Japan

The Japanese premier wants the defence budget to reach 2% of GDP by 2027, up from a level that has long hovered around 1%

Nearly a quarter of major companies in Japan are considering raising prices of their products in 2023 or later due to increasing material costs and a weaker yen, a Kyodo News survey showed, while 49% said they were undecided

The country plans to develop unmanned underwater vehicles for laying and sweeping mines, with the aim of achieving maritime superiority in the event of a contingency near the southwestern Nansei chain of islands

244.940 primary and middle school students across Japan were absent for 30 or more days in FY2021, an increase of 24,9% from the previous year and marking highest level ever recorded, according to government data

The country fully reopened to international tourists after 2,5 years of harsh Covid-19 restrictions; after the initial closure, foreign residents at one point were also prevented from returning

World leaders will gather in Tokyo today for the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; protests and opposition episodes have occurred for budget reasons

The yen has weakened above $140 for the first time in nearly a quarter-century, mainly because Japan's central bank is keeping interest rates at minimum levels while the Federal Reserve and other central banks are rising hikes

Haruyuki Takahashi, an executive board member of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games has been arrested on suspicion of having taken bribes

At least 30 endangered green sea turtles have been found in the past weeks with wounds around their neck near the remote Japanese island of Kumejima in southern Okinawa prefecture; investigation has begun