Bank Indonesia (BI) has announced that the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) payment method will be available in Japan and China starting August 17, 2025.

BI Deputy Governor Filianingsih Hendarta stated that regarding the rollout in Japan, BI has agreed on a series of technical steps up to the sandbox trial stage with the Japanese payment system authority, beginning in mid-May 2025.

"We hope that if there are no major obstacles, we can officially launch outbound QRIS on August 17. This means Indonesians travelling to Japan will be able to make payments by scanning QR codes there," she said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Progress has also been made in cooperation with China. China's UnionPay International and the Indonesian Payment System Association (ASPI) have agreed to finalize business, technical, and operational arrangements.

Four national switching service providers—PT Rintis Sejahtera (Rintis), PT Alto Network (Alto), PT Artajasa Pembayaran Elektronis (Artajasa), and PT Jalin Pembayaran Nusantara (Jalin)—have signed an agreement with UnionPay International to proceed with system development and sandbox testing.

"We hope the trials can also be conducted on August 17," she added.
Meanwhile, regarding cross-border QRIS cooperation with India, Filianingsih noted that ASPI and NPCI International India are still in the technical discussion stage.

She also mentioned that cross-border QRIS collaboration with South Korea is currently under industry-level review and finalization by ASPI and the Korean Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute.

In addition, Filianingsih said that discussions have been initiated with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority.

Currently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah is promoting a program to enable digital payments for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims, particularly from countries with large pilgrim populations, such as Indonesia.

"Later this month, we expect to hold intensive discussions with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia," she stated.

Filianingsih explained that the main challenge in implementing cross-border QRIS lies in the differing institutional structures of payment systems in each country.
Cross-border QRIS cooperation must begin through coordination with the payment system authority, but not all countries place their payment system authority under the central bank, as Indonesia does.

As a result, BI must first assess the authority structure of each partner country, adjust regulatory frameworks, and align payment system infrastructures. Only then can cooperation proceed to involve industry players and system testing (sandbox).

At the same press conference, BI Governor Perry Warjiyo emphasized that the development of cross-border digital payments is guided by three core principles: national interest, inter-authority synergy, and support from industry players.

This approach is outlined in Indonesia’s payment system blueprint, which incorporates international cooperation as a key element of the national strategy.

"There are stages where industry stakeholders will engage directly. Once aligned with national interests and industry agreements, implementation will be carried out across all players," he explained.

So far, cross-border QRIS payments have been successfully implemented in Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.
 

Japan's new agriculture minister pledged on Friday to quickly move rice from government stockpiles to store shelves where they would be offered at prices significantly lower than current levels, seeking to stem a consumer shift to cheaper, foreign brands.

Soaring rice prices, due in part to crop damage from extreme heat and additional demand from a boom in tourism, have become a major concern for Japanese consumers as well as the government with upper house elections set for July.

The government has been releasing some of its stockpiled rice since March but that has yet to translate to lower supermarket prices.

"The abnormal surge in prices that we're seeing now could accelerate the shift away from domestically produced rice in Japan," Shinjiro Koizumi told a press conference. "We're already seeing supermarkets buying directly from the United States despite having to pay tariffs... We have to quash this abnormal situation and speed is of the essence."

Japan has historically been reluctant to encourage imports of rice, seeking self-sufficiency for its most basic food and putting up high tariffs to protect local farmers from competition.

Koizumi, the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, took up his post just two days ago. His predecessor, Taku Eto, was forced to resign after angering voters by saying he had never had to buy rice thanks to gifts from supporters.

Koizumi said he aimed for stockpiled rice to reach store shelves for under 3,000 yen per 5 kg by early June. That compares with an average price of 4,268 yen in the seven days to May 11, double the same period a year earlier.

Nationwide consumer price index (CPI) data on Friday showed soaring rice prices accelerating overall food inflation to 7.0% in April, from 6.2% in March.

Koizumi also met with Rakuten Group CEO Hiroshi Mikitani, who said the online retail giant was prepared to support the government's efforts.

Upon taking office, Koizumi immediately terminated the auction method of releasing emergency-use rice and said the government would instead sell via discretionary contracts.

The government first released rice from its emergency stock in March through two auctions for 210,000 metric tons, but as of late April, only about 7% had reached retailers due to a complex and time-consuming processing and distribution scheme.

Koizumi said the ministry plans to outline a basic framework for how the new process would work next week.

Questions remain over how the government would select whom to sell to and at what price. It is planning to release 100,000 tons every month through July.
 
 

Japan's National Police Agency said Thursday it will review rules to switch driver's licenses from other countries to Japanese ones following a recent series of accidents by foreign drivers.

The agency plans to require those seeking to switch to a Japanese driver's license to submit a copy of their residence certificate in Japan as a standard requirement while also considering increasing the number of questions on the knowledge test.

Under current rules, short-term visitors in Japan can obtain Japanese licenses by listing hotels or other accommodations as their address.

While both knowledge and driving skill checks are currently required, examinees can pass the knowledge test by answering seven out of ten questions correctly, with about 90 percent passing, a rate some lawmakers have criticized as "too easy."

Japanese citizens who live abroad will not be required to show residence certificates to convert their foreign licenses but must provide other proof of residence while in the country.

 

"Accidents have been increasing among foreigners who obtained licenses under the (current conversion) system," Yoshinobu Kusunoki, commissioner general of the National Police Agency, said at a press conference. "We will draw up a revised plan and take the necessary steps."

According to the agency, the number of conversions from foreign licenses to Japanese ones has been growing recently, rising by about 12,000 to 60,010 cases in 2023 from a year earlier.

On Sunday, two Chinese men were arrested over an alleged hit-and-run that injured four elementary school boys near Tokyo last week. The driver was suspected to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time.

A Peruvian man was also arrested Monday after he allegedly drove his car the wrong way on an expressway in central Japan, collided with multiple vehicles and injured four women.

Both drivers had Japanese licenses converted from foreign licenses, according to investigative sources, and held certificates of residence, according to the National Police Agency.

"There have been cases where a license was issued during a two-night, three-day stay," Itsunori Onodera, policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party, said at a party meeting Tuesday, adding that "serious incidents threatening the safety and security of people living in Japan are happening."

"We will consider (measures) by working closely with relevant ministries and agencies," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference.
 
 
 

Tokyo on Thursday lodged a protest with Israel after the Israeli military fired what it called warning shots at a group of diplomats, including Japanese, visiting the Palestinian territory of the West Bank.

Speaking during a session of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Upper House, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said the incident was "truly regrettable" and "should never have happened."

Iwaya said Toshihide Ando, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau, relayed Tokyo's protest to Israeli Ambassador to Japan Gilad Cohen, adding that the Japanese Embassy in Israel lodged a protest with the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Israeli troops on Wednesday fired shots at the group of diplomats, who were inspecting a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin. The military said it fired warning shots.

The Israeli side has told the Japanese side that it was relieved no one was injured in the incident, Iwaya said.

He added that Israel also said the Palestinian authorities had failed to provide information on the delegation's visit in advance.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, speaking a news conference, said Japan has strongly urged Israel to provide a full explanation and prevent a recurrence.
 
 

As Japan's biggest defence exhibition kicked off this week, visitors got a close-up look at a model of its futuristic "railgun" that its makers hope will be able to shoot down hypersonic missiles.

Instead of gunpowder, railgun technology uses electromagnetic energy to fire a projectile along a set of rails at ultra-high velocity.

The round will then in theory destroy the target, which could be an enemy ship, drone or incoming ballistic missile, solely with its vast kinetic energy.

Other countries, including the United States, China, France and Germany, are also developing the technology, but Japan's navy in 2023 claimed a world first by test-firing a railgun on a ship.

"A railgun is a gun of the future that fires bullets with electrical energy, unlike conventional artillery," an official from the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) within Japan's Ministry of Defence told AFP.

"It is expected that threats that can only be dealt with by railguns will emerge in the future," said the official, who did not want to be named.

The three-day DSEI Japan Conference defence fair, which began on Wednesday, comes as Japan adopts a more assertive defence policy and looks to sell more military equipment to other countries.

In particular, Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Germany's Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS) are competing for a major contract to supply the Australian navy with new warships.

Winning the multi-billion-dollar Project Sea 3000 contract to supply Australia with Mogami-class frigates would be Japan's largest postwar military export order, according to Japanese media.
 
 

Japan’s agriculture minister was forced to resign Wednesday because of political fallout over recent comments that he “never had to buy rice” because he got it from supporters as gifts.

The resignation comes as the public struggles with record high prices of the country’s traditional staple food.

Taku Eto’s comment, which many Japanese saw as out of touch with economic realities, came at a seminar Sunday for the Liberal Democratic Party, which leads an struggling minority government.

The gaffe could be further trouble for the party before a national election in July. A major loss could mean a new government or could mean Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba would have to step down.

“I made an extremely inappropriate remark at a time when consumers are struggling with soaring rice prices,” Eto told reporters after submitting his resignation at the prime minister’s office. Eto’s resignation was the first under Ishiba’s leadership that began October.

The government has released tons of rice from its emergency stockpile in recent months, but the latest agricultural ministry statistics show little impact from the move. Some supermarkets have started selling cheaper imported rice.

Eto also sought to clarify the comments that got him in trouble. He said he does actually buy white rice himself and was not living on rice given as gifts. He said the gift comment referred to brown rice, which he wants people to become interested in because it can reach market faster.

Ishiba appointed popular former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of a former prime minister, to lead the ministry, noting his experience in agriculture and fisheries policies and enthusiasm for reforms.
Koizumi told reporters Ishiba instructed him to do everything to stabilize the rice supply and prices to address consumer concern.

