this month and that Trump had said getting a deal with Japan was a "top priority".

Exchange rates, which the Trump administration has said Japan and others manipulate to get a trade advantage, were not part of the talks, Akazawa added.

The dollar strengthened against the yen after his remarks on forex, up around 0.5% on the day. Tokyo denies it manipulates its yen currency lower to get make its exports cheaper.

Akazawa held a 50-minute meeting with Trump at the White House before another session with his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that stretched to almost an hour and a half, according to Japanese readouts of the talks.

Japan's prime minister, who has previously said he won't rush to reach a deal and does not plan to make big concessions, sounded a more cautious tone speaking to reporters later in Tokyo.

"Of course, the negotiations will not be easy going forward, but President Trump has stated that he wants to give top priority to the talks with Japan," Ishiba said.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni heads to the White House on Thursday to discuss tariffs imposed on the European Union with Trump, while Bessent has invited South Korea's finance minister to Washington for talks next week.



FIRST MOVER ADVANTAGE

Trump has long complained about the U.S. trade deficit with Japan and other countries, saying U.S. businesses have been "ripped off" by trade practices and intentional efforts by other countries to maintain weak currencies.

Japan has been hit with 24% levies on its exports to the United States although these rates have, like most of Trump's tariffs, been paused for 90 days. But a 10% universal rate remains in place as does a 25% duty for cars, a mainstay of Japan's export-reliant economy.

Bessent has said there is a "first mover advantage" given Washington has said more than 75 countries have requested talks since Trump announced sweeping duties on dozens of countries - both friend and foe - earlier this month.

Akazawa declined to comment on the matter, adding only that he strongly requested a revocation of the tariffs and that he believed Washington wanted to secure a deal in the 90-day window.

Washington is hoping to strike deals with countries that would cover tariffs, non-tariff barriers and exchange rates, Bessent has said, though Tokyo had lobbied to keep the latter separate.

Trump earlier this month lambasted Japan for what he said was a 700% tariff on rice, a figure Tokyo disputes. Levies on autos are particularly painful for Japan as they make up nearly a third of shipments to the U.S., its biggest export market.

Japan hopes that pledges to expand investment in the United States will help to convince the U.S. that the allies can achieve a "win-win" situation without tariffs.

Possible Japanese investment in a multi-billion dollar gas project in Alaska could also feature in tariff negotiations, Bessent said before Wednesday's talks.

"It sounds like the Trump administration really does want a quick deal, which suggests it will be a less substantive deal," said Tobias Harris of Japan Foresight, a political risk advisory.

"My baseline is that if the U.S. really starts making demands on agriculture and maybe also on some of the auto regulations, it becomes a lot more contentious and hard to do quickly."

Reporting by Nathan Layne in Washington; John Geddie, Chang-Ran Kim, Kantaro Komiya, Rock Swift, Daniel Leussink, Nobuhiro Kubo and Yoshifumi Takemoto in Tokyo; Editing by Gerry Doyle, Frances Kerry, Cynthia Osterman and Lincoln Feast.

 
 
 

In recent years, Japan has seen a wave of Showa era (1926–1989) nostalgia, particularly among the younger generations. Iconic products and appliances that were once considered everyday staples are now being rediscovered as design treasures, each with stories tied to Japan’s postwar growth and evolving lifestyle.

Beyond products, kissaten or traditional Japanese cafes, along with old-school Japanese snacks, have also become increasingly popular among the youth.

Launched in 1976, the Kyoro-chan Ice Maker by Tiger Corporation quickly became a household favorite. Tiger’s 2025 reissue, the Kyoro-chan ABF-G100, revives the machine’s third-generation design.

This manual shaved ice maker features an efficient inward-facing stainless steel blade, a child-friendly screw rotation mechanism and an ice-holding spike for stability.

It’s easy to use for both kids and adults, while its retro look adds an undeniable charm to any kitchen. It’s also lightweight and compact and available in three colors: yellow, orange and blue. 

Priced at ¥8,980, it includes a dedicated ice-making cup for added convenience.
 
 

A series of crimes has occurred in which hackers took over individual investors’ accounts with securities companies and made illegal stock trades.

The criminals are believed to be using the accounts to manipulate stock prices, raising the prices of specific shares by purchasing large numbers of low-priced stocks that are not usually traded actively.

Some individual investors have lost millions of yen through the scams. Criminal groups are also believed to have stolen clients’ authentication information by guiding them to fake websites.

Securities companies are calling on their clients to be wary of the scams.
 
 
Unauthorized login

A 36-year-old company employee in Saitama Prefecture who suffered losses from this kind of scam openly expressed his surprise. “I never dreamed that my account could be hacked and taken over,” the man said.

On March 20, he found records of Chinese company shares, which he did not recognize, in his account with Rakuten Securities Inc.

The man checked the trading records for the previous day, and found that Japanese company shares worth about ¥12 million that he had owned had been sold without his knowledge. In addition, a total of 200,000 shares in a Chinese company had been purchased through his account. The Chinese company stocks were priced at about ¥57 per share.

Because the day was a national holiday, the man could not contact officials of Rakuten Securities. He was worried, thinking that he might have been involved in a crime.

The man immediately sold all the Chinese shares, but he suffered about a loss of about ¥2.1 million from the transaction.

Later, he submitted an inquiry to Rakuten Securities, and signs were found of an unauthorized login from a personal computer that was not his.

The man was perplexed, saying: “I’ve never opened a suspicious email. I have no idea how my authentication information was leaked.”

The man said that an official of Rakuten Securities told him, “Regardless of whether a client actually input commands, we do not provide compensation for transactions that were made with a registered ID and passcode.”

The man said he was considering legal action. “I can’t accept that, because it was illegal trading,” he said.
 
 
Targeting low-priced stocks

Illegal transactions like this have been confirmed and announced by many securities companies since late March. The firms involved include Rakuten Securities, SBI Securities Co., Nomura Securities Co., Monex Inc., SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. and Matsui Securities Co.

Rakuten Securities, which has about 12 million general securities accounts for clients, has suspended buy orders for shares of more than 1,000 Chinese companies, to prevent damage from spreading further. On April 14, the company also suspended orders for shares in 20 U.S. companies.

None of the securities companies have disclosed the scales of the damage or other details.

What is the criminal group aiming to do? According to Rakuten Securities and other sources, the hacked accounts showed large purchases of stocks in Japanese and Chinese companies that were low-priced and not actively traded.

The stock prices of some of the companies had shown unusual fluctuations since late Match.

“[The criminals] may be trying to gain profits by raising the share prices through large-scale purchases and then selling stocks that they already owned,” said Naoki Fujiwara, senior fund manager of Shinkin Asset Management Co.

 


 

 
Rapid increase in phishing emails

The IDs and passcodes of the hacked accounts are believed to have been stolen through phishing scams that guide people to fake websites for securities companies, or through the use of malware.

According to the Council of Anti-Phishing Japan based in Tokyo, reports from individuals and companies about phishing emails claiming to be from real securities companies, as well as emails from trying to guide people to fake websites, began increasing in January.

The number of reports from March to April 8 rapidly surged to 17,600.
Such illicit emails seek to heighten recipients’ anxiety by using such terms as “urgent,” “important” and “Your account is going to be unusable. Then they try to guide people to fake websites through online links.

“Such emails contain tricks to slip through security systems,” said Yukimi Sota, chief security evangelist of the Japanese unit of Proofpoint Inc., a major email security service company.

The fake websites use graphics copied from securities companies’ actual sites. “It’s very difficult to distinguish between them,” an official of the anti-phishing council said.

“We want people to thoroughly observe these guidelines: never open links in emails or texts, and conduct transactions only via bookmarked genuine sites or official apps,” the council said, calling on investors to be careful.
 
 
Strengthening countermeasures

Securities companies have been enhancing their countermeasures.
On March 23, Rakuten Securities launched a system of risk-based authentication that requires an additional stage of identification if an account is accessed from a computer terminal that is not the one usually used by the account holder.

Also, many securities companies have introduced multifactor authentications, such as the input of one-time passwords in addition to IDs and ordinary passwords, or identifying users through the computer terminal being used. The companies strongly recommend that clients use the additional systems.

However, an official in the securities industry said: “In securities transactions, a swift decision can affect the results. So, there are clients who dislike the increase of one more step.”

As damage from the scams has grown, the Japan Securities Dealers Association this month began discussing revisions of its guidelines to prevent illegal access, with the enhancement of multifactor authentication in mind.

An official of the association said, “They are unprecedented incidents. We shall find out what are happening and consider countermeasures which can make clients conduct transactions with a sense of security.”
 
 

Japan’s expressways require drivers to pay a toll to use them, but at least they have a pretty slick payment system. Rather than having to stop at toll both and fiddle with change to pay to an attendant or feed into a machine, the vast majority of drivers make their payments through an ETC (electronic toll collection) card. 

The system works wirelessly – simply slow down (but don’t stop) as you approach the toll gate, and once your card’s signal is read, the gates will automatically rise and you motor on through. The same process happens when you get off the expressway, with the distance-derived toll then billed to your account.

