China escalates tactics targeting Japan's control over Senkaku islands
On May 3, a helicopter took off from a China Coast Guard vessel that had entered Japanese territorial waters. A Japan Coast Guard patrol boat confirmed the sighting and issued a warning. Japan Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets scrambled from Naha Air Base in Okinawa prefecture.
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The Mainichi
an hour ago
- The Mainichi
Mayor seeks removal of US military facility in Tokyo's Roppongi amid chopper concerns
TOKYO -- The Akasaka Press Center in Tokyo's Roppongi district is one of a number of locations that have been used by U.S. military forces in Japan since the end of the Pacific War in 1945. The capital's Minato Ward, which houses the site, has long called on the Japanese government to remove it due to noise from helicopters and concerns about the possibility of accidents. In an interview with the Mainichi Shimbun in May this year, Minato Ward Mayor Ai Seike, 50, noted changes in the surrounding environment, such as the increase in high-rise buildings and flight congestion resulting from the new Haneda flight routes. "There are structural dangers and I want to continue to seek its removal. The mayor has a responsibility to protect the safety of the ward and the lives of its residents," she emphasized. Facility located in heart of Roppongi's entertainment district Seike was born and raised in Minato Ward and after working as a newspaper reporter, served as a ward councilor for 13 years before being elected as mayor in June last year. As for why she is asking for the removal of the facility, she said, "The center, equipped with a heliport, is located in the heart of Roppongi's entertainment district, where high-rise buildings like Roppongi Hills stand and where people from all over Japan and the world gather. The rising height of buildings in the surrounding area is making the situation increasingly dangerous." Seike also cited the opening of the new Haneda flight routes in 2020, in which planes landing at Haneda Airport fly low over the city center, and the fact that U.S. military helicopters using the center now pass under these routes. Concerns about structural dangers In January this year, a U.S. military helicopter collided with a passenger plane in Washington, D.C., killing 67 people. Seike noted with concern that the accident occurred at the crossing point of the two aircraft. The helicopter involved was a Black Hawk, the same type that flies to the Akasaka Press Center. "The conditions are similar to those in the airspace over Roppongi, and the risk of a collision was made real to the nearby residents of the center. Although the government has explained safety measures, there is a structural danger with U.S. military helicopters crossing paths with passenger planes. The damage from an accident would be enormous," she said. Flying low over children's heads The mayor also feels concerned that U.S. military helicopters using the center fly low over children playing in the adjacent Tokyo Metropolitan Aoyama Park. Seike herself has witnessed U.S. military helicopters flying close by with her child and remarked, "While it's become a normal sight locally, it feels strange when viewed objectively. From a safety perspective, it would be preferable to remove the center and integrate the site into a metropolitan park." A responsibility to ensure safety In March this year, it was announced that a U.S. Forces Japan satellite office had been set up at the Akasaka Press Center. The new department, which will coordinate with the Japanese Ministry of Defense's Joint Operations Command, is expected to become fully operational in the future. According to the ward, residents have expressed concerns that helicopter traffic between Yokota Air Base, where the command is located, and the Akasaka Press Center may increase, heightening noise and accident risks. Seike stressed, "I will continue to persistently call on the government to secure safety, provide information and ensure that strengthening of functions does not lead to the center's permanence." She added, "I fully understand that the security environment surrounding Japan is growing tougher, but the mayor has a responsibility to separate security issues and protect the safety of the ward and residents' lives. If the mayor doesn't properly explain the situation to the government and make an appeal, who will protect them?" Japanese government not negotiating on relocation The land where the center is located was seized by the U.S. military immediately after the war. The heliport is primarily used by military helicopters belonging to U.S. bases in the suburbs of the capital, and the site also includes the office of the U.S. military's semi-official newspaper, Stars and Stripes, and lodging quarters for U.S. military personnel. The Minato Ward Assembly has requested the return of the land and sought noise countermeasures since 1967, and the ward government has also done so since 1991. Although there was a period when the Japanese government also asked the U.S. military to relocate the facility, it is currently not even negotiating with the U.S. military at this stage, stating, "The heliport is a facility that enables the rapid transportation of U.S. VIPs and others and is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty." Status of Forces Agreement forms background to issue An investigation by the Mainichi Shimbun revealed that U.S. military helicopters using the center, such as the Black Hawk, repeatedly fly over the city center at altitudes that would be illegally low for Japanese helicopters. The background to the Japanese government's tacit acceptance of this is formed by the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, which grants various privileges to U.S. military aircraft including exemptions from altitude standards under Japan's Civil Aeronautics Act. Seike cites the fact that Japan's Civil Aeronautics Act is not applied to U.S. military aircraft as an additional reason for requesting the center's removal.
