| Apr 22 | Japan to write off Myanmar debt in thumbs-up for reform |
 Japan will write off billions of dollars in debt owed by Myanmar and restart development loans, the leaders of the two countries said on Saturday, in a further move to end the Southeast Asian nation's isolation and strengthen its nascent democracy.
The agreement to waive 303.5 billion yen ($3.72 billion) debt and overdue charges was reached during President Thein Sein's visit to Tokyo, the first by a Myanmar head of state in nearly three decades, signaling its steady return to the international fold after decades of brutal military rule.
(Reuters  ) |
| Apr 21 | Japan pledges $7.4 billion aid to Mekong nations |
 Japan pledged 600 billion yen ($7.4 billion) in development aid to support infrastructure projects in five Southeast Asian nations that share the Mekong River.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who met with the leaders of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar today in Tokyo, expressed appreciation for their self-help efforts, particularly Thailand's contributions to the development of the Mekong region through bilateral and regional frameworks, according to an official statement issued after the summit.
(Bloomberg ) |
| Apr 21 | 81 lawmakers visit Yasukuni ahead of festival |
 A total of 81 Diet members visited Yasukuni Shrine on Friday, one day before the controversial Tokyo institution starts its annual Reitaisai spring festival.
One participant, Takashi Morita of Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party), is parliamentary secretary of general affairs in the Democratic Party of Japan-led government, but no Cabinet ministers joined the visit.
(Japan Times ) |
| Apr 21 | North sees Japanese wives as leverage |
| North Korea appears to be considering using home visits by Japanese women who moved to the isolated state with their Korean husbands in a 1959-1984 repatriation project as leverage to improve relations with Tokyo. (Japan Times) |
| Apr 21 | Reports say Japan to station troops on Tinian |
| Japanese media reported yesterday that the Japanese government is planning to station its own self-defense forces on Tinian where two-thirds of lands are already leased by the U.S. Department of Defense from the CNMI government. But press secretary Angel Demapan said yesterday that the Fitial administration is not aware of such plan by the Japanese government. (saipantribune.com) |
| Apr 20 | S. Korea denies Japan PM's letter includes 'comfort women' issue |
| South Korea's presidential office denied a news report Friday that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda mentioned the issue of Korean women sexually enslaved by Japan during World War II in a letter sent to President Lee Myung-bak. (Yonhap) |
| Apr 20 | Japan flexing its military muscle |
| Japan is building its military muscle to play a bigger role in Asia and the rest of the world, and it is making its military might more visible. Japan changed its defense policy last December to allow Japanese companies to export weapons and collaborate with countries other than its main ally, the US. (China Daily) |
| Apr 20 | Noda says Japan running out of time to hike taxes, restart reactors |
 Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Thursday that he faces policymaking challenges "weightier" than those of his predecessors, adding that the country can no longer afford to delay decisions about its most divisive issues, including a tax hike and the restarting of its nuclear reactors.
(Washington Post ) |
| Apr 20 | Japan should help end U.S. domination of World Bank |
| Once again, the seat of the World Bank president has been reserved for the United States, leaving questions about the transparency of the selection process. Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim will succeed Robert Zoellick after the latter's retirement at the end of June. Kim, a South Korean-born American, was backed by U.S. President Barack Obama. (zeenews) |
| Apr 19 | China, Russia to hold joint naval exercises close to Japan |
| China and Russia will hold major joint naval exercises close to Japanese waters this weekend, aimed at further strengthening strategic partnership and stepping up joint response to new challenges and threats. (indianexpress.com) |
| Apr 19 | Myanmar leader to visit Japan |
| Myanmar President Thein Sein will make a five-day trip to Japan starting this weekend, marking the first visit to the country by a leader of the Southeast Asian nation in nearly three decades, while opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is planning to make in June her first visits overseas-to Norway and the U.K.-since 1989. (Wall Street Journal) |
| Apr 19 | Japan may foot 3.1 bil. dollars for U.S. marines' move |
| Japan may shoulder as much as 3.1 billion dollars (250 billion yen) in relocating U.S. Marine Corps personnel from Okinawa Prefecture to Guam, up 300 million dollars from an initial agreement in 2009, Japanese and U.S. government officials have announced. (Yomiuri) |
| Apr 18 | Noda leaps in with hint of buying Senkakus |
| The central government will consider buying the disputed Senkaku Islands, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Wednesday, adding fuel to a fire already lit by Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara. Noda's statement came after Ishihara dropped his bombshell Monday in Washington by revealing that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is trying to buy the islands from its owner "to protect Japanese territory." (Japan Times) |
| Apr 18 | Obama to welcome Japanese PM on April 30 |
 United States (US) President Barack Obama will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Washington on April 30, for their first meeting since North Korea's rocket launch, the White House said on Tuesday.