At least, that’s how things usually go. April 8 and most of April 9 were expectations, though, as the ETC system went down at around 12:30 a.m. on April 8 and wasn’t up and running again until 2 p.m. on April 9, affecting 106 toll gates on the Tomei and Chuo Expressways in Tokyo and the prefectures of Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano, Shizuoka, Aichi, Gifu, and Mie.

With the system unable to read driver’s cards and automatically raise/lower the toll gates, expressway operator Central Nippon Expressway Co, also known as NEXCO Central, made the decision to just open them all up and let cars pass through, keeping traffic flowing on some of Japan’s most-used motorways.

However, even though NEXCO Central waved cars through, it has no intention of waiving the tolls. Following the incident, the company stated that drivers who used the expressway while the ETC system was down are still required to pay the full amount of the toll that they would have ordinarily been charged.

In a statement regarding the situation on April 9, NEXCO Central president Tadashi Nawada said: “There are situations listed within the [ETC] terms of service in which drivers do not have to pay the toll fees, but there is no clause that drivers do not have to pay in the event of what can be called system malfunctions, as was the case here.”

It’s not always easy to get people to pay for something after they’ve already extracted the benefits from it and returned home, but NEXCO Central says that by 10 p.m. on April 8, they’d received offers of payment from roughly 24,000 people.

That’s admirably scrupulous of them, and given that everyone getting on the expressway in Japan already expects to be charged for it, it’s not like they’re getting hit with an expense they didn’t think they would.

On the other hand, NEXCO Central estimates that there were around 920,000 ETC-equipped cars driving around the expressways during the system outage. It’s unclear whether or not all of those cars were traveling within the affected areas of the network, but it’s a safe bet that more than 24,000 cars got waved through a toll gate without their ETC card being read and thus without being charged.

Those who don’t offer to pay could potentially be accused of defrauding NEXCO Central, but they might not necessarily be twirling their villainous mustaches as they chuckle about pulling one over on the company. A large part of the appeal of the ETC system is its convenience.

Toll calculation and billing is automatic, and if you have your ETC account linked to your credit card or bank account with automatic payment enabled, there’s nothing you have to do on your end.

So being asked to compute your toll yourself (which would also require you to figure out how kilometers you drove along the 17 routes of the expressway network that were affected), then set up a bank transfer for that amount to be sent to NEXCO Central, is a hassle that a lot of people aren’t enthusiastically volunteering for, even though NEXCO Central says it is covering any associated bank fees.

Ironically, the reason for the outage that’s resulted in drivers being asked to submit payments appears to have been an unexpected error that occurred during a system update to prepare for discounted late-night tolls, which are scheduled to go into effect this summer.

As for how NEXCO Central would go about tracking down non-payers without any ETC records for the period to refer to, ostensibly they could examine security camera images to determine the location where cars got on and off the expressway.

With 900,000 vehicles to track, though, that seems like it would be a major undertaking, and the company isn’t currently threatening any legal action, but as of this writing it’s also not made any indication that it plans to officially wave the tolls either.
 
 

Around 119,000 people visited the World Exposition in Osaka on its opening day Sunday, the organizer said, with long lines forming in the rain at pavilions admitting only a limited number of guests without reservations.

The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition said that more than 140,000 people had made reservations to visit the site on Sunday, but over 20,000 appear to have changed their dates to avoid bad weather.

On Monday, the first weekday since the opening, people lined up in front of the east gate near Yumeshima Station, which is directly connected to the expo site, in a scene reminiscent of the previous day. Entry, however, was smoother than on Sunday.

Inside the venue, a demonstration flight of a pilot-only flying car was held, reaching a height of about 10 meters and flying for around seven minutes as the audience cheered. The event had to be canceled on Sunday due to bad weather.

Later Monday, access to the top of the Grand Ring -- a 2-kilometer-long structure recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's largest wooden building -- was restricted due to concerns about lightning near the venue.

Opening day was not without hiccups, as internet connection issues caused headaches for some participants. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, the top government spokesman, told reporters, "We would like to increase visitor satisfaction through continuous improvements."

The expo will run through Oct. 13 on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay, with 158 countries and regions participating. Around 28.2 million visitors are expected, according to the operator.

The expo kicked off with a bang on Sunday, but soaring hotel prices and a shortage of rooms near the venue are casting a shadow over hopes of attracting more visitors and fueling concerns about the impact of overtourism, locals said.

The new hotels that have opened recently are mostly high-end, catering to wealthy travelers. The surge in foreign visitors has tightened supply and demand, driving up accommodation prices.



 
 

Cherry blossoms have come into full bloom in Yamagata, the Yamagata Meteorological Office announced Monday. It was four days earlier than usual and four days later than last year.

At around 9 a.m., the office’s staff confirmed 80% of the flowers blooming on the Someiyoshino benchmark tree in the office’s premise. The office announced this year’s bloom on Wednesday.
 
 

 

The Japanese American National Museum, or JANM, in Los Angeles is struggling with subsidy cuts by the Elon Musk-led "Department of Government Efficiency," also known as DOGE.

The museum said that the subsidy cuts may force it to cancel workshops for teachers on the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

The museum expected to receive about $190,000 in funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, but that is now uncertain due to the termination of subsidies for the public organization that provides funding to museums and libraries.

More than 100 teachers from 31 states attended the workshops in the past two years.

The museum has received some donation offers following local media reports on the situation, but it is still $93,600 short of funding for this year's workshops, which will be attended by 72 teachers.

"Affecting museums and libraries nationwide, these cuts are part of the current administration's attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion and its ongoing efforts to erase history," William Fujioka, chair of the museum's board of trustees, said in a statement.

Since the start of his second term, U.S. President Donald Trump has been working on the abolition of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs.

"Our museum stands as a place of memory, truth, and justice, where history is not only preserved but actively used to confront contemporary threats to democracy and human dignity," Fujioka said.

"At a time when many agencies and organizations have scrubbed their websites of references to DEI, JANM vows to scrub nothing," he added.
 
 

The key to dressing for summer in Japan is to focus on the right kinds of fabric. Investing in linen, silk blends or cotton can make all the difference between a great day outdoors or an absolute sweaty disaster.

Check out brands that come with “cooling” and UV protection pieces and don’t let hot summer days keep you from wearing what you want.

Keep your skin protected from harmful UV rays with a pair of jersey denim pants from n'OrLABEL. The Cool Touch Jersey Denim Tapered Pants are made with material that makes it cool to the touch, offers a 360-degree stretch and helps block out UV rays.

Designed with a tapered silhouette, the pants come in three different shades of denim, making them the perfect wardrobe staple for everyday summer outfits.

Available online for ¥3,960.
 
 

Ryosei Akazawa’s appointment as the minister in charge of negotiations with the United States over its tariff policy has raised concerns, as he has little diplomatic experience. Some are also worried about whether he is capable of handling such a task.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba appointed Akazawa, minister in charge of economic revitalization, on Tuesday. Ishiba and Akazawa have both been elected to House of Representatives from Tottori Prefecture.

The prime minister only has a few close aides, and Akazawa is one of them. Apparently, Ishiba seems to have decided that Akazawa is the right person to lead the negotiations.

“It will be a very difficult negotiation, but I would like to build a relationship of trust between Cabinet members in charge and achieve results as quickly as possible,” Akazawa told reporters on Tuesday at the Diet Building in Tokyo.

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto was previously in charge of negotiations. However, discussions on the latest U.S. tariffs require a response that goes beyond the boundaries between ministries and agencies.

Akazawa was appointed because, as the minister in charge of economic revitalization, he is able to deal with a wide range of economic issues.

In the past, former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi was in charge of trade negotiations with the United States when he was the minister of economic revitalization.

Akazawa has some experience of being involved in Japan-U.S. negotiations when he was a bureaucrat at the transport ministry, but he has no experience being in charge of major diplomatic negotiations as a minister.

There are some within the LDP who are concerned about the appointment.
“[Akazawa] is not as reliable compared to someone like Motegi,” a junior LDP member said.

Regarding the appointment of a negotiator, Ishiba told his aide, “A minister who can coordinate within the Cabinet and has experience negotiating with a U.S. counterpart would be suitable.”

Although there were many people within the government and the ruling block who favored appointing Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, who has experience as foreign minister, Ishiba decided it would be difficult for Hayashi to simultaneously be the negotiator and the chief cabinet secretary, who is in charge of the country’s crisis management.

Ishiba probably appointed Akazawa because there does not seem to be other suitable candidates within the Cabinet, and appointing someone from outside the Cabinet would require a reshuffle.

Akazawa has the advantage of being able to work closely with Ishiba.
However, a senior LDP member voiced concern, saying, “If [Akazawa] doesn’t get any results, it will show that the Cabinet is lacking personnel.”
 

 

Japan's Defense Ministry hopes to coordinate its participation in the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, or NSATU, initiative, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told visiting NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Tuesday.

In response, Rutte said that the Japanese move is welcome.
NSATU was launched last September to play roles such as supplying and repairing military equipment for Ukraine.

