Brazil's Lula to build trade ties with Japan during state visit
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba are also expected to discuss the joint development of biofuels ahead of November's COP30 U.N. climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon.
In talks on Wednesday, the leaders will reportedly restate their commitment to free trade following U.S. President Donald Trump's levies on steel and other imports.
"Everyone who was talking about free trade is now practicing protectionism," Lula, 79, said ahead of his departure.
"I think this protectionism is absurd," he told Japanese media.
Brazil is the second-largest exporter of steel to the United States after Canada, accounting for 4 million metric tons in 2024.
Lula and Ishiba will likely agree to regular visits between the leaders of both their countries and to establishing strategic dialogue on security and other matters, Japanese media reported.
The pair may also affirm the importance of the rules-based international order, a phrase often used to make a veiled dig at Chinese foreign policy.
A welcome ceremony will be held for the left-wing president on Tuesday at Tokyo's Imperial Palace, followed by a state banquet that evening.
It will be Lula's third visit to Japan, the world's fourth-largest economy, as president of Brazil.
Ramping up Brazilian exports to Japan — from beef to planes — is a key objective for Lula, who on Wednesday will attend an economic forum aimed at forging new opportunities.
China is currently Brazil's top trading partner, with Japan trailing behind as its 11th largest partner globally, according to Brazilian officials.
Brazil has "increased its commercial dependence on China in recent years," Karina Calandrin, a professor at business school Ibmec in Sao Paulo, said.
But since taking office in January, Trump has slapped tariffs amounting to a 20% hike on Chinese overseas shipments, which last year reached record levels.
This, Calandrin said, "puts Brazil at risk, making it more vulnerable to any change in the international scenario."
Yet efforts to diversify foreign trade could prove difficult given the South American powerhouse's "structural dependence" on commerce with China, said Roberto Goulart, an international relations professor at Brasilia University.
A more balanced trade landscape for Brazil in the Asia-Pacific region is unlikely in "the short term," he said.
Meanwhile, Tokyo could see stronger ties with Brasilia as a way to keep Brazil from forming a closer relationship with China and Russia, fellow members of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies.
Brazil is home to the world's largest Japanese diaspora, a holdover of mass migration in the early 20th century.
Last year, Lula's government issued a historic apology for its persecution of Japanese immigrants during and after World War II.
Thousands living along the coast of Sao Paulo were forced off of their land in 1943, while at least 150 Japanese immigrants and their offspring later wound up incarcerated on a remote island.
An apology is "the least we can do to acknowledge our mistakes in the past," Lula told Japanese media ahead of the trip.
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Japan Today
an hour ago
- Japan Today
Seeking out the legacy of the ¥10,000 man
By Vicki L Beyer One year ago Japan issued newly designed banknotes, with the old notes remaining legal tender while slowly being phased out. It is always difficult for authorities to choose whose faces should appear on currency. Particularly noteworthy in 2024 was the face chosen for the 10,000 yen note. It had been philosopher/reformer Yukichi Fukuzawa (1835-1901) for 40 years. The new note features the face of Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931), an industrialist widely regarded as the father of the Japan's modern economic system. Image: Shibusawa is said to have been involved in the establishment of as many as 500 companies during his lifetime. He founded Japan's first modern bank, as well as the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He was also involved in a number of social, community, and diplomatic initiatives. Physical remnants of his legacy can be seen across Tokyo. Shibusawa Memorial Museum The Shibusawa Memorial Museum sits inside Asukayama Park, just a few minutes' walk from Oji Station. Shibusawa had a long association with this area, once a village on the outskirts of Tokyo, but now inside the city limits. He founded the Oji Paper Company nearby in 1873 and later had a home on the site that has become Asukayama Park. The home was destroyed by aerial bombing during World War II, but Shibusawa's influence lives on in the Shibusawa Memorial Museum. A photo montage provides an apt illustration of Shibusawa's impact. Image: Vicki L Beyer The museum presents a bilingual timeline of Shibusawa's life and his various achievements, together with several artifacts from his life. The range and extent of his involvement in Japan's modernization/Westernization in the late nineteenth century is astounding. Two surviving structures from Shibusawa's original home complex are located near the museum and are considered part of the museum. The older of the two is Bankoro, a small cottage he had built in 1917 with a nicely-appointed Western-style meeting used by Shibusawa to meet with Japanese and international visitors. Seien Bunko is a more modern structure designed as a library and built for Shibusawa by a group of his mentees to commemorate his 85th birthday in 1925. While the building once housed his collection of books, he also used this building predominately to host meetings with visiting dignitaries. Shibusawa used Seien Bunko to host meetings with visiting dignitaries. Image: Vicki