Latest news with #WorldWarII
2 hours ago
- General
Okinawa Remains at Mercy of Armed Forces: Expert
News from Japan Society Jun 20, 2025 09:30 (JST) Tokyo, June 20 (Jiji Press)--Residents of Okinawa Prefecture continue to be at the mercy of armed forces since World War II, Takeshi Yamaguchi, an expert working to share testimonies of war survivors in the southernmost Japanese prefecture, said. Survivors wish for the island prefecture to never become a battlefield again, said Yamaguchi, professor of social studies education at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa. The prefecture hosts many U.S. military bases, following its occupation by U.S. armed forces after Japan's defeat in the Battle of Okinawa in the closing days of World War II. The Battle of Okinawa was the biggest land battle in the Pacific Theater of the war, killing some 200,000 people including civilians. The U.S. military stormed the main island of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, after landing on the nearby Kerama Islands on March 26 that year. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Kyodo News
3 hours ago
- Business
- Kyodo News
Kyodo News Digest: June 20, 2025
KYODO NEWS - 1 hour ago - 08:26 | All, Japan, World The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News. ---------- Japan destroyer sails Taiwan Strait after China jet encounter TOKYO - A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait last week, days after a Chinese fighter jet flew dangerously close to a Japanese patrol plane over the Pacific, diplomatic sources said Thursday. It was the third known passage through the waterway by an MSDF ship, with all occurring within the past year, apparently aimed at warning China, which continues to pressure Taiwan, the self-ruled democratic island it claims as its own. ---------- Japan's core consumer prices in May rise 3.7% on year TOKYO - Japan's core consumer prices in May rose 3.7 percent from a year earlier, government data showed Friday. The increase in the nationwide consumer price index, excluding volatile fresh food, followed a 3.5 percent rise in April. The inflation rate has remained at or above the Bank of Japan's 2 percent target since April 2022. ---------- Japan PM Ishiba rules out lower house dissolution for now: lawmaker TOKYO - Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday ruled out dissolving the powerful House of Representatives for now, ensuring that elections for both chambers of parliament will not be held on the same day in July, party executives said. The decision comes as Yoshihiko Noda, head of Japan's main opposition party, said he will not submit a no-confidence motion against Ishiba's Cabinet, arguing that such a move would stall progress on key political issues. ---------- Xi seeks Middle East cease-fire in phone call with Putin BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a cease-fire amid Iran-Israel tensions during phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, describing it as an "urgent priority," the Foreign Ministry said. Xi said the international community should make efforts to de-escalate the situation and that disputes should be resolved through negotiations rather than force, stressing the need to protect civilians, according to the Chinese ministry. ---------- Emperor renews peace hope in Hiroshima for 80th anniv. of war's end HIROSHIMA - Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Thursday renewed their hope for peace as they visited Hiroshima to pay their respects to atomic bomb victims on the 80th anniversary year of the end of World War II. In their first trip to the city since the emperor's accession in 2019, the imperial couple laid white flowers and bowed deeply at a cenotaph in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which holds the names of around 340,000 victims of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing. ---------- Japan PM vows to develop ties with S. Korea on 60th diplomatic anniv. TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday pledged to continue working closely with South Korea at a ceremony in Tokyo to commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties, despite wartime and territorial disputes. "We need to continue close communication so that the bilateral relationship will steadily develop," Ishiba said in a speech at the reception held by the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo, welcoming the vast exchanges that have taken place between what he called "the closest neighbors to each other." ---------- Nippon Steel confident management freedom ensured in U.S. Steel deal TOKYO - Nippon Steel Corp.'s top executive Eiji Hashimoto said Thursday that the U.S. government's role set under its $14.1 billion buyout of United States Steel Corp. "will not hamper" the U.S. unit's business going forward. At a press conference in Tokyo, Hashimoto said $11 billion of investment in U.S. Steel operations -- 10 times