Japan

TOKYO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Japan's newly created Children and Families Agency began its full-scale operations on Monday, in a bid to eliminate the vertically segmented administration of child-related policies previously overseen by multiple government agencies.

The new administrative body, established with about 400 personnel, is designed to serve as a control tower for a wide range of policies, such as supporting child-rearing, alleviating child poverty, helping to prevent child abuse and tackling the falling birthrate.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi protested in a meeting Sunday with his Chinese counterpart the detention of a Japanese national in Beijing and raised “strong concern” about China’s escalating military activity near Taiwan and around Japan.

Hayashi is on a two-day visit in China, becoming Japan’s first diplomat to make the trip in more than three years as frictions grow between the countries. He also met Chinese Premier Li Qiang and top diplomat Wang Yi later Sunday.

Beijing, Mar 31 (PTI) China and Japan on Friday set up a military hotline to strengthen their capability of managing and controlling maritime and air incidents arising due to their aggressive patrolling of the disputed waters in the East China Sea.

TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo has demanded that China release a Japanese national who was detained in Beijing earlier this month on suspicion of spying, Japan’s top government spokesperson said Monday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference that Japan’s Embassy in China was informed by Chinese authorities that a Japanese man in his 50s was taken into custody in Beijing earlier in March.

TOKYO, March 26 (Reuters) - A Japanese man detained in China is an employee of Astellas Pharma Inc (4503.T), a company spokesperson told Reuters on Sunday.

The company did not identify the employee and the spokesperson said it was not clear as to why he had been detained.

The Japanese pharmaceutical company was seeking information through Japan's foreign ministry, the spokesperson said.

Kyodo and other Japanese media reported on Saturday that a Japanese man in his 50s was taken into custody in Beijing this month for an alleged violation of Chinese law.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was heading to Kyiv early Tuesday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that coincide with the Chinese leader’s visit to Moscow.

Kishida will “show respect to the courage and patience of the Ukrainian people who are standing up to defend their homeland under President Zelenskyy’s leadership, and show solidarity and unwavering support for Ukraine as head of Japan and chairman of G-7,” during his visit to Ukraine, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in announcing his trip to Kyiv.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan and South Korea agreed to resume regular visits between their leaders and take steps to resolve a trade dispute during a highly anticipated summit Thursday, in what Japan’s prime minister called a “big step” to rebuilding the two nations’ security and economic ties as they try to overcome a century of difficult history.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan and South Korea agreed on steps toward resolving a trade dispute that has been one of the strains the nations’ leaders aimed to resolve at a highly anticipated summit Thursday.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will meet later in the day in Tokyo in a bid to overcome disputes over history and quickly rebuild their nations’ security and economic ties. A North Korean missile launch and encounters between Japanese and Chinese vessels in disputed waters earlier Thursday show what’s at stake for the two countries.

TOKYO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Japanese gathered outside the venue of a military equipment fair near Tokyo on Wednesday to protest Japan's move to intensify its arms trade.

The three-day event, or DSEI Japan 2023, kicked off Wednesday at the convention center of Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo.

"No war!" "No war preparation!" "Say no to traders of death!" More than 300 people, in strong protest against Japan's intensified weapons trading, shouted slogans at the gathering, which was followed by a protest speech.

TOKYO (AP) — South Korean and Japanese leaders will meet in Tokyo this week, hoping to resume regular visits after a gap of over a decade and overcome resentments that date back more than 100 years. The two major Asian economies and United States allies face increasing need to cooperate on challenges posed by China and North Korea, but previous rounds of diplomacy have foundered on unresolved issues from Japan’s 35-year occupation of the Korean Peninsula.