YOSHIHIDE SUGA

Hundreds of thousands of foreigners have been denied entry to study, work or visit families in Japan, which has kept its doors closed to most overseas visitors during the pandemic.

Tokyo has launched a mass inoculation drive for COVID-19 booster shots at a temporary center operated by the military as Japan tries to speed up delayed third jabs to counter surging infections.

President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have used their first formal meeting to discuss concerns about China’s growing military assertiveness.

President Joe Biden will meet virtually with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan on Friday.

After slow starts, vaccination campaigns in several countries in the Asia-Pacific region now boast inoculation rates that rank among the world’s best.

Japan's Cabinet has approved a record 56 trillion yen, or $490 billion stimulus package, including cash handouts and aid to ailing businesses, to help the economy out of the doldrums worsened by the coronavirus pandemic.

Fumio Kishida is set to be reelected as Japan's prime minister after clearing the first major test of his leadership in recent elections.

Asian shares are mixed amid cautious trading ahead of a Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting.

Stocks have advanced in Asia, with Tokyo's benchmark up 2.5% after the ruling Liberal Democrats won a stronger than expected majority in an election Sunday.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says Japan should revitalize its economy through “new capitalism" and many in this country are puzzled over exactly what he has in mind.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s coalition kept a comfortable majority in a parliamentary election despite losing some seats.

Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida faces a crucial test in Sunday's national parliamentary elections, which will determine if his government will have enough support to stay in power long enough to repair the pandemic-hit economy, and tackle climate change and China’s rise.

Japan has adopted a new energy policy that promotes nuclear and renewables as sources of clean energy to achieve the country’s pledge of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.

Almost overnight, Japan has become a stunning, and somewhat mysterious, coronavirus success story.

Almost overnight, Japan has become a stunning, and somewhat mysterious, coronavirus success story. Daily new COVID-19 cases have plummeted from a mid-August peak of nearly 6,000 in Tokyo, with caseloads in the densely populated capital now routinely below 100, an 11-month low. Japan, unlike other places in Europe and Asia, has never had anything close to a lockdown, just a series of relatively toothless states of emergency.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida dissolved the lower house of parliament. The move paves the way for elections Oct. 31, which will be Japan's first of the pandemic.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has dissolved the lower house of parliament for Japan’s first elections of the pandemic.

In his first policy speech, new Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has promised to strengthen the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic in case of another resurgence and revive its battered economy while bolstering defenses against threats from China and North Korea.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held his first talks as Japanese leader with President Joe Biden and confirmed to strengthen their security alliance and cooperate in regional security in the face of growing challenges from China and North Korea.

Fumio Kishida replaces Yoshihide Suga, who resigned after a year in office as his support plunged over his handling of the pandemic and insistence on holding the Tokyo Olympics as the virus spread.

He's expected to largely keep existing government policies in place – with a top priority almost certainly being the pandemic, which is front and center in Japanese politics.

Newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says he will dissolve the lower house next week in preparation for Oct. 31 elections as he seeks a fresh mandate to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the sagging economy and security threats from China and North Korea.

"I feel it's a new start," said one man as he headed into the office in Tokyo for the first time in more than a year.

Tokyo’s train stations were packed with commuters Friday morning as Japan fully came out of a coronavirus state of emergency for the first time in more than six months.

The two women in the Japanese governing party’s four-way leadership race was a step forward for gender equality.

Fumio Kishida on Wednesday effectively became effectively become Japan's new prime minister after winning the leadership election at Japan's ruling party.

Japan's next prime minister says he believes raising incomes is the only way to get the world's third-largest economy growing again.

Kishida is the nation's former Foreign Minister and won the Liberal Democratic Party's run-off election by a landslide in the second round.

Kishida is the nation's former Foreign Minister and won the Liberal Democratic Party's run-off election by a landslide in the second round.

Ex-Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will have to tackle COVID-19, a battered economy, a declining population and birthrate, and an increasingly assertive China.