more than the initial plan -- and a golden share issued to the U.S. government that allows it to veto key management decisions among other conditions are rational, even as analysts view them as downside risks to U.S. Steel's management. ---------- Honda president eager to collaborate with Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors TOKYO - Honda Motor Co. President Toshihiro Mibe expressed his eagerness to collaborate with Nissan Motor Co. and its alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp. during a general shareholders meeting on Thursday, after merger talks with Nissan collapsed earlier this year. Asked about the likelihood of revisiting a merger with Nissan, which fell through due to disagreements over management structure, Mibe said it was not possible "for the time being." Video: "Phantom bridge" begins to sink beneath the waters of Lake Nukabira in Hokkaido
NBC News
4 hours ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Trump is relying on a small circle of advisers as he weighs Iran strikes
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is increasingly relying on a small group of advisers for critical input as he weighs whether to order U.S. military action in Iran targeting its nuclear program, according to two defense officials and a senior administration official. At the same time, another senior administration official said, Trump has been crowdsourcing with an array of allies outside the White House and in his administration about whether they think he should greenlight strikes in Iran — a question that has divided his core supporters. Despite routinely asking a broader group of people what they think he should do, Trump tends to make many decisions with just a handful of administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also the interim national security adviser, the senior administration official said. Trump also leans on his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, when he weighs decisions that fall under his portfolio, the official said. As he decides whether to directly involve the United States in a war with Iran, Trump has expanded his circle in some ways while shrinking it in others. He has sidelined National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, who opposes U.S. strikes in Iran, and he has not been routinely turning to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as part of his decision-making process, according to the two defense officials and the senior administration official. Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell pushed back against the notion that Hegseth has not been heavily involved. "This claim is completely false. The Secretary is speaking with the President multiple times a day each day and has been with the President in the Situation Room this week," Parnell said in a statement. "Secretary Hegseth is providing the leadership the Department of Defense and our Armed Forces need, and he will continue to work diligently in support of President Trump's peace through strength agenda." Trump is listening to Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. Erik Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command; and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, the two defense officials and a former administration official said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that Trump will decide whether the United States should get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict within the next two weeks. In contrast to virtually every president before him since World War II, Trump does not rely on senior officials to carefully prepare foreign policy and military options and then discuss them with him in a structured, deliberate way, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter. He discusses foreign policy with officials in his administration, as well as a myriad of foreign leaders and contacts outside the government. But those discussions are more informal and freewheeling. As a result, there are arguably fewer opportunities for officials or senior military commanders to question his assumptions or raise concerns about a course of action, the two sources said. When Trump announced last month that he was lifting sanctions on Syria after he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, senior officials were taken by surprise, the two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Treasury Department officials had no warning that he would make such an announcement, and no technical preparations had been made to carry out a step that required discussions with foreign banks and Syrian government officials, the sources said. Since he returned to the White House in January, Trump has drastically scaled back the National Security Council, which traditionally collaborates with other federal agencies to craft policy options and outline their possible consequences, particularly when it comes to possible military action.
