Tag: Japan

Japan confirms experts met in China to ease concerns over discharge of treated radioactive water


TOKYO (AP) — Japan said Sunday its experts have held talks with their Chinese counterparts to try to assuage Beijing’s concerns over the discharge of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.

The discharges have been opposed by fishing groups and neighboring countries especially China, which banned all imports of Japanese seafood. China’s move has largely affected Japanese scallop growers and exporters to China.

During the talks held Saturday in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian, Japanese officials provided “science-based” explanation of how the discharges have been safely carried out as planned, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

A 2011 earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima plant’ s power supply and reactor cooling functions, triggering meltdowns of three reactors and causing large amounts of radioactive wastewater to accumulate. After more than a decade of storage in tanks taking up much space on the complex, the plant began discharging the water after treating it at least once and diluting it with seawater on Aug. 24, starting a process that’s expected to take decades.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping at their summit meeting in November agreed to hold scientific talks by experts, and the countries have since held a number of informal meetings. Sunday’s statement from the Japanese Foreign Ministry was its first public acknowledgement of the talks.

The experts exchanged views on “technical matters” involving the discharges, the ministry official said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. While stressing the importance of transparency, the official declined to give any other details, including what the Chinese side said and whether their differences have been narrowed.

The meeting comes just after the International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Rafael’s visit to the plant in mid-March confirming that the ongoing discharges have been safely carried out as planned.



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What U.S. consumers should know about the health supplement linked to 5 deaths in Japan


The recall of red yeast products linked to at least five deaths in Japan may have Americans questioning the safety of a range of dietary supplements containing the ingredient and readily found online and in stores.  

Billed as a natural means of lowering cholesterol, the products recalled by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. contain benikoji, an ingredient derived from a species of mold. 

At a news conference on Friday, the company said it had found a chemical compound — puberulic acid — in the recalled products, and is looking into whether the substance might be linked to the fatalities, the Japan Times newspaper reported. Kobayashi also said its products were exported to other countries, including China and Taiwan.

For now, no products containing benikoji have been recalled in the U.S. or linked to health issues. In Japan, meanwhile, the problem could stem from a quality control issue that allowed unwanted substances to enter Kobayashi’s production line. 

“Buyer beware”

Still, the scenario in Japan raises concerns for other markets, including the U.S., experts said.

“I believe it is likely that this particular problem affects products outside Japan as well,” said David Light, president and co-founder of Valisure, an independent lab that tests drugs for impurities and known for detecting carcinogens in products such as acne cream, sunscreen and the heartburn drug Zantec. He noted that supply chains for health and dietary supplements are similar to those for prescription drugs, with products manufactured in one country and then shipped to many geographic markets. 

According to Kobayashi’s website, the company is working to increase sales of six brands including OTC pharmaceuticals in the U.S., China and Southeast Asia. Its U.S. subsidiary, Kobayashi Healthcare in Dalton, Ga., did not immediately return requests for comment.

“There is a place for supplements, but it’s a buyer beware situation,” said Dr. Tod Cooperman, president and founder of ConsumerLab.com, which tests supplements to determine their contents.

The Food and Drug Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

When made properly, yeast grown on rice produces various compounds, including lovastatin, which is known to lower cholesterol, the physician said. “But if something goes wrong in production, you instead get citrinin,” a chemical linked to kidney toxicity in animals, Cooperman said.

Many people purchase dietary supplements and herbal medicines online or over the counter, assuming they are regulated like drugs. But the FDA does not verify supplements’ listed ingredients, and while federal law requires pharmaceuticals to meet specific standards, the rules are less stringent when it comes to supplements. 


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ConsumerLab.com last tested red yeast rice supplements in 2022, finding citrinin in 30% of the products tested, Cooperman said. 

“One had 65 times the limit set in Europe,” he added, noting that the U.S. has not set a limit on the chemical.

Since lovastatin is classified as a drug, it is often left out as an ingredient by supplement makers looking to avoid the additional regulatory scrutiny.

When red yeast supplements became available in the U.S. more than two decades ago, they offered a less expensive option to prescription statins that were available over the counter. But it is difficult for consumers to verify a supplement’s ingredients, or determine if a product contains unlisted substances. 

Consumers would be “better off going to a doctor and using a prescription cholesterol lower-er because there is more certainty as to what you’re getting,” Cooperman said. “[S]ome of the older statins are generic now, so it’s probably less expensive and safer to be buying a generic statin at this point.” 