(Straits Times) |
| Apr 18 | China decries Tokyo-hatched plan to buy disputed isles |
 Tokyo's controversial governor wants to use public funds to buy islands disputed between Japan and China, prompting Beijing to denounce the plan as illegal and reassert its sovereignty.
The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have long been the centre of maritime territorial disputes between China and neighbours, all citing historical and other claims over fishing areas and potentially rich gas deposits.
(Reuters ) |
| Apr 18 | Activists start hunger strike against reactors |
 Around 10 members of a citizens' group began a hunger strike Tuesday in front of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to protest the government's plan to restart two reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture.
The group plans to continue the hunger strike, with members taking turns for a few days or a week, until May 5, when the No. 3 reactor at Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomari plant, the only commercial reactor in Japan still operating, is scheduled to be taken offline for maintenance and inspections.
(Japan Times ) |
| Apr 18 | Edano apologizes for remarks on active reactors |
| Industry minister Yukio Edano apologized Tuesday for his recent remarks that the nation will be without operating nuclear reactors only "momentarily" from May 6, when the last currently active reactor goes offline for maintenance. "I should have said (the number of operating reactors) will be zero at least for a while," Edano said at a news conference, referring to a speech he delivered Sunday in Tokushima Prefecture. (Japan Times) |
| Apr 18 | Abduction issue even more muddled by rocket launch |
| North Korea's failed rocket launch last week once again put Japan in a tricky position over its policy toward the North, triggering concern that a stern posture will complicate efforts to move forward the stalled issue of Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese nationals. "It is natural for hardline (views) to prevail in Japan, but if this hardline stance pushes through, Japan-North Korea negotiations will likely take a back seat," said a diplomatic source knowledgeable about Japan-North Korea relations. (Japan Times) |
| Apr 17 | Tokyo governor plots to buy disputed islands |
 Tokyo's conservative governor said Monday that the metropolitan government has decided to purchase a group of islands in the East China Sea at the center of a bitter bilateral territorial dispute between the two regional powers, in a move that could heighten tensions between Japan and China.
(Wall Street Journal ) |
| Apr 17 | Mr. Noda's taxing problem |
| One-on-one Diet debates between Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and opposition leaders held on April 11 primarily concerned Mr. Noda's plan to raise the consumption tax from April 2014. The prime minister has stated that he will stake his political life on the tax hike plan, and added that he will tackle the task of getting the bill passed with "grave determination." (Japan Times) |
| Apr 17 | DPJ's Sengoku describes halt of all nuclear plants 'mass suicide' |
| Democratic Party of Japan policymaker Yoshito Sengoku created a stir Monday by describing the looming shutdown of all nuclear power plants in Japan as "mass suicide." "If we don't think about what the economy and our livelihoods will be like in the event of (a total nuclear) halt, that would be, in a sense, something like the mass suicide of Japan," Sengoku said during a speech in Nagoya. (Japan Times) |
| Apr 16 | Japan's embassy in Kabul attacked in Taliban's 'spring offensive' |
 The Japanese embassy in Kabul came under attack Sunday as explosions and gunfire rocked the Afghan capital. Suicide bombers struck across Afghanistan in coordinated attacks claimed by Taliban insurgents as the start of a spring offensive.
The Japanese, U.S., British and German embassy compounds were hit as militants attacked the city's diplomatic enclave and tried to storm parliament, sparking a gun battle as lawmakers and bodyguards fired back from the rooftop.
(Japan Today ) |
| Apr 16 | Japan finds body of missing pilot in helicopter crash |
| ) |
| Apr 15 | Japan mulling '$60 bn contribution' to IMF |
| Japan is considering lending about $60 billion to the International Monetary Fund to help strengthen a global firewall against contagion from the European sovereign debt crisis, Kyodo news agency said on Sunday. Tokyo is talking with some other key members of the IMF such as China and European nations to finalise their possible contributions to the multilateral lender, ahead of the Group of 20 finance chiefs' meeting later this week in Washington. (AFP) |
| Apr 15 | Noda, Abbas condemn N. Korean launch |
 Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday and shared the view that North Korea's launch of what was believed to be a long-range ballistic missile deserves condemnation.
