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Sydney, May 8 (Jiji Press)--New Zealand Defense Minister Chris Penk has announced plans to compare the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force's upgraded Mogami-class frigates with Britain's Type 31 frigates, as replacements for New Zealand's aging frigates. New Zealand is expected to make a decision by the end of 2027. The improved Mogami-class frigates can operate with about 90 crew membe......

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Sony Group Corp. said Friday that it has reached a basic agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest chip foundry, to form a strategic partnership for the joint development and production of next-generation image sensors. The companies will consider establishing a joint venture in which Sony Group will have a majority stake an......

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo Kiraboshi Financial Group Inc. said Friday that it will complete the repayment of 40 billion yen in public funds injected into its predecessor by the Tokyo metropolitan government ahead of schedule. The parent of Kiraboshi Bank had previously set a target of completing repayments by fiscal 2028, but decided to do so earlier than planned thanks to its robust b......

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, agreed Friday to strengthen bilateral relations, mainly in the economic field, as this year marks the 70th anniversary of the two nations' diplomatic ties. In a video conference, the two ministers agreed to work together toward building a relationship based on common interest......

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Key lawmakers of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party will form a parliamentary group to support Prime Minister and LDP President Sanae Takaichi, informed sources have said. Founding members of the group, which is aimed at strengthening Takaichi's base within the LDP ahead of its leadership election in autumn next year, include LDP Vice President Taro Aso and D......

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering visiting South Korea later this month for a bilateral summit to reaffirm the two nations' close ties in fields including security amid the increasingly uncertain international situation, Japanese government sources said Friday. A plan is under study for Takaichi to visit South Korean President Lee Jae-myung's h......

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Outstanding Japanese government debts grew by 1,670.6 billion yen during the first three months of the year to a record 1,343,842.6 billion yen as of the end of March, the Finance Ministry said Friday. The total translates into about 10.94 million yen per capita, based on an estimated population of 122.86 million as of April 1. Government spending continues to ......

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel has said he welcomes Japan's plan to establish a national intelligence bureau by reforming the existing Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office. Japan's initiative would "greatly enhance our shared partnership," Patel said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday after a meeting in Washington with Japa......

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. said Friday that it did not pay tolls for three ships linked to the Japanese shipping company that have passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is said to be collecting fees from vessels passing through the effectively blockaded strait. The three vessels that have sailed through the strait since April 3 are a liquefied natural gas carr......

Chitose, Hokkaido, May 8 (Jiji Press)--The remains of seven Ainu indigenous people, returned to the Japanese side from the Natural History Museum in Britain, arrived at New Chitose Airport in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on Friday. "I am moved to tears that we could bring them back to Hokkaido," Masaru Okawa, executive director of the Hokkaido Ainu Association who received the re......

Kyoto, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Nintendo Co. said Friday that it will raise the suggested retail price of its Nintendo Switch 2 video game console by 10,000 yen to 59,980 yen on May 25. The Japanese game giant said it expects sales of the console in fiscal 2026 through next March will decline 16.9 pct year on year to 16.5 million units. Sales of the Switch 2, released last June, totaled 19.86 mil......

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Friday emphasized the importance of privacy protection during parliamentary discussions on a government bill to set up a national intelligence council aimed at enhancing the country's intelligence capabilities. On medium- to long-term strategies for the government's intelligence activities, Takaichi told a plenary meeting ......

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday that its net profit in the current business year is expected to fall for the third consecutive year amid the harsh business environment due to the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. For fiscal 2026, which started in April, the leading Japanese automaker projected a consolidated net profit of 3 trillion yen, down 22 pct from t......

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Friday denied a magazine report that her team had created and spread videos defaming her rivals in recent elections for her ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament. "I was told by my staff that they did not share any negative information or v......

Akita, May 8 (Jiji Press)--A town assembly in Akita Prefecture, northeastern Japan, passed a no-confidence motion on Friday against its mayor, who has been unconscious for months following a brain hemorrhage. The passage means that the 72-year-old mayor of Hachirogata, Kikuo Hatakeyama, will automatically lose his position on May 19 under the local autonomy law. A mayoral election to choose......

Kyoto, May 8 (Jiji Press)--A slain 11-year-old boy of Nantan, Kyoto Prefecture, told his adoptive father, Yuki Adachi, just before being killed that Adachi was not his real father, investigative sources said Friday. Adachi, suspected of killing the boy, referred to the son's remark to investigators in a voluntary interview before he was arrested in April, according to the sources. The 37......

Tokyo, May 8 (Jiji Press)--Sony Group Corp. on Friday projected a record net profit for fiscal 2026, which began in April, reflecting its robust gaming, music and other entertainment operations. The Japanese technology and entertainment conglomerate's consolidated net profit is forecast to increase 12.5 pct from fiscal 2025 to 1,160 billion yen. The company also forecast an operating prof......

Berlin, May 7 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese restorer is playing a major part in a project at a state museum in the historic German city of Dresden to shine a spotlight again on ukiyo-e traditional woodblock print and other long-buried Japanese artworks. The museum of the eastern German state of Saxony featuring a collection of prints is promoting a project to sort and restore more than 10,000 Ja......

Naha, Okinawa Pref., May 8 (Jiji Press)--Four Chinese coast guard ships sailed in Japanese territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, on Thursday. It was the first intrusion by Chinese official ships into Japanese waters off the Senkaku island chain in the East China Sea since April 28. According to the Japan Coast Guard's 11th regiona......

Brussels, May 7 (Jiji Press)--Japan and Saudi Arabia agreed Thursday to set up a task force to discuss issues such as stable crude oil supplies amid tensions in the Middle East. The agreement was reached at an online meeting between Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryosei Akazawa and Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud. Discussions at the task force are sla......