TOKYO—An explosion tore through a building in downtown Tokyo on Monday, scattering debris across a busy intersection and sending smoke into the air, but the fire was soon contained, Japanese media said. Four people were injured, three seriously, but all were conscious, said public broadcaster NHK, which aired video images of flames through the windows…

China’s People Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) reportedly sent its amphibious assault ship to the straits between the islands of Japan on June 29, the first known instance of the warship being spotted in the Western Pacific. Japan’s Ministry of Defense said that two PLAN ships—the Type 075 amphibious assault ship Guangxi and the Type 052…

Two Russian frigates were spotted sailing off the waters near Taiwan and Japanese-controlled Okinawa islands between June 27 and June 30, Japan’s military said, amid rising tensions in the region. Japan’s Joint Staff said the two Steregushchy-class frigates were first detected 70 kilometers (43 miles) southwest of the Yonaguni island in Okinawa prefecture near Taiwan…

Japan will reinstate South Korea to its list of preferred trading partners on July 21—the first time in four years since they downgraded each other’s trading status over historical disputes. Japanese Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on June 27 that the two countries have agreed to establish a follow-up framework for reviewing the…

Australia and Japan have conducted military exercises in the highly contested South China Sea as both countries seek to quell Beijing’s influence in the Indo-Pacific. The military exercises took place from June 24-25 and followed the signing of a Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation (JDSC) in October 2022 that seeks closer defence and security ties…

Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, has filed a lawsuit against the carmaker he once ran and about another dozen individuals in Beirut, Lebanon, over his imprisonment in Japan, for over $1 billion. Ghosn filed a lawsuit with the Beirut prosecutor’s office to stop what he says was misinformation spread against him, in his latest effort…

TOKYO—Five people were killed and 12 others taken to the hospital after a truck collided with a bus in Hokkaido in northern Japan, according to local media reports. Police said the truck might have strayed into oncoming traffic, Kyodo news agency reported. The bus was carrying 15 passengers at the time of the accident, which…

A Hong Kong student was indicted on Thursday for posting “seditious” comments online while staying in Japan, a case that brought attention to the enforcement of the national security law for comments made overseas. The student, identified as 23-year-old Yuen Ching-ting, was arrested in March upon her arrival from Japan to renew her identity card….

The United States, Japan, and the Philippines have pledged to bolster their trilateral defense capabilities, including holding multilateral joint naval drills in the Indo-Pacific waters where tensions have risen. National security adviser Jake Sullivan met with his Japanese and Philippine counterparts for the first time in Tokyo, Japan, on June 15 to discuss enhancing trilateral…

Japan’s parliament on Friday passed new legislation that redefines nonconsensual sex as rape and raises the age of sexual consent from 13 to 16 in a major revamp of the country’s century-old sex crime laws. The new laws outline eight acts that constitute a victim’s lack of sexual consent, including being assaulted while under the…