August 31, Saturday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Risa Shimizu

  1. Tensions are rising in Hong Kong over an expected gathering of protesters on Saturday afternoon, despite a ban by authorities.
  2. The U.S. government says it is imposing sanctions on two individuals and three entities for engaging in ship-to-ship oil transfers with North Korea.
  3. The tourism ministers of Japan, China and South Korea have agreed to work to further promote exchanges among people of the three countries through tourism.

August 30, Friday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Emma Howard and Mr. Raja Pradhan

  1. Leaders from Japan and more than 50 African nations have ended this year’s three-day session of a Tokyo-led conference on Africa’s development.
  2. Senior Foreign Ministry officials from Japan and South Korea have met in Seoul amid strained relations over trade, wartime labor and other issues.
  3. Hong Kong democratic activist Joshua Wong has been arrested ahead of another weekend planned protest in Hong Kong.

August 29, Thursday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradhan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

  1. Japanese and African leaders have focused on boosting public and private investment as the Tokyo International Conference on African Development enters its second day.
  2. Weather officials in Japan are warning of floods and landslides, one day after deadly rains slammed parts of the country prompting emergency warnings.
  3. A senior U.S. Defense Department official has called on South Korea to renew its intelligence-sharing pact with Japan.

August 28, Wednesday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Michael Reese and Ms. Mariko Kojima

  1. Japan’s weather officials have issued their highest emergency warning for heavy rain in the three prefectures of Saga, Fukushima and Nagasaki in western Japan.
  2. Leaders from over 50 African countries, representatives of international organizations, and the U.N. secretary-general are gathering in Yokohama for the opening of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development.
  3. Japan has removed South Korea from a list of trading partners entitled to simplified export procedures.

August 27, Tuesday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

  1. French President Emmanuel Macron is touting a one-page document issued at the end of the G-7 summit as a positive achievement and a reflection of unity among the leaders.
  2. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he and other G7 leaders have agreed to support a process being undertaken by the United States and North Korea.
  3. Japan and African countries are to prepare the draft of a declaration to be adopted at a Tokyo-led conference on African development.

August 26, Monday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Yoshi Ogasawara and Ms. Sara Macdonald

  1. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump have agreed to seek the conclusion and signing of a trade deal at a bilateral summit next month.
  2. French President Emmanuel Macron has held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit.
  3. New threats from the U.S. and China to hit each other with additional tariffs have been shaking up financial markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

 

August 25, Sunday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Hirokazu Sakamaki and Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

  1. Leaders of the Group of Seven countries have agreed to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power and pledged to seek peace and stability in the Middle East.
  2. North Korean state media has reported that the country’s leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a test of a newly developed “super-large multiple rocket launcher” on Saturday.
  3. Japan and the United States have reached a broad agreement in trade negotiations.

 

August 24, Saturday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Fumiko Konoe and Ms. Risa Shimizu

  1. The trade war between the United States and China is heating up, with both sides saying that they will impose more retaliatory tariffs on each other’s imports.
  2. North Korea launched two projectiles from the South Hamgyong Province toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday morning.
  3. Japan’s minister in charge of negotiating a trade deal with the United States says the two countries have agreed on the direction of talks, including what sectors should be included.

August 23, Friday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Sara Macdonald and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

  1. South Korea is expected to notify Japan on Friday of its decision to terminate an intelligence-sharing pact between the two countries.
  2. Japan’s Foreign Minister Taro Kono has summoned South Korea’s ambassador and lodged a protest at Seoul’s decision to end the intelligence-sharing agreement.
  3. The U.S. Department of Defense has expressed its “strong concern” and “disappointment” at South Korea’s decision to terminate the pact.

 

August 22, Thursday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Hiroko Kitadai and Ms. Yuka Matsumoto

  1. North Korea says it is not interested in denuclearization talks as long as the United States and South Korea keep up their “military threats.”
  2. Foreign ministers from Japan and South Korea have failed to narrow differences over wartime labor issues when they met in Beijing on Wednesday.
  3. Japan’s minister in charge of trade negotiations with the U.S. says he and his U.S. counterpart have yet to bridge their differences.