Japan Today
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Today
Emperor, empress commemorate A-bomb victims in Hiroshima
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako lay flowers at the cenotaph at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on Thursday. Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Thursday renewed their hope for peace as they visited Hiroshima to pay their respects to atomic bomb victims on the 80th anniversary year of the end of World War II. In their first trip to the city since the emperor's accession in 2019, the imperial couple laid white flowers and bowed deeply at a cenotaph in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which holds the names of around 340,000 victims of the Aug 6, 1945, atomic bombing. They later visited an exhibition hall in the park displaying relics of the atomic bombing, where the emperor remarked that it was "heartbreaking" to learn the area near the hypocenter had once been a densely populated residential neighborhood. At the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the couple viewed photographs depicting the devastation and a panel display on Nihon Hidankyo, Japan's leading atomic bomb survivors' group and the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. They then listened to stories from three survivors in their early 90s, joined by two younger people in their 20s and 30s who are helping pass on memories of the bombing. "We mourn the people who died by the dropping of the atomic bomb 80 years ago. We also thought about the hardships the people of Hiroshima have gone through until now and renewed our hope for peace," the imperial couple said in a statement released after their trip. Emperor Naruhito's grandfather, Emperor Hirohito -- posthumously known as Emperor Showa -- first visited Hiroshima after the bombing in December 1947. Calls to hold Emperor Hirohito accountable for Japan's actions continued long after the war, with his comment at a 1975 press conference that the bombings were "unavoidable" causing further controversy. Meanwhile, Emperor Naruhito's parents, former Emperor Akihito and former Empress Michiko, visited the cenotaph in Hiroshima five times during his reign. They also visited hospitals and nursing homes for atomic bomb survivors, showing deep concern for their suffering. The imperial couple observes a moment of silence every year on four days commemorating World War II -- Okinawa Memorial Day, the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the anniversary of Japan's surrender -- a tradition that the current emperor and his wife have followed. Emperor Naruhito last visited the cenotaph in October 2006 when he was still crown prince, while Empress Masako last joined him around 25 years ago in November 2000. As part of memorial visits to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, the couple in April visited Iwoto Island, formerly known as Iwojima, the site of a fierce battle in the Pacific between Japan and the United States, and Okinawa earlier this month with their daughter, Princess Aiko. The imperial couple are scheduled to visit Nagasaki, the other atomic-bombed city, in September. © KYODO
Kyodo News
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Kyodo News
Emperor renews peace hope in Hiroshima for 80th anniv. of war's end
KYODO NEWS - 5 hours ago - 00:05 | Japan, All Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Thursday renewed their hope for peace as they visited Hiroshima to pay their respects to atomic bomb victims on the 80th anniversary year of the end of World War II. In their first trip to the city since the emperor's accession in 2019, the imperial couple laid white flowers and bowed deeply at a cenotaph in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which holds the names of around 340,000 victims of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing. They later visited an exhibition hall in the park displaying relics of the atomic bombing, where the emperor remarked that it was "heartbreaking" to learn the area near the hypocenter had once been a densely populated residential neighborhood. At the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the couple viewed photographs depicting the devastation and a panel display on Nihon Hidankyo, Japan's leading atomic bomb survivors' group and the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. They then listened to stories from three survivors in their early 90s, joined by two younger people in their 20s and 30s who are helping pass on memories of the bombing. "We mourn the people who died by the dropping of the atomic bomb 80 years ago. We also thought about the hardships the people of Hiroshima have gone through until now and renewed our hope for peace," the imperial couple said in a statement released after their trip. Emperor Naruhito's grandfather, Emperor Hirohito -- posthumously known as Emperor Showa -- first visited Hiroshima after the bombing in December 1947. Calls to hold Emperor Hirohito accountable for Japan's actions continued long after the war, with his comment at a 1975 press conference that the bombings were "unavoidable" causing further controversy. Meanwhile, Emperor Naruhito's parents, former Emperor Akihito and former Empress Michiko, visited the cenotaph in Hiroshima five times during his reign. They also visited hospitals and nursing homes for atomic bomb survivors, showing deep concern for their suffering. The imperial couple observes a moment of silence every year on four days commemorating World War II -- Okinawa Memorial Day, the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the anniversary of Japan's surrender -- a tradition that the current emperor and his wife have followed. Emperor Naruhito last visited the cenotaph in October 2006 when he was still crown prince, while Empress Masako last joined him around 25 years ago in November 2000. As part of memorial visits to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, the couple in April visited Iwoto Island, formerly known as Iwojima, the site of a fierce battle in the Pacific between Japan and the United States, and Okinawa earlier this month with their daughter, Princess Aiko. The imperial couple are scheduled to visit Nagasaki, the other atomic-bombed city, in September. Related coverage: Japan imperial couple, Princess Aiko honor war dead in Okinawa Nagasaki considering Taiwan's request to attend A-bomb ceremony FEATURE: Silent witnesses: A-bomb trees carrying on aging survivors' legacy