Nakatani said that Japan's participation would be useful, including in drawing lessons from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

 

The Japanese ministry will consider in what way it will participate in the NATO initiative, ministry officials said.
 
 

 
The Emperor and Empress, during their first visit to Iwoto Island on Monday, spoke with families of the war dead and former islanders who were forced to evacuate, listening to their stories of hardships during and after the end of the war.

The island in the village of Ogasawara, Tokyo, was the site of an intense battle between Japanese and U.S. troops near the end of World War II, with the Japanese fatalities at over 20,000. After offering prayers and laying flowers at a cenotaph, the couple met with families of the war dead and former islanders.

“I hear you had great difficulties,” the Emperor said to Tetsuro Teramoto of Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, who chairs an association of families of those who died on the island.

Teramoto’s father, Yasuo, who belonged to a unit of the Imperial Japanese Army, died on the island. His mother raised five children, including Teramoto, after the end of the war.

“I believe the Emperor is a warmhearted person,” said Teramoto, 80. “I can persevere from tomorrow.”

According to Nippon Izokukai, a Japanese association of families of war dead, the average age of the children of those who died in the war is estimated at about 84.

The Emperor asked Yukio Udagawa, 83, the president of the Association of Tokyo Bereaved Society, “How are the second and third generations?”

When Udagawa told the Emperor about the activities of the society’s youth group mainly comprising third-generation members who are the grandchildren of war dead, the Emperor told Udagawa, “This is important.” The Empress nodded with a serious look on her face.

Before the war, more than 1,000 people lived on the island. Most of them were forced to evacuate, and since then, they have not been able to return.
When the representative of an organization of former islanders said that they had to leave their homes and property behind, the Emperor told the representative, “You all had great difficulties.”

Prior to the conversation with them, the imperial couple visited three memorial facilities on the island on Monday afternoon.

During the war, soldiers died after suffering from hunger and thirst. The couple offered water to the water basin at Chinkon no Oka (Hill of Requiem). There is an underground bunker nearby that was used by the Japanese military. The couple stood at the entrance and heard explanations about the bunker.

At the Iwoto peace memorial park, the couple offered prayers at a cenotaph that has the names of 82 islanders inscribed on it who died after serving in roles such as hauling cargo and cooking meals for the military.
 
 

Japanese actor Hirosue Ryoko has been arrested on suspicion of injuring a nurse at a hospital.

Police say she was arrested in Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, early on Tuesday for allegedly kicking and scratching a female nurse.
They have not said whether Hirosue has admitted to the charge.

Police say the suspect rear-ended a large trailer while driving a passenger car on the Shin-Tomei Expressway in Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Monday. She was injured and taken to the hospital.

A man claiming to be Hirosue's manager was also reportedly in her vehicle.
The Shimada General Medical Center, where Hirosue was taken, told reporters that three nurses attended to the patient when she arrived, and that it believes hospital staff behaved appropriately.

Hirosue's agency, which she heads, posted an apology on its website on Tuesday confirming her arrest.

The statement says a vehicle driven by Hirosue caused a traffic accident in Shizuoka Prefecture. It says Hirosue temporarily went into a panic at the hospital and injured a medical staff member.

The office says it apologizes deeply to the victim, all others affected and Hirosue's fans for causing great inconvenience and concern.
It says Hirosue will refrain from all entertainment activities for the time being.

Hirosue Ryoko was born in 1980. She joined the entertainment industry in 1994 and rose to fame after appearing in a TV commercial for a telecom firm.

As a singer, she released hit songs and appeared on NHK's annual year-end music program.

Hirosue played lead roles in numerous Japanese television dramas, including "Beach Boys" and "Summer Snow."

She appeared in the Japanese film "Poppoya" directed by Furuhata Yasuo and co-starred in the French film "Wasabi" produced by Luc Besson.

Hirosue also played the protagonist's wife in the 2008 Japanese work "Departures," which won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
 
 

A medical transport helicopter carrying a patient fell into the sea in southwestern Japan Sunday, leaving three of the six people aboard dead, the Japan coast guard said.

The pilot, Hiroshi Hamada, 66; Kazuto Yoshitake, a helicopter mechanic and a 28-year-old nurse, Sakura Kunitake, were rescued by the coast guard earlier in the day after they were found in the waters clinging to inflatable lifesavers near the capsized helicopter.

The three suffered hypothermia, as their body temperatures dropped abnormally, but were conscious, an official with the coast guard told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The bodies of medical doctor, Kei Arakawa, 34; Mitsuki Motoishi, 86, the patient, and her caretaker Kazuyoshi Motoishi, 68, were later recovered by a Japan Air Self-Defense Force helicopter. Their hearts had stopped, and they were later confirmed dead by a physician.

The coast guard deployed two planes and three ships to the area as part of the rescue operation.

 

The six people were aboard what the Japanese call “a doctor helicopter,” on their way to a hospital in Fukuoka from Tsushima airport in Nagasaki Prefecture, when it crashed, according to the coast guard. It left Tsushima at 1:30 p.m.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation, the coast guard said Monday.
 
 

Automatic lanes at more than 90 expressway tollgates in Tokyo and six other prefectures were shut down Sunday due to a system outage.

Central Nippon Expressway Co. said it opened the affected lanes to traffic, allowing tolls to be paid online later, as it investigates the cause and works to restore the system following a failure in the electronic toll collection control system early Sunday.

The expressway operator apologized for the disruption at a press conference in the evening, saying a system revamp that began the previous day may have caused the failure.

Five people, including two children, were taken to the hospital after a four-vehicle crash near the Toyokawa interchange on the Tomei Expressway in Aichi Prefecture, which was experiencing a traffic jam due to the system failure, police said. No fatalities were reported.

As of 5 p.m., the toll collection system was down on 16 of the 23 expressway sectors operated by the Nagoya-based company.

It was the first large-scale failure of the electronic toll collection system, known as ETC, since Japan Highway Public Corp. was privatized in 2005, the company said.

Tollgates hit with the system disruption include those in the Fuji interchange on the Tomei Expressway in Shizuoka Prefecture, as well as the Chofu interchange on the Chuo Expressway in Tokyo.


https://youtu.be/gLVnMbOc2z4
 

 

 

Japan will play a major role under defense cooperation between the governments in Tokyo and Washington under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump if a conflict occurs in Taiwan, Kenneth Weinstein, Japan chair at Hudson Institute, a U.S. think tank, said in a recent interview with Jiji Press.

"Japan's own self-interest is much more at stake in a Taiwan contingency or in a Japan contingency than the United States is," Weinstein said. "The fact that Japan recognizes that it is responsible now primarily for its own homeland defense, not the United States, is a big step," he said.

Asked about the possibility of Chinese invasion of Taiwan or remote islands in Japan, Weinstein said, "I think it's unlikely in the near future, but it's always a risk."

But he said, "I don't think that (Chinese President) Xi Jinping wants to risk the anger of Donald Trump" because the Chinese economy has not recovered completely from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump "will do all he can to make sure that he does not need to use force" to intervene in a Taiwan conflict, Weinstein said. But if China attacks Taiwan, "you can expect a very firm reaction from the United States," he said.

Weinstein said Japan's plan to introduce proactive cyber defense will open the door for the country to become a member of AUKUS, a security partnership between the United States, Britain and Australia.

It would be useful if Japan contributes components to AUKUS submarines, Weinstein said. "AUKUS would be a lot stronger if Japan were to join it as a full-fledged partner down the road."
 
 

Max Verstappen turned in a brilliant display at Suzuka to claim his fourth-consecutive Japanese Grand Prix win, a new record at the circuit.

Max Verstappen controlled the Japanese Grand Prix from the front to seal victory over the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, his fourth in a row at Suzuka - a new record.

Charles Leclerc enjoyed a comfortable and uneventful day to claim fourth, ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell.

Kimi Antonelli had a day for the history books as well, becoming the youngest-ever driver to lead an F1 race, beating Verstappen's record from 2016 by just two days. The 18-year-old also became the youngest driver to clinch the fastest lap in a grand prix.

Fellow rookie Isack Hadjar scored the first points of his career by finishing eighth, with Alex Albon continuing his ever-present top 10 streak in 2025.
All 20 drivers finished at Suzuka, something that was achieved four times last season.

 

Opening salvo

The leading trio all made a clean start in the damp conditions, as did the rest of the pack in an unusually tidy opening lap at Suzuka.

The top 12 all remained in their starting positions, whilst Yuki Tsunoda displaced the man he replaced at Red Bull, moving into P13 at Liam Lawson's expense.

The vast majority of the pack opted for new mediums Pirellis for the first phase of the race. Lewis Hamilton decided upon the white-walled hard compound from eighth.

Despite the tricky conditions, with all cars on slick tyres on a drying track, it was not until the end of lap two that anyone veered off track, when Kimi Antonelli missed the final chicane. However, the young Italian remained sixth place.

At the start of lap six, Hamilton overtook the Isack Hadjar for seventh, a driver who idolised him growing up, into the first corner to change the top 10 for the first time.

