Tomoyasu Website 2026

1. The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip remains unstable as the Israeli military says it has conducted another attack on the enclave. The military continues to mount strikes even after the ceasefire came into force between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas on October 10.
2. In Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series to win the championship. The Dodgers won four games of the best-of-seven series. It is the first time in the team’s history to win the World Series two years in a row. Japanese players on the team include two-way star Ohtani Shohei, as well as pitchers Yamamoto Yoshinobu and Sasaki Roki. Yamamoto was named the Most Valuable Player of the World Series.
3. US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright says the nuclear weapons testing ordered by President Donald Trump will not involve nuclear explosions. Trump announced during his trip to Asia last week that he had instructed the Department of Defense to resume the testing. But he did not give the details. The United States has not conducted a nuclear test explosion since 1992.

1. US President Donald Trump’s summit on Thursday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea capped the end of his Asia tour. They reached a truce on tariffs and rare earths.
2. Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae held her first summit with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung in Gyeongju, South Korea where the APEC summit will be held.
3. Romania says it has been informed that the United States will withdraw some troops deployed in the country on the NATO alliance’s eastern flank.

1. Japanese cabinet ministers have been given until mid-November to work out additional measures to deal with the growing threat posed by bears showing up in populated areas. Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru said the country has seen a major increase in fatal bear attacks this year and that they are occurring over wider areas and under different circumstances. He said bears are posing a growing threat to people’s safety.
2. A drill for capturing bears has been held at a camp of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense
Force in Akita Prefecture. The northern prefecture has confirmed three deaths and 53 injuries in bear attacks from April 1 to Wednesday. Prefectural and GSDF officials are discussing details of how to work together.
3. The Akita Prefectural Government in northern Japan has more than doubled the number of employees assigned to deal with bears. This comes after a spate of attacks on humans. The prefectural government assigned 26 more workers to the nature conservation section on Thursday. The section now has 46 workers. Dealing with bears is one of its duties.

1. US President Donald Trump is now in South Korea for some high-profile summits, including with the country’s president Lee Jae-myung. US tariffs have been a major focus for the two countries. They had agreed that South Korea will invest 350 billion dollars in the US.
2. Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae is set to visit South Korea on Thursday to attend a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC. She plans to hold her first talks with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, and is also arranging to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
3. Japan’s Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro has told his US counterpart that Japan will further strengthen its defense capabilities. The remark followed a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae and US President Donald Trump in Tokyo on Tuesday. Koizumi and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met at the Japanese Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Wednesday morning for the first time since Koizumi assumed his post. The meeting lasted for approximately one hour.

1. Takaichi welcomed Trump at the State Guest House in Tokyo Tuesday morning. They received a salute from a ceremonial guard of honor with Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. Soon after, the two leaders sat down for their first face-to-face meeting.
2. The top finance officials of Japan and the United States have reaffirmed that the two countries will continue their close cooperation. Japanese Finance Minister Katayama Satsuki met US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for the first time on Monday. Bessent is accompanying President Donald Trump on his visit to Japan. The meeting lasted for about an hour.
3. A Japanese government report says a record high number of people applied for workers’ compensation for mental-health disorders in fiscal 2024. This year’s white paper on “karoshi” – the Japanese term for death from work – was approved in a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The report says 3,780 people claimed that they developed mental-health issues due to job-related extreme stress and applied for workers’ compensation. It says 1,055 of those applicants, which is also an all-time high, were deemed eligible for compensation.

1. US President Donald Trump arrived at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport shortly after 5 p.m. on Monday. Trump met with Emperor Naruhito on Monday night. He will also meet with Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae on Tuesday. Takaichi posted a message on X welcoming him. She wrote, “Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow and having a fruitful discussion on how we can further strengthen our great Alliance.” She also posted photos of Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Skytree illuminated in the colors of the US national flag.
2. US President Donald Trump is in Tokyo to meet Japan’s new prime minister, Takaichi Sanae. They will be talking trade and defense, as well as trying to forge a stronger alliance, during his three-day visit.
3. Tokyo’s main stock index kicked off the week by hitting an all-time high, closing above the 50,000 mark for the first time. Investors welcomed the news of easing trade tensions between the United States and China. China is expected to postpone tighter export controls on rare earths for a year. In response, the US will hold off from raising tariffs on Chinese goods by 100 percent.

1. Lithuania has strongly condemned Russia for violating its airspace by flying two military aircraft. Moscow has denied the claim. Military officials from the Baltic country said the two Russian planes entered their airspace from Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave that borders Lithuania and faces the Baltic Sea.
2. A UN expert has expressed concerns about PFAS contamination at US bases in southwestern Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture and elsewhere. He said it poses a threat to human health.
3. The White House says US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea next Thursday, two days after having talks with Japan’s new Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae.

1. Japan’s new Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae has pledged to make utmost efforts to resolve as soon as possible the issue of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea.
Takaichi said she deeply regrets that no more Japanese abductees have been able to return to Japan since five were repatriated in 2002.
2. Twenty children and two teachers have been taken to hospital after they were stung by wasps at an elementary school in western Tokyo. The school says more than 30 first-graders were having a class outside the school building when some of them were stung by wasps about 2 centimeters long. The officials say the insects appear to be a type of hornet that makes nests in the ground.
3. Weather officials in Japan say Mount Fuji has been capped with snow for the first time this season. Officials at the Kofu Local Meteorological Office about 40 kilometers from the summit said they virtually confirmed snow coverage on Japan’s highest mountain on Thursday morning.

1. A planned summit between the United States and Russia in Hungary has apparently been put on hold. A White House official on Tuesday told NHK there are no plans to hold such a meeting “in the immediate future.”
2. European and Ukrainian leaders have expressed their opposition to changing borders by force, as US President Donald Trump calls for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine on present frontlines.
3. Japan’s new prime minister addressed the nation for the first time Tuesday night. Takaichi Sanae highlighted her priorities including the economy and working with the opposition. Takaichi said that she will create a strong Japanese economy and protect national interests through diplomacy and national security policies.

1. The Japanese Diet has elected the country’s next prime minister. Takaichi Sanae won the vote on Tuesday. It marks the first time in history that a woman will lead the country. She leads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and will be launching a new coalition government with the Japan Innovation Party. Takaichi will take office after the Emperor appoints her Tuesday evening. Once that’s complete, she is expected to hold a news conference, which will be her first as prime minister.
2. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock index continues its bullish run on expectations for the launch of a new coalition government. It set another intraday high in early Tuesday trading, nearing the 50,000 line. The Nikkei 225 gained more than 700 points, or 1.5 percent, at one stage from Monday’s close, which was an all-time high.
3. US President Donald Trump has officially announced a series of visits to Asia later this month. In Japan, he is scheduled to meet the new prime minister, who is set to be elected on Tuesday. After attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, meeting in Malaysia, he is expected to stop in Japan on Monday for about three days. In addition to meeting with Japan’s new leader, he plans to give a speech to US service members at a US naval base in Yokosuka, near Tokyo.