Meanwhile, he urges caution in taking supplements.

 “There are a lot of brands out there that are more fly-by-night,” Cooperman said, “Our focus is on trying to find the best products. We’re finding one out of five products fail.” 



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South Korea’s birth rate is so low, one company offers staff a $75,000 incentive to have children


Seoul — South Korea’s overall birth rate hit a record low of 0.72 in 2023, and with that figure projected to fall even further in 2024, some Korean businesses have started offering remarkably generous incentives to convince their workers to become parents.

“The declining fertility rate leads to a decline in the workforce and purchasing power and slowing economic growth, which in turn directly affects the sustainability of corporate management, meaning companies need to actively address the issue,” Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) president Chul Chung said recently at a Korean-Japanese business seminar dedicated to the topic.

Jin Sung Yoo, a senior research fellow at KERI, said the main reason for South Korea’s worryingly low birth rate was the “effect on career progression” associated with having children.

Many solutions were discussed at the seminar, and some eye-opening incentives have been announced in recent weeks.

The Lotte Group, a massive cross-industry conglomerate, said it had found success through “various in-house family-friendly policies.” The company said the existing program had helped push the internal birth rate among employees up to 2.05 during 2022, no small feat when the national average was 0.81.

Ok-keun Cho, head of corporate culture at the Lotte Group, said starting this year, the company would also be offering employees with three or more children a 7-9 seat family vehicle, free of charge.

The most generous parenthood incentive, however, is likely the one for workers at the construction and housing group Booyoung, which has been offering employees a $75,000 bonus for each new child they parent. 

So far, the company says 66 employees have taken advantage — at a cost to Booyoung of about $5 million.

Company chairman Lee Joong Keun said he sees it as an investment in the nation’s future, warning that if the birth rate continues to fall, “Korea will face a crisis of national existence 20 years from now, including a decline in the economically productive population and a shortage of defense personnel to ensure national security and maintain order.”


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Under South Korea’s rules, $75,000 is the largest handout a parent can receive without having to pay additional tax on the month. But Booyoung’s boss said he wanted to go even further, announcing that he would work to help provide employees who become the parent of a third child with “housing with no tax burden on tenants and no maintenance responsibilities.”

The construction company chief said he was hoping to get the South Korean government to agree to provide the land necessary for his plans.

Meanwhile, city officials have said that Seoul’s local government plans to invest more than $1.3 billion during 2024 in the Birth Encouragement Project, an upgrade to an existing incentive policy.

The project has been largely focused on helping South Korean’s maintain their careers around family planning, but it’s been expanded to make more people eligible for the benefits, and those benefits now include infertility treatment and more childcare services.



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‘Oppenheimer’ finally premieres in Japan to mixed reactions and high emotions



TOKYO — “Oppenheimer” finally premiered Friday in the nation where two cities were obliterated 79 years ago by the nuclear weapons invented by the American scientist who was the subject of the Oscar-winning film. Japanese filmgoers’ reactions understandably were mixed and highly emotional.

Toshiyuki Mimaki, who survived the bombing of Hiroshima when he was 3, said he has been fascinated by the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, often called “the father of the atomic bomb” for leading the Manhattan Project.

“What were the Japanese thinking, carrying out the attack on Pearl Harbor, starting a war they could never hope to win,” he said, sadness in his voice, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

He is now chairperson of a group of bomb victims called the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization and he saw “Oppenheimer” at a preview event. “During the whole movie, I was waiting and waiting for the Hiroshima bombing scene to come on, but it never did,” Mimaki said.

“Oppenheimer” does not directly depict what happened on the ground when the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, turning some 100,000 people instantly into ashes, and killed thousands more in the days that followed, mostly civilians.

The film instead focuses on Oppenheimer as a person and his internal conflicts.

The film’s release in Japan, more than eight months after it opened in the U.S., had been watched with trepidation because of the sensitivity of the subject matter.

Former Hiroshima Mayor Takashi Hiraoka, who spoke at a preview event for the film in the southwestern city, was more critical of what was omitted.

“From Hiroshima’s standpoint, the horror of nuclear weapons was not sufficiently depicted,” he was quoted as saying by Japanese media. “The film was made in a way to validate the conclusion that the atomic bomb was used to save the lives of Americans.”

Some moviegoers offered praise. One man emerging from a Tokyo theater Friday said the movie was great, stressing that the topic was of great interest to Japanese, although emotionally volatile as well. Another said he got choked up over the film’s scenes depicting Oppenheimer’s inner turmoil. Neither man would give his name to an Associated Press journalist.