Japanese prosecutors are demanding two years in prison for former Nissan executive Greg Kelly.

Former Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida has won the governing party's leadership election and is set to become the country's next prime minister.

Australia's government is ramping up pressure on states to end pandemic lockdowns by outlining plans to end financial aid.

The move aims to reactivate the economy as infections start to slow.

The move aims to reactivate the economy as infections start to slow.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced Tuesday that virus restrictions will be eased gradually.

Asian shares are mostly lower as concerns about China chip away at investor optimism after a mixed finish on Wall Street.

Asian shares have fallen sharply after a broad slide on Wall Street as investors reacted to a surge in U.S. government bond yields.

Japan’s governing party chooses a new leader on Wednesday to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Japan’s government says the coronavirus state of emergency will end Thursday to help rejuvenate the economy as infections slow.

Asian share are mostly higher, but skepticism about the regional economic outlook tempered the rally amid worries about further waves of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Two women are among candidates for Japan’s governing party leadership for the first time in 13 years in what seems like a big step in the country's male-dominated politics.

Leaders made no direct mention of China as they opened the group's first ever in-person meeting.

Taro Kono is seen as a political maverick with liberal views on social policy. He is popular with the public, but his own party's power brokers may hesitate to make him the leader next week.

For the United States, the alliance is a foreign policy linchpin. Friday’s Quad meeting comes as Biden’s image around the world has taken a battering over the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan after 20 years. Biden is following up on Obama’s “Pivot to Asia” in hosting the Quad summit. “If China behaves coercively and challenges the ‘rules-based system,’ the Quad gains more relevance; if China is collaborative, then the Quad is less relevant.”But Friday’s Quad meeting is unlikely to make this explicit, Neill said. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison pose for a photo outside of the speaker’s office at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 22.

President Joe Biden has met with other leaders of an Indo-Pacific alliance known as “the Quad” as he wraps up a week of diplomacy with both allies and adversaries.

President Joe Biden has used his first address before the U.N. General Assembly to summon allies to quickly address the festering issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and human rights abuses.

Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Friday, marking a feeble ending to an up-and-down week of trading.

Official election campaigning started Friday for the next head of Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party.

Official campaigning has begun for the new head of Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party, who typically becomes the national leader because of the party’s control over parliament.

Asian shares are mixed after a hodge-podge of economic data led Wall Street to close mostly lower.

President Joe Biden has announced that the United States is forming a new Indo-Pacific security alliance with Britain and Australia that will allow for greater sharing of defense capabilities — including helping equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.

North Korea launched ballistic missiles off its east coast on Wednesday, prompting condemnation from Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

The move comes two days after Pyongyang said it had tested a newly-developed long-range cruise missile and ratchets up tensions with Washington amid stalled talks on North's nuclear program.

An F-16 screeched across the sky before landing on a highway cut through pineapple fields in southwestern Taiwan to refuel quickly and take off again.

The White House says President Joe Biden will host the leaders of Australia, India and Japan for an in-person meeting later this month.

Japan has extended a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and 18 other areas until the end of September as health care systems remain under severe strain, although new infections have slowed slightly.

Shares have fallen in Asia after further losses on Wall Street following a Federal Reserve report showing U.S. economic activity slowed this summer.

On Friday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga effectively paved the way for a new leader after announcing he will not be running in the upcoming leadership election.

The Tokyo Paralympics have closed to end a saga that began eight years ago when the Japanese capital was named the host city by the International Olympic Committee.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's exit raises the specter of a return to a "revolving door" succession of Japanese leaders.

Suga, who's only been in office a year, says he won't run for his ruling party's leadership, effectively ending his tenure. His approval ratings are in shambles over his handling of the pandemic.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga says he won’t run in a governing party leadership vote this month, paving the way for a new Japanese leader.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is in Tokyo meeting Japan's foreign minister to discuss efforts to involve China and developing nations to fight climate change.

Leaders tell anxious residents the already-lagging vaccination program won't be disrupted, as COVID's resurgence causes heartache and Paralympic angst.

