US, Japan overhaul security alliance amid China’s strategic challenge
Japan and its security ally, the US, singled out China as “the greatest strategic challenge in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond” on July 28, as they unveiled their “most…
Walter Sim
‘The customer is not always right’: Japan fights growing scourge of customer harassment
On July 9, Takashimaya became the first major department store to announce measures against such harassment – kasuhara in Japanese. It warned that it will ban recalcitrant…
Japan sacks navy chief amid scandals; annual defence review sees China as gravest threat again
The Defence Ministry said on July 12 that it had punished 218 SDF members and senior bureaucrats, with 11 dismissals, two demotions and 83 suspensions. The rest either received…
Unlike the yakuza, Japan’s latest crime menace is anonymous and faceless
"Yamibaito," or shady part-time work in Japanese, promises a lofty payout for minimal work. Such work, however, is often illegal and runs the gamut from murder to armed robbery,…
A yen for Japan: Singapore investors pump money into hospitality as tourism booms
This is despite the Bank of Japan’s first monetary policy rate hike in 17 years on March 19, followed by data a week later showing land prices recording their largest surge in…
North Korea trying to woo Japan with leaders’ summit, but Kishida faces difficult choices
Tokyo must accept Pyongyang’s weapons programme and treat its abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s as a resolved issue for such a summit to be held, according…
Pretty in pink: Tokyo leads Japan as sakura flowers blossom earlier than before
The ephemeral flower, which lasts about two weeks and heralds the dawn of spring, is blooming earlier than before across the country due to global warming.
Singapore-registered firm accused of swindling $1.2 billion from 26,000 people in Japan’s largest scam
Sky Premium International is alleged to have masterminded what is Japan’s largest scam in violation of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, according to Fukuoka…
‘The most beautiful thing’: Japan Inc wants more dads on childcare leave
The idea of paternity leave has, until recently, been anathema in patriarchal Japan, where gender roles are traditionally hardwired.
Singapore welcomes Japan’s efforts to help Asia become greener: PM Lee
Stressing the need for cooperation to speed up the global transition to net-zero, he also said: “No country can go it alone, nor can governments by themselves make it happen.”