Page 11 - Japan

Japan votes in key election as Prime Minister Ishiba faces possible loss

Japanese were voting Sunday for seats in the smaller of Japan's two parliamentary houses in a key election with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his ruling coalition facing a possible defeat that could worsen the country's political instability. Voters were deciding half of the 248 seats in the upper house, the less powerful of the two chambers in Japan's Diet. Early results were expected Sunday night. Ishiba has set the bar low, wanting a simple majority of 125 seats, which means his Liberal Democratic Party and its Buddhist-backed junior coalition partner Komeito need to win 50 to add to the 75 seats they already have. That is a big retreat from the 141 seats they had pre-election, but media surveys predict big setbacks for Ishiba. A poor performance on Sunday would not immediately trigger a change of government because the upper house lacks the power to file no-confidence against a leader, but it would certainly deepen uncertainty over his fate and Japan's political stability.

Lesley Downer's new book offers a grand panoramic tour of Japan's history

Japan has received far more than its share of natural disasters, most massive earthquakes, volcano eruptions, gigantic tsunamis and ravaging fires

Couche-Tard's failed bid to acquire Seven & i sparks Japan M&A debate

7-Eleven convenience stores have one of Japan's most recognizable brands and a takeover would have been the largest by a foreign entity in the country's history

Japan racks up trade deficit amid threat from Donald Trump's tariffs

Japan sank into a trade deficit of 2.2 trillion yen ($15 billion) for the first six month of this year, according to government data released Thursday, as exports were hit by President Donald Trump's tariffs. In June, Japan's exports slipped 0.5% from a year earlier after its shipments of vehicles and other products were slapped with a 25% tariff. Trump has postponed implementing that higher import duty until Aug. 1, to allow time for negotiations but so far no deal has been reached. Exports in June totaled nearly 9.2 trillion yen ($62 billion), in the second straight month of declines. Imports in June rose 0.2% to 9 trillion yen ($61 billion), the Finance Ministry said. That left a trade surplus of 153 billion yen (just over $1 billion). The trade deficit in May was 637.6 billion yen, or $4.4 billion. Japan's exports to the United States fell 11% in June, with auto exports plunging 25%. Shipments to China decreased by nearly 5%. Exports to Mexico, a major auto assembly hub for Nort

Trump likely to impose 10-15% tariff rates for more than 150 countries

In an interview with Real America's Voice on Wednesday, Trump said that his administration has not yet decided on the rate yet, adding that it would probably be 10 or 15 per cent

Canada's Couche-Tard abandons $46 billion bid to buy 7-Eleven owner

In a statement, Seven & i said was it was disappointed by Couche-Tard's decision to walk away, but said it disagreed with the numerous mischaracterisations in Canadian suitor's letter

Japan warns of China's military moves as biggest strategic challenge

Japan raised strong caution against China's rapid acceleration of military activity in extensive areas from around its southwestern coasts to the Pacific, describing the moves as the biggest strategic challenge. China's growing joint operations with Russia also pose serious security concerns to Japan, along with increasing tension around Taiwan and threats coming from North Korea, the Defence Ministry said in an annual military report submitted to Cabinet on Tuesday. "The international society is in a new crisis era as it faces the biggest challenges since the end of World War II," the report said, citing significant changes to the global power balance while raising concern about an escalation of the China-US rivalry. The security threats are concentrated in the Indo-Pacific, where Japan is located, and could get worse in the future, report says. Japan has accelerated its military buildup on southwestern islands in recent years, preparing to deploy long-distance cruise missiles, as

Japan's 91-yr-old former Emperor Akihito hospitalised for heart treatment

Japan's 91-year-old former Emperor Akihito was hospitalised Monday to adjust his heart medication, palace officials said. Akihito was diagnosed in May with myocardial ischemia, an asymptomatic heart condition of reduced blood flow from the coronary arteries to the heart muscle. He has since been on medication to improve blood flow to his heart while avoiding excessive exercise and reducing liquid intake. Akihito abdicated in 2019, handing over the Chrysanthemum Throne to his son, current Emperor Naruhito and now holds the title of Emperor Emeritus. After two months on the medication, doctors found little improvement in Akinito's condition and decided to give him an additional treatment to alleviate the burden on his heart, the Imperial Household Agency said. Monday's hospitalisation was to carefully determine the right dose of the new medication to avoid side effects, while monitoring his heart by electrocardiogram and other examination, the IHA said. In 2012, Akihito underwent a

Russia warns US, South Korea, Japan against alliance targeting North Korea

Russia's foreign minister on Saturday warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited his country's ally for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov flew to North Korea's eastern Wonsan city on Friday for a meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui. Relations between Russia and North Korea have been flourishing in recent years, with North Korea supplying troops and ammunition to support Russia's war against Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. That has raised concerns among South Korea, the US and others that Russia might also transfer to North Korea sensitive technologies that can increase the danger of its nuclear and missile programs. After a meeting with Choe on Saturday, Lavrov accused the US, South Korea and Japan of what he called their military buildups around North Korea. We warn against exploiting these

