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- French President Emmanuel Macron has called for deeper economic relations with Japan. He says both countries would benefit from broader technology ties, rather than dependence on global superpowers.
- Britain has announced plans to hold a multinational meeting to discuss how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on Wednesday that Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will host the discussion, which will bring together 35 nations that have expressed readiness to take part.
- International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol predicts the oil supply shortage stemming from the Iran conflict will double in April from the month before.
- Skyrocketing fuel costs in Australia are raising concerns about the effects on major exports such as beef. The average price of gasoline over the week to Sunday was 2.53 Australian dollars per liter, or about 1.80 US dollars, which is about 1.4 times the annual average.
- Measles cases are on the rise across Japan at the fastest pace since 2020. Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease, and can lead to death in serious cases. Symptoms include fever, coughing and a rash. The Japan Institute for Health Security says the preliminary number of patients reported in the week through March 22 was 13.
- Reckless cycling violations in Japan will be subject to new fines of up to 12,000 yen, or roughly 75 dollars, starting April 1. The so-called blue tickets apply to people aged 16 or older and will be issued for 113 violations. This adds to a system of red tickets for major violations. The National Police Agency says officers will basically respond to first-time offenders with guidance or a warning. Repeat violators or those who do not comply with the warning will face the fines.
- The impact of higher prices for crude oil and other products caused by the conflict in Iran is increasingly being felt in Japan. Public bus operators are struggling to procure fuel, and farmers expect fertilizer to get even more expensive. Senior officials representing six cities including Kobe, Kyoto and Nagoya visited the transport ministry on Monday. They submitted a request to ensure stable fuel supplies and provide financial assistance to public transport operators.
- Japan’s Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae has instructed a newly launched government taskforce to ensure stable supplies of oil-related products amid the Middle East conflict. The government held a meeting of relevant Cabinet ministers at the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday morning. The ministers were briefed on Japan’s diplomatic efforts in bringing the conflict under control.
- The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday after three UN peacekeepers were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon. With fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Shia Muslim group Hezbollah intensifying, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, has become a target of attacks.
- Japan and the European Union have agreed to further strengthen cooperation and dialogue across a wide range of areas related to security and defense. Japan’s Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas talked for over an hour in France on Thursday on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministerial meeting.
- Japan’s government has decided to require more than 10 years of residency to obtain Japanese nationality from next month as it tightens the requirements for citizenship. Justice Minister Hiraguchi Hiroshi told reporters on Friday that foreign nationals will be required to have lived in Japan for at least 10 years in principle and be well-integrated into society to be granted Japanese citizenship.
- The number of schoolchildren in Japan who took their own lives last year reached a record high of 538, while the total number of suicides fell to the lowest ever.
- The bullet train line that connects Japan’s main island of Honshu and the northern prefecture of Hokkaido marked the 10th year anniversary of its opening on Thursday. The Hokkaido Shinkansen began operations between Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station and Shin-Aomori Station on March 26, 2016.
- Experts holding the Master of Wine title are visiting Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan, to sample locally produced wines. Thirty wine professional with the elite qualification are on a three-day trip to the prefecture. There are currently over 400 Masters of Wine worldwide.
- Japanese department store operator Sogo &Seibu will close its Seibu outlet in Tokyo’s Shibuya district at the end of September. The company says it failed to extend contracts with the rights holder for the land and buildings over redevelopment projects in the area. The Shibuya store opened in 1968. It is located near the train station and the famous scramble crossing.
- China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told his Iranian counterpart that dialogue and negotiations should be used to resolve problems, not force. Wang reportedly told Araghchi that it is in the interests of Iran and its people to use dialogue to resolve issues. Araghchi is reported to have said that the Iranian people will unite further, resist acts of external aggression and defend the nation’s sovereignty and independence.
- Iran says ships belonging to countries not involved in hostilities against Tehran are allowed to navigate through the Strait of Hormuz.
- Japanese companies using naphtha to make plastics say they are seeking new suppliers as shipments fall from the Middle East due to the Iran conflict. They say they have enough inventory of naphtha, which is refined from crude oil, to keep production running through next month.
- Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae says the country is expected to start releasing oil from its national reserves on Thursday.
- Japan’s agriculture ministry has decided to tighten restrictions on exports of seeds and saplings of domestically bred fruit and other plants. The decision follows a series of cases in which saplings of agriculture products developed in Japan, such as the high quality grape variety Shine Muscat, were transferred to other countries without permission and then grown and sold there at cheaper prices.
- US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States held talks with Iran over the weekend. He claims that there are “major points of agreement,” and Tehran wants a deal “very badly.” But Iran has denied participating in any talks.
- NHK has leaned that the Japanese government believes it will need more money to pay for gasoline subsidies. Officials now plan to tap into a reserve fund amid growing concerns over the Iran conflict. The subsidies went into effect last week. They were initially covered by funding of about 280 billion yen, or roughly 1.7 billion dollars.
- Tokyo’s benchmark stock index fell sharply at the start of Monday trading. The Nikkei 225 lost about 2,600 points at one stage, or 5 percent, amid worries the conflict in Iran is set to escalate and further disrupt crude oil supplies.
- Iran says it will completely close the Strait of Hormuz if the United States follows through on President Donald Trump’s threat to attack Iranian power plants. Trump posted a social media message on Saturday. In it, he threatened to “obliterate” Iranian power plants if Tehran fails to fully open the strait within 48 hours.
- Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae and US President Donald Trump have wrapped up their summit in Washington. They discussed several topics, including the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East and Japanese investment in the United States.
- A US-based international human rights group says its freedom score for the United States has hit the lowest since the start of its current form of assessment in 2002.
- Japan and five European nations have condemned “in the strongest terms” Iran’s de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its attacks on neighboring countries.
- Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae has arrived in Washington for a summit with US President Donald Trump. Takaichi and Trump will meet on Thursday at the White House. They are expected to discuss how to deal with the situation in Iran.
- US Senator Bill Hagerty, who served as ambassador to Japan during President Donald Trump’s first term, expressed hope that Japan would take action to secure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Hagerty mentioned the president is “very excited” to see Takaichi again. He noted the world will see a solid bilateral relationship and alliance.
- Japan Meteorological Agency officials say cherry blossoms have started blooming in Tokyo. Officials announced the start of the cherry blossom season on Thursday afternoon after spotting 61 blossoms on a benchmark cherry tree of the Somei-yoshino variety at Yasukuni Shrine.