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July 31, 2024
 

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shakes hands with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
China lodges protest with Japan over 'irresponsible remarks' in talks with U.S.
China's director-general of Asian affairs at the Foreign Ministry lodged a complaint with the Japanese Embassy, in the latest row between the Asian giants.
JAPAN / Politics
Resignation of LDP lawmaker over pay scandal adds to party's woes
Megumi Hirose has left the party over allegations she pocketed public money to pay the salary of a secretary who didn’t actually work.
JAPAN / Politics
Japan to co-lead crisis response branch of the global trade initiative IPEF
Japan will be vice chair of the Crisis Response Network, a body under the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity.
Kuninori Matsuda, Japanese ambassador to Ukraine, speaks during an interview in Kyiv on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2024
Japanese ambassador to Ukraine urges continuing of aid
Kuninori Matsuda said that Japan should not feel that it has no direct stake in the conflict, as Ukrainian aid helps protect the international order.
Upper House lawmaker Megumi Hirose enters her house in Tokyo after it was raided on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2024
Tokyo prosecutors raid LDP lawmaker's home on suspicion of salary fraud
By Karin Kaneko
Megumi Hirose, 58, is suspected of providing one of her secretaries with a state-paid salary even though they reportedly did no real work.
Upper House lawmaker Muneo Suzuki speaks to reporters in Moscow on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2024
Pro-Moscow lawmaker Muneo Suzuki visits Russia again
By Eric Johnston
The Upper House member defied the central government by flying to Moscow for talks with senior Russian officials.
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (left) speaks with Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (center left) as Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (center right) is greeted by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) after the four delivered remarks to the media after their "Quad" ministerial meeting at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2024
'Quad' top diplomats decry situation in South China Sea
By Gabriel Dominguez
The top diplomats from Japan, Australia, India and the U.S. also pledged to boost maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (left to right), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara prior their "two-plus-two" talks at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on Sunday
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 28, 2024
In historic move, U.S. to upgrade military command structure in Japan
By Jesse Johnson, Gabriel Dominguez and Kathleen Benoza
The move — one of the most significant in the alliance's history — comes as Washington and Tokyo overhaul military ties in the face of an increasingly assertive China.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (left to right), Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pose for a photo at the Defense Ministry Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 28, 2024
U.S., Japan and South Korea ink deal to 'institutionalize' security ties
By Jesse Johnson and Gabriel Dominguez
The move — just months before the U.S. presidential election — is seen as part of a bid to make the trilateral relationship more difficult to reverse.
Ryugo Watanabe (second from right), mayor of Sado, Niigata Prefecture, celebrates Saturday in New Delhi after the UNESCO World Heritage Committee unanimously decided in a meeting in the Indian capital to register the Sado Island Gold Mines as a World Cultural Heritage site.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 28, 2024
Tokyo-Seoul negotiations lead to Sado Gold Mines' UNESCO listing
South Korea argued that the mines used forced labor from the Korean Peninsula during WWII, and that Japan should reflect the whole history of the site.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and her South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, shake hands during talks on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 27, 2024
Japan and South Korea top diplomats pledge even stronger cooperation
The pair reaffirmed the importance of cooperation in order to maintain and strengthen a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meet on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 27, 2024
As foreign ministers meet, China says relations with Japan at 'critical stage'
The pair discussed thorny issues, including Japanese nationals detained in China, food import bans and semiconductor curbs.
A Lower House plenary session is held in June. One vote in the least-populated single-seat constituency for the lower chamber is at least twice as powerful as that in the eight most populous constituencies, an analysis has found.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 26, 2024
Vote-value disparities may be unconstitutional in eight Lower House districts
One vote in the least-populated single-seat constituency is at least twice as powerful as one in the eight most populous constituencies, a new analysis shows.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (left) shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in April.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 25, 2024
The LDP members best placed to deal with the next U.S. president
By Eric Johnston
With Kamala Harris entering the race, the LDP now has to prepare to deal with either a familiar former president or a not-so-familiar vice president.
(From left) Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki, Japanese Trade Union Confederation president Tomoko Yoshino and Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan chief Kenta Izumi discussed policies and the political situation over dinner on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2024
CDP and DPP exploring prospect of cooperation in upcoming polls
The two opposition parties believe it is possible to capitalize on the ruling LDP's slush funds scandal to deny it of its majority.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (right) during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 24, 2024
Why Japan's mysterious stash of classified funds escapes scrutiny
By Gabriele Ninivaggi
The funds can be used by the chief cabinet secretary with no explanation needed, fueling speculation of widespread misappropriation.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2024
Toyota chairman and 12 other Japanese executives banned from entering Russia
Others include Rakuten Group Chairman and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani and Japan International Cooperation Agency President Akihiko Tanaka.
A computer-generated image shows the new refined design of a next-generation fighter aircraft being co-developed by Japan, Britain and Italy.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 24, 2024
Japan has ‘no concerns’ over rumored hitch in joint fighter jet plans
By Gabriel Dominguez
While experts agree there are currently no indications that the U.K. might drop out of the program, the multilateral project still faces a number of challenges.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks aboard the USS Howard destroyer at the Yokosuka Naval Base, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in September 2022.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 23, 2024
Continuity in Asia: Harris' policies likely to assuage concerns in Japan
By Kathleen Benoza and Jesse Johnson
Tokyo is already quite familiar with the approach of the U.S. vice president, who will likely continue her predecessor's foreign policy if she is elected president.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara meet in Singapore in June.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 23, 2024
U.S.-Japan security talks to cover 'extended deterrence' for first time
By Jesse Johnson
The allies' top diplomats and defense chiefs will for the first time cover the U.S. commitment to using its military capabilities, including nukes, to protect its ally.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters in Tokyo Monday following news of U.S. President Joe Biden's exit from the presidential race.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 23, 2024
Kishida aides wary of impact from Biden's withdrawal
Many expect Kishida to make a decision on his approach to the LDP's leadership race after the summer holiday period in mid-August.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Kenta Izumi speaks during a news conference at the Diet building on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 22, 2024
CDP mulls setting leadership election for mid to late September
The CDP election will be held as current leader Kenta Izumi's term of office will expire at the end of September.
Ichiro Aisawa, a Lower House lawmaker with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, speaks to reporters at LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 20, 2024
LDP plans to launch leadership election board next week
The party is considering launching on July 26 the administration committee for its presidential election expected to take place in September.