India could fill gap left by China in Japan's garment market: AEPC

India has the potential to fill the gap left by the declining share of China, the largest exporter of ready-made garments to Japan, the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) said on Friday. It also said that the council is leading a high-level delegation to Tokyo to explore opportunities for boosting exports and attracting investments by engaging with leading Japanese brands and retail chains. The delegation will participate in the India Tex Trend Fair, to be held in Tokyo, from July 15-17. More than 150 apparel exporters from India will be participating to display a diverse range and variety of domestic apparel products at the fair. "The council will be taking a high-level delegation to Tokyo to explore the possibilities of enhanced trade and investment by engaging deeply with top Japanese brands and retail chains," AEPC Chairman Sudhir Sekhri said. Sekhri said that deeper engagement with the Japanese market has resulted in greater utilisation of the free trade agreement betwee

South Korea, US, Japan hold air drill to show strength against North Korea

Top South Korean, US and Japanese military officers urged North Korea to cease all unlawful activities that threaten regional security, as the three nations flew advanced warplanes for a joint exercise in a show of force against the North. The development came Friday as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was to travel to North Korea amid booming military and other cooperation between the two countries that have raised concerns among their neighbours. During their regular meeting in Seoul on Friday, the chairmen of the joint chiefs of staff from South Korea, the US and Japan discussed North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine and Russia's potential transfer of military technology to North Korea in return. They urged the DPRK to immediately cease all unlawful activities to destabilise the Korean Peninsula, the Indo-Pacific, and beyond, and pledged to continue working together to respond to the DPRK's threats, the three top military officers sa

Japan asks China not to fly jets too close to Japanese military aircraft

Japan has demanded China to stop flying its fighter jets abnormally close to Japanese intelligence-gathering aircraft, which it said was happening repeatedly and could cause a collision. Japan's Defense Ministry said a Chinese JH-7 fighter-bomber flew as close to 30 meters (98 feet) to a YS-11EB electronic-intelligence aircraft of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force on Wednesday and Thursday. The ministry said it occurred outside Japanese airspace over the East China Sea and caused no damage to the Japanese side. China had no immediate comment on the latest incident. Previously, Beijing has alleged Japan flew close to its aircraft and was spying on China's ordinary military activity and demanded Japan stop its actions. Japan is concerned about China's acceleration of its military buildup, especially in Japan's southwestern areas. Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Thursday that its vice minister Takehiro Funakoshi expressed serious concern to Chinese Ambassador to Japa

Seven & i profit rises nearly 10%, boosted by overseas convenience stores

Japanese retailing giant previously announced a share buyback, is selling off non-core assets and plans to list its North American convenience store business

Asia remains in Trump's tariff sights as deadline moves to August 1

The extension leaves Asia's economies squarely in the US administration's tariff sights while giving officials a little over three additional weeks to negotiate lower rates

Stocks fall, dollar up as Trump plans 25% tariffs on Japan, South Korea

Trump announced in April a 10 per cent base tariff rate on most countries and higher "reciprocal" rates ranging up to 50per cent, with an original deadline of this Wednesday

Trump to impose 25% tariff on South Korean, Japanese goods from Aug 1

US President Donald Trump to impose 25% tariff on imports from South Korea and Japan starting August 1, 2025, citing persistent trade deficits and unfair tariff and non-tariff barriers

1,000 quakes jolt Japan's Tokara Islands since June 1, manga sparks panic

The earthquakes have prompted evacuations and fear, as a viral manga predicting a July 5 disaster fuels widespread anxiety

India-made Jimny helps Suzuki top Japan imports in June, overtakes Mercedes

Demand for the India-built Jimny Nomad pushes Suzuki past Mercedes in Japan's import charts, even as Maruti Suzuki faces a domestic slowdown in sales

Operation Sindoor's message conveyed with great clarity, says Jaishankar

Operation Sindoor conveyed to the world with great clarity that India will act against terrorism, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in a statement in line with the UN Security Council calling for those responsible for the Pahalgam attacks to be brought to justice. "What is important for us in the Quad statement, as also the statement that the Security Council had issued on April 25, is that the perpetrators of terrorism must be held accountable. They must be brought to justice, Jaishankar said during a press conference in Washington on Wednesday. And that's important because we then have to communicate to the world what we did. On May 7, the objective of Operation Sindoor is that if there are terrorist attacks, we will act against the perpetrators, the supporters, the financiers, and the enablers. So that message, I think, was conveyed with great clarity, he said. A joint statement issued by Quad Foreign Ministers -- Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Foreign .

Japan Airlines flight drops 26,000 ft mid-air, makes emergency landing

The Boeing 737 aircraft operated by Spring Airlines Japan, with 191 people on board, experienced a cabin pressure irregularity. Passengers described the incident on social media as 'life-threatening'