August 18, 2012
When the Democratic Party of Japan swept to power in the August 2009 Lower House election, it brought with it plans for a new foreign policy, one based on building strong relationships with Japan's East Asian neighbors.
August 18, 2012
Tokyo officials are ignoring a territorial claim by China, with plans to visit the disputed Senkaku Islands days after Chinese activists landed there and were arrested.
August 18, 2012
Japan is striking back in a territorial dispute with South Korea by threatening to reduce a financial supply line to its neighbor.
August 18, 2012
With the hint of a Lower House dissolution and snap election in the air, the formation of new parties is heating up as the new homes for lawmakers defecting from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
August 17, 2012
Moving to avoid another rocky patch in relations with China, the Noda administration quickly lowered the curtain on the controversy surrounding the Aug. 15 landing of Hong Kong activists on one of the disputed Senkaku Islands.
August 17, 2012
Japan is hoping to garner international support for its sovereignty claims to the Takeshima islets and the Senkaku Islands with a series of recent actions, including a Diet resolution denouncing recent landings on the disputed territories.
August 17, 2012
Has Japan opened the door--slightly--to developing nuclear weapons? The nation has amended its nuclear manifesto to cite "national security" as a reason for possessing the technology.
August 17, 2012
WASHINGTON--Japan should act in accordance with its world standing and address problems in its relations with South Korea, according to a report on the future of the Japan-U.S. alliance by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
August 16, 2012
They came from Hong Kong, but activists who landed on the Senkaku islands knew the applause would be loudest in Beijing.
August 16, 2012
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's decision to pick a fight with Japan is sure to have ramifications.
August 16, 2012
Japan may deport 14 Chinese activists arrested for landing on a disputed island to try to defuse a worsening feud between Asia's two biggest economies, media and experts said on Aug. 16, but the risk of an escalating confrontation remains.
August 16, 2012
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's surprise visit to the disputed Takeshima islets on Aug. 10 sent relations with Japan into a tailspin.
August 15, 2012
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto is proceeding with plans to turn his regional Osaka Ishin no Kai group into a formal political party and has asked former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to join as a core member.
August 14, 2012
The industry ministry announced that it will include research funds for "direct disposal," in which spent nuclear fuel is buried underground, in its next budget request, sources said.
August 14, 2012
Bitter memories and current rivalries are straining Japan's ties with China and South Korea nearly seven decades after Tokyo's defeat in World War II, raising the risk of ruptures as all three nations head for leadership changes.
August 14, 2012
Diplomats from Japan and North Korea will meet for the first time in four yours later this month for talks that could touch on the contentious issue of the North's abduction of Japanese citizens decades ago, Japan said on Aug. 14.
August 13, 2012
The ruling Democratic Party of Japan will establish a research commission to determine what ratio of electricity should be generated by nuclear energy in 2030 as the nation scales back its reliance on nuclear power.
August 13, 2012
GUANGZHOU, China--A group of Hong Kong activists set sail Aug. 12 for the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea to bolster China's claim to the territory.
August 11, 2012
As far as Japan is concerned, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak crossed the line, and in doing so threw relations with Japan into a tailspin.
August 11, 2012
Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba said Aug. 11 that Japan wants the International Court of Justice to take up the territorial dispute with South Korea over the Takeshima islets.