Latest news with #JapaneseMaritimeSelf-DefenseForce
The Mainichi
10-07-2025
- Business
- The Mainichi
Japan urges China to ease export curbs on critical minerals
KUALA LUMPUR (Kyodo) -- Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya urged his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Thursday to ease Beijing's export restrictions on critical minerals, including rare earth elements used in semiconductors, expressing "strong concern" over the negative impact of the curbs on Japanese firms. Iwaya, who met with Wang on the fringes of regional gatherings in Malaysia, also called on China to remove the remaining import ban on Japanese food items imposed in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. The talks followed the lifting in late June of Beijing's blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports, which Tokyo had repeatedly called for since it was imposed in 2023 in response to the discharge of treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Even after removing the seafood ban, China continues to restrict food imports from 10 Japanese prefectures including Fukushima and Tokyo. Iwaya and Wang also discussed steps to resume China's imports of Japanese beef, suspended since 2001 due to an outbreak of mad cow disease, by putting into force a bilateral accord on animal health and quarantine measures at an early date, the ministry said. China, which mines about 70 percent of the world's rare earths used in the production of smartphones, personal computers and vehicles, has tightened its control over the materials as part of retaliatory measures in a tit-for-tat tariff war with the United States. Japanese businesses have complained about the slow approval of rare-earth export licenses. Wang told Iwaya that China will meet Japanese companies' "normal demand" for critical minerals if they observe Chinese regulations and follow necessary procedures, according to the ministry. During the talks, Iwaya and Wang, who last met in Tokyo in March, affirmed the need to promote stable ties. The Japanese minister said he welcomes the "progress on some contentious issues" made by the two Asian neighbors and hopes further bilateral cooperation will advance a "strategic and mutually beneficial" relationship. "Amid major changes in the international situation, Japan and China, which share responsibilities to the international community, are expected to deepen communication and fulfill their respective roles," Iwaya said. Wang called on Japan to have "an objective and correct understanding of China" and "adhere to a positive and rational policy" toward its neighbor, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. On the security front, Iwaya aired his "serious concern" over recent Chinese military and coast guard activities near Japan including the expanded operations of aircraft carriers in nearby waters. The activities also included the intrusion into Japanese airspace by a Chinese helicopter near the Japan-controlled, China-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea in May. In June, a Chinese military aircraft flew close to a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane over international waters in the Pacific. On Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, Iwaya warned China against conducting further large-scale military drills near the self-ruled island, stressing the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The Japanese minister also showed concern over Beijing's aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, where it has been engaged in territorial disputes with neighboring countries, the Japanese ministry said.
06-07-2025
- Health
Hiroshima Chef Inspired by 2018 Disaster Develops Low-Sodium Pizza
News from Japan Society Jul 6, 2025 17:46 (JST) Kure, Hiroshima Pref., July 6 (Jiji Press)--A chef in Hiroshima Prefecture has developed a low-sodium pizza recipe based on his experience after the July 2018 deluge mainly in western Japan that left over 300 people dead, including indirect fatalities. Yutata Narimoto, 46, runs an authentic Neapolitan pizza restaurant in Kure in the western Japan prefecture, hit hard by the disaster seven years ago. At age 27, when he was a member of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force at its base in Kure, Narimoto was so struck by the delicious taste of a Neapolitan pizza he ate that he decided to become a pizza chef. After leaving the SDF, he trained to become a pizza chef at a restaurant in the western Japan city of Takamatsu as well as in Naples, Italy. He then opened his restaurant in Kure in 2010. Later, he was requested by a local doctor who was promoting low-sodium diets to make a low-sodium pizza. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
28-06-2025
- Politics
Japanese P-1 Patrol Aircraft Underused: Board of Audit
News from Japan Society Jun 28, 2025 13:17 (JST) Tokyo, June 28 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force's P-1 aircraft, the first domestic patrol aircraft, is underused mainly due to engine corrosion and problems with electronic devices, the government's Board of Audit has said. Reporting the outcome of its probe into the matter Friday, the board called for making the maximum use of knowledge gained from past malfunctions and conducting appropriate tests to improve the performance of the aircraft. The board stopped short of disclosing details of the low operational status, such as the number of aircraft active at present, citing national security concerns. The importance of monitoring submarines and military vessels in waters around Japan is increasing, especially after the recent close encounter incidents between Japanese patrol and Chinese military aircraft On June 7, a fighter jet based on a Chinese aircraft carrier made a dangerously close approach to an MSDF P-3C patrol aircraft monitoring the ship in the Pacific Ocean. A similar incident happened the next day. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Kyodo News
20-06-2025
- Business
- Kyodo News
Kyodo News Digest: June 20, 2025
