Takaichi Sanae

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said Thursday that Japan is “really stepping up to the plate” regarding Iran, unlike members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

President Donald Trump on Thursday had a viral response for a Japanese reporter who asked why the United States did not give Japan advance warning of Operation Epic Fury.

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said Thursday that he does not intend to put troops in Iran, undercutting an anonymous report claiming his administration is considering putting thousands of troops in the Middle East. 

OpenAI showed how a lone Chinese official accidentally exposed a worldwide network for intimidating dissidents by using ChatGPT.

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, fresh off an astounding victory in snap elections for the lower house of parliament last week, said on Monday she would like to reopen discussions about amending the Japanese Constitution through a national referendum.

Japan’s conservative LDP party, led by Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, obtained a historic landslide electoral victory on Sunday, securing a two-thirds supermajority in the lower house of the Parliament.

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae took a gamble by holding early parliamentary elections as a referendum on her agenda, but the gamble looks like it will pay off as her enormous personal popularity is set to sweep more members of her governing coalition into the Diet.

Britain and Japan agreed to strengthen defence and economic ties, visiting Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday.

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.

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.”

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.

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 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.

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.”

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.

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 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.