Page 40 - Japan

Trilateral talks: South Korea, Japan push China on SCS, Taiwan issues

Chinese and Japanese leaders were set to arrive in Seoul and meet with South Korea's president separately on Sunday, a day before they gather for their first trilateral meeting in more than four years. No major announcement is expected from Monday's trilateral South Korea-China-Japan meeting. But just resuming their highest-level, three-way talks is a good sign and suggests the three Asian neighbours are intent on improving their relations. A trilateral leaders' meeting was supposed to take place annually following their inaugural gathering in 2008. But the meeting has stalled since the last one in December 2019 in Chengdu, China because of the COVID-19 pandemic and complex ties among the three countries. After their arrivals in Seoul on Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are to hold bilateral talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to discuss ways to promote cooperation and other issues, according to South Korean officials. Li and ...

Nomura gives 150% salary hike to its top executives as earnings boom

The moves come after the Japanese firm spent several years improving risk controls after losing almost $3 billion in 2021 on the collapse of investment firm Archegos Capital Management

South Korea's SK Group to boost ties with Japan's chip equipment makers

SK Group affiliates include SK Hynix, the world's No.2 memory chip maker

Leaders of South Korea, China, Japan to meet Monday for trilateral talks

Leaders of South Korea, China and Japan will meet next week in Seoul for their first trilateral talks in more than four years to discuss how to revive their cooperation, South Korea's presidential office said Thursday. After their inaugural stand-alone trilateral summit in 2008, the three countries' leaders were supposed to hold such a meeting every year. But the summit has been suspended since the last one in December 2019, in China, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and often complicated ties among the Asian neighbors. The trilateral meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will take place in Seoul on Monday, Kim Tae-hyo, Seoul's deputy national security director, told a news conference. Chinese President Xi Jinping will not be attending. Li and Kishida were scheduled to arrive in South Korea on Sunday. They will meet Yoon individually on Sunday afternoon before attending a welcoming dinner banquet wit

Japan's factory activity expands for first time in year, shows PMI

The au Jibun Bank flash Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) climbed to 50.5 in May

Why has Japan blocked the iconic view of Mount Fuji? All you need to know

The plan garnered headlines in April when officials, frustrated by the constant influx of mainly foreign visitors littering, trespassing, and breaking traffic rules, announced it

Japan's exports rise for 5th time in April on weak yen, biz mood stalls

In volume terms, however, Japanese shipments fell 3.2 per cent year-on-year in April, down for the third straight month

India rises to 39th position in WEF index for travel, tourism development

Country top performer in South Asia and among the lower-middle-income nations

Saudi King to be treated for lung inflammation hours after undergoing tests

Due to King Salman's health issue, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto Saudi leader, postponed a visit to Japan that had been scheduled to begin on Monday

Why did Chris Wood of Jefferies sell his holding in HDFC Bank stock?

Calendar year 2024 (CY24) will be a good year for 'quality stocks and bonds', according to analysts at Morgan Stanley. Stocks, they said, have priced in a 'perfect landing' scenario

US ambassador to Japan visits southern islands at centre of China tension

The US ambassador to Japan stressed Friday the importance of increased deterrence and his country's commitment to its key ally as he visited two southwestern Japanese islands at the forefront of Tokyo's tension with Beijing. Rahm Emanuel visited Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost island just east of Taiwan, a self-governed island also claimed by China. He later visited another Japanese island, Ishigaki, home to Japan Coast Guard patrol boats defending the disputed East China Sea islands and Japanese fishermen from armed Chinese coast guard ships that routinely enter Japanese waters. Japan has been making a southwest shift of its defense posture, and is further accelerating its military buildup under a 2022 security strategy that focuses on counter-strike capability with long-range cruise missiles. Emanuel was the first US ambassador to visit Yonaguni. Escorted by Mayor Kenichi Itokazu, he looked toward Taiwan, only 110 kilometres (68 miles) away. He met with Japanese Self Defense Force .

BOJ may face more pressure to hike rates amid declining consumer spending

The yen has depreciated by roughly 10% against the dollar so far this year despite the BOJ's decision in March to end eight years of negative rates

Use of frozen Russian assets for Ukraine must align with law, says Japan

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven major democracies will meet in Italy next week and will discuss the question of how revenues from the frozen Russian assets should be used

18% of global fund managers overweight on Indian equities: BofA survey

A total of 245 panelists with $642 billion worth of assets under management (AUM), BofA Securities said, participated in the survey held between May 3 and May 9, 2024

Japan's economy contracts, complicating Bank of Japan's rate hike plans

Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of the Japanese economy, fell 0.7 per cent

Japan's Honda raises electrification investment to $65 bn through FY30

The company, a relative latecomer to electric vehicles, first had to ensure it could reliably procure batteries and achieve cost cuts

Honda to scale down production, cut China workforce with voluntary layoffs

Honda's move marks the latest setback for Japan's legacy car brands in China, where the growing dominance of local players such as BYD and a brutal price war are causing them to lose market share

SoftBank's Q4 profit hits $2.11 bn in sign of comeback gaining steam

Monday's result marks the second straight quarter of profit for SoftBank, although for the full year the company remained in the red

G20 summit satisfying, forging friendships most significant: EAM Jaishankar

If closing out the G20 Summit was the most satisfying moment of his career, the most significant was being associated with "enormous changes in some crucial relationships" such as the US, Australia, UAE and Japan during the last five years, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar says. "These relationships have really changed tremendously in the last five years, last decade. And, the growth of the Quad, again that is something that we tried a decade and a half ago, not succeeded, did it a second time. This time it actually, really worked," Jaishankar told PTI in an exclusive interview at the news agency's headquarters. Jaishankar spoke on a range of issues in the nearly hour-long interview including his view of the world in 10 years from now, the challenges faced by India, and the rising profile of the country in the international arena under his watch. Hosting the G20 Summit last year "wasn't just the hard work", because in many ways the "prestige of the country" was riding on it, he said.

Soon, a Japanese Empress?

Amid shirking male heirs, Japanese are opening up to the idea of a reigning Empress. Yet change may be decades away