“I was told to put rice before anything,” Koizumi told reporters. “At this difficult time, I will do utmost to speedily tackle high rice price that people feel and worry in everyday life.” He said he shares consumers’ concerns as he feeds his children packaged instant rice sometimes.

Ishiba, also a former farm minister, said he wants to strengthen Japan’s food security and self-sufficiency. He has proposed agricultural reforms, including increased rice production and possible exports, though critics say he should urgently fix the ongoing rice problem first.

Noting the rice situation, Ishiba said he suspects the rice price surge is “not a temporary but a structural problem.”

“It may not be easy to find an answer,” he said, but repeated his pledge to do the utmost to ease consumers’ difficulties and to reform rice policies.

Koizumi said the measures so far have proved ineffective and that he will speed the effort as soon as he formally takes office later Wednesday.

Party leaders plan to further grill Ishiba at a party leaders’ debate at parliament scheduled later in the day.

Japanese rice demand has decreased over recent decades as people’s diets have diversified, but rice remains a staple food and integral part of Japanese culture and history.

“Rice is the stable food for the Japanese. When its prices are rising every week, (Eto’s) resignation is only natural,” said Shizuko Oshima, 73.

The shortfall started last August on panic buying following a government caution over preparedness for a major earthquake. The supply pressure eased after the autumn harvest, but a shortage and price increases hit again early this year.

Officials have blamed the supply shortage on poor harvests because of hot weather in 2023 and higher fertilizer and other production costs, but some experts blame the government’s long-term rice production policy.

The unprecedented release from emergency rice stockpiles was seen in part as an attempt to figure out distribution problems. The government has denied there is now a rice shortage, but officials say it’s a mystery why rice is not reaching consumers.

Some experts say the rice shortage could be serious but it’s difficult to trace rice as its distribution route has become so complex since the end of government control in 1995.
 
 

Back in 2005, Starbucks gave fans in Japan a new way to enjoy their drinks, by releasing a new “chilled cup” series of ready-made beverages exclusively available at convenience stores.

Now, 20 years later, there’s a new chilled cup coming our way to celebrate the arrival of summer, and it’s called Strawberry Crush Milk.

The design on this one is particularly beautiful, with a bold strawberry pattern layered over a vibrant red gradient to express the “luxurious taste of abundant strawberries”. Sparkly embellishments add an extra layer of luxury to the look of the drink, which is said to contain the largest amount of strawberry fruit ever used in a Starbucks Chilled Cup.

 

The strawberries are enhanced by the sweetness of condensed milk, providing creamy smoothness to balance out the tartness of the fruit. With a gorgeous flavor that’ll brighten your day, this beverage is said to quench your thirst while lifting your mood during the heat of summer.

The chilled cup series aims to make the Starbucks experience easily accessible, with the brand message being “Where will you Starbucks today?”

The answer to that question, in terms of this particular variety, is FamilyMart, as that’s the chain that has exclusive selling rights to this drink, where it will be rolled out at branches across the country from May 20, priced at 250 yen.
 
 

Japan has temporarily stopped importing chicken meat and eggs from the city of Monte Negro, located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, following the confirmation of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the city.

Japan’s imports of live chickens from the whole Rio Grande do Sul state have also been suspended, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Monday.

In 2024, Japan imported 1.16 million tons of chicken meat, with Brazilian chicken accounting for just under 40 pct of the total, at about 450,000 tons.

About 10 pct of live chicken chicks and 5 pct of chicken eggs imported to Japan come from Brazil.
 
 

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday reprimanded the farm minister for claiming he never buys rice because he gets it free, provoking the ire of consumers facing soaring prices.

Japan's government has released some of its emergency stockpile of the grain in recent months, with agriculture minister Taku Eto weeks ago lamenting the "hardship" experienced by consumers.

But addressing a gathering over the weekend, Eto said he has "never bought rice myself because my supporters donate so much to me that I can practically sell".

Eto's comment hit a nerve in a nation where the price of the much-loved grain has nearly doubled year-on-year, according to figures published in April.

The prime minister described the remarks as "extremely unfortunate".
"The agriculture minister's job now is to provide solutions to the soaring rice prices. I expect him to offer solutions," Ishiba told journalists as he arrived at his office.

Eto on Monday explained that he had exaggerated, incurring the wrath of his wife.

"She told me that she does go buy rice when a stockpile of donated rice runs out," Eto said, adding "it's not like our family is living entirely off of rice gifted to us".

On Tuesday, he said he had spoken to Ishiba and that he would continue as farm minister.

"The prime minister gave me very tough words but...also gave me warm words and told me to show the results of what I started," Eto said.

"I am the one who decided the releases of the reserved rice. With your permission, I would like to continue until I can fulfil my responsibility."

Factors behind Japan's rice shortfall include poor harvests due to hot weather in 2023 and panic-buying prompted by a "megaquake" warning last year.

The agriculture minister's gaffe was criticised as "extremely inappropriate, out of touch and intolerable" by Junya Ogawa, secretary-general of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

"If not properly dealt with, his remarks are serious enough to raise the question of whether he should step down," local media including public broadcaster NHK quoted him as saying.
 
 

 

Japan will launch prearrival screening of visa-free travelers in fiscal 2028, as the government aims to boost its booming inbound tourism further, according to the Justice Ministry.

The government is looking to raise the efficiency of the process by introducing screening modeled on the United States' Electronic System for Travel Authorization, the ministry said last month.

A record 36.87 million foreign travelers visited Japan in 2024, up 47.1 percent from the previous year, and as tourism is a main pillar in Japan's growth strategy, the government aims to lift the number to 60 million in 2030.

Under the new system, travelers from countries with visa exemptions for short-term stays in Japan will be required to provide travel and personal information, such as their names, purposes of stay and locations, at least several days before arrival.

The Immigration Services Agency of Japan will be able to examine the travelers' data in advance, and if they have any criminal history or record of illegal stays in Japan, the agency may not allow them to board planes to Japan, the ministry said.

According to the Foreign Ministry, nationals of 71 countries and regions, including the United States and South Korea, are exempted from obtaining visas for short-term stays.

The United States established the ESTA system in 2001 following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 that year. A number of other countries including Canada have since introduced similar systems.

The agency is considering taking additional measures for more efficient screening operations, such as utilizing digital technologies and eliminating in-person procedures.
 
 

Dentists from Aichi Prefecture are working in Vietnam on an initiative to introduce the Japanese system of conducting dental checkups in school to help solve the high rate of tooth decay among children in the country.

As well as visiting schools to conduct checkups to prevent cavities, the dentists teach Vietnamese dental students how to give children instructions on oral hygiene.

Five years after the project was launched, oral health awareness is growing in the nation, with more children going to the dentist.

One day in late March, children at Luong The Vinh Elementary School in the city of Tra Vinh in southern Vietnam's Tra Vinh province were getting a dental checkup.

Students of Tra Vinh University’s Faculty of Dentistry looked in their mouths to check for cavities or gum disease and wrote down the checkup results on a sheet.

“I don’t like brushing my teeth very much, but I’m doing my best,” said Phuc, 8, a second grader who went through the checkup.

There are no programs for regular dental checkups for children growing up in Vietnam, and awareness of cavity prevention and overall oral care is said to be low.

Surveys show nearly 90% of elementary school students in the country have tooth decay, higher than the 30% among those in Japan.

Attempts to introduce Japanese-style school dental checkups started in 2020 as a five-year project at the request of the government of Tra Vinh province.

The provincial government asked Nagato Natsume, 68, a professor of dentistry at Aichi Gakuin University in Aichi Prefecture, who has been offering medical support in Vietnam for more than 30 years, for help. The Japanese Society of Oral Care, of which Natsume is a member, launched the project in response.

Takayuki Kawana, a 45-year-old dentist who graduated from Aichi Gakuin University’s Graduate School, is involved in the project as an executive director of Daishinkai, a medical corporation that operates dental clinics in Japan’s Kanto region and in Vietnam.

Kawana said he was shocked to see children rush to a penny candy shop inside the school in between classes.

Many of them were buying sweets as they hadn't had breakfast, contributing to tooth decay.

“I thought it is necessary to change the mindset not only of children, but also of schools and their families,” Kawana said, recalling the time when the project first began.

Local dental clinics also had little knowledge of measures to prevent tooth decay.

In the project, aspiring dentists are educated on tips for practicing good oral care.

Although the activities were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, dental checkups and lessons on oral care are currently conducted at all of the 17 elementary schools in the city.

“Through conducting checkups, I learned the importance of oral care and how to empathize with patients,” said Quyen, 21, a junior at Tra Vinh University’s Faculty of Dentistry.

The initiative is already showing a positive impact.
After the project’s launch, the percentage of first graders seeing a dentist rose from 57.6% to 64.9%.

The rate of those feeling scared of dentists dropped from 39.9% to 29.3%.
The activities are highly acknowledged in the community and the Japanese Society of Oral Care decided on extending the initiative five more years from this year.

Natsume, who attended a signing ceremony for the extension held in Tra Vinh, said, “We hope to make Tra Vinh province a model case to expand the project throughout Vietnam.”

Maintaining oral hygiene also reduces the risk of viral and bacterial infections.

“By fundamentally reforming the system of dental checkups, we want to promote the health of children in Vietnam,” Kawana said.
 
 

Amid a serious truck driver shortage, convenience store chain Seven-Eleven Japan Co. began a trial delivery service using robots on public roads in Tokyo's western suburb on Monday.

In the experimental project involving two stores in the city of Hachioji, two robots at each outlet carry items ordered through the 7NOW delivery service app and loaded manually with them.

