CHINESE VISITORS TO JAPAN SLUMP AS SPAT RUMBLES ON - TOKYO JAPAN

CHINESE VISITORS TO JAPAN SLUMP AS SPAT RUMBLES ON - TOKYO JAPAN 

@Jr_Paku Midin Channel

TOKYO

Mainland Chinese visitors to Japan tumbled 60.7 percent in January year-on-year, figures showed Wednesday, in the continued fallout from the countries' diplomatic spat.

"Last year, the lunar new year began in late January, but this year it fell in mid-February," the Japan National Tourism Organization said as it published the data.

"Additionally, the Chinese government issued a warning advising against travel to Japan. Factors such as reduced flight frequencies also contributed to the number of foreign visitors to Japan falling below the level of the same month last year," a statement said.

Previously Chinese visitors were the biggest contingent, contributing to a tourism boom in the land of cherry blossom and Mount Fuji that was fueled by a weak yen making shopping cheap.

But in January this year, South Korea was the biggest source with 1.2 million visitors, up 21.6 percent, compared with 385,300 from mainland China, down from 980,520 in January 2025.

Visitors from Hong Kong also tumbled 17.9 percent.

Overall the number of visitors to Japan fell 4.9 percent to 3.597 million in January compared to the same period last year.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that Japan could intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force.

China, which regards the democratic island as part of its territory and has not ruled out force to annex it, was furious.

Beijing summoned Tokyo's ambassador and on November 14 warned Chinese citizens against visiting Japan, citing "significant risks to the personal safety and lives of Chinese citizens".

The number of Chinese visitors to Japan already tumbled 45 percent in December to 330,000.

In December, J-15 jets from China's Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar on Japanese aircraft in international waters near Okinawa, according to Japan.

China also tightened controls on exports to Japan for items with potential military uses, fueling worries that Beijing may choke supplies of vital rare-earth minerals.

Japan's last two pandas were even returned to China last month.

Takaichi, 64, was seen as a China hawk before becoming Japan's first woman prime minister in October.

She won a landslide victory in snap elections on February 8, putting her in a strong position for the next four years to stamp her mark on Japanese domestic and foreign policy.

Takaichi said after her election win that Tokyo would bolster its defenses and "steadfastly protect" its territory.

She also said she was "open to various dialogues with China".

But China's foreign ministry said "genuine dialogue should be built on respect for one another".

"Proclaiming dialogue with one's mouth while engaging in confrontation -- no one will accept this kind of dialogue," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Tuesday.

Beijing's top diplomat Wang Yi told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that forces in Japan were seeking to "revive militarism".

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AFGHAN MOMS SMASHING JAPAN'S LANGUAGE BARRIER FOR SAKE OF KIDS - CHIBA JAPAN

AFGHAN MOMS SMASHING JAPAN'S LANGUAGE BARRIER FOR SAKE OF KIDS - CHIBA JAPAN

@Jr_Paku Midin Channel

CHIBA

A long-term Afghan resident of Japan has set up a free language school to help her more newly arrived countrywomen stay connected with their children, who now prefer to converse in Japanese rather than their ancestral language.

With nearly four decades of experience as an interpreter in legal proceedings, Sedeka Eto has established the school to support Afghan mothers who fear their children, born or raised in Japan, are becoming increasingly distant.

"While children learn to speak Japanese at school, mothers remain unable to understand it. Children then forget the Afghan language," said Eto, 67, who heads the nonprofit association Eagle Afghan for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Chiba, which borders Tokyo, is home to approximately 40 percent of some 6,000 Afghan residents in Japan, many of whom fled to the country as refugees after the Taliban regained control in 2021.

Eto's school was established in 2023 via the nonprofit and holds classes every Saturday. More than 120 Afghans are registered and learn Japanese there.

Eto came to Japan from Afghanistan in 1983 and married a Japanese man. Working as a legal interpreter, she witnessed interrogations and court proceedings and became aware of an increase in shoplifting and other crimes committed by foreign youth.

Communication between Afghan parents and their children can be limited to simple Japanese. A mother with five children of primary and middle school age reports that her children speak to each other in Japanese, making it impossible for her to understand them.

Children are unable to make themselves understood when they talk to their parents about problems at school and other complex issues, while many mothers say they are also unable to engage at parent-teacher conferences.

As a result, Eto believes parents and children can become estranged, and such alienation leads some juveniles to crime.