L Beyer Also located in Asukayama Park is the Paper Museum, which has some exhibits on Shibusawa's role in modern paper production in Japan. The Shibusawa Memorial Museum is open 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (last entry 4:30 pm); closed on Mondays except those which are public holidays. The museum is open on public holidays and closed on the day after any public holiday. Admission is JPY300 and includes entry to Bankoro and Seien Bunko (except that entry to Bankoro will not be permitted during August due to high heat). Bankoro is a cottage where Shibusawa often received visitors. Image: Vicki L Beyer A ticket providing entry to all three museums in Asukayama Park (ie, Shibusawa Memorial Museum, Paper Museum, and Kita Ward Asukayama Museum) is 800 yen and is valid for a three-month period. Tosho Shibusawa Museum Tosho (the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry) also contains a small museum honoring Shibusawa and his role in the chamber's establishment. It is especially interesting to learn how Shibusawa was driven by his desire to establish the credibility of Japan's business community on the international stage. The Tosho Shibusawa Museum contains various artifacts relating to Shibusawa's role as a driver of modern business practices. Image: Vicki L Beyer Located on the sixth floor of Tosho in the Marunouchi Nijubashi Building, just above Nijubashi-mae subway station, the museum is open weekdays, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; admission is free. President Grant's Trees Shibusawa was also instrumental in facilitating the 1879 visit to Japan of former U.S. President Ulysses Grant and his wife. He was especially adamant that the former president should plant trees to commemorate the occasion, a previously unknown practice in Japan. Grant planting the trees was intended to symbolize the aspirations of the United States and Japan to have a long-lasting relationship. In Tokyo, Grant planted a Himalayan Cedar tree in the courtyard to Zojoji Temple near Shiba Park, as well as a cypress tree in Ueno Park. Mrs Grant also planted a magnolia tree in Ueno Park. Even Emperor Meiji attended the event held at Ueno Park when the tree planting took place. Cedar tree planted by former U.S. president Ulysses Grant on the grounds of Zojoji Temple in Tokyo Image: Vicki L Beyer All three trees are alive today. In 1930 Shibusawa became concerned that the trees in Ueno Park were neglected and forgotten, so he arranged for their care and also had a monument erected relating the history of the trees and their connection to the U.S.-Japan relationship. The trees, and the monument, are located near the entrance to the Ueno Zoological Gardens. Former Shibusawa Home Restored Shibusawa's home from 1878 to 1888 (and subsequently occupied by his son and family), located in Fukagawa, near Shiomi Station on the Keiyo Line, has been restored to its former glory. The home was originally built by Kisuke Shimizu, founder of the company known today as Shimizu Corporation. When the Shimizu Corporation acquired the land in Fukagawa to build Novare Smart Innovation Ecosystem, it decided to restore Shibusawa's home as a central feature of the complex, commemorating both Shibusawa's life and the accomplishments of the company. Image: Tatsuya Noaki The original house was purely Japanese in design, with a Western-style wing added later. While it is possible to visit the house and view the opulent interior, opening hours are limited to certain Thursdays of the month on a lottery system. To apply, visit Bank of Japan Currency Museum Since Shibusawa's face is on Japan's largest denomination currency, a visit to the Bank of Japan Currency Museum is another must. This free museum, housed inside the Bank of Japan building in Nihonbashi, has extensive exhibits on the history of currency use in Japan, including collections of ancient coins and displays on how early coins were minted. The Currency Museum has exhibits on Japan's use of money across time. Image: Vicki L Beyer Visitors can also heft the weight of a bundle containing 100 million yen and view a bilingual video history of money in Japan. The exhibits are laid out in chronological order, concluding with the introduction of paper money and the history of bill designs over the last century and a half. The hi-tech anti-counterfeiting features of modern bills are also fascinating. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (last entry 4 p.m.), as well as Mondays that are public holidays. Expect to have bags checked before entry to the museum will be permitted. The museum has a small gift shop with interesting novelty items such as hand towels containing images of currency (in case you want to wipe your face with Shibusawa's face) and chocolates shaped like ancient coins. Visits to these various places associated with Eiichi Shibusawa give visitors a greater appreciation of Japan's rapid modernization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and the role Shibusawa, and other great men of his generation, played in that development. Vicki L. Beyer, a regular Japan Today contributor, is a freelance travel writer who also blogs about experiencing Japan. Follow her blog at © Japan Today
Asahi Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Citing manpower shortage, SDF to end annual review ceremony