 

The four-wheeled box-type robots, which can travel up to 6 kilometers per hour, are designed to run on sidewalks while following traffic lights and dodging obstacles.

After conducting the tests until February next year, Seven-Eleven Japan will consider the feasibility of the robot delivery service, which is expected to help the company cope with the driver shortage and better serve for older customers having difficulty going out shopping.
 
 

Japan's Fuji Media Holdings Inc. on Friday reported a consolidated net loss of 20.1 billion yen for fiscal 2024, its first red ink since becoming a holding company in 2008.

Fuji Media, which had logged 37 billion yen in profit a year earlier, saw many sponsors leave scandal-embattled core unit Fuji Television Network Inc. over its handling of a sex scandal involving now-retired TV personality Masahiro Nakai.

Due to falling advertising revenue, the holding company's overall revenue dropped 2.8 pct and operating profit dived 45.4 pct.

 

For fiscal 2025 through March 2026, Fuji Media expects to secure a net profit of 10 billion yen thanks to the strength of its real estate business and the sale of shareholdings.

However, operating profit is expected to dive 86.3 pct to 2.5 billion yen, hurt by a prolonged impact of slumping ad revenue caused by suspensions and cancellations of TV commercials.
 

 

Japan and South Korea plan to set up dedicated entry lanes for tourists visiting each other's countries at four airports in June to speed up the immigration process, as the month marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of their diplomatic ties, government sources said Friday.

The lanes will be introduced for one month at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Fukuoka airport in southwestern Japan, as well as Gimpo in Seoul and Gimhae in Busan, according to the sources.

The system can be used by tourists and other visitors who meet certain conditions such as having recently made trips between the two nations. They will need to take some procedures in advance.

Japan and South Korea, although often fraught with historical and territorial disputes, have become popular mutual tourist destinations in recent years, with many people attracted to each other's culture such as pop music, drama and food.

A record high of over 12 million people travelled between the two neighbors last year, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Tokyo and Seoul signed on June 22, 1965, a basic treaty that led to the normalization of their diplomatic relations.
 
 

The Indonesian Forestry Entrepreneurs Association (APHI) is intensifying efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change by introducing Indonesia’s huge potential for tropical forest-based carbon trading at this year’s World Expo Osaka, Japan.

In a business forum attended by stakeholders from the public and private sectors from both countries, APHI presented the government’s flagship program—the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) Net Sink 2030—which targets the forestry and land use sectors to become net emission absorbers by 2030.

"This program is Indonesia's main framework in achieving its climate commitments and encouraging the establishment of a credible and sustainable international carbon market," the association’s general chairperson, Indroyono Soesilo, said in his statement on Sunday.

He explained that the launch of the Indonesian Carbon Exchange (IDX Carbon) marked a new chapter in the national green economic transformation.

Indroyono stated that Indonesia not only protects forests but also monetizes the protection into a global asset.

On that occasion, the implementation of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) between Indonesia and Japan was also discussed, which allows cross-country recognition of carbon certification.

This is a great opportunity for nature-based carbon projects such as peat restoration and mangrove rehabilitation to attract Japanese investors.

"This collaboration is not just a technical mechanism but a real trust and shared leadership in the global climate agenda. We invite the world, especially Japan, to invest in climate solutions based on Indonesia's tropical forests," FOLU Net Sink 2030 advisor Agus Justianto noted.

In the forum, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Indonesian business actors and Japanese partners, including projects based on nature solutions and biodiversity protection.

Indonesia emphasized that the potential of the mangrove ecosystem to absorb carbon is five times greater than the land ecosystem.

With stronger regulations, more transparent measurement, reporting and verification infrastructure, and policy support from the government, director of the Indonesian Pavilion Didik Darmanto said that Indonesia is ready to become the world's main provider of tropical forest-based carbon credits.

"This business forum is the starting point for the new partnerships towards an inclusive and equitable low-carbon economy," he said.

On January 20, 2025, Indonesia officially launched its international carbon market. Its domestic carbon exchange platform, IDX Carbon, allows the trading of carbon credits between the country’s electric power plants.

With the market open to foreign investors, Indonesia hopes to draw greater investment into its climate mitigation efforts.

Carbon trading will involve several potential strategic energy projects, such as the operation of the Gunung Wugul Mini-Hydro Power Plant (PLTM), which is projected to reduce five thousand tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂ eq).

It will also involve operating the New Natural Gas Power Plant, the Priok Block 4 Gas and Steam Power Plant (PLTGU), converting single-cycle power plants to combined cycles at the Grati Block 2 PLTGU and Block 2 power plant units in Muara Tawar, and constructing the New Natural Gas Power Plant, PLTGU Block 3 PJB Muara Karang.

According to the Ministry of Environment, these large projects are estimated to be able to reduce emissions by up to 750 thousand tons of CO2 eq, making a significant contribution to efforts to decarbonize the energy sector.
 

Japan and the European Union will expand their mutual recognition arrangement for organic food so that a wider range of products can be labeled as organic food for trade between the economies.

The new list will include alcoholic beverages such as sake, livestock products and processed livestock products, while the current coverage is limited mainly to nonlivestock agricultural products.

The EU has a huge organic food market. The expanded arrangement will eliminate the need to gain additional approvals for newly added items at the time of import and export, facilitating trade in such products.

The new system will be applied to exports from Japan from Sunday and imports from the EU from Friday.

Under the Organic Japanese Agricultural Standards system, authorities judge whether agricultural and livestock products are produced in a sustainable way with reduced burdens on the environment and without reliance on pesticide or chemical fertilizer.
 
 

Week-long trip beginning on May 26 will also include a trip to South Korea
The Catalan president Salvador Illa will travel to Japan on May 26 for a week-long trip to "strengthen and expand" relations between Catalonia and the Asian country.  

Illa praised the "good relationship" Catalonia has with Japan, saying that "it goes way back." 

"Not only in economic or business sectors, but also culturally," he said during the inauguration of an innovation center of the Japanese company NTT Data in Barcelona on Thursday.  

The president also highlighted "the significant volume of investments" from Catalan companies in Japan and Japanese companies in Catalonia. 

“Catalonia wants to be a friendly place for foreign companies to invest, especially in the fields of attracting new talent and technology,” Illa said during his visit to the company’s offices at 22@, where he was accompanied by the Catalan minister of business and labor, Miquel Sàmper.  

The president is also scheduled to visit South Korea during his Japan trip.
During his speech, he also mentioned the use of artificial intelligence and noted that it is “essential” for the tool to work “for the common good.” 

“As a government, we support innovation, progress, and new technologies,” he added.


Inauguration of NTT Data Living Lab

On Thursday, Salvador Illa attended the official opening of NTT’s Data Living Lab. Víctor López-Barrantes, the company’s general manager in Spain, described the lab as a “living laboratory.”

“It’s the strategic meeting point between experts and professionals, where technology and innovation merge to promote the economic and social development of the entire region,” he said.

Before their move to 22@ to centralize all the company operations, the lab was located at the upper part of Avinguda Diagonal in the Catalan capital.

NTT Data Living Lab has been in Barcelona since 1997. It’s a technology consulting company that employs 4,000 people in the city, and is “expected to grow in the coming years,” according to Manel Martorana, the company’s head of Digital Technology in Spain.
 
 

According to a senior government official, the United States has stated that the U.S.-China agreement will not set a precedent for other countries.

The government is concerned about the potential impact the agreement between the United States and China, which includes lowering their recently imposed additional tariffs on each other, will have on the Japan-U.S. negotiations.

Japan and the United States are aiming for a June agreement through intensive ministerial talks to be held as early as this month. But there are concerns that Washington will prioritize negotiations with Beijing, sidelining Tokyo.

“We’re analyzing the details [of the U.S.-China deal],” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday.

The easing of the U.S.-China clash has been welcomed within the government, as there had been concerns that the intensifying trade friction between the United States and China would have a negative impact on the global economy.

Since many Japanese companies export to the United States via China, a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official had said, “It would also be bad for Japanese companies if the United States and China impose high tariffs on each other without grounds,” expressing hope for the end of the retaliatory tariff battle between the two countries.

However, the impact of the U.S.-China agreement on Japan-U.S. negotiations is expected to be limited. According to a senior government official, the United States has stated that the U.S.-China agreement will not set a precedent for other countries.

One government official familiar with the issue pointed out, “China, which has been fighting with the U.S. through raising tariffs on each other, and Japan, which is aiming for a win-win agreement, are in different positions.”

 

China is seen as the biggest target of the U.S. administration’s tariff measures. The senior government official voiced concern that, if the U.S.-China talks make progress, “The U.S. side may place Japan lower in its order of priorities.”

The Japan-U.S. negotiations are scheduled to resume in earnest soon.
“The U.S.-China agreement is the result of the U.S. side making a compromise to China,” said an executive of a major Japanese automobile manufacturer. “The Japanese government does not need to rush to play its cards.”

He added, “I hope that the Japanese government will determine the stance of the U.S. side and negotiate for the best possible outcome.”
 
 

Japanese Ambassador to the United States Shigeo Yamada has expressed confidence in strengthening economic cooperation with Washington while showing concern about President Donald Trump's tariff measures against Japan.

The U.S. tariff measures "risk slowing the momentum" of bilateral cooperation, Yamada said Monday at a reception in his official residence linked to an event for promoting investment to the United States.

Tokyo and Washington "are now in close consultation regarding the tariff measures as well as the ways to further strengthen our economic partnership," he also said. "I'm sure that we can soon reach a conclusion that is mutually acceptable to both countries."