By this stage, Verstappenwas already getting towards two seconds clear of Norris in the battle up front. Piastri remained tucked up in the DRS window behind his McLaren team-mate.

Soft tyre starter Lance Stroll, who occupied the final slot on the grid, was the first driver to pit. The Aston Martin man coming in at the end of lap nine.

With the gap to Verstappen having hovered at the two-second mark for a while, Norris began to close on lap 18, shrinking the deficit to one-and-a-half seconds as engineer Will Joseph came on team radio to confirm 'pit to undercut' the Dutchman at the end of the lap.

That attempted dummy did not trick Red Bull, with the front runners continuing unchanged until Piastri stopped at the end of lap 20, to cover off George Russell, who came in the lap prior.


Mid-phase and pit stops

Verstappen and Norris stopped together at the end of the subsequent lap. The McLaren stop was a second quicker, with the pair emerging side-by-side to one another.

There was not enough space for both, and Norris ended up on the grass at pit exit. The 25-year-old was straight on the radio to complain he was pushed off.

Meanwhile, the four-time F1 drivers' champion defended himself, saying the McLaren drove onto the grass of his own accord - it was noted but not further investigated by the stewards.

By this stage, Antonelli was leading his first grand prix from Hamilton and Hadjar. Further back Alex Albon was quick to take Williams to task over his "ridiculous" late stop, unsure as to why he was kept out longer than those around him.

It had proved inconsequential, as he still led Ollie Bearman and was poised for another points finish.

Tsunoda suffered a slight off-track excursion at the final chicane, as he failed to make his way through the pack under the strain of his high-downforce set up.

At the start of lap 30, Hadjar pulled off a beautiful move on Carlos Sainz, who was yet to stop. Up front another rookie, Antonelli, continued to impress as well, holding steady before pitting at the end of lap 31. This returned the leading eight to their pre-stops order.

 

Closing stages

After the pit stop phase, Verstappen and the McLarens settled back into their previous groove. Norris continued to slowly close in on the Red Bull, as Piastri put himself into his DRS zone behind, applying a little pressure on his team-mate.

GP Lambiase confirmed over radio that the team was happy for the Dutchman to push, as he gently managed the gap behind him.

By the start of lap 41, the Australian McLaren driver, on his 24th birthday, was within half a second of Norris, but did not come close to taking the position from the Briton.

Piastri, growing impatient, pushed the Woking squad to force his team-mate into making a move on Verstappen, arguing he had the pace himself to get the 27-year-old ahead.

That appeared to be the wake-up call Norris needed, quickly breaking DRS behind and closing in on the Red Bull.

However, neither McLaren had enough in their locker to truly trouble Verstappen, with the top three - and following three - finishing the Japanese Grand Prix in the same order it was started in.
 
 

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani on Sunday pledged to strengthen the Self-Defense Forces' transport capabilities to remote southern islands through a newly launched unit dedicated to maritime logistics amid growing tensions over the Taiwan Strait.

"The unit will enable faster and more secure deployment of troops," Nakatani said at a ceremony in the western city of Kure in Hiroshima Prefecture to mark the formation of the Maritime Transportation Group, which was established on March 24 and is based in the city.

The group, placed under the direct control of the defense minister, consists of about 100 members. It aims to have 10 transport ships by March 2028, with two already built, according to the SDF.

The two ship captains are members of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, while most of the other crew members come from the Ground Self-Defense Force. The MSDF has been helping train the crews.

"It is a historically important step that we formed the new unit with the GSDF and the MSDF working on it together," Nakatani said.

The move comes as China increases pressure on Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island that Beijing views as its own and has not ruled out using force to bring under its control.

Taiwan is seen as a potential military flashpoint that could draw the United States into conflict with China, posing serious security challenges for key U.S. ally Japan due to the proximity of its far-flung islands, including the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

The Maritime Transportation Group is expected to transport personnel and equipment of the GSDF's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, dubbed the Japanese Marines and based in Sasebo in the southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki, in the event of an emergency.
 
 

Prince Hisahito, the nephew of Emperor Naruhito and second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne, attended the entrance ceremony of the University of Tsukuba near Tokyo on Saturday.

The 18-year-old prince, who graduated last month from the university-affiliated Senior High School at Otsuka in the capital, will pursue his long-time interest in insects, including dragonflies, at the School of Life and Environmental Sciences.

"I am grateful for being able to learn in various academic fields," he told reporters before the ceremony. "Sometimes I feel nervous about my new life, but I want to cherish every experience."

His parents, Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko, said in a statement, "We hope he has a fulfilling time at university."

Prince Hisahito will commute by car from his residence at Akasaka Estate in Tokyo for a while and later from a rented apartment near the university in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, depending on his schedule, according to the Imperial Household Agency.

The prince will celebrate his coming-of-age at a traditional imperial ceremony next September, a year after reaching adulthood at age 18.

He is expected to participate in court events as an adult member of the imperial family from then on, while prioritizing his studies during his years at the university.

While it is customary for members of the imperial family to study at Gakushuin University and its affiliate schools in Tokyo, Prince Hisahito has pursued a different path, starting at Ochanomizu University Elementary School and attending Ochanomizu University Junior High School before entering Senior High School at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba, a first for an imperial family member.

The crown prince's eldest daughter, former Princess Mako, graduated from the International Christian University in Tokyo, the first imperial family member to do so, and was followed by her younger sister Princess Kako.

The University of Tsukuba, founded in 1973, had around 10,000 undergraduates as of last May, and its recent graduates include professional footballer Kaoru Mitoma, who plays as a winger for English Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion.

 
 

Fuelled by social media, a global boom is outstripping production of the powdered green tea

The appearance of the vivid-green powder elicits smiles and appreciative sounds, and anticipation among dozens of tea lovers. Their hand-milled batches now ready for whisking with hot water, they will soon be rewarded for their patience.

The foreign tourists attending a matcha-making experience in Uji, near Kyoto in western Japan, are united in their love of the powdered, bitter form of green tea the Japanese have been drinking for centuries, and which is now at the centre of a global boom.

Made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant and originally served, in highly stylised fashion, at formal tea ceremonies by masters of sado – the way of tea – matcha is the flavour profile of the times, the must-have ingredient in everything from lattes and chocolates to ice-cream and boiled sweets.

After the lean years of the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses in Uji, a town known for deep historical ties to the matcha trade, are cashing in.

Buoyed up by record levels of tourism to Japan, restaurants take the matcha theme to its culinary extreme: gyoza and takoyaki drizzled in matcha-infused dressing, and bowls of “stamina” ramen topped with the chlorophyll-rich green stuff.

Every cafe is packed on an overcast, drizzly afternoon, as are the family-run shops doing a roaring trade in packets of locally produced tea, colourfully decorated containers and matcha-themed confectionery.

At Chazuna, a park and museum devoted to the town’s tea culture, matcha workshops are fully booked for the next fortnight. Of the 60 people a day who come to make, and then drink, their own tea, about 90% are from overseas.

“We opened in 2021 and for the first two years we didn’t have many visitors,” says Chazuna’s director, Naoto Sakayori. “Then everything changed in March last year and, since August, interest has rocketed.

It’s all about matcha, matcha. People think that if they come to Kyoto on holiday, then they absolutely have to come here for a matcha experience. And then everyone posts their photos and videos online.”

Stephen Blackburn, a tourist from New York, was among the first to ride the matcha wave. “I have more or less stopped drinking coffee and now just drink matcha,” says Blackburn, a former barista who started drinking the Japanese pick-me-up eight years ago.

“I like the taste and the way it makes me feel. It’s not like coffee. It doesn’t leave me agitated … it makes me more focused.”

But some visitors to Uji are still not convinced. “To be honest, we don’t really like matcha,” says Henrik Hantel, who is honeymooning in Japan with his wife, Tessa.

“We tried it in Germany several times and disliked it, but we thought Japanese matcha might be different … and it’s everywhere here, so we don’t have much choice but to try it in its traditional home. We’re going to give it one more go and hope we won’t be disappointed again.”

However, the global appetite for all things matcha is a double-edged sword. Reports of a shortage emerged last autumn, prompting tea companies in Kyoto to impose unprecedented purchase limits on the powder, which has been consumed in Japan since the 12th century after it was introduced by Buddhist monks from China.

Soaring demand in Europe, the US and Australia has prompted warnings of further shortages this year. While consumption of leaf green tea and matcha is declining in Japan, the rest of the world can’t get enough, with the global market in matcha alone expected to surge from $2.8bn [£2.2bn] in 2023 to about $5bn by 2028.

According to the agriculture ministry, Japan produced 4,176 tonnes of matcha in 2023, almost three times the quantity in 2010. Keen to exploit the growing commercial potential, Japan’s government is reportedly planning subsidies to encourage growers to move away from traditional leaf tea, or sencha, and produce more tencha – tea for grinding – the type of leaf that produces matcha.

Official campaigns to spread the word about matcha have been wildly successful. The tea promotion account on Instagram, run by the Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Centre, has almost 50,000 followers.

