Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae said on Monday she will dissolve the lower house of the Japanese Parliament on Friday, setting the stage for snap elections on February 8. The next parliamentary election was not scheduled until October 2028.
The Chinese government on Monday released its latest round of dismal demographic data, revealing that birth rates have hit their lowest level since the Communist revolution of 1949, and the population is still declining despite years of expensive efforts to convince more couples to have children.
Japan has kicked off its bid to host the Rugby World Cup again in 2035 following in the footsteps of the next two hosts – Australia next year and then the USA in 2031.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae decided to relax after their summit meeting in Nara, Japan, on Tuesday by picking up drumsticks and playing K-pop tunes, including a song from the Netflix animated hit “K-Pop Demon Hunters.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday took great umbrage at the U.S. State Department for proclaiming the Western hemisphere is “OUR hemisphere,” and interference from hostile foreign powers like China would no longer be tolerated.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping on Monday, during Lee’s first visit to Beijing as president. Lee said he wanted 2026 to become “the first year of the full-scale restoration of Korea-China relations.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) offered a dismaying projection for Japan’s economy on Friday, projecting mediocre growth in the first half of 2026 that will cause Japan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to fall behind India’s.
Fifteen people were injured severely enough to require hospitalization in a bizarre attack on a rubber factory in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture on Friday. A lone suspect was arrested for attempted murder in a rampage that included eight stabbings and seven people injured by a “spray-like liquid.”
“If you want peace, prepare for war” is a Latin credo attributed to Roman writer Vegetius. Japan has heeded that advice, announcing Friday it has approved a record defense budget plan exceeding 9 trillion yen ($58 billion) for the coming year.
The Japanese government is preparing to revise its immigration rules to make it more difficult for foreigners to obtain citizenship, including doubling the required period of residency in Japan and adding a requirement for Japanese language proficiency.
The assembly of Japan’s Niigata prefecture on Monday passed a vote of confidence in Governor Hanazumi Hideyo’s plan to restart the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, which has been shut down ever since the earthquake that caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.
Chinese state media has been heavily promoting a rumor that the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae wants to develop nuclear weapons that could potentially be used against China.
An unnamed World Health Organization (W.H.O.) spokesperson insisted in remarks published on Thursday that the agency is not seeking to change its current, meager relationship with Taiwan after a senior Japanese government official claimed this week that W.H.O. chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus promised more cooperation with Taipei.
Japanese Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro said on Wednesday that a combined demonstration of Russian and Chinese airpower near Japan’s southern islands was “clearly intended as a show of force against our nation, which is a serious concern for our national security.”
Playwright and actor Jeremy O. Harris was reportedly arrested at an airport in Japan on suspicion of attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into the country. Harris, a co-producer for HBO’s Euphoria, is still in custody after Japanese authorities said they found
Taiwan thanked President Donald Trump for the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which mandates reviews of the U.S. relationship to Taipei.
The governments of both Japan and China claimed on Tuesday to have menaced each other’s ships out of the waters surrounding the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, accusing each other of violating their respective sovereign territory.
Japanese pop singer Maki Otsuki was in the middle of a concert in Shanghai on Friday when her performance was abruptly cut short, her sound system was turned off, and the organizers ordered her to leave the stage.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Wednesday announced a $40 billion boost to defense spending to counter “intensifying” threats from China.
President Donald Trump spoke with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping and said he accepted an invitation to Beijing for a face-to-face meeting.
The Japanese government on Monday warned citizens visiting China to increase their safety precautions and avoid visiting crowded areas.
The Chinese communist regime on Wednesday informed Tokyo it is suspending imports of Japanese marine products amid rising tensions between both countries, according to reports.
China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a bulletin on Sunday to “solemnly remind” Chinese tourists they should avoid traveling to Japan for the foreseeable future, alleging that their safety cannot be guaranteed.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong called Japanese Ambassador Kanasugi Kenji into his office for a tirade about Taiwan on Thursday, the latest escalation of a diplomatic row that has already seen one Chinese official threaten to cut Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s head off.
A Japanese woman “married” an AI chatbot persona she trained using OpenAI’s ChatGPT, several international outlets reported. The Independent detailed on Thursday that the woman, only identified as 32-year old Ms. Kano, “married” the AI chatbot in a ceremony organized by
The Japanese government on Monday demanded explanations from China after Xue Jian, the Chinese consul general in Osaka, threatened to “cut” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s “dirty neck.”
Japan’s recent elections highlighted a poignant issue facing almost every industrialized nation, from America to Asia: the Japanese do not want mass migration, but their own demographics are collapsing so quickly that they might not be able to resist importing the next generation of young workers.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday confirmed that dictator Xi Jinping will meet with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in South Korea on Thursday.
Speaking to U.S. troops aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said his interdiction of drug shipments in the Caribbean has been so successful that “we can’t find a ship” loaded with drugs any more.
President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae met on Tuesday with the families of Japanese nationals believed to have been abducted by North Korea.
President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae praised each other in glowing terms on Tuesday, and Trump cemented the friendship by signing major deals on trade and rare earth minerals.
President Donald Trump met with Japanese former first lady Abe Akie, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, on Tuesday during his state visit to Japan.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday in Japan the delivery of the first batch of missiles for the East Asian country’s F-35 fighter jets was ahead of schedule.
President Donald Trump forecast that the United States-Japan relationship “will be stronger than ever before” during his state visit on Tuesday and congratulated newly minted Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae.
Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae praised President Donald Trump’s diplomatic record during his visit to Tokyo, commending his leadership in securing ceasefire agreements in Asia and the Middle East as part of his ongoing international peace efforts.
President Donald Trump revealed during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae on Monday that he has “always had a great love of Japan,” adding that he also has “great respect” for Japan.
President Donald Trump meets with new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo on Monday, October 27.
President Donald Trump met with Japanese Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Monday, continuing a tour of Asia that began at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia on Sunday and is scheduled to end with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in South Korea on Thursday.
Japan’s new prime minister, Takaichi Sanae, plans to increase defense spending and accelerate Japan’s military buildup.
President Donald Trump will be conducting high-stakes diplomacy during his trip to Asia next week. Trump will attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia on Sunday, followed by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in South Korea, and possibly a bilateral meeting with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping on Thursday.