The reception was attended by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, both viewed as potential Democratic candidates for the U.S. presidency, as well as high-ranking officials from the U.S. Commerce Department and executives of Japanese companies.

Pritzker, who opposes Trump's tariff measures, told reporters that "there are many challenges posed by the imposition of tariffs."
 

 

It's a cold, wet morning and frigid air is seeping through the open doors of a college gymnasium in Tokyo. But that doesn't seem to worry Soichiro Kakimoto and 30 other young businessmen as they gear up for their weekend routine: cheerleading.

"Smile when times are tough!" shouts a tall man with an eager smile. The others -- all dressed in dark suits and ties --pump their fists and jam to the upbeat music that fills the space.

 

Their chants echo through the gymnasium.

"Yes you can! You can definitely do it! Go, Japan! Go Japan!"
The young men are all about spreading cheer through their eye-popping acrobatic performances, volunteering their weekends at shopping malls and other venues to entertain crowds.

Calling themselves "Cheer Re-Man's" -- a mash-up of "cheerleading" and "salaryman" -- the group, formed in 2023, is made up of alumni from the elite Waseda University's male cheerleading squad.

 

Their day-jobs range from real estate sales to marketing, and they balance their professional lives with their passion for cheerleading. For practice, the squad often borrows half the gym from a female college cheerleading team in exchange for biscuits.

From Monday to Friday, Kakimoto is the quintessential Japanese salaryman, commuting in crowded trains, working late and going out drinking with colleagues, wearing the stretchy navy Uniqlo suit that doubles as his cheerleading uniform.

"On weekdays, I use my brain and on weekends, I use my body. Even if one isn't well, the other might be, and that's contributing to my overall mental health," said the 23-year-old, who works at a software development company.

"If we, Japanese salarymen, can do what we're passionate about, then everyone else can keep chasing their dreams too."

The unusual sight of Japanese corporate warriors being launched 7 meters into the air in synchronized routines won them an online commercial spot to advertise the stretchy Uniqlo suits they wear for their performances.

The group also competed in "Britain's Got Talent", where they came third in their semi-final.

On a recent weekend, the suited men performed in front of a huge crowd at a shopping mall with gravity-defying stunts, human towers and infectious energy.

 

Yasuko Yamaki, a 61-year-old housewife who learned about the group three months ago through social media, was there to see the spectacle.

"In Japan, we're all going through a lot. Watching these salarymen putting in so much without giving up makes me cry," she said. "It's so inspirational."
 


 

 
Banjarmasin, S Kalimatan (ANTARA) - Futoshi Ishiguri, associate professor researcher from Utsunomiya University, Japan, together with his team, Ikumi Nezu and Hikari Yokoyama, studied conservation efforts at Bekantan Research Station on Curiak Island, Barito Kuala District, South Kalimantan.

"Japanese researchers were very impressed to the Bekantan Research Station, both in facilities and its well-maintaied wetland ecosystem. They want to learn a lot about conservation on Curiak Island," said the founder of Sahabat Bekantan Indonesia (SBI) Foundation Dr Amalia Rezeki here on Sunday.

Futoshi Ishiguri had a chance to see the life of a herd of proboscis monkeys or bekantans (Nasalis larvatus), a large, long-nosed primate from old world that is an icon of South Kalimantan Province.

Amel, Amalia Rezeki's nickname, also a lecturer in Biology at University of Lambung Mangkurat (ULM), hopes there will be a further cooperation with the state university in northern Japan, especially in wetland research and climate change mitigation efforts.

Head of ULM's Research and Community Development Institute (LPPM) Professor Sunardi, who accompanied Japan delegation, said he was grateful that SBI and ULM had the Bekantan Research Station as a research facility in wetland.

"This island is very important to maintain our environment both flora and fauna, most of which are almost extinct, and it is our obligation to protect them," he said.

Sunardi promised ULM and Utsunomiya University will realizeresearch collaboration and develop what alrady exists on Curiak Island.

"This is an effort to continue to echo conservation as initiated and pioneered by Amel and SBI team together with ULM," he said.

On the other hand, Futoshi Ishiguri acknowledged that he was interested in Bekantan Research Station and the efforts to restore the wetland ecosystem counducted by Amalia Rezeki and her team.

He saw Curiak Island was very interesting because there were so many trees planted to create a habitat and invite wild animals to live freely.
Ishiguri believes that humans contribute to maintain the ecological condition in this place which amazed him.
 
 

The Japanese government has said that Paraguay's President Santiago Pena and his wife will visit Japan for five days from next Monday.

The president will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

During their stay in Japan, Pena and his wife will meet with Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko and attend Paraguay's "national day" event at the ongoing World Exposition in the western Japan city of Osaka.
 
 

With a month having passed since the opening of the Osaka-Kansai Expo on April 13, ticket sales, sluggish during advance sales, have turned around, showing signs of hope for achieving a profit in operating revenue.

However, the number of visitors is currently at 60% of the projected figure, and so a surge in visitors is expected during the latter half of the event. Going forward, it will be crucial to encourage visitors to come early to prevent congestion.


500,000 tickets a week

“It’s an amazing pace,” an official of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition said about the increase in ticket sales.

After corporate purchases settled down last autumn, sales had been around 20,000 tickets per week at one point but then surged in April. After the April 13 opening, sales reached 290,000 in the first week, 430,000 in the second week and 500,000 in the third week.

Many pavilions had not yet revealed the contents of their exhibitions prior to opening, but now visitors are sharing must-see spots on social media, causing word-of-mouth buzz. The association’s prediction that “the real battle begins after opening” appears to have proven accurate.

According to the association, 10.9 million tickets had been sold as of May 2, which climbs to 13 million when projected sales from school trips are included.

Ticket revenue is supposed to cover 80% of the ¥116 billion operational budget, and the break-even point is set at 18 million tickets. With five months remaining, selling 5 million more tickets seems an achievable goal.

However, attendance figures are not increasing. The association had estimated that 28.2 million people would visit over the six month period, with an average of 150,000 visitors per day, based on the attendance of the 2005 Aichi Expo and the population surrounding the Osaka venue.

However, the number of visitors over the 27 days until Friday was 2.28 million, which is 490,000 more than the same period during the Aichi Expo, but only 60% of the projected figure.

Aiming for an “Expo without lines,” the Osaka-Kansai Expo introduced a reservation system for visitors to book their arrival time. Reservations for the popular morning slots are often full, and visitors, even with tickets, have no choice but to find less crowded times.

Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said Thursday that reservation slots should be expanded to prevent the event from becoming “an Expo that people can’t enter.”

 

Improvements to lines

The congestion that occurred immediately after opening has been greatly improved over the past month.

Initially, long lines formed at the East Gate, one of the two gates that are directly connected to the subway, and it took more than 90 minutes to enter.

However, thanks to staff getting used to the baggage inspection process, visitors who reserve to enter starting at 9 a.m. are now able to enter as scheduled.

While queues still form at each pavilion, efforts are being made to increase reservation slots and some pavilions are handing out their own numbered tickets.


Come early

The challenge for the future is to even out the number of visitors.
At the Aichi Expo, attendance ranged from 40,000 to 90,000 people per day immediately after opening but increased to a maximum of 280,000 people during the latter half of the event, resulting in admission being intermittently suspended over five hour periods. Congestion may worsen at the Osaka Expo if visitors who have not yet used their tickets all attend during the latter half.

To encourage early attendance, the association is offering a discount on season passes that allow multiple entries to those who visit in May.

Also, the association has expanded morning reservation slots for weekends at the East Gate until June 8 and will further increase the slots in stages. However, this could lead to longer waiting times at pavilions, making it challenging to balance comfort with capacity.
 
 

Although Japan's sake industry faces a crisis with falling domestic consumption, the country's oldest brand, Kenbishi, is unbending in its commitment to the old ways, seeing it as the best guarantor of quality.

In the staff dining room at the brewing facility of Kenbishi Sake Brewing Co, in the city of Kobe, a bottle of sake is set on the table ready for the evening meal. In the kitchen, more sake is warmed in kettles.

"It's all-you-can drink at dinner," said Kenbishi President Masataka Shirakashi, who hopes the recent UNESCO heritage listing of traditional sake-brewing techniques will encourage a revival of the beverage among drinkers in Japan.

Tradition is everything. Brewing always takes place during the winter season. Starting in October, 60 brewers stay onsite for six months, eating together in the dining room. By season's end, they will have consumed around 1,500 bottles of sake, according to Shirakashi.

 

Across Japan, however, consumption of sake is in decline. Drinking habits are changing, particularly among the young. In 2022, consumption had dropped to less than a third of its peak in the early 1970s, according to data from the National Tax Agency.

"There's no doubt that the sake industry itself is facing a crisis," Shirakashi, 48, told Kyodo News in February.

When the traditional knowledge and skills used in sake-brewing were added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in December, it offered the industry a moment in the spotlight -- with many now looking to capitalize on the growing interest in sake overseas.

 

But with only around 2 percent of Kenbishi's sales coming from exports, Shirakashi sees the listing as an opportunity for people in Japan to take another look at sake.

In a workshop at Kenbishi's brewing facility, the muffled boom of wood hitting wood echoes off the walls as a craftsman circles a barrel made of cedar and uses a wooden block and mallet to hammer into place a bamboo hoop around it.
 

The craftsman is making a dakidaru, which will be filled with boiling water and plunged into a tank to control the temperature of the yeast starter mix contained within by allowing heat to be released slowly.

While stainless steel and aluminum materials have become the industry norm, Shirakashi argues only wood can maintain the temperature essential to the production of Kenbishi's sake.