In a sign of the historical controversy, a backlash flared last year over the “Barbenheimer” marketing phenomenon that merged pink-and-fun “Barbie” with seriously intense “Oppenheimer.” Warner Bros. Japan, which distributed “Barbie” in the country, apologized after some memes depicted the Mattel doll with atomic blast imagery.

Kazuhiro Maeshima, professor at Sophia University, who specializes in U.S. politics, called the film an expression of “an American conscience.”

Those who expect an anti-war movie may be disappointed. But the telling of Oppenheimer’s story in a Hollywood blockbuster would have been unthinkable several decades ago, when justification of nuclear weapons dominated American sentiments, Maeshima said.

“The work shows an America that has changed dramatically,” he said in a telephone interview.

Others suggested the world might be ready for a Japanese response to that story.

Takashi Yamazaki, director of “Godzilla Minus One,” which won the Oscar for visual effects and is a powerful statement on nuclear catastrophe in its own way, suggested he might be the man for that job.

“I feel there needs to be an answer from Japan to ‘Oppenheimer.’ Someday, I would like to make that movie,” he said in an online dialogue with “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan.

Nolan heartily agreed.

Hiroyuki Shinju, a lawyer, noted Japan and Germany also carried out wartime atrocities, even as the nuclear threat grows around the world. Historians say Japan was also working on nuclear weapons during World War II and would have almost certainly used them against other nations, Shinju said.

“This movie can serve as the starting point for addressing the legitimacy of the use of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as humanity’s, and Japan’s, reflections on nuclear weapons and war,” he wrote in his commentary on “Oppenheimer” published by the Tokyo Bar Association.



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Supplement pill that contained mold recalled after 2 deaths, over 100 hospitalizations in Japan


Health supplement products believed to have caused two deaths and sickened more than 100 people have been ordered to be taken off store shelves in Japan, marking the first major recall of a domestically produced supplement in the country. 

The products from Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., billed as helping to lower cholesterol, contained an ingredient called “benikoji,” a red species of mold.

In addition to the products from Osaka-based Kobayashi, more than 40 products from other companies containing benikoji, including miso paste, crackers and a vinegar dressing, were recalled, starting last week, a government health ministry official said Wednesday.

At least 106 people had been hospitalized, and many more are believed to have been sickened, although it’s unclear if all the illnesses are directly linked to benikoji (pronounced beh-nee-koh-jeeh).

Japan Drug Supplement Recall
A factory of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., is seen in Osaka, Japan on March 26, 2024.

Keiji Uesho / AP


The ministry has put up a list on its official site of all the recalled products, including some that use benikoji for food coloring.

The company is investigating the cause of the problem. The recalled products could be bought without a prescription from a doctor, and could be purchased at drug stores.

Kobayashi apologized and asked in an online statement: “Please stop taking our products, and please do not use them in the future.”

Repeated calls to Kobayashi went unanswered. The company president and other top officials held a news conference last week when the problem first surfaced, bowing their heads in apology, as is the standard in Japan.

Japan Drug Supplement Recall
Akihiro Kobayashi, President of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., left, bows during a press conference in Osaka, on March 22, 2024. 

Chiaki Ueda / AP


The ministry official warned there could be more victims in the days ahead. He asked everyone to stop ingesting anything with benikoji in it. Those with health problems, like weak kidneys, could be especially vulnerable, he said.

All the products were made in Japan, although it is unclear if any of the raw materials were imported. A recall of imported health supplements has happened before, but this is the first major recall of a domestically produced supplement, according to Japanese media reports.



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A man fired by a bank for taking a free detergent sample from a nearby store wins his battle in court


Tokyo — The Tokyo District Court typically garners headlines for high-profile cases, parsing issues such as whether married couples should be allowed to use separate surnames, privacy battles over the “right to be forgotten,” and gender discrimination in academia. But a bizarre lawsuit this month led the court into more prosaic territory.

It could be dubbed the case of the Freebie-Lover vs. the Angry Store Owner.

As chronicled in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper, the saga began just before opening hours at a shopping mall in Nagano Prefecture. On his way to work, an unidentified bank branch assistant manager happened to spot a nearby store offering modest giveaways — free packets of laundry detergent displayed in front of the store to lure customers.

Noting the “Help yourself” sign, he did so, and then went on his way.