The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant says it plans to build an undersea tunnel so that massive amounts of treated but still radioactive water can be released into the ocean about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) away from the plant to avoid interference with local fishing.

Japan has expanded its coronavirus state of emergency for a second week in a row, adding eight more prefectures as a surge in infections fueled by the delta variant strains the country’s health care system.

Japan, Australia and New Zealand all got through the first year of the coronavirus pandemic in relatively good shape — but now are taking diverging paths in dealing with new outbreaks of the fast-spreading delta variant.

Japan’s exports in July jumped 37% from a year ago, highlighting an overseas recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has officially expanded and extended the nation’s coronavirus state of emergency as government advisers recommend legal changes that would allow penalties for violations.

All fans will be barred from the Paralympics because of the coronavirus pandemic just as they were from the recently-completed Tokyo Olympics.

Japan’s daily coronavirus cases have topped 10,000 for more than a week.

Japan’s daily coronavirus cases have topped 10,000 for more than a week.

Macron grapples with new 'gilets jaunes' protests against vaccine passports Ditch the travel traffic light system, says former head of vaccine taskforce Middle class students will have upper hand in exam appeals system Army on standby to restock Britain’s shelves amid truck driver shortage Pubs and clubs that enforce vaccine passports could open fully during Covid surges

The government began to medically support certified survivors in 1968 after more than 20 years of effort by the survivors.

The government began to medically support certified survivors in 1968 after more than 20 years of effort by the survivors.

Meanwhile, the African Union says the first of the 400 million single-shot Johnson & Johnson doses that African countries have collectively procured on their own started arriving this week and all should be distributed by September 2022. The African Union says the 400 million doses “bring Africa halfway towards its continental goal of vaccinating at least 60% of the population.” More than half of Africa’s 54 countries are seeing a deadly resurgence in confirmed coronavirus infections.

Daily coronavirus cases in Tokyo have set records for three days straight, but Japan's prime minister denies that the Olympic Games are to blame.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga asked anyone who was planning to gather to watch the games to stay home.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Monday he has decided to grant official medical benefits to 84 Hiroshima residents who were exposed to highly radioactive “black rain” after the city's atomic bombing. Suga's decision ends a long legal battle by the central government that delayed medical aid for the “black rain” victims, who were outside a government-set boundary used to decide survivors’ eligibility for medical care. On July 14, the Hiroshima High Court upheld a lower court’s decision that the 84 are eligible for the same benefits as other atomic bomb survivors who were inside the boundary and ordered the government to certify their applications for state health care benefits.

The first lady is leading the U.S. delegation in Tokyo.

Japan's prime minister met with Pfizer's CEO in an unusually high-profile setting Friday to make sure the drugmaker would deliver the COVID-19 vaccine as promised by this fall as the nation faces supply concerns and a growing outbreak. Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Bourla, who is in Tokyo to attend Friday's opening ceremony of the Olympics, was greeted by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at the Akasaka Palace state guest house, usually used to welcome heads of state. Suga’s special hospitality for Pfizer's leader comes as Japan is seeing its vaccination drive slow as local officials pressure the central government for speedier and stable deliveries.

Experts warned on Wednesday that infections in Tokyo are likely to continue to worsen in coming weeks.

The decision to remove Kentaro Kobayashi comes a day before the opening show is due to be held.

Tokyo hit another six-month high in new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, one day before the Olympics begin, as worries grow of a worsening of infections during the Games. Thursday’s 1,979 new cases are the highest since 2,044 were recorded on Jan. 15. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is determined to hold the Olympics, placed Tokyo under a state of emergency on July 12, but daily cases have sharply increased since then.

The Olympics are supposed to be a symbol of global togetherness, but Tokyo’s are shaping up to be the unhappiest in history.

Jill Biden embarked on her first solo international trip as first lady, leading a U.S. delegation to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where the coronavirus is surging and COVID-19 infections have climbed to a six-month high. The first lady has a robust agenda for roughly 48 hours on the ground in Japan’s capital.