A team of three craftsmen makes around 30 dakidaru a year. After each use the barrel's six taga, or bamboo hoops, need replacing. There are 300 dakidaru in circulation at the brewery.
 

"Maintenance is a hassle so fewer sake makers are using them," said Shirakashi, who has no qualms bucking this trend. "It's something you'd usually see in a museum."

The dakidaru is just one of the traditional wooden sake-brewing tools and pieces of equipment which Shirakashi said are needed to ensure the taste of Kenbishi's sake remains unchanged.

Kenbishi began making its own traditional wooden equipment in 2009, after dwindling demand made it hard to come by. The brewer now supplies equipment and tools for soy sauce and vinegar makers and for the upkeep of temples and shrines.

 

In December, the brewer announced the latest addition to its lineup of traditional equipment with the production of komodaru. The wooden barrels wrapped in straw are a feature of traditional ceremonies and festivals across Japan.

Kenbishi took over two local komodaru makers after the COVID-19 pandemic, during which events were canceled and local businesses were left short of demand and successors.

The manufacturing and use of traditional equipment comes at greater financial cost for Kenbishi. But given its status as Japan's oldest sake brand, Shirakashi said, he feels a greater responsibility to protect it and maintain the taste of Kenbishi sake.

"If we give up on the taste, the brewing methods, and the tools and equipment, Japan will lose all of these things," he said.

Kenbishi says it was founded sometime before 1505 in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture. During the Edo period (1603-1868), the brewery's sake was favored by samurai. According to the brewer, in 1740, it became an official supplier of sake to the shogun.

The Shirakashi family is the fifth to have headed Kenbishi. The current president's great-grandfather moved the company to its present location in Kobe's famous Nada brewing district in 1928.

Despite changes in name and location, the company logo has remained unchanged for over 500 years.

 

Shirakashi is his family's fourth-generation head of Kenbishi. The family has experience of steering the company through a crisis, while doing what it takes to maintain the taste of its sake.

When post-World War II rice shortages forced brewers into the production of low-quality sanzo-shu -- sake diluted with brewing alcohol or sugar to increase volume -- Shirakashi's grandfather refused to sell it under the Kenbishi name.

Kenbishi was also one of the many breweries in Nada ravaged by the Great Hanshin Earthquake on Jan. 17, 1995, losing all but one of its eight brewing facilities. When it was able to resume brewing, it returned to the same equipment and brewing methods.

Shirakashi follows the policy of his great-grandfather who believed that chasing after trends would always leave the company one step behind. Instead, Kenbishi should be like a stopped clock, always giving the right time twice a day.

"The trends will come back around, so we believe in the sake that our customers have said is delicious," Shirakashi said.
 
 

Services of a Kodama train were disrupted on Sunday after a suspicious object was found onboard.

A passenger on the train, which was bound for Nagoya on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line, found the suspicious object on a seat at around 0:30 p.m. and reported it to a conductor.

The train stopped at Mikawa-Anjo Station in Anjo, Aichi Prefecture, and its services were suspended.

According to Aichi prefectural police, the object was a plastic bottle containing black liquid.

Central Japan Railway Co. evacuated passengers aboard car No. 11, where the object was found, and the fire brigade removed the object.

Police are working to identify the liquid, which is believed to be non-toxic.
 
 

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed caution about a consumption tax cut as an inflation relief step on Sunday, suggesting such a reduction in tax revenue would cause a serious drain on state coffers.

Senior officials of his administration and ruling Liberal Democratic Party have been dismissive of a cut in the consumption tax -- at 8 percent for food and beverages and 10 percent for other items -- as the coalition government looks to put together an economic package ahead of the House of Councillors election this summer.

"We need thorough discussions on whether there are other ways to support people truly in need of help," Ishiba said while appearing on a Fuji Television program.

Cutting the consumption tax rate "would raise a question about the impact on the country's finances," he said.

With opposition parties converging in support of a consumption tax cut ahead of the election, there has been debate between senior government officials and pro-tax cut members of the LDP and its coalition partner Komeito party.

The major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan has proposed a pause on the consumption tax on food for one year.

As for tariff negotiations with the United States, Ishiba said his government will continue to seek a complete abolition of additional duties on Japanese exports.

Commenting on the U.S.-British agreement that set tariffs on most British exports, including cars, entering the U.S. market at 10 percent, Ishiba said, "It could serve as a model (for other countries), but we are looking for (tariffs) to be abolished."

Their agreement "doesn't mean a 10 percent rate would be acceptable for us," he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has raised the tariff on imported cars to 27.5 percent from 2.5 percent, agreed to lower it to 10 percent for a maximum of 100,000 British cars per year, while the average British import duty on U.S. goods will fall to 1.8 percent from 5.1 percent.

In addition to the higher tariff on Japanese cars and a 25 percent levy on steel and aluminum, the United States has imposed a 14 percent tariff on other Japanese products on top of the baseline 10 percent duty.

While the 90-day suspension on the 14 percent country-specific tariff is expected to end in early July, "The fact that we have a deadline coming up would not necessarily be a reason for us to make compromises and accept disadvantages," Ishiba said.

The Trump administration has pushed Japan to buy more American cars and agricultural products.

Among American crops Japan buys, Ishiba said there is room for an increase in corn imports to boost biofuel production.

"We will not sacrifice farm products for cars," he said.
 

 

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has sent a congratulatory message on the election of Pope Leo XIV as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, saying he hopes to foster Japan-Vatican ties and work together for global peace.

Survivors of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings also welcomed the first American-born pope and urged him to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Japanese government, meanwhile, is considering sending former Prime Minister Taro Aso, a Catholic, to the new pope's inaugural Mass, scheduled to be held on May 18, a source familiar with the matter said.

Aso currently serves as top adviser to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, headed by Ishiba.

The new pontiff's predecessor Pope Francis called for the abolition of nuclear weapons during his trips to the two cities in 2019.

"I hope the new pope will visit us soon, as the atomic bomb survivors are aging," said Toshiyuki Mimaki, who heads the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations.

Teruko Yokoyama, who leads a group of A-bomb survivors in Nagasaki, said the emergence of a pope from the United States, a nuclear state, marks a "big step forward for the abolition of nuclear weapons."
 

 

 
An investigation committee set up by Japan Airport Terminal Co. said Friday that a subsidiary engaged in inappropriate transactions that benefited a consultant firm headed by the 52-year-old son of Makoto Koga, former secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The panel found that the transactions were led by Japan Airport Terminal President Nobuaki Yokota and tolerated by Chairman Isao Takashiro. Both Yokota and Takashiro resigned on the day.

The panel's investigation found that the Tokyo-based subsidiary, Big Wing Co., paid a total of some 400 million yen to the consultant firm over 10 years through 2016 in the guise of commission fees for a massage chair business at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, although actual work was performed by another company.

The payments continued even after the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau warned that they amounted to concealment of income totaling about 100 million yen.

The panel found no evidence that the company sought favors from Koga or his son.
 
 

 

Farmers and volunteers started planting rice on Saturday at terraced paddies on the coast of the Noto Peninsula, central Japan, which were hit by a powerful earthquake and torrential downpours last year.

The picturesque Shiroyone Senmaida in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, which consists of small paddies along a slope overlooking the Sea of Japan, was heavily damaged by the quake and rain.

A group of farmers managing the paddies has been working to restore them.
About 100 volunteers from around Japan carefully planted seedlings of the Koshihikari variety with the farmers.

Wajima officials say rice will be planted this year on about 250 of the 1,000 paddies that have been restored.

A 44-year-old woman from Nara Prefecture said she took part because she wanted to help people in disaster-affected areas.

Shirao Tomokazu, who heads a group that manages the paddies, said he is grateful that so many volunteers came to help.

He said his group will continue to work to restore the paddies, so that people will get to see them in their original form.

The rice planting will continue till Sunday with harvesting planned for September.
 
 

The government on Friday urged caution after a small Japanese civilian plane was spotted near uninhabited islets in the East China Sea, around the same time a Chinese helicopter violated Japanese airspace in the vicinity last week.

While Japanese aircraft operating in the country's airspace pose no legal issue, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said contingencies stemming from such flights should be avoided amid tensions with China over the Senkaku Islands.

The Senkakus are administered by Japan but claimed by China. Tokyo has already lodged a protest with Beijing over Saturday's airspace intrusion by a helicopter that took off from one of four Chinese coast guard vessels sailing in Japanese territorial waters around the islets. China has rejected Japan's claim.

"Given that the purpose of the flight by the small aircraft in question was leisure, we have conveyed to the operator that it should ensure safety and avoid unexpected consequences," Hayashi said at a press conference.

As China continues to send patrol ships to waters around the Senkaku Islands, the latest incident marked the fourth airspace intrusion by Beijing, according to Japan.
 
 

Princess Kako will make an official visit to Brazil for two weeks from June 4, according to a plan approved by the Japanese government at a Cabinet meeting on Friday.

During her stay in Brazil, the second daughter of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko will attend a ceremony commemorating the 130th anniversary this year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Brazil. She will meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as well as local Nikkei people of Japanese descent.

This will be Princess Kako's fourth official visit to a foreign country, following her visit to Greece in May 2024.

In February this year, the Brazilian government invited the princess to visit the country. The princess met with Lula when the president visited Japan as a state guest in March.

According to the Imperial Household Agency, Princess Kako will leave Japan on June 4 and arrive in Sao Paulo the following day, local time, via Chicago.

On June 10, the princess will travel to Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, where she will attend the 130th anniversary celebration hosted by the Brazilian Congress and pay a courtesy call on the president. After visiting other cities, including Rio de Janeiro, the princess will leave Sao Paulo on June 15 and return to Japan on June 17.
 
