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☆ Japan to consider revising Abe-era deflation fighting mandate - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Tetsushi Kajimoto | Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan next year will consider revising its decade-old blueprint for fighting deflation, sources said, as financial markets bet that a weak yen and rising consumer prices will force the central bank to finally drop its ultra-loose monetary policy. The pledge has served as the backbone of Kuroda’s radical monetary stimulus and justification for keeping Japan’s interest rates ultra-low, even as other central banks tighten monetary policy to combat stubbornly high inflation. Kyodo news agency reported on Saturday that the government is set to revise the joint statement to make the BOJ’s inflation target a more flexible goal, with some leeway. SHIFTING FOCUSA revision to the joint statement would mark the final nail in the coffin for former premier’s Abenomics stimulus programme, which relied heavily on Kuroda’s massive stimulus to pull Japan out of deflation. Analysts say any revision that waters down the status of the BOJ’s 2% inflation target could serve as a trigger for phasing out Kuroda’s stimulus programme.

☆ Russia deploys defense missile system on Kuril island near Japan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Russia’s defense ministry said Monday it has deployed mobile coastal defense missile systems on a northern Kuril island, part of a strategically located chain of islands that stretch between Japan and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula. Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril islands, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, a territorial row that dates to the end of World War Two, when Soviet troops seized them from Japan. The Russian Bastion systems, which have missiles with a flight range of up to 500 km (310 miles), were deployed on the island of Paramushir, the Russian defense ministry said Monday. The Bastion coastal missile system went on duty on the Kuril island or Paramushir. Russia withdrew from peace treaty talks with Japan and froze joint economic projects related to the disputed Kuril Islands because of Japanese sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Japan tells China, Russia it has 'severe concerns' over joint air patrols -spokesperson
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Japan has told China and Russia it has "severe concerns" over their frequent joint air force activities around Japan's territory, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Thursday. "We will closely monitor the increasing cooperation between the two countries with a sense of concern," Matsuno, Japan's top government spokesperson, told a regular press conference, adding that Japan would "decisively protect" its territories. The Russian defence ministry on Wednesday announced its military and Chinese counterpart conducted joint patrols of strategic warplanes over the Sea of Japan and East China Sea. Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/4] A passerby looks at a television screen showing a news report about North Korea firing a ballistic missile in Tokyo, Japan November 18, 2022. South Korea's military projected that the missile reached an altitude of 6,100 km and flew 1,000 km at a maximum speed of Mach 22. Friday's launch is the eighth ICBM test this year by North Korea, based on a tally from the U.S. State Department. Concern has also mounted over the possibility of North Korea conducting a nuclear test for the first time since 2017. North Korea on March 24 launched its biggest ICBM ever, which flew 67.5 minutes and reached an altitude of 6,248.5 km (3,905 miles), according to state media.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile Friday, the South Korean and Japanese governments said, a day after it resumed weapons tests as it vowed “fiercer” military responses to the U.S.’s strengthening its alliances with South Korea and Japan. It would be the second ICBM North Korea has fired this month and the third this year, after it refrained from conducting such tests since 2017. Japan’s Defense Ministry also said it appeared to be an ICBM-class ballistic missile. In a statement Thursday, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said the summit would lead to a “more unpredictable phase” in the situation on the Korean Peninsula. U.S. and South Korean officials say North Korea is also preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear test, which would be its first since 2017.

☆ Japan calls off business forum after Saudis cancel trip
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"Nothing has been decided regarding a visit to Japan from Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed (bin Salman)," Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters. "Japan's relationship with Saudi Arabia is crucial given they are a significant strategic partner. It is important we hold high-level visits between Japan and Saudi Arabia in the near future," Matsuno said. Saudi Arabia signed investment agreements worth $30 billion with South Korean companies during the visit. Prince Mohammed has since arrived in Thailand for a state visit, according to state media.

☆ North Korea missile had the range to reach U.S. mainland, Japan says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A missile fired on Friday by North Korea had sufficient range to reach the United States mainland, and was capable of flying as far as 15,000 km (9,320 miles), Japan's defence minister, Yasukazu Hamada, said. The projectile, in the class of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), reached an altitude of 6,000 km (3,730 miles), covering a range of 1,000 km (622 miles) on a lofted trajectory, Hirokazu Matsuno, the chief cabinet secretary, had said earlier. It landed about 200 km (124 miles) west of Oshima-Oshima island in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido. Reporting by Tokyo newsroom; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SEOUL/TOKYO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday that landed just 200 kilometres (130 miles) off Japan and had sufficient range to reach the mainland of the United States, Japanese officials told reporters. Friday's launch would be the eighth ICBM test this year by North Korea, based on a tally from the U.S. State Department. A South Korean official said the Nov. 3 test may have failed at high altitude. South Korean and U.S. officials have reported that a number of North Korean ICBM tests appeared to have failed this year. The North has also fired hundreds of artillery shells into the sea recently as South Korea and the United States staged exercises, some of which involved Japan.

