The visit to Iran would have been the first by a Japanese leader in 40 years, forming part of Abe’s scheduled tour through the Middle East from July 11, Kyodo said.
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How the Finance Ministry Was Corrupted
The document forgery scandal shaking Japanese democracy would not have occurred a decade ago, and it is important to understand how and why the Finance Ministry was so deeply corrupted during the Shinzo Abe era.
The Prime Minister’s Office has been gaining strength vis-a-vis the National Diet and the bureaucracy since the 1990s, which was a movement originally led by Ichiro Ozawa, advanced significantly by Junichiro Koizumi, but really brought into its own in the Abe era.
Japan’s finance minister returns salary over land scandal
An inquiry found that references to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife were removed from papers relating to a controversial sale of state land.
Taro Aso accepted that the scandal „hurt“ public confidence in the ministry and the government.
Japan pulls away from US amid Russia pivot
Abe and Putin have met 21 times and the latest summit came when both leaders have consolidated power at home. Abe dissolved the lower house of parliament in late September last year and won the snap election, which gave him a chance to lead Japan through 2021. Despite a slump in the approval rating of the Abe cabinet, nobody, be it from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party or the opposition parties, is able to now challenge Abe’s authority. Putin started another six-year term after he won presidential elections in March. Given the stability of the Abe and Putin governments, the bilateral policies will continue to be steadily implemented.
Abe says Japan will make efforts for success of U.S.-N. Korea summit
Abe will hold talks with Trump at the White House on June 7 before traveling to Canada for the Group of Seven summit on June 8 and 9, hoping to coordinate their policies toward the president’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Japan PM Shinzo Abe supports Trump’s decision to cancel U.S.-North Korea summit
Abe, visiting Russia for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, added he wants to talk with Trump by phone soon after returning home.
Abe heads to Russia for talks with Putin, brings puppy for skater
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe headed to Russia on Thursday for talks with President Vladimir Putin in hopes of making progress on joint economic projects on disputed islands as a step toward resolving the decades-old territorial row.
Russia and Japan Plan North Korea Strategy in Case Trump-Kim Summit Falls Apart
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is preparing to visit Moscow, where he will sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss North Korea and other matters.
“I would like to confirm cooperation in resolving the North Korea issue,“ Abe told journalists Monday ahead of the meeting. Top foreign affairs and defense officials from both countries will also meet over the coming week.
Japan’s premier expects progress at talks with Putin on signing peace treaty
Following their meeting, Putin and Abe adopted a joint declaration where they noted that the start of consultations on the joint economic activity of Russia and Japan on the south Kuril Islands could become an important step towards concluding the peace treaty.
As the Kremlin press office reported on Friday, Abe will visit Russia on May 25-26 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Abe erwartet Gipfeltreffen mit Kim Jong-un
In einem Programm des japanischen Fernsehsenders Fuji TV sagte Abe am Freitag, Nordkoreas Machthaber Kim Jong-un werde hoffentlich verstehen, dass nicht nur Gipfeltreffen mit den USA oder Südkorea, sondern auch ein japanisch-nordkoreanisches Gipfeltreffen wichtig sei.
Südkorea, China und Japan nehmen Sondererklärung für Unterstützung der Panmunjom-Erklärung an
Südkoreas Präsident Moon Jae-in, Chinas Ministerpräsident Li Keqiang und Japans Premierminister Shinzo Abe verabschiedeten bei ihrem Gipfeltreffen am Mittwoch in Tokio eine Sondererklärung zur Unterstützung der beim jüngsten innerkoreanischen Gipfel vereinbarten Panmunjom-Erklärung.
Darin begrüßten sie, dass in der Panmunjom-Erklärung das Ziel der vollständigen Denuklearisierung bestätigt wurde. Sie hoffen darin auf einen Erfolg des geplanten Spitzentreffens zwischen Nordkorea und den USA.
Israel offended Japan’s prime minister by serving him dessert in a shoe, something ‚despised‘ by Japanese people
Shoes are “despised” in Japanese culture, a senior Israeli diplomat who had served in Japan told a newspaper – and in any case, it’s a weird idea to serve food out of a shoe.(…)
„It is equivalent to serving a Jewish guest chocolates in a dish shaped like a pig.”
China says summit with Japan, S Korea to focus on cooperation, not N Korea
No areas will be off limits in talks next week when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visits Japan, but North Korea is not going to be a focus, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Friday.