 

Whooping cough cases are continuing to surge in Japan.
The Japan Institute for Health Security says medical institutions across the country reported 2,176 cases in the week through April 27, up 292 from the previous week.

The number of patients per week was the highest since the current method of record keeping began in 2018. It broke the previous record for five weeks in a row.

The cumulative number of patients since the start of the year was 11,921, more than double the total count last year.

In a breakdown by prefecture, Tokyo and Fukuoka had 142 patients, Niigata had 132, Hyogo 110, and Osaka 105.

Whooping cough is an infectious bacterial disease characterized by intense and persistent coughing, especially among children. It can be fatal for infants up to six months old.

Amid the growing number of patients this season, cases have been reported of unvaccinated infants becoming severely ill or dying. There are also reports of cases that are resistant to conventional antibacterial drugs.

The Japan Pediatric Society is urging parents to have their infants vaccinated as soon as they turn two months old.
 
 

According to the JCG, the number of JCG personnel who quit for personal reasons has topped 300 for four consecutive years since fiscal 2021, a situation that could hinder enactment of the government’s policy on improving the nation’s maritime security.

Almost 400 Japan Coast Guard personnel left the organization for personal reasons during fiscal 2024, resulting in a drop in the JCG’s total staff size, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned, sparking concerns about the nation’s ability to deal with security threats at sea.

Last fiscal year, voluntary resignations at the JCG totaled 389. That caused the JCG staff size to drop from the previous fiscal year for the first time since fiscal 2013.

The government managed to expand the JCG by about 100 to 400 personnel annually after fiscal 2013, in response to Chinese government vessels nearing or intruding into Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture at a far faster rate.

In its policy on improving the nation’s maritime security, the government has identified six key areas to focus on, including safeguarding territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands.

According to the JCG, the number of JCG personnel who quit for personal reasons has topped 300 for four consecutive years since fiscal 2021, a situation that could hinder enactment of the government’s policy.

According to the JCG, 243 of the 389 personnel who voluntarily resigned in fiscal 2024 were in their 20s, and 93 were in their 30s. These two age brackets accounted for 86% of resignations. The JCG had 14,123 personnel as of the end of March — six fewer than in the year prior.

The JCG believes that rapid changes in working norms are one reason why more personnel are stepping away from the organization. An increasing number of Japanese households have two working spouses, and there is a growing reluctance to accept relocations as a part of one’s job.

A majority of JCG personnel are transferred every two or three years, and many work in locations far from their family. Crews on large ships can be at sea for 10 days or more at a time. Staff cannot access the internet during this period and are unable to stay in contact with their family as much as they could like.

By law, the JCG was allowed a maximum staff of 14,788 in fiscal 2024, a rise of almost 20% from fiscal 2009. The government has upped the cap on the JCG workforce by an average of 170 people each fiscal year since 2013, when China Coast Guard vessels were found to have entered the contiguous zone in waters around the Senkaku Islands on more than 200 days.

During this period, the JCG added 24 large patrol vessels to its fleet, bringing the total for its larger ships to 78. By fiscal 2029, it should have 91 of these ships, with the new additions to include a massive multipurpose patrol vessel.

The actual JCG staff size has steadily diverged from its maximum allowed size, with the gap being vacant positions. The shortage stood at 259 personnel at the end of fiscal 2013, but had soared to 665 at the end of fiscal 2024.

This was the first time the figure topped 600. The JCG had a particularly severe shortage of crew members for its large patrol vessels, with 355 open spaces and a personnel vacancy rate of 12%, as of January.

In addition to ensuring security in Japan’s territorial waters, the JCG’s wide range of duties includes rescue missions and criminal investigations at sea, ensuring safety of navigation and conducting ocean research.

If the personnel shortfall continues to worsen, it could become harder to operate the JCG’s vessels and to operate them safely.

“We’re taking this situation seriously,” Daisuke Furukawa, head of the JCG’s human resources division, told The Yomiuri Shimbun. “We will deal with these challenges by doing everything we can and by not being bound by precedent, focusing foremost on rehiring personnel.”
 
 

Germany's new government led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to deepen defense cooperation with Japan, according to a senior think tank official.

In view of disruptions to international cooperation caused by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, Germany is increasingly acknowledging the need to work with "partners that really do share" common values, Alexandra Sakaki, deputy head of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs' Asia Division, said in an interview with Jiji Press.

The European power has enhanced its military commitment in the Indo-Pacific region by deploying warships and fighter jets to Japan, with an aim to counter China's hegemonic moves.

Pointing out that Johann Wadephul, an experienced politician well versed in Japan-Germany affairs, was appointed foreign minister, Sakaki said the new administration will "focus very much on Japan."

Especially the defense industry and economic security will be the next target areas for bilateral cooperation, she suggested.
 
 

Petal Ads, Huawei's leading global mobile advertising platform, today successfully hosted the "Think Tank 2025" seminar in Japan.

The event convened prominent brands and domestic agencies from the travel, beauty, luxury goods and lifestyle services sectors to showcase Huawei's all-scenario intelligent advertising solutions built on the HarmonyOS ecosystem, offering Japanese enterprises fresh digital-marketing strategies for entering the Chinese and wider global markets.

As a technology company deeply rooted in Japan for nearly two decades, Huawei leverages its global ecosystem and the innovation of HarmonyOS to continuously empower partners' digital transformation.

"Through in-depth local insights, we have built an intelligent advertising platform that connects global users," said Zhou Rong, Director of Asia-Pacific Ecosystem Development and Operations at Huawei Consumer Business Group.

"Petal Ads' unique all-scenario solutions not only precisely reach segmented audiences but also help Japanese brands unlock commercial value in cross-cultural communication."

At the seminar, Yang Yang, Global Marketing Director of Huawei Ads, presented an integrated marketing strategy within the HarmonyOS ecosystem.

Syaliza Abd Aziz, Japan representative of the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, discussed her organization's strategic partnership with Petal Ads on Visit Malaysia 2026. Colin Duan, Chief Product Officer of third-party data firm QuestMobile, used detailed analytics to decode Chinese internet users' consumption patterns in travel, beauty and other industries, providing decision-making insights for Japanese companies' local-market campaigns.

Fukuzumi Ryo, co-founder of leading Japanese ad agency Unbot, shared multiple success stories on site, demonstrating Petal Ads' technical strengths in precise customer acquisition and performance conversion in Japan.

The upgraded "Think Tank 2025" marks a significant milestone in Petal Ads' globalization strategy. With three core advantages—intelligent ad technology, a premium global user base and customizable all-scenario solutions—the platform now delivers monetization services to 53,000 apps across more than 200 industries worldwide.

Looking ahead, Petal Ads will deepen strategic collaborations with its Japanese partners and continue to foster more high-quality brands' international growth through an innovative digital-marketing ecosystem.

Petal Ads is Huawei Terminal Cloud Services' global commercial-service platform, dedicated to providing advertisers and developers with intelligent marketing and traffic-monetization solutions.

As of March 2023, the platform spans over 200 industry verticals and operates in more than 170 countries and regions, continually empowering partners' commercial growth and brand enhancement via HarmonyOS's all-scenario intelligent distribution capabilities.
 

The governments of Indonesia and Japan are deepening their strategic cooperation in new and renewable energy (EBT) and environmentally sustainable infrastructure development through the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) framework.

A key project exemplifying this collaboration is the Muara Labuh Geothermal Power Plant (PLTP) located in South Solok, West Sumatra.

The strengthening of this partnership was formalized through a signing ceremony between Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto and former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs office in Jakarta on Monday, May 5, 2025. In this context, Kishida is serving as the Special Envoy of the Japanese Prime Minister to AZEC.

Airlangga announced that the 80-megawatt Muara Labuh PLTP project achieved financial close on April 18, 2025, and is poised to enter the construction phase.

Reflecting on the collaborative efforts at the Muara Labuh PLTP, Minister Airlangga noted the continued growth of trade and investment relations between the two nations.

"In 2024, the value of Indonesia-Japan trade reached US$35 billion, and Japanese investment increased by 52 percent from 2021 to US$3.5 billion," Airlangga stated in a written press release on Monday, May 5, 2025.

Airlangga highlighted that Japan is currently Indonesia's sixth-largest investor, with over 12,000 strategic projects. He also expressed appreciation for Japan's support in the advancement of green energy and technological innovation.

"We deeply appreciate Japan's commitment and leadership in fostering sustainable development. This reflects the shared aspiration of both countries to cultivate mutually beneficial economic cooperation," he affirmed.

During the meeting, Airlangga emphasized Indonesia's pivotal role as Japan's primary partner within AZEC. He noted that 175 Memoranda of Understanding have already been signed by business entities from both countries.

Furthermore, he stated the government's commitment to accelerating the realization of these low-emission projects by addressing various challenges through cross-sector collaboration and public-private partnerships.

The Golkar Party politician added that the government is also actively promoting the advancement of other AZEC projects, including the Legok Nangka waste-to-energy plant, the development of sustainable aviation fuel, the Sarulla geothermal power plant, and the Java-Sumatra transmission network.

"These projects show the seriousness of Indonesia and Japan in expediting the transition to clean energy and green economic development. The visit of former Prime Minister Kishida reinforces our commitment to continued collaboration for a low-carbon future," he asserted.

The meeting also included a signing ceremony for a cooperation agreement between PT Supreme Energy Muara Labuh and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

Airlangga explained that this agreement marks a significant step in the development of the Muara Labuh geothermal power plant project, which is targeted for commercial operation in the first quarter of 2027.
 