North Korea's act was extremely regrettable, Noda told Abbas at the prime minister's official residence. He also said it was a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
(Yomiuri ) |
| Apr 14 | Tokyo: Wait until next time |
| You could almost hear the collective "Aw, damn," from Japan's Ministry of Defense Friday as a North Korean missile broke up soon after takeoff and plopped into the sea. Japan spends about $5 billion a year on missile defense and had mobilized forces throughout the country to shoot the missile down if it strayed anywhere close to Japanese territory. It would have been the first shots fired in anger by the Japanese since World War II. (Time) |
| Apr 14 | Russian spy planes fly close to border |
| Two Russian spy planes approached Japanese airspace on Thursday at a time of high alert in Tokyo over an anticipated ballistic missile launch by North Korea. Air Self-Defense Force planes were put into position after the Russian TU-142 planes looked set to enter Japanese airspace, the Defense Ministry said. (Yomiuri) |
| Apr 13 | Japan declares two idled reactors safe to restart |
| Two idled Japanese nuclear reactors have been declared safe and will need to be restarted to avoid a summer power crunch in western Japan, the trade minister said on Friday, a step towards the first restart in Japan since last year's Fukushima crisis. Trade Minister Yukio Edano also said that he will visit Fukui prefecture, host to the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co's Ohi nuclear power plant, on Saturday to meet with the governor and Ohi town mayor and to convince them of the necessity for the restarts. (Reuters) |
| Apr 13 | Japan facing criticism over botched response to North Korean missile launch |
 The Japanese government is facing heavy criticism over its slow response to the failed North Korean rocket launch Friday.
While the country displayed a massive show of force in the lead-up to the planned launch, dispatching Pac-3 missile batteries and Aegis-equipped ships in Tokyo and Okinawa, it took nearly 40 minutes for leaders to officially confirm the launch Friday, much longer than neighboring South Korea. The J-alert emergency warning system, intended to inform the public minutes after liftoff, was never activated.
(ABC News ) |
| Apr 13 | North Korea's rocket launch reported failed |
 Japan and South Korea say that North Korea's three-stage rocket launch early Friday failed.
Japanese Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka says the rocket appears to have flown about 120 kilometers up into the air before splitting into four pieces and falling into the Yellow Sea.
"We have received information that there was some sort of object launched. It appears to have flown for over a minute and then fallen into the ocean. There has been absolutely no effect on our territory," Tanaka said. (VOA News ) |
| Apr 13 | Analysis: Japan reactor restart debate swells beyond nuclear frontline |
| Japan's nuclear power industry had never spent much time or money winning over the hearts and minds of people like Susumu Takahashi, a fisherman angling for small sweetfish from the serene shores of Lake Biwa, a world away from any nuclear reactor. But with the industry paralyzed after last year's Fukushima nuclear disaster, and badly in need of public trust to get moving again, it may wish it had gone to the trouble. (Reuters) |
| Apr 13 | Japan's Middle East soft power |
 Heavily dependent on oil from the Middle East, Japan has been keen to encourage stability. But there are limits to what Japan's soft power push can do in the region.
Through a dirty, misty morning haze, Ajloun castle rises up over the north Jordanian town of the same name. In a cold classroom, a pair of Japanese teachers lead a class of five and six year-olds through a song well known to any Japanese child. "Ito maki maki," they sing. "Ito maki maki. Hite hite. Ton ton ton."
(The Diplomat) |
| Apr 13 | Missile makes Japan twitch new muscle |
 Japan has been one of the most active players in the North Korean "satellite" crisis. As a country well within the range of Pyongyang's ballistic missiles, Tokyo has good reason to be concerned, but the implications of its assertiveness in the past month are interesting in their own right.
When South Korea said on March 26 that it would intercept Pyongyang's Unha-3 rocket if the satellite's trajectory appears errant, the warning came three days after Japanese Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka's announcement that Tokyo was readying Aegis-class warships and PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles in preparation for North Korea's rocket launch. (Asia Times ) |
| Apr 13 | Fate of child abductions bill in Diet uncertain |
| The government finally submitted legislation to the Diet last month for joining the Hague Convention on international child abductions but its passage appears far from certain. Western allies have long pressured Japan to join the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, and are watching closely to see whether Tokyo lives up to an earlier promise to ratify it. (Japan Times) |
| Apr 13 | Japan's ex-PM to plant cherry blossoms in Taiwan |
| Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori arrived in Taiwan Thursday to attend a cherry blossom planting event, which will be held this weekend in recognition of the strong ties that exist between the two countries. The event highlights the long-lasting friendship between Taiwanese and Japanese people, Mori said at a press conference to promote the event. (focustaiwan.tw) |
| Apr 12 | Lower house approves postal privatization revision |
| The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to review the privatization of Japan's postal services spearheaded in 2005 by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party supported the bill. But three key members of the LDP, which was formerly headed by Koizumi, voted against it in defiance of the party's policy. (Mainichi) |
| Apr 11 | Japan, Britain agree on joint arms development |
 Japan and Britain agreed Tuesday to develop defense weapons together in Tokyo's first such arrangement outside of its security alliance with the United States.