There are also cases in which children, when scolded by their fathers or older brothers in the Afghan language, do not understand and are beaten for not listening, Eto said.

"I thought it was imperative that they be able to communicate in the same language," said Eto of her decision to open the language school.

However, it is not easy for Afghan women to attend because they are customarily prohibited from going out alone -- an act seen as neglecting their responsibilities as mothers. Nonetheless, many find ways to do so.

Despite their husbands' opposition, the women earnestly study Japanese, stopping what they are doing to focus on their work, even while looking after their children. A childcare space with Japanese staff is also provided during class.

A 45-year-old woman who attends the class came to Japan in December 2022 due to deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan. "I felt like I was dead inside because I couldn't speak Japanese," she said.

"My husband tells me to just study with my smartphone. But studying while talking with a teacher is completely different. At home, I need to do the housework as well," she said.

In Afghanistan, the woman had to drop out of junior high school. She said that the experience of being taught in a classroom with a blackboard made her happy and improved her mental state.

Eto said that other students say they feel empowered because they can now talk to teachers from their children's schools or ride buses or trains by themselves. Instead of being financially dependent on their husbands, more and more women have expressed a desire to study further and work outside the home.

Many of the women spend the week counting down the days to the class. It is a day when they can learn Japanese, share their concerns with their peers and socialize.

"I can't wait for Saturdays to come," one woman said.

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RUBIO SAYS JAPAN DEFENSE SPENDING HIKE LESS ABOUT MONEY, MORE ABOUT CAPABILITIES

RUBIO SAYS JAPAN DEFENSE SPENDING HIKE LESS ABOUT MONEY, MORE ABOUT CAPABILITIES 

@Jr_Paku Midin Channel

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio hinted Friday that while Washington is asking Japan to boost its defense spending, the thinking behind the push is likely to align with the views of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Asked during a briefing in Malaysia for his thoughts on reports that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is pressuring Japan to ramp up its defense budget to as much as 5% of its gross domestic product (GDP), Rubio refuted the characterization of this as a “demand.”

“We've encouraged them to invest in certain capabilities,” he said after the conclusion of Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related meetings. “It's less to do with the amount of money and more to do about certain things they can do.”

These comments echoed the view of Ishiba, who has repeatedly said that Japan will not be told how much to spend, and that what is most important is the substance of strengthened defense capabilities — not arbitrary figures.

“At the end of the day, we are in agreement with Japan on collective self-defense, on the ability to come to each other's aid in a time of conflict or in a time of danger,” Rubio said. “We understand that there are dynamics, constitutional and legal, that limit their ability to invest in certain things versus other things, but we have a very close relationship with Japan, very close."

Last month, the Pentagon told The Japan Times that it had made the 5% of GDP on defense a “global standard” for Japan and other U.S. allies, in the first official confirmation that Washington is asking Tokyo to pump up its defense budget even further.

Japan has denied that a specific figure has ever been broached, but Trump in April called the two countries’ alliance “one-sided” — remarks that echoed views from his first term, when he demanded Tokyo cough up more cash or risk the removal of U.S. troops.

Ostensibly pacifist Japan has in recent years undertaken a dramatic transformation of its security policy, including a five-year plan to ramp up defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2027.

But pouring even more cash into defense coffers would come with significant political costs as the government focuses on domestic economic priorities amid growing uncertainty over how to secure funds.

Japan is currently getting far less bang for its buck as inflation and the yen’s diminishing value erode its plans for the country’s largest military buildup in postwar history.

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said in April that defense spending was within striking distance of the 2% target, at 1.8% of GDP.

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PROMINENT POLITICAL SPEAKERS STEP UP FOR CONDIDATES AHEAD OF JULY 20 ELECTION - JAPAN

PROMINENT POLITICAL SPEAKERS STEP UP FOR CONDIDATES AHEAD OF JULY 20 ELECTION - JAPAN

@Jr_Paku Midin Channel

With a little over a week remaining until the July 20 Upper House election, political heavyweights from both ruling and opposition parties are crisscrossing the country in a final push to boost the standing of candidates in tight races.

Prominent speakers are drawing crowds and grabbing headlines with an intensity that has sparked criticism from within their own parties.

“It’s clearly a tough battle, but I believe we’ll win in the end,” said agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) during a stump speech in the city of Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, on Wednesday.

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