When Rafidah Abd Rahim traveled to Japan from Singapore last year, the recent college graduate was relieved to find a goodly number of lifestyle offerings for Muslim travelers, such as halal food—that is, fare that complies with Islamic dietary guidelines—and easily available prayer rooms.

Japan said on Saturday it would extend around $6 billion in development aid to Mekong region countries, as China prepares to launch a new institutional lender seen as encroaching on the regional clout of Tokyo and ally Washington. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam all have strong economic growth potential, and are promising destinations for Japanese exporters.

Since normalising their diplomatic ties half a century ago, South Korea and Japan have made substantial progress in the economic, social and cultural domains, with trade volume nearly 400 times what it was.

Parvatibai Chowgule College of Arts and Science, Margao has organised a first-of- its kind, short-term cultural and academic programme of two weeks. At present the college has affiliations with these four institutions namely Stockholm, Sweeden, Waseda University of Tokyo and Kelaniya University in Sri Lanka.

Local interaction and nurturing personnel suitable to such efforts is the key to the future of grass-roots exchanges between Japan and the United States, experts in bilateral cultural relations said Friday at a Tokyo symposium. The aim of the symposium organized by the nonprofit America-Japan Society was to discuss the past and future of cultural exchange as the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II looms. “Creating ties between not only large cities but also regional heart lands would make a further contribution t

Japan and China may publicly snarl over disputed territory, naval brinkmanship and the interpretation of history, but for Asia’s biggest economies the era of vending machine diplomacy has dawned. This month, in the intimacy of a Ginza hotel, one of Japan’s most quietly influential business lobbies will meet its Chinese counterpart for unprecedented talks. Convened through mutual need and ambition, the summit will focus on the future of an industry that generates global sales of consumer products worth more than $50bn per