Kyodo News
5 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Kyodo News Digest: Aug. 17, 2025
TOKYO - The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News. ---------- Japan eyes addressing possible mistreatment of foreign knowledge workers TOKYO - Japan's immigration agency plans to step up efforts to address the potential mistreatment of foreign nationals holding knowledge worker visas and employed through temporary staffing agencies, finding some have been inappropriately assigned to menial labor, a source familiar with the matter said Saturday. The Immigration Services Agency plans to examine the working conditions of foreigners holding the visa supposedly for engineers and specialists in humanities and international services -- a visa that allows them to work in Japan for a long period of time as there are no limits in seeking extensions. ---------- Smoke that halted bullet train in central Japan came from underfloor device NAGOYA - JR Central said Saturday that a fire originating from a piece of equipment under the floor of a carriage forced a bullet train to stop the previous night at a station in central Japan, affecting the journeys of thousands of people. After leaving Osaka for Shizuoka, a conductor noticed a burning smell in one of the cars while the Tokaido Shinkansen Line train was running between stations in Shiga and Gifu prefectures, according to the train operator. ---------- Trump-Putin summit ends without deal on Ukraine cease-fire ANCHORAGE, Alaska - U.S. President Donald Trump ended a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday without a deal on a cease-fire in the yearslong war between Ukraine and Russia. The summit meeting, held without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, marked the first direct talks between the leaders of the United States and Russia since Moscow's full-scale invasion began in 2022. ---------- Japan lodges protest with S. Korea over marine survey near disputed islets TOKYO - The Japanese Foreign Ministry said Saturday it has lodged a "strong protest" with South Korea over suspected maritime research near islets in the Sea of Japan that are controlled by Seoul but claimed by Tokyo. Japan protested on Friday after confirming a South Korean survey ship had lowered what appeared to be a wire in "Japanese territorial waters" off the islets, called Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, the ministry said. ---------- Subcontractors protest unpaid work on 8 overseas Osaka expo pavilions OSAKA - Subcontractors involved in the construction of eight overseas pavilions at the World Exposition in Osaka are claiming they have not been paid for their work, with organizers and the prefectural government offering little help in what they have deemed is a private matter. Some subcontractors are preparing to sue GL Events Japan, the prime contractor for four of the overseas pavilions involved in nonpayment disputes. Around 20 subcontractors gathered in protest in front of the French company's Japan branch in Osaka city on July 10, demanding to be paid. ---------- Another senior China party official detained for questioning: report BEIJING - Another senior international liaison official of China's ruling Communist Party was detained in early August around the same time her boss was taken away by authorities for questioning, Reuters news agency said Friday, but the party later denied the report, citing her presence at a reception. The report said Sun Haiyan, deputy chief of the party's International Liaison Department, was detained by Chinese authorities in connection with the questioning of Liu Jianchao, who heads the department and was widely considered a potential candidate for China's foreign minister. ---------- Pricier tickets for fireworks, theme parks test summer holidaymakers TOKYO - The scorching summer heat may be forcing some holiday goers to rethink their vacation plans, but leisure businesses have shown no hesitation in raising ticket prices for those seeking assurance of quality time. About 80 percent of the 106 fireworks festivals surveyed in Japan offer paid seats this year, with the average "premium" ticket fee, which promises nice viewing and seating along with other luxury features, jumping 7.2 percent from a year earlier to 36,193 yen ($240) per seat, with some over 50,000 yen, according to research firm Teikoku Databank. ---------- Football: Endo assists, dedicates Liverpool's season-opening win to Jota LIVERPOOL, England - Wataru Endo dedicated Liverpool's English Premier League season-opening win to the late Diogo Jota on Friday after the Japan captain helped launch the defense of their title with an assist in a dramatic 4-2 home win over Bournemouth. The first fixture of the campaign was preceded by and concluded with Liverpool fans singing their chant for Jota, the former Portugal forward who died along with his younger brother in a car crash on July 3 in northwestern Spain. ---------- VIDEO: Traditional Indian dance performed at Osaka Expo
6 hours ago
80 Years On: Concerns Rising over Lack of Okinawa Backers in LDP
News from Japan Politics Aug 17, 2025 08:00 (JST) Tokyo, Aug. 17 (Jiji Press)--With this year marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, concerns are rising in Okinawa Prefecture over the dwindling number of lawmakers in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party who put weight on measures to support the development of the southernmost Japan prefecture. In the past, many influential politicians put efforts into promoting the economic development of the prefecture out of a sense of atonement for fierce battles waged in Okinawa between the former Japanese military and Allied powers in the late stage of the war and for the postwar U.S. occupation of the region. At present, not many lawmakers are putting priority on Okinawa after measures taken by the Japanese government in the past for the development of the prefecture produced certain results. "There were many lawmakers supportive of Okinawa," Kosuke Gushi, an 80-year-old former Okinawa prefectural assembly member of the LDP, said in an interview on Monday. Gushi delivered a speech as a youth representative in a ceremony in May 1972 to mark Okinawa's return to Japan from the United States. Particularly prominent was former Minister of International Trade and Industry Sadanori Yamanaka. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