This year’s tea harvest, which will start this month, will replenish the matcha supply, but relief will be temporary. Overseas consumption “reached a record high last year”, Fumi Ueki, chief of the Leaf Brand Group, a department of Ito En, one of Japan’s largest tea companies, told the Japan Times.

Inevitably, social media has been a driver of interest. Matcha content is hard to avoid on TikTok, with users pointing to evidence of the health benefits of regular consumption of antioxidant-rich green tea, whose caffeine levels are slightly lower than those in coffee.

While he has been taken aback by the levels of interest in matcha – Chazuna will soon host large groups of British visitors – Sakayori appreciates its aesthetic, even spiritual, appeal.

“It’s not like drinking coffee or English tea,” he says. “It’s about more than the taste… drinking matcha is an experience.”

The march of the brilliant-green powder continues, winning unlikely converts along the way, including Henrik and Tessa Hantel. “We decided to try matcha along with a dessert and, to be honest, it was the best experience we’ve had so far,” they wrote in an email after speaking to the Observer.

“I still don’t think we’ll order it back in Germany but it was a happy way to end our matcha experience in Japan.”
 
 
 

A survey published Thursday by a Singaporean state-owned think tank said Japan remains the most trusted major power among respondents in Southeast Asia due to the country's "respectful and cooperative approach to regional engagement," with trust rising over the past year.

The European Union ranked second at 51.9 percent, followed by the United States at 47.2 and China at 36.6, according to the survey by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

Japan "has maintained its position as the most trusted major power" in the region, with a trust level of 66.8 percent, up from 58.9 a year ago, according to the survey conducted from Jan. 3 to Feb. 15.

Trust in Japan remained high despite its political shift as the administration of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba came into office in October last year, which "has raised expectations of a potential foreign policy recalibration from Tokyo," the survey said.

Trust in China rose to 36.6 percent from 24.8 a year earlier. "China's rising trust owes much to its strong economic influence," the report said.

However, the survey said China continues to raise concerns in Southeast Asia, with 41.2 percent of respondents expressing distrust toward the Asian superpower and nearly half fearing it could use its economic and military power to threaten the interests and sovereignty of their countries.

This compares with 33 percent expressing distrust toward the United States and 16.5 percent toward Japan.

The survey also showed that regional expectations for U.S. political engagement with Southeast Asia increased under President Donald Trump's second administration.

The United States has also overtaken China as the strategic partner to align with if the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were forced to choose between the two rivals.

The survey involved about 2,000 respondents in the fields of academia, business and journalism, as well as government and civil society.

The respondents were from the 10 members of ASEAN -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- plus East Timor, which awaits formal admission to the grouping.
 
 

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday that the importance of bilateral cooperation with South Korea will not change, after President Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted by the country's Constitutional Court over his short-lived declaration of martial law.

Ishiba told a parliamentary committee that the two nations working side by side is crucial for regional peace and security, noting that it is one of his government's priorities to coordinate more closely with South Korea as this year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of their relationship.

Long chilled over issues related to their wartime past and territorial disputes, relations between Japan and South Korea had been thawing in the years since Yoon became president in 2022.

Trilateral cooperation that includes the two nations' common ally, the United States, has also taken on greater urgency in the face of North Korea's nuclear and missile development and China's assertiveness in the region.

"Bilateral cooperation between Japan and South Korea will be extremely important for regional peace and stability under whoever is president," Ishiba told a session of a House of Representatives committee.

An election must be held in South Korea to select a successor to Yoon within 60 days. The South Korean court on Friday upheld a parliamentary impeachment motion, in a unanimous decision by its judges.

Ishiba refrained from commenting on the election, saying it is up to the people of South Korea to decide who the next leader should be.
 
 

Tokyo has also sent a 32-member Japan Disaster Relief Medical Team to Yangon to aid humanitarian efforts

Japan will provide US$6 million in emergency aid to assist victims of the recent earthquake in Myanmar, its government said.

The details of the aid will be coordinated with relevant international organizations as soon as possible, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said April 2, citing the “enormous humanitarian needs on the ground.”

Additionally, Japan dispatched a 32-member Japan Disaster Relief (JDR) Medical Team to Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, on April 2.

The team, which includes doctors and nurses, is the first of its kind sent by the Japanese government and will provide medical assistance for two weeks.

The foreign ministry said Japan will also supply emergency relief goods, including sanitary items, water, and water purifiers, through the United Nations and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

A five-member assessment team, including JICA staff and medical personnel, was sent to Myanmar on March 31 to evaluate needs, monitor security conditions, and coordinate the JDR team’s deployment.

On March 30, Japan delivered 240 waterproof sheets and 450 tents funded by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund through the Disaster Emergency Logistics System for ASEAN.

“The government of Japan continues to provide as much humanitarian assistance as possible in a manner that directly benefits the people of Myanmar who are in need,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Japanese government said it remains committed to supporting the people of Myanmar and is prepared to offer further assistance.

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar on March 28, causing widespread devastation, including loss of life and significant structural damage. Tremors were felt as far as Thailand and China.

As of April 3, Myanmar had reported 3,085 deaths, 4,515 injuries, and approximately 351 people missing. Officials expect the toll to rise as search operations continue.

Two Japanese nationals were confirmed injured in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city near the epicenter, and another in Bangkok, Thailand.
One Japanese national remains unaccounted for in Mandalay, according to the Japanese government.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi called for prayers in Tokyo diocese, highlighting the strong ties between the Church in Mandalay and Tokyo.

“The Church in Mandalay, Myanmar, is a sister church of Tokyo diocese, and has been providing various forms of support together with Cologne diocese for many years,” he wrote in a March 29 online diary entry.

“We have received information from the Mandalay Diocese that the recent earthquake has caused great damage, including to churches, and that the church has begun relief efforts,” he said.

He noted that while many people have offered immediate donations, the diocese will determine the best approach and provide updates on its website.
Caritas Japan, the Catholic aid organization, announced on its website April 3 that it has begun accepting donations for Myanmar earthquake relief.

“There is a shortage of basic necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter, and the situation remains serious,” the organization said.

“In light of the damage caused by this earthquake, Caritas Japan has decided to accept Myanmar Earthquake Relief Donations. Donations will be used for relief efforts in the affected areas,” it added.
 
 

The Japanese government has warned of catastrophic economic damage and nearly 300,000 deaths when the next "megaquake" hits the archipelagic nation, according to a new estimation released on Monday.


Why It Matters

Japan lies along the circum-Pacific seismic belt, better known as the "Ring of Fire," located along the outer edges of the Pacific Ocean, where about 81 percent of the largest earthquakes in the world occur, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Quake-prone Japan's four main islands and its outlying islands sit on five major and minor tectonic plates on the Earth's crust—Amur, Okhotsk, Pacific, Philippine Sea, and Okinawa—which are slowly moving, and earthquakes are concentrated along their boundaries.

On March 11, 2011, the 9.0-magnitude Great East Japan Earthquake struck the country, making it the largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan. The unprecedented disaster triggered a tsunami and caused a nuclear accident, killing at least 19,729 people.


What To Know

In the latest report prepared by a Japanese government earthquake task force, it was estimated that up to 298,000 people could be killed in a Nankai Trough megaquake with a magnitude of 8-9. The casualties would include 215,000 deaths caused by tsunami waves, the report said.

The Nankai Trough is an oceanic trench located off the southern coastline of the Japanese mainland. It is located at the triple boundary between the Amur, Okhotsk and Philippine Sea plates. The 2011 earthquake occurred in the nearby Japan Trench.

A Nankai Trough earthquake has struck Japan every 100 to 150 years—and experts have long feared that another could hit there in the near future. The last confirmed temblors linked to the trough were recorded in 1944 and 1946, hitting the country's central to southwestern region.

At nearly 300,000, Tokyo's current estimate of the potential loss of life is down by 10 percent from the previous report released in 2012, while projected economic losses rose to $1.8 trillion from $1.4 trillion.

There is a 70-80 percent chance of a megaquake occurring within 30 years, the Japanese government estimated. In a worst-case scenario, some regions could experience the highest level of 7 on Japan's seismic intensity scale, as well as tsunami waves rising over 98 feet, according to official estimates.

The highest level of Japan's seven-number scale will make it impossible for people to remain standing, while buildings that have low resistance to earthquakes will collapse, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The release of the Japanese megaquake report comes after a magnitude-7.7 earthquake hit Myanmar on Friday, causing tens of thousands of deaths, according to U.S. estimates.

A series of earthquakes occurring in 24 hours in Asia last week also revived discussions about the Japanese comic book The Future I Saw, a recording of the cartoonist author's dreams published in 1999. The manga was later called a "prophecy" after readers discovered that it apparently had predicted the 2011 earthquake.

Debate rose again over the book's complete edition, in which the cartoonist dreams of a catastrophe in July 2025. In the comic, the disaster leaves one-third of Japan's territory submerged following an "eruption" of the seabed between Japan and the Philippines, causing a giant tsunami three times as large as the one that struck in 2011.

Ten of 15 prophecies mentioned in the comic are interpreted to have come true, according to Taiwanese magazine Global Views Monthly. Among them appeared to be the COVID-19 pandemic.


