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Tokyo, Dec. 7 (Jiji Press)--The focus of the upcoming parliamentary deliberations on a supplementary budget bill proposed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration will be on the moves of three opposition parties--the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Democratic Party for the People and Komeito. While the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Jap......

Tokyo, Dec. 7 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Defense Ministry said Sunday that Chinese military aircraft intermittently locked its radar onto Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets twice over the high seas of the western Pacific southeast of the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa on Saturday afternoon. No personnel were injured and no ASDF aircraft were damaged in the incident, which is expected ......

Stockholm, Dec. 6 (Jiji Press)--Shimon Sakaguchi, distinguished honorary professor at the University of Osaka, who won this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, underscored the significance of medical science at a press conference at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden on Saturday. With his Nobel prize win, Sakaguchi said at a press conference, "I hope...our society will recognize t......

Wajima, Ishikawa Pref., Dec. 7 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Sunday visited the Noto Peninsula in the central prefecture of Ishikawa, which was severely damaged by last year's powerful earthquake and heavy rains. By inspecting the disaster-stricken areas for the first time since taking office in October, the prime minister aims to demonstrate her administration's a......

Tokyo, Dec. 7 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, agreed on Sunday to deepen security cooperation in light of China's increasingly coercive actions in the East and South China seas. At their meeting at the Japanese Defense Ministry in Tokyo, the ministers confirmed progress toward concluding a contract by the end of this f......

Tokyo, Dec. 6 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government has drawn up a draft of its basic program on the development and use of artificial intelligence, aiming to increase the AI utilization rate among the public initially to 50 pct and eventually to 80 pct. The draft, obtained Friday, emphasizes the need to boost AI usage with a view to developing Japan's own AI technologies. It also seeks ......

Shanghai, Dec. 6 (Jiji Press)--Japanese conveyor-belt sushi chain Sushiro opened two outlets in Shanghai on Saturday, marking its first stores in the city and bringing its total number of outlets in mainland China to 71. Around 700 groups of customers lined up at opening despite tense Japan-China relations, requiring some to wait up to 14 hours to enter an outlet. A female university stud......

Tokyo, Dec. 6 (Jiji Press)--Japan's average retail rice price hit a new record high for the first time in three weeks, according to agriculture ministry data. In the week ended last Sunday, the average price of rice sold at about 1,000 supermarkets across Japan rose by 23 yen from the previous week to 4,335 yen per 5 kilograms, the highest since the survey began in March 2022, the data rele......

Otsu, Shiga Pref., Dec. 6 (Jiji Press)--The Shiga prefectural government has announced the discovery of a nearly complete piece of earthenware likely dating back more than 10,000 years at the bottom of Lake Biwa in western Japan. Estimated to be from the early Jomon period, around 11,000 to 10,500 years ago, the artifact is believed to be the oldest pottery ever discovered at the Tsuzuraoza......

Tokyo, Dec. 6 (Jiji Press)--Major Japanese travel company Nippon Travel Agency Co. has introduced a one-day tour offering participants a chance to view luxurious Kabuki costumes in partnership with the Japan Traditional Culture Testing Association. This marks the first product of the partnership between the travel agency and the association, which was established jointly by Jiji Press, The ......

Tokyo, Dec. 5 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi is planning to visit the United States next month to hold talks with his U.S. counterpart, Pete Hegseth, government officials said Friday. Koizumi's visit would likely take place before the ordinary Diet session begins. Koizumi and Hegseth held their first meeting in Tokyo in October and met again in Malaysia in Novem......

Tokyo, Dec. 5 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, also known as Nippon Ishin no Kai, submitted Friday a bill to cut the number of seats in the House of Representatives by about 10 pct. The bill stipulates that at least 45 seats will be slashed from the current total of 465. If the ruling bloc and opposition parties ......

Washington/Tokyo, Dec. 5 (Jiji Press)--The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has released a new national security strategy that calls for Japan to increase its defense spending to defend the chain of islands between southwestern Japan and the Philippines. "We will build a military capable of denying aggression anywhere in the First Island Chain," the new strategy says, apparentl......

Tokyo, Dec. 5 (Jiji Press)--The Bank of Japan is seen as increasingly likely to raise its policy interest rate from the current 0.50 pct to 0.75 pct at its Dec. 18-19 policy-setting meeting, as pressure from the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is receding. The Takaichi administration has indicated that it would tolerate a BOJ rate hike, given the risk that the central bank d......

Tokyo, Dec. 5 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, earned most among leaders of political parties in the country in 2024, annual political funds reports showed Friday. Takaichi had 255.37 million yen in revenue last year, a sharp increase from 100.1 million yen the previous year. Her 2024 total included 140.17 millio......

Tokyo, Dec. 5 (Jiji Press)--The yield on the latest issue of 10-year Japanese government bonds, regarded as the country's benchmark long-term interest rate, rose to 1.950 pct in Tokyo interdealer trading Friday, reaching the highest level since July 2007. Selling spread in the JGB market amid growing speculation that the Bank of Japan will decide to raise its policy interest rate at its two......

Tokyo, Dec. 5 (Jiji Press)--The average value of assets held by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her 18 cabinet ministers stood at 66.41 million yen as of the launch of the cabinet on Oct. 21, government data showed Friday. The data covers the assets of the cabinet ministers, their spouses and their dependent children, including land, buildings, securities, and deposits excluding ......

Tokyo, Dec. 5 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Friday he will meet with his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, in Tokyo on Sunday. The two ministers are expected to discuss the situation in the Indo-Pacific region, where China is making maritime advances. "We'll hold concrete discussions to deepen defense cooperation between Japan and Australia further,"......

Tokyo, Dec. 5 (Jiji Press)--The number of My Number personal identification cards owned by individuals in Japan has topped 100 million, the internal affairs ministry said Friday. The ministry said that 100,029,804 My Number cards were held as of Wednesday, or 80.3 pct of the country's population. "This is the result of various efforts including expanding the convenience of the cards," in......

Tokyo, Dec. 5 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government said Friday that it will provide Tonga with 300 million yen's worth of drones and military uniforms under its official security assistance program. The support is expected to include eight unmanned aircraft for warning, surveillance and disaster response, as well as 2,000 military uniforms designed by King Tupou VI of the Pacific island na......