Tokyo CNN — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has ordered an investigation into the Unification Church amid a growing scandal tying his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to the controversial religious group. Kishida announced the probe during a parliamentary session on Monday and said it would be carried out using “the right to ask questions” … Read more
Tokyo CNN — Japan bid farewell to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in an elaborate state funeral Tuesday, despite public opposition to the cost of the event as the country grapples with their late leader’s legacy. Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was shot dead during a campaign speech in Nara in July, stunning a nation … Read more
The two-storey convention centre, capable of accommodating 1,200 people, was built with help from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). (Picture courtesy: IE) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Rudraksh, an International Coopoeration and Convention centre in Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency on Thursday. The two-storey convention centre, capable of accommodating 1,200 people, was built with … Read more
TOKYO—Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday visited a Tokyo shrine linked to Japan’s militarist past, waiting only three days after his departure from office to resume a longstanding practice that had angered Asian neighbors. Mr. Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine on Dec. 26, 2013, a year after taking office, prompting a rare rift … Read more
TOKYO—Yoshiyuki Kasai, longtime boss of Japan’s biggest bullet-train line, says he thinks Tokyo’s alliance with the U.S. comes first and China needs to hear that message. If Beijing doesn’t like it, he says, tough luck. Hiroaki Nakanishi, head of Japan’s most powerful business federation, says he thinks that attitude is self-defeating. After all its work … Read more
Shinzo Abe worked relentlessly at building close ties with American leaders, at Trump Tower and on the golf course with President Trump, and before then in Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor with President Obama. The loss of Mr. Abe, who is stepping down because of poor health after driving U.S.-Japan relations for nearly eight years, will … Read more
TOKYO—Japan’s next leader will face a question many other countries are now grappling with because of the coronavirus pandemic: How much can central banks do to pull economies out of a deep malaise? Shinzo Abe, who said Friday he would resign after nearly eight years in office because of illness, leaned heavily on the Bank … Read more
TOKYO – Yoshihide Suga, a longtime lieutenant of Japan‘s Shinzo Abe, has emerged as a strong contender to succeed him as prime minister, an outcome that would extend the fiscal and monetary stimulus that defined Abe’s nearly eight years in office. Abe, Japan’s longest-serving premier, said on Friday he was stepping down due to a … Read more
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: President Donald Trump said on Friday he considered Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a great friend and expressed concern over his decision to step down for health reasons. “I want to pay my highest respect to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe … a great friend of mine,” Trump told reporters on Air … Read more
TOKYO—Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to announce his resignation on Friday and will cite his worsening health, a ruling-party lawmaker said, ending the reign of the man who held the top job longer than anyone else. Lawmaker Hiroshige Seko said Mr. Abe would stay in office until a successor is chosen. The 65-year-old Mr. Abe … Read more