What People Are Saying

Nobuo Fukuwa, professor emeritus at Nagoya University and a member of the government's earthquake task force: "Unless damages are reduced, there are concerns about the nation's future. We want [the government] to take countermeasures more seriously."

U.S. Geological Survey, in the frequently asked questions about natural hazards: "[Japan] is in a very active seismic area, and they have the densest seismic network in the world, so they are able to record many earthquakes."

The Hong Kong Observatory in a recent update: "Globally, statistical data indicates that approximately 20 earthquakes of magnitude 7 or above occur each year, but the exact timing, location, and magnitude of these events remain unpredictable."


What Happens Next

Japan's Kyodo News said that the Japanese government will revise the "disaster prevention plan" to designate additional priority regions based on the expanded flood risk zones, as the report highlighted the importance of swift evacuation in the event of a tsunami.
 
 

Japan sees about an 80 per cent chance of a magnitude 8 to 9 earthquake along a seabed zone known as the Nankai Trough.

Japan's economy could lose as much as US$1.81 trillion in the event of a long-anticipated megaquake off its Pacific coast, which could trigger devastating tsunamis, the collapse of hundreds of buildings and potentially killing about 300,000 people, a government report said on Monday (Mar 31).

The expected economic damage of 270.3 trillion yen, or nearly half of the country's total gross domestic product (GDP), was up sharply from the previous estimate of 214.2 trillion yen as the new estimate accounted for inflationary pressures and updated terrain and ground data which have expanded anticipated flood areas, the Cabinet Office report showed.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, and the government sees about an 80 per cent chance of a magnitude 8 to 9 earthquake along a tremulous seabed zone known as the Nankai Trough.

Under the worst-case scenario, based on a potential magnitude 9 earthquake in the area, Japan is likely to see 1.23 million evacuees or 1 per cent of its total population.

As many as 298,000 people could die from tsunamis and building collapses if the quake occurs late at night in winter, the report showed.

The trough is off Japan's southwest Pacific coast and runs for approximately 900km, where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Eurasian Plate. The accumulating tectonic strains could result in a megaquake roughly once in 100 to 150 years.

Last year, Japan issued its first-ever megaquake advisory that there was a "relatively higher chance" of a quake as powerful as magnitude 9 in the trough, after a magnitude-7.1 quake occurred at the edge of the trough.

A magnitude 9 quake in 2011 that triggered a devastating tsunami and the triple reactor meltdowns at a nuclear power plant in northeast Japan killed more than 15,000 people.
 
 

San-ikukai, a Tokyo-based social welfare corporation, announced Monday the start of its "Baby Basket" project to protect lives of newborn babies at its hospital in the capital's Sumida Ward.

Beginning 1 p.m. the same day, women can anonymously drop off their babies up to four weeks old round the clock at a place in San-ikukai Hospital in the Kinshicho district, the second "baby hatch" in Japan after the one set up at Jikei Hospital in the city of Kumamoto in May 2007.

Within a minute after receiving a baby, the hospital will dispatch an official to the hatch, San-ikukai said, adding that it will look for foster parents in cooperation with child guidance centers.

Also under the project, mothers can give birth in secret by letting only a limited number of hospital staff know who they are.

"Such tragic incidents as newborn desertion and fatal child abuse continue to happen," Hitoshi Kato, head of San-ikukai Hospital, told a press conference at the Tokyo metropolitan government's head office. "I'm going to make efforts to create a society where this project is no longer necessary."
 
 

One of Japan's biggest restaurant chains is closing its outlets for deep cleaning, after two incidents of customers finding pests - including a rat - in their food.

Sukiya, known for its beef-on-rice dishes, announced the temporary closure after an insect was found by a customer. Last weekend, it admitted that a rat had been discovered in a bowl of miso soup in January.

The chain, which has nearly 2,000 restaurants, said most of its sites would be shut between 31 March and 4 April "to prevent external intrusion and internal infestation of pests and vermin".

In a statement, it apologised for the "great inconvenience and concern caused".

Rumours about the rat-in-miso incident had been circulating on social media for weeks before Sukiya was forced to confirm that the rodent had been found "before it was eaten".

The branch, in the city of Tottori, was temporarily closed, and Sukiya said measures had been taken to address cracks in the building that could lead to contamination.

It then announced that all of its outlets would be regularly checked for gaps and rubbish would be refrigerated.

The company has now taken the more drastic measure of closure after the insect - widely reported to have been part or all of a cockroach - was found on Friday by a customer in the capital, Tokyo.

The manager apologised to the customer and gave them a refund, it said.
Sukiya is part of Zensho Holdings, which owns a number of restaurant chains in Japan.

Last Monday, following the disclosure about the rat, its share price tumbled before recovering later in the week. Its shares will face scrutiny after Saturday's announcement.
 
 

The Meteorological Agency on Sunday raised the volcanic alert for Shinmoedake in the Kyushu region to Level 3 from Level 2.

The agency warned that large volcanic rocks could reach areas within 4 kilometers of the crater of the volcano, which is located between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures.

Level 3 urges restrictions on entry to the volcano, while Level 2 advises people to avoid approaching areas around the crater.

At Shinmoedake, volcanic earthquakes have increased since around Friday, and changes believed to be the swelling of the mountain have also been confirmed, according to the agency.

The alert for Shinmoedake was raised to Level 2 on Dec. 12 last year from Level 1, which warns of a possible increase in volcanic activity.
 
 

China has drawn up a scenario to bolster cooperation with Japan and South Korea over North Korea's denuclearization in a bid to drive a wedge in the three-way ties between the two Asian neighbors and the United States, Chinese sources familiar with the matter said Saturday.

Chinese policymakers share the view that there is a "strategic opportunity" for Beijing to approach Tokyo and Seoul as their trilateral partnership with Washington could be affected by U.S. President Donald Trump's disdain for multilateral frameworks, the sources said.

While reinstating his "America First" policy in his second term, which began in January, Trump has also said he intends to reengage with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with whom he held in-person meetings three times during his first presidency, underlining his preference for a bilateral approach.

As a step to improve China's relations with the two neighbors, Beijing has conveyed to Seoul that Chinese President Xi Jinping intends to attend this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit to take place in South Korea between late October and early November, they said.

China also backs the idea of holding a trilateral meeting of the three Asian countries' leaders at an early date, following a gathering of their foreign ministers in Tokyo last week.

The three Asian neighbors have shared interests in achieving the denuclearization of North Korea, which has recently been strengthening military cooperation with Russia following the signing of a key partnership treaty in June last year that contains a provision for their mutual defense obligations.

A source familiar with Beijing-Pyongyang relations said Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Wang Yajun temporarily returned to China in October last year in a sign of protest over deeper military ties between North Korea and Russia.

Pyongyang has provided troops, ballistic missiles and ammunition to aid Russia's invasion of Ukraine and is believed to be seeking assistance from Moscow to advance its own military capabilities in return.

As part of efforts to strengthen China's ties with Japan and South Korea, academic exchanges led by Tsinghua University in Beijing, Xi's alma mater, have been under way. They involve discussions among experts from the three countries on issues surrounding the Korean Peninsula.

The sources said China eventually aim to upgrade the exchange framework to involve government officials.
 
 

Murase Kokomo and Kimata Ryoma top podium as Japan dominate the event

Japan swept the snowboard big air titles Friday (28 March) at the FIS World Championships in Engadin, Switzerland, as 2022 Olympic bronze medallist Murase Kokomo and 2020 Winter Youth Olympic champion Kimata Ryoma claimed the women’s and men’s wins, respectively.

Murase’s 162.50 held off the challenge of compatriot Iwabuchi Reira, who scored 156.00. Japan swept the podium, with Fukada Mari (153.25) taking the bronze medal.

For Murase, it’s the first world title for the Japanese rider, who also won silver in Engadin in slopestyle.

The 20-year-old was the top scorer in the opening run, throwing down a forward-spinning 1260 Indy grab for an 85.75 score. She followed that up with a 76.75 in her second run, where she performed a backside 1080 with a nose grab.

She led teammate Iwabuchi by six-and-a-half points going into the final run, where Murase would go last as the top scorer.

Iwabuchi failed to improve her score in the final run, giving Murase a victory lap and the world title win.

Beijing 2022 slopestyle champion Zoi Sadowski-Synnott qualified for the finals but did not start.

In the men’s event, the final standings were: Kimata (176.75), followed by Hasegawa Taiga of Japan (174.50). American Oliver Martin was third (171.75).

France’s Romain Allemand, the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games slopestyle bronze medallist, had a commanding nearly 10-point lead after the first two runs. His best of the two came in his first attempt, earning an 85.50 score for his forward 1800 blunt grab.

In the second run, Allemand scored 84.75. That gave him a total score of 170.25, ahead of Martin’s 160.75.

But Hasegawa made his challenge in the final run, throwing down an 87.50 score and erasing a 49.75 first-run effort that had held him down after two rounds. He moved into the lead – but only momentarily – with teammate Kimata earning a massive 95.00 score to overtake him.