The defense ministers of Japan and India have agreed to deepen cooperation between their forces, including starting discussions toward establishing a senior officer-level dialogue body, as China continues to expand its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh also affirmed that the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the Indian military will increase their joint exercises, Nakatani told reporters after their talks in New Delhi.

The envisaged dialoguebody will be in charge of coordinating the overall collaborative work between their forces, according to Japanese government officials.

At the outset of the meeting, which was open to the media, Nakatani said stronger ties between the two countries have become "more important" with the situation surrounding them becoming "growingly complicated and uncertain" at a time U.S. President Donald Trump's commitment to the Indo-Pacific region remains unclear.

Singh told Nakatani that he hopes to continue bilateral defense equipment and technology collaboration with Japan.

Japan has been stepping up security ties with India by increasing joint drills in recent years and reinforcing defense capabilities in the space and cyber domains.

Japan and India have also been discussing a plan to transfer Unicorn communication antennas similar to those installed on a new Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer.

The meeting came after Tokyo approached New Delhi about participating in the Global Combat Air Program, an initiative involving Japan, Britain and Italy to jointly develop a next-generation fighter jet by 2035, according to government sources.

Japan and India are members of the Quad grouping of Indo-Pacific democracies that also includes the United States and Australia. The framework is widely seen as a counterweight to China.

Nakatani is on a four-day trip from Saturday that has also taken him to Sri Lanka.
 
 

Japan was likely the fourth-largest official development assistance provider last year among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with Britain reclaiming third place, according to the body's preliminary data.

The United States remained the top ODA donor in 2024 among the 32 member countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, with $63.3 billion, down 4.4 percent from 2023 in real terms, the OECD said in a report released in April.

Following Germany's $32.4 billion, down 17.2 percent, and Britain's $18.0 billion, down 10.8 percent, Japan's aid was estimated at $16.8 billion, down 10.3 percent, with France trailing at $15.4 billion, nearly unchanged from a year earlier, the report said.

Japan had held the position of third-largest donor sincesurpassing Britain in 2021. The decline in its donations in 2024 was mainly due to the yen's depreciation, the Foreign Ministry said.

A Foreign Ministry official said the decline also came in contrast to the sharp increases seen in 2022 and 2023 when many development projects backed by Japan resumed after being suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The OECD will finalize the data, calculated by international standards under the grant equivalent system, around year-end, the official said.
 

 

Japan views ODA as one of its "most important diplomatic tools" as it pursues a "free and open" Indo-Pacific amid China's growing military and economic clout, though it faces a tight fiscal situation with its public debt more than twice the size of gross domestic product.

The report by the OECD, a Paris-based club of mostly wealthy nations, also showed that overall ODA by Development Assistance Committee members fell 7.1 percent in real terms in 2024 to $212.1 billion, marking the first decline after five consecutive years of growth.

The result was because of "a reduction in contributions to international organizations, as well as a decrease in aid for Ukraine," the organization said, referring to the support for the Eastern European nation fighting a Russian invasion since 2022.

The net ODA to Ukraine declined by 16.7 percent to $15.5 billion, accounting for 7.4 percent of the total aid, it said.

Lower levels of humanitarian aid and reduced spending on hosting refugees in donor countries were also contributing factors, the OECD added.
 

 

President Prabowo Subianto received a visit from the Japanese Prime Minister's Special Envoy, Fumio Kishida, and a delegation at his residence in Kertanegara, Jakarta, on Sunday, May 4.

Kishida, who is also a former Japanese prime minister and his entourage, arrived at Prabowo's residence at around 19:00 WIB.

During the meeting, Kishida delivered a letter from the Japanese Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, to President Prabowo.

"Yes, of course, former PM Kishida conveyed a letter from the Prime Minister Ishiba which was conveyed directly to the President and one of its contents related to his special entry of the prime minister specifically for the AZEC (Asia Zero Emission Community) projects," said Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto in his statement after the meeting.

In addition to conveying an official message from the Japanese government, the two parties also discussed the development of a cooperation project within the framework of the AZEC. According to Airlangga, currently Indonesia has more than 170 MoUs with Japan.

"Tomorrow there will be a financial closing signing of the project in Muara Laboh, West Sumatra, where the project is 80 geothermal megawatts with an investment of around US$500 million," said Airlangga.

President Prabowo also expressed his appreciation for the close cooperation between Indonesia and Japan. He hopes that this collaboration can continue to be strengthened amid the challenges of global uncertainty.

"Mr. President appreciates Indonesia's cooperation with Japan and hopes that this can continue to be improved amidst uncertainty due to the tariff war," explained Airlangga.

After the meeting in the office, the agenda was continued with a banquet at night together. The atmosphere of intimacy colored President Prabowo's banquet to Kishida, confirming the close friendship between Indonesia and Japan.
 
 

Japan's estimated child population has shrunk for the 44th straight year to a new record low, government data showed Sunday, as the country struggles to reverse the declining trend of births.

The number of children under 15, including foreign residents, was 13.66 million as of April 1, down 350,000 from a year ago, according to data released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications before the national Children's Day holiday on Monday.

The ratio of children to the overall population fell 0.2 percentage point to 11.1 percent, also the lowest since comparable data became available in 1950.

According to U.N. data, although the date of the survey differs, Japan has the second lowest ratio of children among 37 nations with a population of at least 40 million, only behind South Korea at 10.6 percent.

The Japanese government has put priority on fighting the country's rapidly declining birth rate and implemented initiatives such as providing more financial assistance to child-rearing households, expanding daycare services and allowing flexible workstyles for parents, but the initiatives have not stopped the decades-long decline.

By gender, there were 6.99 million boys and 6.66 million girls.
By age, 3.14 million children were 12 to 14, compared with 2.22 million in the 0 to 2 age group, indicating a continuing trend of fewer children being born.

Japan's child population has been falling continuously since 1982, having peaked in 1954 at 29.89 million, with a second baby boom observed between 1971 and 1974.

Government data also showed that as of Oct. 1 last year, the child population fell from a year ago in all 47 prefectures. The figure exceeded 1 million only in Tokyo and neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture.
 
 

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump told Japan in their second ministerial meeting on Washington's tariff policy that it aims to focus mainly on reciprocal tariffs in its negotiations with Tokyo while not including duties on automobiles, steel and aluminum, it was learned Friday.

At the second round of negotiations, held in Washington on Thursday, Japanese economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and others for about 130 minutes.

While the U.S. side showed its intention to discuss mainly reciprocal tariffs, Japan, with an aim to put tariffs on specific areas such as automobiles also on the agenda, urged Washington again to review a series of its additional tariff measures.

At a press conference after the meeting, Akazawa said that the two sides deepened concrete discussions on trade expansion, nontariff barriers and cooperation in economic security.

The chief Japanese tariff negotiator expressed his hope that an agreement will be reached between the leaders of the two countries in June after intensive ministerial talks in or after mid-May.
 
 

All modes of transportation experienced peak congestion Saturday, the first day of the four-day holiday in the second half of Japan's Golden Week, as the travel and return rush intensified, operators said.

Reserved seats on shinkansen bullet trains were quickly filled, while many domestic flights were at full capacity. Train stations and airports were packed with travelers, with long traffic jams expected on expressways.

Most seats on Nozomi bullet trains departing Tokyo on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line were already booked Saturday morning. Reservations for other shinkansen lines were also mostly filled from the first services of the day through early afternoon.

According to All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, only a few seats were available on domestic flights departing from Tokyo's Haneda airport.

Expressway operators said outbound traffic from major cities including Tokyo was set to be heaviest on Saturday, while the return rush is likely to peak on Monday.
 
 

Japan placed 66th in the 2025 freedom of press rankings announced by Reporters Without Borders on Friday, the lowest among the Group of Seven major countries.

Japan climbed four positions from last year, with the international journalist organization noting that "the principles of media freedom and pluralism are generally respected" in the country.

But RSF said, "Traditional and business interests, political pressure and gender inequalities often prevent journalists from completely fulfilling their role as watchdogs."

The government and corporations "routinely exert pressure" on the management of mainstream media, resulting in "heavy self-censorship" on topics that could be deemed sensitive, such as corruption and sexual harassment, it added.

The United States ranked 57th, down by two positions, and was second to last among the G7 countries.

While economic constraints have led to the closures of a number of local news outlets and a decline in press freedom, "Donald Trump's return to the presidency is greatly exacerbating the situation," RSF said.

News outlets in the United States have been jeopardized as Trump banned the Associated Press from the White House and dismantled the U.S. Agency for Global Media, RSF said, adding that politicians' open disdain for the media has trickled down to the public and that journalists reporting on the ground can face harassment, intimidation and assault as a result.

Meanwhile, Norway held the top position for the ninth consecutive year.
Germany ranked 11th, the highest in the G7. Among other countries, South Korea placed 61st, Russia 171st, China 178th and North Korea 179th. Eritrea ranked 180th and was at the bottom of the 2025 rankings.
 

 

Motorist held in Osaka on suspicion of attempted murder after seven children injured, according to local media

Police in the Japanese city of Osaka have arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder after he drove his car into seven schoolchildren, according to local media.

The children were walking home from school when the suspect appeared to deliberately drive the car at them on a quiet residential street at about 1.30pm local time, the public broadcaster NHK reported.

A seven-year-old girl suffered a broken jaw and the other children – boys and girls aged seven and eight – are reported to have relatively light injuries. All appeared to be conscious as they were taken to hospital.

Police arrested Yuki Yazawa, 28, an unemployed man from Higashimurayama city in Tokyo, at the scene. It is not clear why he was in Osaka.

