Francis Tang

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, met for the first time in Beijing on Wednesday as the two Asian powerhouses try to mend ties ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. During the hourlong meeting, the […]

New suspicions surrounding Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito’s reelection bid have surfaced after his stunning comeback last week, with reports indicating he might have violated election law by paying a public relations agency to run his social media campaign. Saito, 47,

Following a four-year suspension, China will again start allowing visa-free travel for Japanese nationals visiting the country for up to 30 days from Nov. 30, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing announced on Friday. The exemption — announced along with similar

Following a Japanese atomic bomb survivors group’s historic Nobel Peace Prize win Friday, the country’s stance on nuclear disarmament has once again been put under the spotlight. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, a longtime advocate of nuclear deterrence through the sharing

Newly appointed Justice Minister Hideki Makihara, who has admitted to attending dozens of Unification Church events in the past, reaffirmed Friday that he has cut all ties with the religious group. The 53-year-old minister admitted Tuesday that he and his

The number of confirmed cases of hand, foot and mouth disease remains high in several prefectures even after the expected peak in summer, data from health authorities shows. The national average of confirmed cases per medical institution was 7.77 during

Japan will fine-tune its issuance of visas to Myanmar nationals amid a near-tripling of technical intern trainees from the country going missing in 2023 from a year earlier, the Immigration Services Agency announced on Friday. Separately, the agency also revealed

The number of foreign workers under Japan’s specified skilled worker’s visa reached 251,747 at the end of June, a 20.8% increase compared with six months ago, the latest data from the Immigration Services Agency shows. The government is aiming to

China is trying to prevent the deadly stabbing of a 10-year-old Japanese boy in Shenzhen from becoming a diplomatic row between Beijing and Tokyo, characterizing it as a lone act and downplaying the political implications. Wednesday’s incident came amid final

A 10-year-old student attending a Japanese school in China’s southern city of Shenzhen died in the early hours of Thursday following a knife attack while en route to school the previous day, according to the Japanese Embassy in China. The