The Latest Breaking News from Japan

In its economic heyday of the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a curious phenomenon of Hollywood celebrities showing up in Japanese commercials: Arnold Schwarzenegger hawking instant noodles, Harrison Ford pitching Kirin beer. To this day, Tommy Lee Jones still appears in a long-standing series advertising canned coffee.

Asia’s rising threats have convinced Tokyo to abandon its defense taboos.

Japan unveiled on Friday a record 114.4 trillion yen ($863 billion) budget for the next fiscal year from April, pushed up by increased military spending and higher social security costs of catering to a fast-ageing population, piling on more debt.

Japan on Friday said it will hike defence spending by more than a quarter next year including $1.6 billion to buy U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles that will be part of its biggest military build-up since World War Two.

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast on Friday, the South Korean military said, the latest in an unprecedented number of missile tests this year.

Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering swapping out select members of his cabinet in January in a bid to reverse his low popularity, news agency Kyodo reported on Friday, citing multiple government sources.

Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering replacing scandal-tainted reconstruction minister Kenya Akiba as early as Monday, ANN reported on Friday.

Japan is set to unveil on Friday a record $864 billion budget for the next fiscal year from April, pushed up by increased military spending and higher social security costs for a fast-ageing population, according to a final draft reviewed by Reuters.

Yamaha has debuted the Cygnus Griffus Monster Energy Edition commuter scooter in the Japanese market. It features a MotoGP-inspired livery.