After Martin went as the penultimate competitor, Allemand found himself six points off the lead and off the podium, needing a big final run to regain the top spot.

He came up short, failing to improve on his earlier scores, and settled for fourth.

Women's snowboard big air finals - Results

? Murase Kokomo (JPN), 162.50
? Iwabuchi Reira (JPN), 156.00
? Fukada Mari (JPN), 153.25
4. Suzuki Momo (JPN), 150.00
5. Mia Brookes (GBR), 149.50
6. Anna Gasser (AUT), 112.50
7. Annika Morgan (GER), DNS
8. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL), DNS


Men's snowboard big air finals - Results

? Kimata Ryoma (JPN), 176.75
? Hasegawa Taiga (JPN), 174.50
? Oliver Martin (USA), 171.75
4. Romain Allemand (FRA), 170.25
5. Miyamura Yuto (JPN), 155.75
6. Enzo Valax (FRA), 149.00
7. Ian Matteoli (ITA), 108.00
8. Yang Wenlong (CHN), 103.50
9. Mons Roisland (NOR), 79.75
10. Ogiwara Hiroto (JPN), 47.25
 
 

 

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui will join a long-term mission at the International Space Station possibly in July on a journey arranged by NASA, the U.S. space agency said Thursday.

In his second trip to the ISS since 2015, 55-year-old Yui will accompany three other astronauts from the United States and Russia on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's SpaceX Crew-11 mission.

Yui was originally scheduled to leave for space in 2024, but his departure has been delayed as the participating countries' space organizations coordinate on schedules.

In his mission, expected to last around six months, Yui will conduct experiments for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Yui, a Nagano Prefecture native and former Japanese Air Self-Defense Force pilot, previously stayed at the ISS between July and December 2015 and was responsible for the docking of an unmanned supply craft developed by Japan.

JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, 49, also began a mission at the ISS earlier this month.
 
 

Japan’s average surface temperature could rise by 4.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century if no additional measures to mitigate climate change are taken, according to projections released Wednesday by the Meteorological Agency and several other institutions.

The findings, published in the latest edition of “Climate Change in Japan 2025,” highlighted significant warming trends and worsening climate conditions.

The report, first released in 2020, analyzes key indicators such as temperature, rainfall, and sea surface temperatures and is expected to inform national, local, and corporate climate policies.

According to the report, Japan’s annual average temperature has risen at a rate of 1.4 C per 100 years since 1898. Dissolved oxygen levels in surrounding seas — a key indicator of global warming — have declined at a rate equal to or greater than the global average in the country’s southern waters. Sea surface temperatures around Japan are also increasing at a faster pace than the global average.

Without further action to limit global temperature increases — such as keeping warming well below 2 C in line with the Paris Agreement — Japan could face drastic climate shifts, the report warned.

If no further climate change mitigation actions are taken, the country’s annual average surface temperature could climb by 4.5 C by 2100, leading to 17.5 more extremely hot days per year and 46.2 fewer winter days.

The report also forecasts that, despite a decrease in the overall number of rainy days, heavy rainfall events are expected to become more frequent.

If temperatures rise by 4 C, the number of rainfall events exceeding 50 millimeters per hour could triple by the century’s end. Days with more than 100 millimeters of rainfall could increase by 1.4 times.

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Kimio Hanawa, an honorary professor at Tohoku University and chair of the agency’s climate change advisory panel, which is behind the report, expressed concern over the rapid warming.

“Climate change is an extremely important and urgent issue that humanity faces globally,” he said, noting that Japan recorded its highest-ever temperatures in successive years in 2023 and 2024.
 
 

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday that he will visit Ioto, widely known as Iwo Jima, on Saturday to attend an event to honor soldiers who died in the fierce battle on the Pacific island 80 years ago.

Ishiba will be the first sitting Japanese prime minister to visit the island since then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in April 2013.

"I want to think about what Japan and the United States, which both value freedom, democracy and the rule of law, can do for the peace and prosperity of the world, in order to strengthen the (Japan-U.S.) relationship further," Ishiba told a parliament committee meeting.

The memorial event will be held jointly by the two countries. Participants will include Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Nearly 30,000 Japanese and U.S. troops were killed in the battle on Ioto between February and March 1945 in the last phase of the Pacific War, part of World War II.
 
 

Japanese Emperor Naruhito bade farewell on Thursday to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at a hotel in Tokyo.

The Emperor arrived at the hotel in Chiyoda Ward where the president stayed around 10 a.m.

Lula told him that he will never forget the warm welcome he received in Japan. "I am certain that the friendship and goodwill between both countries have been deepened," the Emperor replied.

They chatted for some 20 minutes and parted with a hug. The president's wife had already left Japan for her work.
 
 

On March 7, 2025, TSUTAYA Books, renowned for its distinctive and elegantly curated spaces, announced a strategic partnership with Chinese stationery brand M&G on its website.

This collaboration introduces M&G to nearly 120 TSUTAYA locations across Japan, marking the first time a Chinese stationery brand with a comprehensive product range has been featured in Japan's premier cultural and creative retail chain.

Following the announcement, M&G display areas in TSUTAYA Books across Japan have turned into popular destinations. The brand's innovative click-and-go highlighters and 0.18mm ultra-fine gel pens, previously rare in Japan, quickly became top sellers, enhancing M&G's global reputation.

The partnership also drew praise from UMEZAWA TOYONORI, head of the stationery category at TSUTAYA. In an interview, he commended M&G's global impact and innovation, noting that the brand annually launches thousands of new products that particularly appeal to the tastes of young consumers, delivering significant emotional value.

He emphasized that this partnership represents a mutual benefit, as M&G not only introduces fresh perspectives to TSUTAYA's cultural and creative sections but also attracts an increasing number of young shoppers interested in the cultural ties between China and Japan.

In December 2024, M&G showcased several co-developed products at the Stationery & Women's Expo, an event that drew over 500,000 attendees, attracting numerous Japanese consumers eager to try out the writing experience. The enthusiastic response at the event laid the groundwork that led to formalizing this partnership.

M&G, a favorite among Chinese consumers, has been dedicated to "make study and work more joyful and effective" for over 30 years and has grown into one of the world's largest stationery manufacturers. The company invests heavily in R&D, holds over 1,200 patents, and has won four major international industrial design awards.

It has been named "China Annual No.1 Stationery Brand" for three consecutive years. Its products are exported to over 100 countries and regions, establishing a broad network of global partners.

The brand also became a sensation on Xiaohongshu earlier this year, where its high-quality, affordably priced products featuring exquisite designs resonated with and garnered acclaim from stationery enthusiasts worldwide.

Moving forward, M&G continues to prioritize its consumer-centric strategy, consistently rolling out innovative products that deliver high quality at competitive prices. The company seeks to further enhance its brand image by focusing on attributes of youthfulness and sophistication, and will realize the vision of becoming a "world-class M&G".

 

The Japanese government asked the United States on Thursday for Japan to be exempt from auto tariffs, calling the latest move by its closest ally "extremely regrettable," a top government spokesman said.

"We strongly urged (the U.S. government) to exclude Japan from the measure," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, adding he was instructed by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to have related ministers cooperate in responding to the issue.

Industry minister Yoji Muto separately told reporters the government had again urged Washington to exclude Japan from the additional 25 percent tariff on all automobiles made outside the United States, following a similar request when he visited the country earlier this month.

Hayashi said U.S. moves to restrict trade could have a "large impact on bilateral economic ties, the global economy and the multilateral trading system."

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday an additional 25 percent tariff on auto imports without exceptions. It is feared the hike, which is expected to be implemented on April 3, will disrupt global supply chains and deal a blow to Japanese automakers given their penetration into the U.S. market.

"We must consider steps to respond appropriately. We have all possible options on the table," Ishiba told a committee session in the House of Councillors.

Given the likely negative economic impact, Japan has asked to be exempted from the auto tariffs. But its efforts to win preferential treatment apparently fell flat.

Shipments of U.S.-bound cars and auto parts made up a big portion of
Japan's total exports by value to the world's largest economy in 2024.
Speaking at a press briefing, Hayashi underlined the "big contributions" that Japanese companies, including automakers, have made to the U.S. economy.

Japanese automakers have made direct investments into the United States worth around $61.6 billion and created around 2.3 million jobs, he said.
"It's extremely regrettable" that the United States decided to hike auto tariffs with no exceptions, he said. "We will carefully examine the impact on Japan and will continue to strongly call for an exemption."

At the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic party, policy chief Itsunori Onodera met with U.S. Charge d'Affaires Joseph Young.

Onodera told Young that Japan needs to negotiate with the United States as the planned tariff hike will have a big negative impact on the Japanese economy. He asked the U.S. envoy to convey that message to the U.S. administration, according to Onodera.

Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi told his U.S. counterpart Christopher Landau during phone talks that the measure "is extremely regrettable" and Tokyo wants to continue talks over the issue, a Japanese government source said.
 
 

Two patients to arrive in Tokyo Wednesday under WHO-coordinated evacuation

Japan will accept injured Palestinians from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment, marking the first time the country has extended such direct support to victims of Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave.