Japan has cooperated exclusively with the U.S. on missile shield development and other equipment under their long-standing alliance. Easing its decades-long weapons export ban in December allowed Japan to extend the exception to other defense partners, including European nations and Australia.
(USA Today ) |
| Apr 11 | Hatoyama files protest with Iranian Embassy |
 Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Tuesday he has lodged a protest with the Iranian Embassy in Tokyo over an Iranian state-run television report that he criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Hatoyama told the embassy Monday that the report on his remarks in his meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Teheran on Sunday was "untrue" and urged it to check the background of the report with the Iranian government and provide an explanation, according to Hatoyama's office. (Yomiuri ) |
| Apr 11 | Japan PM Noda to call rivals' bluff on tax |
| Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is ready to call everyone's bluff in a drawn out political game over tax. Unlike his long line of ousted predecessors, he might even succeed. If he does, Noda will be the first of the six leaders in the past five years to break the political paralysis that has for so long blocked any serious attempts to cut into the growing mountain of debt and social costs that threaten to drag down the world's third largest economy. (Reuters) |
| Apr 10 | Japan's foreign policy and avoiding the unthinkable |
| Building a stable international order in Asia and the Pacific, in which a major international conflict remains unthinkable, requires a number of elements. Understandably much of the focus on thinking about avoiding the unthinkable, to date, has been on the how to manage the rise of China's power and its impact on America. That is the focus of Hugh White's idea of an Asian 'concert of powers' and how it might be built around an understanding that accommodates China's rise and rightful expectation of treatment as an equal. (East Asia Forum) |
| Apr 10 | China calls on Japan not to host Uighur assembly in May |
 China on Tuesday asked Japan not to host an annual meeting organized by an exile group championing the rights of ethnic Uighurs.
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) represents the mostly Muslim ethnic group that inhabits China's restive western Xinjiang region and is holding its general assembly in Tokyo next month.
(Japan Today ) |
| Apr 10 | U.K. hopes to increase defense exports to Japan |
| British Prime Minister David Cameron has expressed his strong desire to bring "greater exports from Britain into the Japanese economy" in the defense field, ahead of a Japan visit during which the two countries are expected to agree on the joint development of defense equipment. (Yomiuri) |
| Apr 09 | North Korea readies longer range rocket; Japan, S.Korea wary |
| ) |
| Apr 09 | Pakistan airlifts Japanese tourists out of Gilgit |
 The Pakistani government dispatched a military aircraft Sunday to airlift 120 foreign tourists, including 77 Japanese, from a northern region where sectarian violence has left them stranded since early this month.
Japan's embassy in Islamabad requested the help from Pakistan once it became clear the region had become unsafe, transport links were broken and food at some hotels was running short.
(Japan Times ) |
| Apr 09 | Can Japan break the Iran impasse? |
| Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is determined to break the impasse over Iran. But does Japan's government welcome his initiative? Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, a key advisor on the current government's foreign policy, is in Tehran this week, and is holding talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But it's not a popular trip with some of his colleagues. (The Diplomat) |
| Apr 09 | Japan to give $15.3m in aid to Myanmar minorities |
| The government intends to extend support worth about 1 billion yen(S$15.3 million) for ethnic minorities in Myanmar in the form of food aid and contributions to the UN refugee office, sources have said. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will officially announce the program on April 21 when he will meet with Myanmar President Thein Sein in Tokyo, the sources said. (AsiaOne) |
| Apr 09 | Japan's oldest serving mayor wins 4th term at 82 |
| Japan's oldest serving mayor, Shigemasa Igawa, 82, secured his fourth term Sunday without a vote in the mayoral election in Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, the city's election board said. Igawa, who has served as mayor of the western Japan city since defeating the then 82-year-old incumbent in April 2000, told reporters, "It is the best day of my life." Asked if he will work until he is 100 years old, he said, laughing, " don't know." (Mainichi) |
| Apr 08 | Japan deploys missile defenses at 3 locations in Tokyo |
| ) |
| Apr 08 | Noda hoping Diet debate on sales tax hike will begin this month |
 Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Saturday expressed hope that Diet deliberations on his proposed sales tax hike will begin this month, despite speculation the debate could be delayed until the end of Golden Week in May.
"No one has decided that deliberations will begin after the (Golden Week) holiday period," Noda told reporters during a visit to Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, where he attended a forum on his planned social security and tax reforms.
(Japan Times ) |
| Apr 07 | US, Japan reject invitation from Pyongyang |
| |