Latest Japan News
Toyota racks up booming profit, vows to invest to keep growth going
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota doubled its net profit in the fiscal year that ended in March, as strong vehicles sales and a favorable exchange rate lifted results for Japan’s top automaker. Toyota Motor Corp.'s annual profit totaled 4.9 trillion yen ($31.9 billion), up from 2.45 trillion...
Juro Kara, rebel playwright behind Japan's modern underground theater, dies at 84
TOKYO (AP) — Juro Kara, who helped shape Japan’s postwar avant-garde theater, defiantly yet playfully transforming the essence of Kabuki aesthetics into modern storytelling, has died. He was 84. The playwright, director and troupe leader died late Saturday from a blood clot in...
Japan and India reject Biden's comments describing them as xenophobic countries
TOKYO (AP) — Japan and India on Saturday decried remarks by U.S. President Joe Biden describing them as “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants, which the president said during a campaign fundraising event earlier in the week. Japan said Biden's judgment was not...
Nippon Steel delays closing of acquisition of US Steel until late this year after US DOJ request
TOKYO (AP) — Nippon Steel said Friday it has postponed the expected closing of its $14.1 billion takeover of U.S. Steel by three months after the U.S. Department of Justice requested more documentation related to the deal. Tokyo-based Nippon Steel Corp. said the deal, already...
President Joe Biden calls Japan and India 'xenophobic' nations that do not welcome immigrants
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has called Japan and India “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants, lumping the two with adversaries China and Russia as he tried to explain their economic circumstances and contrasted the four with the U.S. on immigration. ...
Japan says a collision during a nighttime drill caused the deadly April crash of 2 navy helicopters
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese investigators have determined that a collision during a nighttime drill caused the deadly crash last month of two Japanese navy SH-60K Seahawk helicopters, the country's defense minister said Thursday. That is according to preliminary flight data analysis,...
Microsoft will invest $2.2 billion in cloud and AI services in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Microsoft is investing $2.2 billion over the next four years in Malaysia's new cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure as well as partnering with the government to establish a national AI center, its CEO Satya Nadella said Thursday. It marks...
Russia proposes UN resolution on banning weapons in space, after vetoing similar UN-Japan draft
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia has circulated a U.N. resolution calling on all countries to take urgent action to prevent putting weapons in outer space “for all time” a week after it vetoed a U.S.-Japan resolution to stop an arms race in space. The Russian draft resolution,...
Japan's Kishida will stress rules-based global order, support for emerging nations at OECD meeting
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday that he will stress the need for a rules-based international order in the face of global challenges and tensions when he attends a meeting of the Organizations for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. ...
To fend off tourists, a town in Japan is building a big screen blocking the view of Mount Fuji
FUJIKAWAGUCHIKO, Japan (AP) — The town of Fujikawaguchiko has had enough of tourists. Known for a number of scenic photo spots that offer a near-perfect shot of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, the town on Tuesday began constructing a large black screen on a stretch of a sidewalk to...