But it did not sit well with the store’s staff. After checking to make sure the security cameras had captured the suds-lifter red-handed, an employee quickly informed the bank that, as the soap-grab had taken place before business hours, it amounted to theft.

The bank executive, the man’s boss, and even the bank’s area manager offered multiple, profuse apologies. All bank employees were ordered to alter their commute routes to avoid walking in front of the cellphone store — no small feat, as the store is located on the corner just opposite the bank branch.

But the store’s management was not to be placated, despite the fact that the promotional giveaways had been provided free by the manufacturer and were likely worth less than $2 each. The store demanded that the bank employee be transferred to another branch.

Worried about possible fallout, the bank ended up firing the man, who then sued his former employer on grounds of unfair dismissal.

Since the detergent was outside for the taking, he argued, grabbing a packet could not possibly constitute larceny — and besides, as a potential customer, he was entitled to one.

For its part, the bank argued that given the gravity of his job handling customers’ assets, the man’s decision to pocket the soap — while perhaps not filthy lucre — fell outside the bounds of acceptable behavior. It was also noted that the man in question had a history of scooping up freebies from the shop.

In its March 8 verdict, the Tokyo District Court ruled that while such an act could be construed as theft, and in specific instances could justify dismissal, such a harsh penalty was unwarranted in this case. The fact that the man was technically still off-duty when the malfeasance occurred, the court said, obviated the need for any harsh penalty by the bank.

Noting the trivial value of the pilfered item, and the man’s repeated displays of remorse, it ordered the bank to give the man backpay, and his job back.

“The time and money invested in this case by all parties,” an Asahi columnist wrote in a postscript, “could have bought thousands of packets of detergent.”



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Japan approves plan to sell fighter jets to other nations in latest break from pacifist principles



TOKYO — Japan’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it’s developing with Britain and Italy to other countries, in the latest move away from the country’s postwar pacifist principles.

The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security.

The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to countries other than the partners.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the changes are necessary given Japan’s security environment, but stressed that Japan’s pacifist principles remain unchanged.

“In order to achieve a fighter aircraft that meets the necessary performance and to avoid jeopardizing the defense of Japan, it is necessary to transfer finished products from Japan to countries other than partner countries,” Hayashi told reporters, adding that Tokyo will follow a strict approval process for jet sales.

“We have clearly demonstrated that we will continue to adhere to our basic philosophy as a peaceful nation,” he said.

Japan has long restricted arms exports under the country’s pacifist constitution, but has rapidly taken steps to deregulate amid rising regional and global tensions, especially from nearby China.

The decision on jets will allow Japan to export lethal weapons it coproduces to other countries for the first time.

Japan is working with Italy and Britain to develop an advanced fighter jet to replace its aging fleet of American-designed F-2 fighters, and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the British and Italian militaries.

Japan, which was previously working on a homegrown design to be called the F-X, agreed in December 2022 to merge its effort with a British-Italian program called the Tempest for deployment in 2035. The joint project, known as the Global Combat Air Program or GCAP, is based in Britain.

Japan hopes the new plane will offer advanced capabilities Japan needs amid growing tensions in the region, giving it a technological edge against regional rivals China and Russia.

Because of its wartime past as aggressor and the devastation that followed its defeat in World War II, Japan adopted a constitution that limits its military to self-defense. The country long maintained a strict policy to limit transfers of military equipment and technology and ban all exports of lethal weapons.

Opponents have criticized Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government for committing to the fighter jet project without providing an explanation to the public or seeking approval for the major policy change.

To address such concerns, the government is limiting exports of codeveloped lethal weapons to the jet for now, and has promised that no sales will be made for use in active wars.

The government also assured that the revised guideline for the time being applies only to the jet and that Cabinet approval would be required. Potential purchasers will also be limited to the 15 countries that Japan has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals with.

Recent polls suggest that public opinion is divided on the plan.

In 2014, Japan began to export some nonlethal military supplies, and in December, it approved a change that would allow sales of 80 lethal weapons and components that it manufactures under licenses from other countries back to the licensors. The change cleared the way for Japan to sell U.S.-designed Patriot missiles to the United States, helping replace munitions that Washington is sending to Ukraine.

In its decision, the Cabinet said that the arms export ban on finished products would hinder efforts to develop the new jet, and limit Japan to a supporting role in the project. Italy and Britain are eager to make sales of the jet in order to defray development and manufacturing costs.