At least two injured individuals from Gaza are expected to arrive in Japan starting Wednesday, according to Kyodo News Agency.

The evacuation and treatment plan was organized in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the patients will be cared for at the Self-Defense Forces Central Hospital in Tokyo.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba confirmed last month that the government was exploring ways to offer medical assistance to Palestinians, including potential educational programs.

“We're making efforts to find ways to accept people in Japan who have fallen ill or been injured in Gaza,” Ishiba said during a parliamentary session, adding that Tokyo is also working on a special initiative for Palestinian students to study in Japanese universities.

The Israeli army launched a surprise aerial campaign on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing nearly 800 people, injuring over 1,600 others, and shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas that took hold in January.

More than 50,100 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 113,700 injured in a brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
 
 

The Diet, Japan's parliament, on Wednesday enacted a bill aimed at boosting disaster prevention measures in peninsular areas of the country.

The bill to revise peninsular areas development law aims to conduct the measures with consideration for the geographic features of peninsulas, which are surrounded on three sides by sea. The law, which was originally set to expire at the end of this month, will be extended for a decade through the revision.

Under the current system, 194 municipalities in 23 peninsular regions across the country are designated for special measures and have been subject to industrial promotion measures including tax benefits.

The powerful earthquake that hit the Noto Peninsula in central Japan on New Year's Day last year showed that peninsular areas can become isolated after disasters, as routes to the affected area are limited.

Therefore, the revised law states that disaster prevention and regional revitalization measures will be enhanced in all peninsular areas.

It also expands the scope of matters that the central and local governments should bear in mind in regions where the measures are implemented, such as utilizing digital technology to gather information in times of disasters.
 
 

Japan's parliament on Wednesday enacted legislation to set new rules designed to prevent candidates from using inappropriate tactics, such as presenting images of scantily clad women, on election posters to promote themselves, their candidacies or even products.

In official campaigning for last year's Tokyo gubernatorial race, many people ran primarily to gain fame through broadcasted campaign debates and posters, causing concern that the election process was being undermined for personal gain.

The revised public offices election law will take effect one month after its promulgation, probably in time for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly vote in June and the House of Councillors race this summer -- two of Japan's key political events in 2025.

The supplementary provisions also clarify that necessary measures will be implemented to stop candidates from using their own campaigning resources to help another's chances of winning, a tactic labeled a "two-horsepower" candidacy in Japan. Action is also being taken to combat the spread of false information on social media.

Under the revised legislation, campaign posters must not contain content that harms the reputation or dignity of other individuals or political parties, while being required to clearly display the names of candidates.

Anyone who uses a poster to advertise a specific product will face a fine of up to 1 million yen ($6,670).

Dissemination of false information on social media and two-horsepower candidacies have become more prevalent since the gubernatorial race in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, in November, which drew nationwide attention.

In the election, Takashi Tachibana, head of a fringe political group, ran with the express intention to help the eventual winning candidate, Motohiko Saito, who was removed as governor after a successful no-confidence motion was moved against him over accusations of power abuse.

Tachibana, an unconventional politician with around 800,000 YouTube subscribers, has also been criticized for spreading false information on social media about a rival of the candidate he backed.

The ruling and opposition parties have already begun debating how to regulate such matters, but they will continue discussions cautiously out of concern that the move could restrict freedom of expression, lawmakers said.
 
 

A Japanese man wrongly convicted of murder who was the world's longest-serving death row inmate has been awarded more than 217 million yen in compensation, an official said Tuesday.

The payout represents 12,500 yen for each day of the more than four decades that Iwao Hakamata spent in detention, most of it on death row when each day could have been his last.

It is a record for compensation of this kind, Japanese media said.
The former boxer, now 89, was exonerated last year of a 1966 quadruple murder after a tireless campaign by his sister and others.

The case sparked scrutiny of the justice system in Japan, where gaining a retrial is notoriously hard and death row inmates are often informed of their impending death just a few hours before they are hanged.

The Shizuoka District Court, in a decision dated Monday, said that "the claimant shall be granted 217,362,500 yen," a court spokesman told AFP.
The same court ruled in September that Hakamata was not guilty in a retrial and that police had tampered with evidence.

Hakamata had suffered "inhumane interrogations meant to force a statement (confession)" that he later withdrew, the court said at the time.

Hakamata's legal team said the money falls short of the pain he suffered between his 1966 arrest and his release in 2014, when he was granted a retrial.

"I think the fact that he will receive it... compensates him a little bit for all the hardship," lawyer Hideyo Ogawa told a press conference.

"But in light of the hardship and suffering of the past 47 or 48 years, and given his current situation, I think it shows that the state has made mistakes that cannot be atoned for with 200 million yen," he said.

Decades of detention -- with the threat of execution constantly looming -- took a major toll on Hakamata's mental health, his lawyers have said, describing him as "living in a world of fantasy".

Hakamata was convicted of robbing and killing his boss, the man's wife and their two teenage children.

He initially denied the charges but police said Hakamata eventually confessed. During his trial, Hakamada claimed innocence, saying that his confession was forced.

More than a year after the killings, investigators said they found blood-stained clothes -- a key piece of evidence that the court later said was planted by investigators.

Hakamata now lives with his sister with help from supporters.
Hakamata was the fifth death row inmate granted a retrial in Japan's postwar history. All four previous cases also resulted in exonerations.

Japan is the only major industrialised democracy other than the United States to retain capital punishment, a policy that has broad public support.
Japan's justice minister said in October that abolishing the death penalty would be "inappropriate" even after Hakamata's acquittal.
 
 

Japanese government authorities have barred the country's largest shipbuilder from accepting foreign technical trainees for the next five years due to alleged negligence in safety management and other conditions.

The Immigration Services Agency and labor ministry made the claims against Imabari Shipbuilding in Ehime Prefecture. They also cancelled the firm's 2,134 training plans approved under the technical training program.

Officials gained the power to impose such penalties in 2017 after guidance and oversight were strengthened for companies and organizations accepting technical trainees. Many interns going missing because of alleged harsh working conditions prompted the move.

The number of training plan cancellations at Imabari Shipbuilding is the most for one business since the strengthened oversight system started in 2017.
 
 

Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako hosted Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife, Janja, at a welcoming ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Tuesday.

This marked the first welcoming ceremony at the Imperial Palace for state guests since a trip to Japan by U.S. President Donald Trump in May 2019 during his first term.

 

The Emperor and the Empress held talks with the Brazilian first couple for about 30 minutes.

Emperor Naruhito was gladdened by the gratitude Lula expressed for Japan's cooperation in the Brazilian auto industry, according to the Imperial Household Agency.
 

 

The Brazilian first lady explained about her work to protect female human rights. The Empress said that she was impressed by the efforts to support socially vulnerable people.
 
 

The Unification Church in Japan was ordered dissolved by a court Tuesday after a government request spurred by the investigation into the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The church said it was considering an immediate appeal of the Tokyo District Court’s revocation of its legal status, which would take away its tax-exempt privilege and require liquidation of its assets.

The order followed a request by Japan’s Education Ministry in 2023 to dissolve the influential South Korea-based sect, citing manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that sowed fear among followers and harmed their families.

The Japanese branch of the church had criticized the request as a serious threat to religious freedom and the human rights of its followers.

The church called the court order regrettable and unjust and said in a statement the court’s decision was based on “a wrong legal interpretation and absolutely unacceptable.”

The investigation into Abe’s assassination revealed decades of cozy ties between the South Korea-based church and Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party. The church obtained legal status as a religious organization in Japan in the 1960s during an anti-communist movement supported by Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi.

The man accused of killing Abe resented the church and blamed it for his family’s financial troubles.

The church, which officially calls itself the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, is the first religious group subject to a revocation order under Japan’s civil code. Two earlier case involved criminal charges — the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, which carried out a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, and Myokakuji group, whose executives were convicted of fraud.

To seek the church’s dissolution, the Education Ministry had submitted 5,000 documents and pieces of evidence to the court, based on interviews with more than 170 people.

The church tried to steer its followers’ decision-making, using manipulative tactics, making them buy expensive goods and donate beyond their financial ability and causing fear and harm to them and their families, seriously deviating from the law on religious groups, officials and experts say.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs said the settlements reached in or outside court exceeded 20 billion yen ($132 million) and involved more than 1,500 people.

The church, founded in Seoul in 1954, a year after the end of the Korean War, by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed messiah who preached new interpretations of the Bible and conservative, family-oriented value systems.

It developed relations with conservative world leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as his predecessors Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

The church faced accusations in the 1970s and 1980s of using devious recruitment tactics and brainwashing adherents into turning over huge portions of their salaries to Moon. In Japan, the group has faced lawsuits for offering “spiritual merchandise” that allegedly caused members to buy expensive art and jewelry or sell their real estate to raise donations for the church.

The church has acknowledged excessive donations but says the problem has lessened since the group stepped up compliance in 2009.

Experts say Japanese followers are asked to pay for sins committed by their ancestors during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, and that the majority of the church’s worldwide funding comes from Japan.