“I was just sick of everything so I decided to drive my car into the elementary school students to kill them,” Yazawa told police, according to NHK.

Teachers from the primary school are reported to have pulled the suspect out of the car, where he had remained after driving into the children.

A mother in her 20s who had come to pick up her son, and who saw the attack, told NHK: “The car was being driven erratically, and it seems that it continued to move forward even after it had hit the children.

“My son was very shocked and has been crying the whole time. He only just started elementary school last month, and then something like this happened. It’s scary. I saw the man who had been driving the car. He was very quiet and appeared to be in a daze.”

Another witness told NHK that the car reversed back into the children after crashing into them.

An elementary school pupil told another news outlet, MBS News, that the man in the car had been “driving unsteadily”.

“I was walking along the side of the road and the car and suddenly it almost drove into us. The second and third graders in front of me were injured and were bleeding from their heads after being trapped between the car and the wall,” the pupil said.

A white SUV that appeared to be the one used by the suspect was being examined by police.
 
 

One of Japan's busiest bullet train lines came to a halt after a snake tangled itself in a power line, causing a power outage.

Tokaido Shinkansen trains running between Tokyo and Osaka were suspended from around 17:25 local time on Wednesday.

Services resumed at around 19:00 local time, operator Central Japan Railway Company said, according to local media.

Japan is currently in one of its busiest holiday seasons, Golden Week, which consists of four national holidays in seven days, and will see trains, airports and holiday hotspots hit their peak.

Osaka is also hosting the World Expo this year, which will see millions of foreign and domestic visitors flock to the city until it ends in October.

The snake entanglement occurred between Gifu-Hashima and Maibara stations, which suspended Tokyo-bound trains between Shin-Osaka and Nagoya, and the Osaka-bound trains between Shin-Osaka and Tokyo, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo News.

While authorities worked to get power restored, passengers reportedly gathered around staff at one station while large queues formed at ticket machines.

One frequent shinkansen traveller, who was returning to Tokyo, said it was the first time he had experienced this.

"I use the shinkansen several times a month, but this is the first time I have experienced suspensions due to a power outage," Satoshi Tagawa, 46, told Kyodo News.

But 26-year-old Kazutoshi Tachi, said he was "fed up with the troubles" to services.

"I want them to run on time," he added.

This is not the first time a snake has brought the shinkansen service to a halt.
In April 2024, there was a 17-minute hold-up while authorities removed a 16 inch (40.6cm) snake from the train between Nagoya and Tokyo, according to CBS News, BBC News's US partner.
 
 

Shouting “banzai!” or “live long,” thousands of people gathered in a Tokyo park on Thursday and marched through the streets to the banging of traditional drums, as Japan kicked off celebrations to mark May Day.

The holiday, also known as International Workers' Day or Labor Day, marks the struggles and achievements of workers and the labor movement around the world.

“For our children to be able to live with hope, the rights of workers must be recognized,” said Junko Kuramochi, a member of a mothers’ group who marched in Japan's capital.

Crowds gathered from the northernmost main island of Hokkaido to the tropical island of Amami, and in major cities like Kyoto and Hiroshima.

Their demands were wide-ranging and included higher wages, gender equality, health care, reduced military spending and disaster relief for earthquake victims. They also demanded a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Workers unite! Workers of the world! May Day!” they shouted, punctuating each exclamation with the word “banzai!”

Some said U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies hung over the day like a shadow. One truck in the Tokyo march featured a doll that looked like Trump.

Tadashi Ito, a union construction worker in Japan, said he worried about the potential for rising prices of imported raw materials in the months ahead.
“Everybody is fighting over work and so the contracts tend to go where the wages are cheapest,” he said. “We think peace comes first. And we hope Trump will eradicate conflict and inequalities.”

In Indonesia, President Prabowo Subianto took to the streets of the capital, Jakarta, to greet thousands of workers who cheered him amid tight police and military security in National Monument Park.

“The government that I lead will work as hard as possible to eliminate poverty from Indonesia,” Subianto told the crowd.

About 200,000 Indonesian workers were expected to take part in May Day marches across Southeast Asia’s largest economy, according to Said Iqbal, president of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions.

They are demanding an end to outsourcing rules, wage raises, and protection for domestic workers and migrant workers abroad, Iqbal said.

U.S. organizers say their message this year is focused on fighting back against President Donald Trump’s policies targeting immigrants, federal workers and diversity initiatives.Los Angeles is expected to host one of the world's largest May Day events this year, and a banner there summarized the day’s theme: “One Struggle, One Fight – Workers Unite!”

“We’re bringing the fight to the billionaires and politicians who are trying to divide us with fear and lies.

We know the truth — an attack on immigrant workers is an attack on all workers,” April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union, which represents 2 million workers, said in a statement.
 
 

 

 
Mixed martial arts (MMA) will make its Asian Games debut next year when Nagoya hosts the continent's premier sporting event, organizers said on Tuesday.

Cricket was also formally approved for inclusion at the Games during a meeting in host city Nagoya on Monday —despite doubts about where exactly the sport will take place.

"MMA will feature six events in its Asian Games debut and be classed as a discipline under combat sports," the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said.
The OCA and local organizers will hold meetings this week as they ramp up preparations for the 2026 Games, which will be in Nagoya and elsewhere in Aichi Prefecture.

As many as 15,000 athletes could compete at the Sept. 19 to Oct. 4 Games next year — more participants than the Olympics.

The OCA said that cricket will be played somewhere in Aichi but it is unclear where because there is currently no venue in the prefecture for the sport.

T20 cricket was played at the COVID-delayed Asian Games in China in 2023 and will return to the Olympic program in Los Angeles in 2028.

In December, Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura said the build-up to the Asian Games was going smoothly.

His remarks came after Japanese media said the OCA was not happy with preparations and had accused local organizers of not sticking to the host city contract.

Reports said the OCA had demanded improvements in several areas, including accommodation and transport for athletes and teams.
Next year will be the 20th edition of the Asian Games.
 
 

Former leaders of Japan's junior ruling party Komeito held talks with a senior official of the Communist Party of China in Beijing on Wednesday.

At the meeting, Natsuo Yamaguchi and Keiichi Ishii, former heads of Komeito, the junior coalition partner of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, exchanged views on culture and education with Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the CPC's Central Committee.

"It's important to build deep interactions across various fields, such as education, culture and sports, not just between political parties," Yamaguchi told the press after the meeting.

During their three-day trip to China through Wednesday, Yamaguchi and others visited Tsinghua University in Beijing and a local Japanese school in Tianjin.
 
 

 

During the meeting, LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama, who chairs the parliamentary group, said, “We would like to show concrete results and make efforts on both sides so that the people of Japan and China can feel happy about the development of Japan-China relations.”

A delegation from the Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship Association, a nonpartisan group of Japanese lawmakers, confirmed with the third-ranking official of the Chinese Communist Party the importance of expanding bilateral exchanges between China and Japan, in Beijing on Tuesday.
 
The delegation met with Zhao Leji, who is also the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

During the meeting, LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama, who chairs the parliamentary group, said, “We would like to show concrete results and make efforts on both sides so that the people of Japan and China can feel happy about the development of Japan-China relations.”

Moriyama called for an early response regarding the resumption of imports of Japanese marine products. In response, Zhao said: “We are well aware of Japan’s high level of interest. There has been positive communication between the sections concerned.”

Moriyama also requested the loan of new pandas in light of the impending deadline for the return of giant pandas kept in the town of Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, and at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo.

Fourteen lawmakers are participating in the visit to China, which began on Sunday. Members include Moriyama; Banri Kaieda, a Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker, who was a former vice speaker of the House of Representatives; Motohisa Furukawa, acting representative of the Democratic Party for the People; and Kazuo Shii, chairperson of the Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party.

On Monday, the delegation met with Yang Wanming, president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, an international exchange organization.

At the meeting, Moriyama stressed that “personal exchange and mutual understanding are indispensable for putting Japan-China relations on a positive track.” In response, Yang said that “the visit to China will be of great significance in improving mutual political trust.”

Natsuo Yamaguchi, former chief representative of Komeito, and others also arrived in China on Monday, following the visit of Komeito Chief Representative Tetsuo Saito, who stayed from April 22 to 24. Yamaguchi and others will engage in educational and cultural exchanges between Japan and China until Wednesday.
 
 

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Wednesday he succeeded in building "relations of trust" with the leaderships in Vietnam and the Philippines during his trip to the two Southeast Asian nations.

Ishiba told reporters in Manila before he left for Tokyo that his four-day trip was "meaningful," saying the agreements reached on strengthening security ties will foster "peace, stability and the rule of law" in the region, in an apparent reference to concerns over China's military clout.

Ishiba agreed with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi on Monday to set up a vice-ministerial-level foreign affairs and defense dialogue framework with the first meeting to take place this year in Japan.
In Manila on Tuesday, Ishiba and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

affirmed that discussions will start on an information-sharing pact and an acquisition and cross-servicing deal to facilitate joint defense drills.

"We had quite in-depth and honest discussions," Ishiba said of his meetings with four Vietnamese leaders, also including To Lam, general secretary of the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party, and with Marcos.

"It is important to establish ties that would make us want to meet again, and I think we were able to achieve that," he added.

Japan has been ramping up security cooperation with Southeast Asian countries in recent years, as China intensifies its military activities in the resource-rich South China Sea, home to one of the world's busiest maritime sea lanes, as well as the East China Sea.

It was Ishiba's third trip to Southeast Asia since he took office in October. He visited Laos that month and Malaysia and Indonesia in January.