• U.S., Japan grapple over trade issues during Obama's visit

    U.S., Japan grapple over trade issues during Obama's visit

    Apr 25, 2014 12:11 AM EDT

    Obama cannot appear as if he is being weak in terms of promoting U.S. automobile interests vis-a-vis Japan. JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you expect there to be some progress on this? MIKE MOCHIZUKI: Well, I certainly hope so. And this is very important for President Obama. Many people ...

  • Obama kicks off four-nation Asia tour with visit to Japan

    Obama kicks off four-nation Asia tour with visit to Japan

    Apr 23, 2014 11:47 PM EDT

    ... angry words from China and North Korea. When the president landed in Tokyo in the evening, he was the first U.S. leader to visit Japan in nearly two decades. Mr. Obama was greeted by U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, who joined him for a sushi dinner with Japanese Prime ...

  • An anxious Japan awaits Obama visit

    An anxious Japan awaits Obama visit

    Apr 14, 2014 08:57 PM EDT

    ... specifically from the president they want and expect a reaffirmation of statements already made by his secretaries of state and defense that the U.S.-Japan security treaty commits the U.S. to come to Japan's aid if the growing tensions between Japan and China over the Senkaku-Diaoyu ...

  • Hagel delivers destroyers to Japan and a strong warning to North Korea and China

    Hagel delivers destroyers to Japan and a strong warning to North Korea and China

    Apr 06, 2014 03:45 PM EDT

    ... Asian defense ministers, talking about efforts to improve defense and humanitarian assistance cooperation. Japan is his second stop, where he said he wants to assure Japanese leaders that the U.S. is strongly committed to protecting their country's security. Japan and China have been engaged in a long, bitter ...

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    UN court orders Japan to stop whaling program

    Mar 31, 2014 10:37 PM EDT

    ... Japan has been ordered to immediately halt whaling off Antarctica after the United Nations’ International Court of Justice voted on Monday, 12 to 4, against Japan’s JARPA II special permits. The permits grant Japan the right to harvest whales for scientific research. Japan has killed as many as 3 ...

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    Japanese Court awards retrial for world’s longest-serving death row inmate

    Mar 27, 2014 10:13 PM EDT

    ... judge to revoke the capital punishment and grant the release of the inmate following a retrial, overturning the original verdict that was upheld by the Japanese Supreme Court back in 1980. The court decided that it is most likely that investigators might have fabricated evidence during the initial trial. Japan ...

  • Japan surrenders part of its nuclear stockpile for disposal

    Japan surrenders part of its nuclear stockpile for disposal

    Mar 25, 2014 12:28 AM EDT

    ... insecure, this fissile material, then what took so long? MATTHEW BUNN, Harvard University: Well, this is something the United States has been talking about with Japan for some years. And I wouldn't say that it was very insecure in Japan. There have been some important security improvements there in ...

  • Japan to turn over large nuclear stockpile to the U.S.

    Japan to turn over large nuclear stockpile to the U.S.

    Mar 24, 2014 02:58 PM EDT

    ... and Japanese officials confirmed the plan Monday, ahead of a formal announcement at a Nuclear Security Summit set to get underway in the Netherlands. A Japanese foreign ministry official said the two countries had been discussing the transfer for some time as part of efforts to resolve concerns over Japan ...

  • Ex-dolphin hunter denounces Japanese tradition

    Ex-dolphin hunter denounces Japanese tradition

    Mar 19, 2014 10:57 PM EDT

    ... contradicting the Japanese government’s claims that the practice is a century-old tradition, but instead had originated as late as 1969. Ishii told The Japan Times on Monday that mentors taught him and other fishermen in Futo, Japan, how to round up and kill massive amounts of dolphins in ...

  • Japan considers energy future after Fukushima

    Japan considers energy future after Fukushima

    Mar 13, 2014 11:54 PM EDT

    ... JUDY WOODRUFF: It's been three years since a tsunami destroyed the Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan, and forced the government to shut down the plants that remained. Today, regulators announced they would speed up safety checks on a pair of idle reactors in southwest Japan, a key step ...