Uncategorized

Japan and Taiwan must dramatically ramp up defense spending in order to deter war with China, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the Pentagon’s top policy official has said, in a sign that Tokyo could be in for a bumpy ride under the American leader. During a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Elbridge Colby, a China hawk who served as a defense official in Trump’s first administration, said Japan — which is aiming to spend 2% of gross domestic product on defense by fiscal 2027 — must boost its defense spending even further. “Japan should be spending at least 3% of GDP on defense as soon as possible,” he said in a statement, adding that Tokyo needed to accelerate the revamp of its military in order to focus on so-called denial defense of its territory and collective defense in the Indo-Pacific region. Source link

Kanagawa Prefectural Police arrested on Tuesday a former deputy manager at Hana Credit Union’s Yokohama branch on suspicion of stealing ¥619 million ($4.1 million) in cash from the branch’s safe deposit boxes between September 2021 and March 2023. Police are investigating the total damage, which could exceed ¥1 billion. The 49-year-old suspect from Chofu, Tokyo, who was dismissed in February 2024, admitted to the allegations, telling police he used the stolen money to pay off debts and gamble, with police believing he gambled on horse and boat racing, according to the Asahi Shimbun. Source link

The health ministry on Wednesday issued a business improvement order to a clinic in Fukuoka, saying a range of stem cell treatments it offers violate the law on the safety of regenerative medicine. Seijikai Fukuoka MSC Clinic, run by Dr. Kenji Fukamatsu, offers various stem cell treatments whose plans have not been submitted to the authorities, according to the ministry. The treatments include bone regeneration, skin care and therapies to combat cancer and preventing arteries from becoming hardened. The clinic practices wide-ranging regenerative treatments using patient-derived cells and plasmas, the ministry said. Even in treatments for which plans were submitted, the clinic didn’t adhere to what is outlined in such plans or keep proper records, the ministry added. Ministry officials inspected the clinic after receiving a tip-off about possible violations of the law last year. The ministry said it has not received any reports of ill effects arising from the clinic’s treatments, however. With Wednesday’s order, the clinic must submit plans on how it will prevent future violations of the law. The clinic was closed on Wednesday, and no one working there was immediately available for comment. Source link

WASHINGTON – Japan, South Korea and other countries want to partner with the United States in a “gigantic” natural gas pipeline in Alaska, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, claiming they would invest “trillions of dollars each.” Trump said in an address to the U.S. Congress that the pipeline would be one of the largest in the world. “Japan, South Korea and other nations want to be our partner, with investments of trillions of dollars each,” he said. Source link

Japanese fans attended Los Angeles Dodgers games in such high numbers last season that Michael Spetner, a team executive, joked that “you might think you were in Tokyo” anytime the team was at home at Dodger Stadium. The club is now trying to bring part of the LA experience directly to fans in Japan with an exhibition titled, Dodgers Experience at MLB Tokyo Series. The exhibition opened on Wednesday at Tokyo Node, in Toranomon Hills Station Tower in the capital’s Minato Ward. The exhibition commemorates the start of the 2025 MLB season, which kicks off with the defending champion Dodgers, led by Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani, facing the Chicago Cubs at Tokyo Dome on March 18 and 19. Source link

For decades, one of sumo’s most unique selling points has been its accessibility. Contrary to foreign media’s ubiquitous framing of Japan’s national sport as a “secret world,” interaction between fans and wrestlers or stables has long been free, easy and commonplace. However, a massive surge in inbound tourism over the past few years, sumo’s rapidly growing international fan base and the business realities of modern sport are putting pressure on long-held practices and norms. Source link

Firefighters on Wednesday were still trying to put out the wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, now in its second week, as snow and rain offered hope of some relief. The blaze has so far burned through 2,900 hectares of land — equal to around 9% of the city’s total land area — with the central government considering declaring it a serious disaster in order to increase subsidies to local authorities for recovery efforts. “The fire has not been extinguished due to the long dry weather, strong winds and difficult terrain. However, the weather has changed since today, so we believe that we are heading toward extinguishing the fire,” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a session of the Upper House Budget Committee on Wednesday. Recent natural disasters that have been declared “serious” include the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake and last summer’s Typhoon Shanshan. “Although I cannot make any definitive statement at the current moment, after the situation is resolved, we will begin the assessment process,” Ishiba said. “The government will try to take prompt and appropriate measures to provide relief to the victims and to minimize the financial burden on local governments.” Evacuation orders have now been issued to 4,596 people across 1,896 households. As of Wednesday morning, 4,111 people had been evacuated, or about 13% of Ofunato’s entire population. Around 2,000 firefighters from across eastern and northern Japan have been deployed to put out the blaze that began on Feb. 26. Aerial efforts to extinguish the wildfire were halted Wednesday due to wet weather conditions. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki, who graduated from high school in Ofunato, donated ¥10 million ($67,000) in relief funds and 500 sets of bedding to the city, along with a message that he will “try his best alongside everyone.” The Dodgers team also donated ¥15 million to the city. Source link

Japan has set a goal of more than tripling its domestic cybersecurity industry sales in the next decade, from the current ¥900 billion ($6 billion) to ¥3 trillion. Japan-made cybersecurity products occupy less than half of the nation’s domestic market share at the moment, according to the government’s first industrial strategy on cybersecurity released by the economy ministry on Wednesday. Expanding the domestic cybersecurity industry would enable security products and services to be better suited to domestic needs, making it strategically important for national security, the ministry said. Source link

LONDON – For the past two months, tech billionaire Elon Musk has promoted Germany’s far-right party in at least two dozen posts on his X platform, interviewed its leader, and told his 219 million followers it was the country’s “only hope.” Yet Musk’s support for Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) played little part in the party’s stunning second-place result in the Feb. 23 election, according to a review of his posts and polling data as well as interviews with political analysts. The Tesla CEO appears undaunted, continuing to promote right-wing causes across Europe. While the most noticeable impact, so far, seems to be damage to Tesla’s brand, analysts say he may have a longer-term goal for his business empire: backing political parties that might cut back regulations he thinks impede tech innovations. Source link

TAIPEI – Taiwan is learning from companies in Ukraine that continue to operate during the country’s fight against Russia, a senior Taiwan official said Wednesday, as the island speeds up contingency planning amid heightened Chinese threats. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite the objection of the government in Taipei, and has ramped up its military pressure against the island in recent years, including holding several rounds of major war games. “We hope to learn from Ukraine’s first-hand experiences — how private companies helped build the resilience of its government and society during wartime,” said a senior Taiwan security official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. Source link