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Japan to take initiative on abduction issue with N. Korea: minister

Japan will take the initiative in solving North Korea's abductions of Japanese citizens, a minister said Sunday as a recent surprise visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's adviser to Pyongyang raised eyebrows in Washington and Seoul. "It is an extremely important issue separate from interests of other countries," said economic revitalization minister Akira Amari in an NHK talk show. "It is an area in which Japan should take the initiative."

Gov't plans to discuss wage hikes with business, union reps

The government plans to set up a forum to discuss wage hikes with business and labor union representatives to help shorten the time it takes for the fruits of its economic policies to be felt by workers, the minister in charge said Sunday. Economic revitalization minister Akira Amari said in an NHK talk show that he is coordinating with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the matter as the policies dubbed "Abenomics" have buoyed stock prices and driven the yen sharply lower but have yet to improve wage levels.

Aide to Japanese PM returns from North Korea

An aide to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned home from a trip to North Korea on Saturday but declined to shed any light on the reason for his mysterious visit. Isao Iijima, a senior adviser to Abe, was tightlipped when confronted by reporters in Beijing on his way home. "I won't accept any interview on this issue," he told reporters, according to Japan's public broadcaster NHK. Abe said Saturday that Iijima would report back to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Japan's top government spokesman, on the visit.

Restoration party lawmaker says Japan has swarms of S. Korean prostitutes

A lower house lawmaker of the Japan Restoration Party, co-headed by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto who is under fire for remarks defending the system of wartime military brothels, said Friday that Japan is "swarming" with South Korean prostitutes. "There are swarms of South Korean prostitutes in Japan," Shingo Nishimura told fellow party lawmakers during a meeting. He later retracted the comments as it was "inappropriate to mention the name of South Korea" and submitted a letter stating his intention to leave the party.

Abe vows to double crop exports by 2020 as pillar of growth strategy

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged Friday to double the scale of Japan's crop exports to 1 trillion yen ($9.76 billion) by 2020 as a pillar of his government's economic growth strategy, with an eye on the country's entry into talks on the U.S.-led tariff-cutting pact. Abe also said in a speech in Tokyo that the world's third-largest economy will aim to become a nation which allows not only Japanese companies but those abroad to put new technologies such as self-driving cars to the test exceptionally if they meet certain conditions.

Chinese ships in disputed-islands waters

Three Chinese government ships entered the waters of disputed islands on Friday, Japan's coastguard said, more than a year after the then-Tokyo governor set off the row by announcing plans to buy them. The Chinese maritime surveillance vessels were spotted off the Senkaku islands, which China calls the Diaoyus, in the East China Sea at around 2:30 pm (0530 GMT), the coastguard said.

Iijima to brief Japan gov't on his N. Korea trip

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Friday the government will be briefed by Isao Iijima, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's adviser currently visiting North Korea, after he returns to Japan later this week. Iijima, who arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday, will return home as early as Saturday after meeting with senior North Korean officials, including No. 2 leader Kim Yong Nam. The two countries have no diplomatic relations in light of numerous contentious issues, most prominently the abductions by North Korea of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.

Japan PM pledges to slash red tape for growth

Japan's premier said Friday he would slash red tape in a bid to boost corporate investment as he seeks to capitalise on the feel-good mood of a soaraway stock market and a plunging yen. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set out broadbrush outlines of the third of his "three arrows" of a plan dubbed "Abenomics", which is intended to turn around years of deflation in the world's third-largest economy. The first two "arrows" -- a colossal government spending plan and aggressive monetary easing -- have fuelled optimism in an economy that has struggled for two decades.

Hashimoto's remarks on sex slaves "outrageous": U.S. State Dep't

A State Department spokeswoman on Thursday branded remarks by a Japanese mayor defending Japan's wartime system of sexual servitude as "outrageous and offensive," in the first outright criticism of the comments by a U.S. government official. Commenting on Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's contention that the system was considered necessary before and during World War II, Jen Psaki told a press briefing, "We have seen of course those comments. Mayor Hashimoto's comments were outrageous and offensive."

Retired veteran lawmaker Yosano to return to LDP

Retired lawmaker Kaoru Yosano, who served as chief Cabinet secretary in 2007 during Shinzo Abe's previous stint as prime minister, is likely to return to the Liberal Democratic Party, party lawmakers said Thursday. The return of Yosano, who served as economic and fiscal policy minister in 2011 in the government led by the Democratic Party of Japan, could help the LDP gain strength toward the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election slated for June as he had a strong support base in Tokyo.
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