By Tim Kelly TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s landslide election victory has quelled domestic opposition to her hardline security agenda, fueling plans to press ahead with a defense expansion that China has condemned as a return to militarism. As the scale of her government’s historic victory became clear on Sunday … Read more
By Rocky Swift TOKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Japan’s volatile financial markets must now face Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi firmly in the driver’s seat after her decisive victory on Sunday, giving her an electoral mandate to turn around the economy. The question for investors is whether Takaichi’s electoral momentum will prompt her to expand her … Read more
TOKYO (AP) — Voting opened Sunday in parliamentary elections that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hopes will give her struggling party a victory big enough to push an ambitious conservative political agenda. Takaichi is very popular, but the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for most of the past seven decades, is not. … Read more
By Makiko Yamazaki and Leika Kihara TOKYO, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Japan’s top monetary officials are taking advantage of rare U.S. support in their fight against the weak yen, using tactical silence and calibrated communication to steer the currency sharply higher without resorting to large-scale intervention. At the heart of the approach is Atsushi Mimura, … Read more
By Yuka Obayashi SHIZUOKA, Japan, Jan 12 (Reuters) – A Japanese mining ship left on Monday for a remote coral atoll to mine mud rich in rare earths, part of Tokyo’s effort to curb its dependence on China for critical minerals as Beijing tightens supply. The one-month mission of the Chikyu test vessel near Minamitori … Read more
By Joe Cash BEIJING, Jan 8 (Reuters) – China’s ban on dual-use goods exports to Japan will only affect military firms, the Commerce Ministry said on Thursday, helping to calm fears that Beijing could curb shipments of rare earths vital to Japan’s auto industry because of Tokyo’s remarks about Taiwan. Dual-use items are goods, software … Read more
By Satoshi Sugiyama and Rocky Swift TOKYO, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Japan’s chief government spokesman said on Wednesday that China’s ban on dual-use goods exports to the country was “absolutely unacceptable and deeply regrettable”, as a diplomatic row between Asia’s top two economies escalated. Dual-use items are goods, software or technologies that have both civilian … Read more
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump invited Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in a phone call Friday to visit the United States this year, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said, in what will be the ultraconservative leader’s first trip to the United States since taking office in October. The White House has yet to confirm the … Read more
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Cabinet on Friday approved a record defense budget plan to exceed 9 trillion yen ($58 billion) for the coming year, aiming to boost its strike-back capability and coastal defense with cruise missiles and unmanned armaments as tensions rise in the region. The draft budget for fiscal 2026 that begins in April … Read more
Two earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater struck within days of each other in Alaska and Japan, raising concerns that another big one could be on the way. The first earthquake occurred in Alaska on December 6 with a magnitude of 7.0, a large earthquake capable of producing serious damage if it did not occur … Read more