Grilled eel leaves one dead and 140 sick in Japan
President Shinji Kaneko (left) and other executives of Keikyu Department Store bow in apology during a news conference in Yokohama on Monday.
Multiple places in Japan see mercury top 40 C for first time this year
A man cools himself in a water mist spray in Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Multiple regions topped 40 degrees Celsius for the first time this year on Monday.
Japan rallies past China to win gold in men's team gymnastics
Team Japan celebrates after winning gold in the men's team gymnastics event at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
When did summer in Japan stop being fun?
Summer in Japan is now consistently brutal enough to drive you indoors and keep you there until autumn.
How Japan's gymnasts picked each other up and toppled China
Teammates swarm Daiki Hashimoto after his gold medal-clinching performance on the horizontal bar on Monday.
A President Harris might be decidedly Trumpy in approach to Asia trade
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris might maintain some of the economic policies of former President Donald Trump.
What’s in a handshake? In Olympic judo, quite a lot
Japan's Ryuju Nagayama (right) refuses to shake hands with Spain's Francisco Garrigos after a controversial decision in their under-60 kg quarterfinal bout at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
For aging Japan, a troubling link between heat and dementia
The latest research indicates that heat stress is likely to worsen the condition of people with Alzheimer’s disease — which accounts for over half of all dementia cases in Japan — by making them more irritated or exacerbating their cognitive decline.
In historic move, U.S. to upgrade military command structure in Japan
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (left to right), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara prior their "two-plus-two" talks at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on Sunday

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The students at Mitaka Municipal No. 7 Junior High School have access to various cooling devices for when they play sports.
Japan's extreme heat is causing a rethink of school sports
By Alex K.T. Martin

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