☆ Japan working on arranging summit meeting with China's Xi
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] Visitors stand in front of an image of Chinese President Xi Jinping, at an exhibition titled "Forging Ahead in the New Era" during an organised media tour ahead of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in Beijing, China October 12, 2022. REUTERS/Florence LoTOKYO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Japan is working on arranging a summit meeting between Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Japan's top government spokesperson said on Monday, without elaborating. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno was speaking at a regular news conference. Kishida and Xi are both due to attend the Group of 20 (G20) summit meeting opening on Tuesday in Bali. Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Rats can bop their heads to a rhythm and like music by Lady Gaga, a study discovers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rats can bop their heads to a rhythm like humans, a study has found. The animals were best at keeping in time with beats between 120 and 140 bpm, similar to humans. The results found that the rats' had the best beat synchronization in the range of 120-140 beats per minute and that rats and humans bopped their heads to the beats in a similar way. "Rats displayed innate — that is, without any training or prior exposure to music — beat synchronization most distinctly within 120-140bpm, to which humans also exhibit the clearest beat synchronization," he said. The study found that rats preferred beats close to 120bpm, similar to humans, suggesting that the best tempo for beat synchronization depends on the time constant in the brain, the study author said.

☆ Japan in late-stage talks with U.S. for Tomahawk purchase -Yomiuri
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Japan is in the final stages of negotiations with the United States to buy U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles, the Yomiuri daily reported on Friday, citing multiple unnamed Japanese government sources. Tomahawks can hit targets from more than 1,000 km (620 miles) away, putting parts of China and the Russian Far East within range. Concern about Chinese military activity in the seas and skies around Taiwan and Japan has intensified since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, because Japan worries it provides China with a precedent for the use of force against Taiwan. China in August fired missiles into waters less than 160 km from Japan in a display of might, angered by U.S. House speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. At the 20th Communist Party Congress last week, Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for accelerating plans to build a world-class military.

☆ Japan's Kishida, Australia's Albanese to meet in Perth -Japan govt
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit Perth from Oct. 21-23 and will meet counterpart Anthony Albanese during his trip, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Wednesday. Japan aims to further develop ties between the two nations over security, defence and the economy, including cooperation over a free and open Indo-Pacific, Matsuno said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Kaori Kaneko Editing by Chang-Ran KimOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Japan to impose additional sanctions against North Korea
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Japan will impose additional sanctions against North Korea by freezing assets of groups involved in the development of missiles, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a regular briefing on Tuesday. "We cannot tolerate North Korea's repeated provocative actions which threaten Japan's security and international peace and safety," Matsuno said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol told reporters that Pyongyang has been "indiscriminately carrying out provocations", vowing to devise "watertight countermeasures". North Korea's military issued a statement via state media KCNA early on Friday saying that it took "strong military countermeasures", over artillery fire by South Korea on Thursday. The unprecedented frequency of North Korea's missile launches has raised concerns it may be preparing to resume testing of nuclear bombs for the first time since 2017. It said the South Korean air force "conducted an emergency sortie with its superior air force, including the F-35A". "The KPA sends a stern warning to the South Korean military inciting military tension in the frontline area with reckless action," its spokesman said, according to KCNA.

☆ Japan ready to take 'decisive' steps against yen decline - FinMin
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"We cannot tolerate excessive volatility in the currency market driven by speculative moves. We're watching currency moves with a strong sense of urgency," Suzuki told reporters on Wednesday after attending the G7 finance leaders' meeting in Washington. The yen has fallen since Japan stepped into the currency market last month to prop up its value. Instead, we're looking at volatility," Suzuki said. His remarks came after the government's top spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday that Japan stands ready to take appropriate steps against excess volatility in foreign exchange markets.

Currency intervention is costly and could fail to influence the yen's value in the huge global foreign exchange market. Analysts say Japan may face difficulty winning backing for intervention unless volatility becomes highly excessive. Investors see solo action by Japan being far less effective than concerted intervention. Last month, Japanese authorities sold dollars and bought yen in a market intervention for the first time since 1998, spending 2.8 trillion yen ($19.2 billion) to slow a rapid slide in the yen that was considered a threat to the economy. read moreAs for dollar-buying, yen-selling intervention, Japan has stayed out of the market since 2011 when the devastating earthquake and tsunami triggered the worst nuclear disaster in Fukushima since Chernobyl.

The dollar strengthened 0.22% to 146.18 yen in Asian trading, after pushing as high as 146.39 for the first time since August 1998. The Japanese currency is particularly sensitive to the gap between U.S. and Japanese long-term bond yields. Japanese authorities staged their first yen-buying intervention since 1998 on Sept. 22, when the yen tumbled to as low as 145.90 per dollar. Elsewhere, sterling which earlier touched $1.0925, marking a fresh low since Sept. 29, bounced 0.4% to $1.1008 after the FT report. The euro slumped to its weakest since Sept. 29 overnight at $0.9670 and remained not far from that level, trading 0.08% lower than Tuesday's close at $0.96975.

