After more than three years, the leader of Japanese junior coalition partner Komeito is reportedly eyeing visiting China to exert influence on improving China-Japan relations, which have deteriorated in recent years due to hot-button issues including the Diaoyu Islands and the Taiwan question.
Plans to dump nuclear contaminated water into the sea pose more danger in Japan despite government efforts to woo Fukushima residents back as Tokyo lifted an evacuation order on Tuesday for part of a town hosting the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot on Friday while campaigning in the city of Nara, with public broadcaster NHK saying he appeared to have been shot from behind by a man with a shotgun.
Japan has hanged three death row inmates, in the country’s first executions since December 2019, amid growing criticism of its use of the death penalty.