China and Japan, Asia’s two largest economies, have been trying to reset ties after years of increasingly bitter disputes over a group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea and the legacy of Japan’s invasion of China before and during World War Two.
Xi Jinping telefoniert mit Shinzo Abe
Chinas Staatspräsident hat am Freitag ein Telefongespräch mit Japans Ministerpräsidenten Shinzo Abe geführt. Diskussionsthemen waren unter anderem die bilateralen Beziehungen und die Lage auf der Koreanischen Halbinsel.
Japan Fears Being Sidelined by Trump on Trade and North Korea
(18.4.2018) after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s first day visiting President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., the Japanese public is wondering whether their leader, embattled at home by influence-peddling scandals, might return to Japan with the diplomatic equivalent of an “All I Got Was This Lousy T-shirt.”
Pyongyang has discussed possibility of holding Abe-Kim Jong Un summit in June: report
(29.3.2018) Pyongyang has discussed the possibility of a summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the Asahi Shimbun reported on Thursday.
The news follows reports last week that Tokyo had expressed its interest to the North to hold talks.
Abe says he’s in contact with North about meeting Kim, suggests in Diet he’d be open to trilateral summit with U.S.
(26.3.2018) Japan is also increasingly being viewed as the odd man out as South Korean President Moon Jae-in has referred to the possibility of a trilateral summit involving Washington and Pyongyang.
Still, members of Abe’s ruling party on Monday were quick to dismiss this narrative, with Foreign Minister Taro Kono, for one, stressing that Tokyo is closely in touch with Washington and Seoul.
“The argument that Japan is being kept out of the loop completely misses the point,” he said.
Japan tells N Korea it wants Abe-Kim summit
(22.3.2018) The Japanese government has conveyed to North Korea its desire to hold summit talks between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
Trump verspricht Abe Bemühungen zur Lösung der Entführtenfrage
Die USA würden sich für eine Lösung der Frage einsetzen und hart daran arbeiten, damit die Entführten ins Heimatland zurückkehren könnten, sagte Trump.
Abe dankte Trump dafür, dass er seine Hilfe versprochen habe. Japan sei sehr ermutigt.
Japanese Prime Minister Abe, embroiled in scandals, faces calls to stand down
Both are embroiled in controversies surrounding dodgy financial deals, but while Trump’s poll numbers are holding up, Abe’s have plummeted to record lows.
The Japanese leader is flailing so badly that former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi has suggested that he should stand down at the end of June to avoid tainting the entire Liberal Democratic Party.
Trump, Abe discuss N Korea, trade issues
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States is engaged in direct talks at „extremely high levels“ with North Korea to try to set up a summit between him and its leader, Kim Jong Un.
Trump made the comment as he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe opened two days of talks at the president’s Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, meetings that are to include a round of golf.
Scandal-hit Abe unlikely to get 3rd term as LDP leader: ex-PM Koizumi
Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Saturday Shinzo Abe is unlikely to win a third term in September’s Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, citing the public’s growing distrust in the premier after a string of recent scandals.
„Winning a third term will be tough as he is losing public trust,“ Koizumi told reporters in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. Securing the LDP presidency is seen a prerequisite for Abe to stay on as prime minister.
Abe Rivals Sharpen Their Knives
Shigeru Ishiba, for one, clearly believes that the Abe regime is just about finished. This is not the kind of statement one makes if you expect your party leader to have three more years in power.
Abe under threat as Kake Gakuen scandal roars back to life
A scandal centered on allegations that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe improperly wielded his influence to help a close friend cut through government red tape has roared back to life after seeming to have died down last year.
And this time, Abe appears to be in a far more difficult position. Multiple public documents — produced by different parties — have emerged. Together they boost the credibility of allegations of favoritism benefiting school operator Kake Gakuen.
Scandal clouds darken for Japan’s Abe ahead of Trump summit
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ratings have been hit by several scandals over suspected favouritism and cover-ups, raising questions about how long he can stay in power and his goal of revising Japan’s post-war, pacifist constitution.
His domestic troubles are mounting ahead of the meeting with Trump next week and an expected onslaught over Japan’s trade policies.
Japan tells N Korea it wants Abe-Kim summit
(22.3.2018) The Japanese government has conveyed to North Korea its desire to hold summit talks between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
Tokio war offenbar über Kim Jong-uns China-Besuch nicht vorher informiert
Der japanische Premierminister Shinzo Abe erfuhr nach eigenen Angaben aus den Medien darüber. Er wolle China zu einer ausführlichen Erklärung auffordern.