The review ceremony held at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Asaka training field in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, on Oct. 14, 2018, involved amphibious vehicles from Japanese and U.S. forces. The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) The Defense Ministry said it will no longer hold an annual Self-Defense Forces review ceremony held in the presence of the prime minister because personnel are too busy trying to keep Japan safe from outside threats. In its July 30 announcement, the ministry also cited a severe manpower shortage as adding to the burden of hosting the parade. The annual ceremony was the most prestigious event on the SDF calendar. It had been hosted in turns by the Ground, Maritime and Air arms of the SDF and was attended by the prime minister in his capacity as the supreme commander. Ministry officials had been weighing the decision for more than six months. At the beginning of the year when Kazuo Masuda served as vice defense minister, he broached scrapping the review ceremony during a meeting with Gen Nakatani in the defense minister's office in Tokyo's Ichigaya district. 'With the MSDF increasingly busy with training exercises and missions in and outside the country, I think it will be difficult to continue the fleet review in the way it has been held to date,' Masuda told him. Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, then chief of staff of the SDF's Joint Staff and top uniformed officer, later joined the discussions along with other senior officials. Eventually, Nakatani confirmed the intentions of the chiefs of staff of the Ground, Maritime and Air units and decided to end the review ceremony. 'It is difficult to maintain a seamless defense system if we have to hold the ceremony every year,' Nakatani said during a news conference on Aug. 1. NO AUDIENCE SINCE 2020 Like military parades everywhere, the ceremony featured the latest defense equipment and a strong turnout of SDF members, placing a heavy burden on personnel due to a chronic manpower shortage. The ceremony had been held on a reduced scale after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and with no audience since 2020. A senior ministry official called the decision a 'wise one.' The MSDF pushed to discontinue the ceremony. 'We have been asking for it to be discontinued for the past 10 years,' a senior official said. MSDF warning and surveillance missions have sharply increased in recent years due to China's growing maritime assertiveness. To deal with increased surveillance missions, the MSDF had to deploy minesweepers because destroyers alone were not up to the task without help. Bringing in key vessels for the event ties them up for nearly one month if they come from distant waters for the review held in Sagami Bay on the Pacific coast. The MSDF had to gather its ships from across the country to use them as lookout vessels to prevent fishing boats from entering the zone during the event. 'The fleet review could reveal shortcomings in our maritime defense,' a senior MSDF official said. While the full quota of the SDF is about 247,000, the ratio of personnel to the staffing goal stood at 89.1 percent at the end of fiscal 2024, falling short of 90 percent for the first time in 25 years. SDF recruitment in fiscal 2024, which ended in March, came to 9,724, or just 65 percent of its target. The staffing ratio of low-ranking personnel was 60.7 percent. 'We are having a hard time recruiting young people,' said a ministry source, blaming the falling birthrate. The review ceremony had been held annually since 1951, hosted by the SDF's predecessor, the National Police Reserve. It was aimed at promoting a deeper understanding of the SDF among the public through general visitors. However, a Cabinet Office survey showed that in recent years, about 90 percent of the public harbors a favorable impression of the SDF. 'PR is important, but national defense missions must be the priority,' said a senior official, sharing a widespread view in the ministry. SAPPORO SNOW FESTIVAL In another change, it was announced in May that the GSDF will have a smaller presence at the renowned Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido, where its members traditionally created two massive ice statues. From now on, they will carve only one statue. Officials explained that an accumulative total of 8,000 GSDF members were tied up for more than a month to complete two statues. 'It was a difficult decision to make,' said a senior GSDF member. 'But it is a case of putting the cart before the horse when the members can't receive training because they're too busy building snow statues.' (This article was written by Mizuki Sato and Daisuke Yajima.)
Japan Today
2 hours ago
- Japan Today
Ecuador homicides increase 40% through July; over 5,000 killed
Homicides in Ecuador rose 40.36% in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period in 2024, the interior ministry said on Thursday. With 5,268 homicides, it was the most violent seven-month period registered during the last decade, and an increase from 3,753 homicides registered between January and July last year. The victims were mostly between ages 25 and 34, according to the ministry's report, and most homicides were committed with firearms. Killings in the South American country have increased despite President Daniel Noboa's efforts to combat gang violence. Noboa, elected this year to a full term, has deployed the military on the streets and lawmakers have approved reforms the president says will help curb crime, including harsher penalties for drug trafficking. Homicides dropped 15% in 2024, according to ministry data. The government has blamed increased violence in recent months on fighting among gang members who are aiming to control drug trafficking routes under heightened pressure from security forces. Last month the government extradited Los Choneros gang leader Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, known as "Fito," to the U.S. to face charges of drug and weapons trafficking. He has pleaded not guilty. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
