TOKYO (Reuters) – A U.S. envoy for North Korea sidestepped questions on Thursday on the nature of a surprise visit to Pyongyang by an aide to Japan’s prime minister, but said all sides tackling North Korea’s nuclear ambitions should coordinate closely.

Isao Iijima’s trip to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and his talks with senior officials there have irritated South Korea and analysts said possibly the United States as well, although China has been more positive about it.

TOKYO, May 16 (Reuters) – Anyone expecting a broad overhaul
of Japan’s economy that would remove barriers to competition
will likely be disappointed when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
launches his “Third Arrow” policy next month, but those with
more modest expectations may be pleased.

Abe has promised to make structural reform and deregulation
a key part of his growth strategy, the third tranche of his
“Abenomics” prescription after hyper-easy monetary policy and
big spending.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Shinzo Abe makes no secret of wanting to revise Japan’s constitution, which was drafted by the United States after World War Two, to formalize the country’s right to have a military – but critics say his plans go deeper and could return Japan to its socially conservative, authoritarian past.

Abe, 58, returned to office in December for a second term as prime minister and is enjoying sky-high support on the back of his “Abenomics” recipe for reviving the economy through hyper-easy monetary policy, big spending and structural reform.

TOKYO (Reuters) – When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holds a ceremony on Sunday to mark a day in history that few voters give much thought, he will also be quietly pushing his agenda to break free from Japan’s post-war pacifism that could risk inflaming regional tensions.

This week’s friction with China and South Korea over disputed territory and history showed once more that the past still looms large over diplomacy in East Asia.

TOKYO (Reuters) – If past is precedent, optimists hoping Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will defy vested interests to take bold action to open the country to more competition as a way to spur growth could well be in for disappointment.

Japan’s list of reports urging reforms date back almost three decades and have rarely led to the bold action that critics say is needed to dig the economy out of stagnation.

TOKYO (Reuters) – If past is precedent, optimists hoping Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will defy vested interests to take bold action to open the country to more competition as a way to spur growth could well be in for disappointment.

Japan’s list of reports urging reforms date back almost three decades and have rarely led to the bold action that critics say is needed to dig the economy out of stagnation.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese court rulings declaring December’s election invalid in some districts are highlighting an electoral system that critics say gives the rural elderly excessive influence compared with younger urbanites at elections.

That inclines politicians to push policies that favor welfare and protectionism at the expense of measures to boost economic growth, the critics say, and so could act as a drag on efforts to reform the economy and lower barriers to trade.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s government should steer clear of picking industrial winners and losers and focus on opening the economy to trade and competition as the best way to boost growth, but not all those advising Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agree on which strategy to stress, a member of a panel on industrial competitiveness said.

“We don’t have explicit confrontations and we don’t yell at each other in meetings, but I am sure that there are different philosophies about how, and how much, the government should be involved in creating the strategy and reforming particular industries,” Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO of e-commerce operator Rakuten Inc (4755.OS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed on Monday to speed up rebuilding from the huge earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis that struck Japan’s northeast two years ago, promising that the nation would emerge stronger from its worst disaster since World War Two.

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m., triggering tsunami waves as high as 30 meters (100 feet) that swept away residents and their homes. Nearly 19,000 people died and some 315,000 evacuees were stranded, including refugees from radiation spewed from the devastated Fukushima atomic plant.

TOKYO, March 11 (Reuters) – Japan honours the victims of its
worst disaster since World War Two on Monday: the March 11, 2011
earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis that killed almost 19,000
people and stranded 315,000 evacuees, including refugees who
fled radiation from the devastated Fukushima atomic plant.

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck northeast Japan at 2:46
p.m., triggering tsunami waves as high as 30 metres (100 feet)
that swept away residents and their homes.