KYODO NEWS - 1 hour ago - 08:26 | All, Japan, World The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News. ---------- Japan destroyer sails Taiwan Strait after China jet encounter TOKYO - A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait last week, days after a Chinese fighter jet flew dangerously close to a Japanese patrol plane over the Pacific, diplomatic sources said Thursday. It was the third known passage through the waterway by an MSDF ship, with all occurring within the past year, apparently aimed at warning China, which continues to pressure Taiwan, the self-ruled democratic island it claims as its own. ---------- Japan's core consumer prices in May rise 3.7% on year TOKYO - Japan's core consumer prices in May rose 3.7 percent from a year earlier, government data showed Friday. The increase in the nationwide consumer price index, excluding volatile fresh food, followed a 3.5 percent rise in April. The inflation rate has remained at or above the Bank of Japan's 2 percent target since April 2022. ---------- Japan PM Ishiba rules out lower house dissolution for now: lawmaker TOKYO - Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday ruled out dissolving the powerful House of Representatives for now, ensuring that elections for both chambers of parliament will not be held on the same day in July, party executives said. The decision comes as Yoshihiko Noda, head of Japan's main opposition party, said he will not submit a no-confidence motion against Ishiba's Cabinet, arguing that such a move would stall progress on key political issues. ---------- Xi seeks Middle East cease-fire in phone call with Putin BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a cease-fire amid Iran-Israel tensions during phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, describing it as an "urgent priority," the Foreign Ministry said. Xi said the international community should make efforts to de-escalate the situation and that disputes should be resolved through negotiations rather than force, stressing the need to protect civilians, according to the Chinese ministry. ---------- Emperor renews peace hope in Hiroshima for 80th anniv. of war's end HIROSHIMA - Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Thursday renewed their hope for peace as they visited Hiroshima to pay their respects to atomic bomb victims on the 80th anniversary year of the end of World War II. In their first trip to the city since the emperor's accession in 2019, the imperial couple laid white flowers and bowed deeply at a cenotaph in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which holds the names of around 340,000 victims of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing. ---------- Japan PM vows to develop ties with S. Korea on 60th diplomatic anniv. TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday pledged to continue working closely with South Korea at a ceremony in Tokyo to commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties, despite wartime and territorial disputes. "We need to continue close communication so that the bilateral relationship will steadily develop," Ishiba said in a speech at the reception held by the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo, welcoming the vast exchanges that have taken place between what he called "the closest neighbors to each other." ---------- Nippon Steel confident management freedom ensured in U.S. Steel deal TOKYO - Nippon Steel Corp.'s top executive Eiji Hashimoto said Thursday that the U.S. government's role set under its $14.1 billion buyout of United States Steel Corp. "will not hamper" the U.S. unit's business going forward. At a press conference in Tokyo, Hashimoto said $11 billion of investment in U.S. Steel operations -- 10 times more than the initial plan -- and a golden share issued to the U.S. government that allows it to veto key management decisions among other conditions are rational, even as analysts view them as downside risks to U.S. Steel's management. ---------- Honda president eager to collaborate with Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors TOKYO - Honda Motor Co. President Toshihiro Mibe expressed his eagerness to collaborate with Nissan Motor Co. and its alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp. during a general shareholders meeting on Thursday, after merger talks with Nissan collapsed earlier this year. Asked about the likelihood of revisiting a merger with Nissan, which fell through due to disagreements over management structure, Mibe said it was not possible "for the time being." Video: "Phantom bridge" begins to sink beneath the waters of Lake Nukabira in Hokkaido
The Mainichi
19-06-2025
- Politics
- The Mainichi
Japan destroyer sails Taiwan Strait after China jet encounter
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait last week, days after a Chinese fighter jet flew dangerously close to a Japanese patrol plane over the Pacific, diplomatic sources said Thursday. It was the third known passage through the waterway by an MSDF ship, with all occurring within the past year, apparently aimed at warning China, which continues to pressure Taiwan, the self-ruled democratic island it claims as its own. The Takanami entered the strait from the East China Sea on June 12 and spent more than 10 hours as it sailed toward the south, the sources said. After the transit, the destroyer headed to waters off the Philippines' main island of Luzon. The entire transit was tracked and monitored by the Chinese military, according to the sources. The Takanami conducted a joint maritime exercise with the Philippine Navy on Saturday in a South China Sea area the Southeast Asian country claims jurisdiction over, amid China's intensifying assertions in the waters. The Japanese government has typically refrained from sending MSDF vessels through the Taiwan Strait to avoid provoking China. But it has shifted its stance amid Beijing's growing assertiveness, joining ally the United States and others in asserting freedom of navigation in what they consider international waters. The latest transit came after Japan's Defense Ministry said that a Chinese J-15 fighter jet from the aircraft carrier Shandong approached as close as 45 meters to an MSDF P-3C surveillance plane over the high seas in the Pacific on June 7 and 8. The previous two transits took place in September last year and February this year. The Japanese government has not officially admitted to the activities.