The U.S. currency rose to 146.35 yen , a level not seen since August 1998 during the Asian financial crisis, moving above levels that triggered intervention by Japanese authorities last month to stem excessive yen weakening. The yen was trading around 146.30 to the dollar around midday on Wednesday as traders braced for U.S. inflation data and its implications on future U.S. rate hikes. Neither Matsuno nor Suzuki used stronger expressions in describing yen moves on Wednesday such as "excessive," "one-sided" or "speculative," suggesting that currency intervention may not be imminent. Last month, Japanese authorities sold dollars and bought yen in a market intervention for the first time in 24 years, spending 2.8 trillion yen ($19.2 billion) to slow a rapid slide in the yen that was considered a threat to the economy. Investors see solo action by Japan being far less effective than concerted intervention.

☆ Morning Bid: The Next Three Days
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Well, the Bank of England's Andrew Bailey has crowed, sort of making clear the Liz Truss government can't bank on it defending markets from the fallout of an ill-conceived economic revival plan for more than three days. "You've got three days left now. You've got to get this done," Bailey said on Tuesday, referring to the pension funds. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar is up, yen is at 24-year lows, yields are soaring, sterling is wobbling and oil is slipping. That comes days after a sweeping set of export controls published by the Biden administration aimed at cutting China off from certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with U.S. equipment.

☆ The Next Three Days
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Well, the Bank of England's Andrew Bailey has crowed, sort of making clear the Liz Truss government can't bank on it defending markets from the fallout of an ill-conceived economic revival plan for more than three days. "You've got three days left now. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar is up, yen is at 24-year lows, yields are soaring, sterling is wobbling and oil is slipping. Not all is lost for the chip industry that has been hammered in the past few days after a Reuters report on Tuesday that the U.S. government has allowed at least two non-Chinese chipmakers operating in China to receive restricted goods and services without their suppliers seeking licenses. That comes days after a sweeping set of export controls published by the Biden administration aimed at cutting China off from certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with U.S. equipment.

☆ U.S. dollar rises, yen not far from 24-year trough that prompted intervention
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"I can see it propelling the dollar higher still, even though people think it's a crowded trade. Overall, dollar sentiment remained positive as worries about rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions unsettled investors, while the yen hovered near the level that prompted last month's intervention. In afternoon trading, the U.S. dollar index rose 0.2% to 113.25, not far from a 20-year high of 114.78 it touched late last month. The dollar touched a three-week high against the yen of 145.895 , just shy of the 24-year peak of 145.90 hit before the Japanese government stepped in to prop it up three weeks ago. Meanwhile, the risk-sensitive Australian dollar hit a 2-1/2-year low of $0.6248 and was last down 0.4% at US$0.6270.

☆ Japan considers steps to help with utility bill burden
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Leika Kihara | Takahiko Wada | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan will consider more steps to cushion the blow of rising electricity bills, a government spokesperson said on Thursday, underscoring the pressure it faces in addressing the burden on households of higher prices for imports from a weak yen. “We’ll scrutinise developments of electricity bills and consider whether further steps could be necessary,” he said. The government is expected to announce a package of measures to cushion rising inflation next month, which is likely to be funded by another supplementary budget. “If the government does take steps to curb utility bills, that will put some downward pressure on consumer inflation,” said Toru Suehiro, chief economist at Daiwa Securities. BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has ruled out raising Japan’s ultra-low interest rates any time soon, arguing that core consumer inflation would ease back below 2% next fiscal year when cost-push factors dissipate.

☆ Russia blindfolded and restrained a Japanese diplomat it accused of being a spy, Japan says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia said it detained a Japanese diplomat in the city of Vladivostok. Russia's FSB said the official was detained on suspicion of espionage. Tokyo said it the official was mistreated, in violation of international rules. Matsuno said Japan would demand a formal apology from Moscow, and the official would leave Russia by Wednesday, having been expelled by Russian authorities. Russia and Japan are regional rivals, and relations have worsened since Japan took the side of the US and other western nations in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and imposing economic sanctions.

☆ Russia detains Japanese consul on spying charge; Tokyo hints at retaliation
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The consul was released after a few hours of detention by the Russian agency. Tokyo has lodged a "strong protest" about the detention and signalled it may retaliate, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a media briefing on Tuesday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterIt said the classified information, which also concerned Russia's cooperation with an unnamed Asia-Pacific country, had been obtained in return for a "monetary reward". The released consul has had no problem with health conditions and will depart Russia by Wednesday, Matsuno said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Reuters, Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; Editing by Nick Macfie, Gerry Doyle and Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Japan bans chemical weapons-related goods to Russia, concerned by nuke threats
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Plastic letters arranged to read "Sanctions" are placed in front of Russian flag colors in this illustration taken February 25, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationTOKYO, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Japan has decided to ban exports of chemical weapons-related goods to Russia in an additional sanction against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, and is "deeply concerned" about the possible use of nuclear weapons, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday. Japan also added 21 Russian organisations such as science labs as the target of existing export bans, according to a government statement released after Monday's cabinet meeting, which formally approved the new sanction measures announced by the foreign minister at a Group of Seven meeting last week. read more"Japan is deeply concerned about the possibility of nuclear weapons used during Russia's invasion of Ukraine," Matsuno also said in a media briefing, adding Japan will continue to work with the international society in supporting Ukraine and sanctioning Russia. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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