Tokyo is currently under its fourth state of emergency, which will last until Aug. 22, covering the entire duration of the Olympics that start Friday and end Aug. 8. Fans are banned from all venues in the Tokyo area, with limited audiences at few outlying sites. “What we have worried about is now actually happening,” Japan Medical Association President Toshio Nakagawa said at a weekly news conference.

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/GettyThe Ugandan weightlifter who disappeared in Japan after failing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics last week has been found.Julius Ssekitoleko, 20, left a note ahead of his disappearance which said that life in Uganda was too hard and he wanted to stay in Japan. He went missing last Friday and was reported to have bought a bullet train ticket to Nagoya, hundreds of kilometers away from his Izumisano hotel.Katsunobu Kato, the chief cabinet secretary to Prime Minister Yoshi

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has decided not to visit Japan for the Tokyo Summer Olympics, citing a failure to set up a summit with Japan's prime minister that would produce meaningful results in improving relations. Moon’s office said Monday that officials from Seoul and Tokyo held talks over longstanding disputes about wartime history and a “future-oriented” development of their relations, but did not find enough common ground to support a summit between their leaders. The countries had been discussing the possibility of Moon visiting Tokyo to participate in the Olympics’ opening ceremony and having talks with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga about repairing bilateral ties that have sunk to postwar lows in recent years with disputes over history, trade and military cooperation.

Leaders of Asian Pacific nations agreed on Friday to step up COVID-19 vaccination sharing as China said it has pledged $3 billion in international aid to support coronavirus response efforts in developing countries. The virtual retreat for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese Prime Minister Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Russian President Vladimir Putin was held as the delta variant is spurring a spike in infections around the globe.

Tokyo reported its highest number of new COVID-19 cases in almost six months on Wednesday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said with the Tokyo Olympics opening in just over a week. The surging numbers came out on the same day that International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach paid a courtesy call in Tokyo on Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Suga and Bach have both pledged that the Tokyo Olympics will be “safe and secure” despite the games opening with Tokyo and neighboring prefectures under a national government-imposed state of emergency.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam has been postponed due to ongoing Covid-19, the Olympic Council of Malaysia said on July 8. The 31st edition of the Southeast Asian Games was earlier scheduled from Nov. 21 to Dec. 2, 2021. “The Southeast Asian Games Federation which met today agreed to postpone the organization of the 31st Southeast Asian Games 2021 to the year 2022,” an official statement read. “The Southeast Asian Games Federation members praised the work done thus far by the Vietnam Organising Committee but took note of the current conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Southeast Asian region.”A new date will now be determined by the Southeast Asian Games Federation Council. The countries participating in the Southeast Asian Games are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.

The decision comes as Tokyo prepares for a state of emergency in response to a surge in Covid-19.

Growing alarm about the Tokyo games resulting in a surge of coronavirus cases has pushed Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to announce a new round of emergency measures.

Global stock markets and Wall Street futures fell Thursday after the Federal Reserve talked about possibly reducing U.S. economic stimulus. London and Frankfurt opened more than 1% lower while Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong also retreated. Also Thursday, South Korea reported a one-day record increase of 1,275 new coronavirus infections, adding to gloom about the disease.

While Japanese fans may not be able to attend the Tokyo Olympics, the Games are expected to be staged as scheduled.

Authorities say they have arrested a New Jersey bank robbery suspect seen on surveillance video as a red dye pack explodes during his escape. (July 5)

More than 1,000 soldiers, firefighters and police on Sunday waded through a giant mudslide that ripped through a resort town southwest of Tokyo, killing at least two people and leaving about 20 missing as it swept away houses and cars. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters 19 people had been rescued, and 130 homes damaged in Atami. “The area is still having heavy rainfall, but arduous rescue efforts will continue,” Suga said, warning residents to watch out for more landslides.

The government is dispatching an emergency task force to the area around Atami, which has seen heavy rain.