Japan preparing to add transport roles to skilled visa amid shortages

Japan is preparing to add four sectors including the transportation industry to its foreign blue-collar skilled worker visa granting up to five years of working rights, government sources said Sunday, amid fears of driver shortages.

The move would bring the eligible industries…[Read more]

Aso praises Kamikawa but says she is ‘not very beautiful,’ and calls her ‘Kamimura’

Liberal Democratic Party Vice President Taro Aso praised Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa during a speech Sunday in Ashiya, Fukuoka Prefecture, but mistakenly called her “Kamimura” twice and said he didn’t think she could be called “very beautiful.”…[Read more]

How to found a political party in Germany

Any adult citizen in Germany can vote, join a party, stand for election — or found their own party. No permission from the state is necessary, but founders must commit to basic democratic principles.

Foreigners can also establish a party in Germany. However, the majority of the party’s executive c…[Read more]

Will nuclear energy make a comeback in Germany?

One year ago, Germany took its three remaining nuclear power plants off the grid, consigning the technology to the history books.

Nuclear fission was once seen as the future. In the early 1960s, politicians and scientists in Germany thought that it would provide an endless supply of electricity,…[Read more]

Germany records a sharp rise in counterfeit bills

German authorities recorded a sharp increase in counterfeit cash in 2023, with around 56,600 banknotes theoretically worth almost €5.1 million withdrawn from circulation.

The figures, announced by the country’s central bank, the Bundesbank on Monday, represent a 28% increase in the number of n…[Read more]

German defense minister says the military is unfit for problems Europe faces

Germany’s defence minister has called for a “serious national debate” about the future of the country’s military, arguing that in its current state it is not fit to tackle the array of security policy challenges facing Europe.

Boris Pistorius, who has frequently called…[Read more]

Germany unearths pro-Russia disinformation campaign on X

Digital forensic experts in Germany have uncovered a vast, pro-Russia disinformation campaign against the government using tens of thousands of fake accounts on the social media platform X.

The German foreign ministry, which commissioned the study after suspecting it was being targeted by…[Read more]

Gov’t estimates Japan quake damage will reach ¥2.6 tril

The government on Thursday said damage to infrastructure from the earthquake that rocked central Japan on New Year’s Day may reach as high as 2.6 trillion yen.

The magnitude-7.6 quake that struck the Noto Peninsula in central Japan has added a layer of uncertainty over the economy, amid…[Read more]

21,818 people committed suicide in Japan in 2023, health ministry says

The number of suicides in Japan in 2023 was 21,818, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced on Friday. The provisional figure, based on National Police Agency statistics, was 63 fewer than in 2022.

Males accounted for nearly 70% of the total, at 14,854, and…[Read more]

Diet starts 150-day regular session, with funds scandal in focus

Japan’s Diet convened a 150-day ordinary session on Friday, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida set to be grilled over a political fundraising scandal that has continued to rattle his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

During the Diet session through June 23, the government’s response…[Read more]

Sudan: German foreign minister demands solution to the conflict

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called for greater “pressure” to be applied to both sides to find a negotiated solution to the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

Setting off on a multi-day trip to Djibouti, Kenya and South Sudan, Baerbock said in a statement that she wanted to…[Read more]

Germany’s train services halted in longest strike yet

Train drivers in Germany on Wednesday began their longest strike yet in an ongoing labor dispute with Deutsche Bahn (DB) that is set to impact thousands of passengers and could dent the economy with a loss of up to €1 billion ($1.1 billion).

On Monday, the German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) h…[Read more]

Germany cracks down on ‘pro-life’ protests

Family Minister Lisa Paus (Green Party) announced on January 24 a draft law to prevent demonstrators from approaching or harassing visitors within a 100-meter (320 ft) radius of abortion clinics and family planning centers. Posters or flyers aimed at intimidating women will also be banned. Anyone…[Read more]

The week Germany woke up to the far-right AfD

A grey Saturday at the end of November 2024. Thin rain drops into Lehnitz lake. Limousines drive into the parking lot of the luxury Landhotel Adlon. Who is coming?

Two dozen German politicians, businesspeople and wealthy, middle-class, men. Some of them are from the extremist party Alternative for…[Read more]

Princess Aiko to work at Japanese Red Cross Society from April

Princess Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, is set to work at the Japanese Red Cross Society from April after graduating from university, the Imperial Household Agency said Monday.

While planning to continue engaging in her official duties as an imperial…[Read more]

Japan says there is possibility moon lander power can be restored

Japan switched off its moon lander almost three hours after a historic touchdown to allow for a possible recovery of the craft when the sun hits its solar panels, the space agency said Monday.

With its unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission — dubbed “Moon…[Read more]

Japan lawmakers seek security talks with Taiwan and U.S.

Japanese lawmakers look to arrange face-to-face strategic dialogue with their American and Taiwanese counterparts, seeking to bring the incoming administration of Taiwanese President-elect Lai Ching-te into discussions of cross-strait tensions.

The Japan-Republic of China Diet Members’…[Read more]

Japan prosecutors to build case on PM Kishida faction

Japanese prosecutors will build a case against a former accountant of a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) faction, previously led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in connection with a political fundraising scandal, sources close to the matter said on Thursday.

The prosecutors have been…[Read more]

Japan prosecutors build cases against LDP groups over fundraising scandal

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japanese prosecutors on Friday indicted several individuals from three factions within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, including one formerly led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, over a political fundraising scandal that has sent shockwaves through the…[Read more]

Letter from Nikkei Asia’s editor: Panasonic’s EV battery comeback plan

Hello from Tokyo. Last week, the people of Taiwan elected as their next president Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which Beijing brands as separatist. The vote focused mainly on how to deal with China, but so far both sides have shown restraint, and it…[Read more]