Kishida sought Cabinet approval before signing the GCAP agreement in February, but it was delayed by resistance from his junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito party.

The change also comes as Kishida is planning an April state visit to Washington, where he is expected to stress Japan’s readiness to take on a greater role in military and defense industry partnerships.

Exports would also help strengthen Japan’s defense industry, which historically has catered only to the country’s Self-Defense Forces, as Kishida seeks to build up the military. Despite its effort over the past decade, the industry has still struggled to draw customers.



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Kim Jong Un visits tank unit; North Korea says Japan wants summit



North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a tank exercise and encouraged his armored forces to sharpen war preparations in the face of growing tensions with South Korea, the North’s state media said Monday.

Kim made those comments Sunday while visiting his top tank group, the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division. The unit’s name marks how it was the first North Korean military unit to reach the South Korean capital in 1950 when a North Korean surprise attack triggered a war that dragged on for almost four years.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have heightened after Kim in past months dialed up his military demonstrations, including tests of nuclear-capable missiles designed to target South Korea, the United States and Japan, while issuing threats of nuclear conflict against its rivals.

Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have responded by strengthening their combined military exercises and updating their deterrence plans built around strategic U.S. assets.

Also Monday, North Korea said that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida offered to meet with Kim “as soon as possible,” but stressed that prospects for their countries first summit in about 20 years would depend on Tokyo tolerating its weapons program and ignoring its past abductions of Japanese nationals.

In a parliamentary session, Kishida said that a meeting with Kim is “crucial” to resolve the abduction issue, a major sticking point in bilateral ties, and that his government has been using various channels to hold the summit.

Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, said in a statement that Kishida recently used an unspecified channel to convey his position that he wants to meet Kim Jong Un in person “as soon as possible.”

She said there will be no breakthrough in North Korea-Japan relations as long as Kishida’s government is engrossed in the abduction issue and interferes in the North’s “exercise of our sovereign right,” apparently referring to the North’s weapons testing activities.

Some experts say North Korea is seeking to improve ties with Japan as a way to weaken the trilateral Tokyo-Seoul-Washington security partnership, while Kishida also wants to use possible progress in the abduction issue to increase his declining approval rating at home.

North Korea and Japan don’t have diplomatic ties, and their relations have been overshadowed by North Korea’s nuclear program, the abduction issue and Japan’s 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. Japan’s colonial wrongdoing is a source of on-again, off-again history wrangling between Tokyo and Seoul, as well.

There are concerns North Korea could further dial up pressure on its rivals and intensify its weapons testing activities in what is an election year in both the United States and South Korea. Kim Jong Un has supervised a series of missile tests and other military drills this year.

Photos published by North Korean state media on Monday showed Kim talking with military officers at an observation post and tanks with North Korean flags rolling through dirt, with at least one of the vehicles carrying a sign that read: “Annihilate U.S. invaders who are staunch enemies of the Korean people!”



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Longmont’s Red Frog Coffee staff reflect on trip to Japan


Mar. 22—With support from the local community, the baristas of Longmont’s Red Frog Coffee spent last month embarking on an unforgettable adventure — a staff trip to Japan.

Six baristas, plus shop co-owner Emily Zalewski, spent Feb. 18 through 25 in Kyoto, the home of Zalewski’s brother and sister-in-law. The week was packed with plenty of activities, from eating Japanese cuisine to sightseeing in rainy weather. One of Zalewski’s favorite days of the trip included a visit to a shrine, temple and bamboo grove.

“Everyone couldn’t help but feel peace and tranquility there,” Zalewski said.

The idea for the trip was initially pitched last summer, and it turned into a fundraiser once the baristas expressed their desire to go. The fundraiser ultimately brought in nearly $14,000, which covered everyone’s plane tickets and some travel expenses within the country.

“I was in disbelief,” Zalewski said of the support. “My heart was warmed so much to see how much the staff meant to customers.”

Zalewski said donations from Longmont companies and individuals were critical. Airport shuttle service Eight Black and a local doctor used their airline miles to cover three and four plane tickets, respectively.

Customers could also make cash donations at Red Frog, which occasionally came with little notes of encouragement. Zalewski said that, just the day before the trip, a couple of customers made a final contribution to help the staff cover food and drinks at the airport.

“They just so wanted to be a part of that adventure,” Zalewski said.

Braelyn Juelke, one of the six baristas who joined the trip, said her favorite part was a matcha tea ceremony, where they got to dress in traditional Japanese clothing and meet a geisha.

The team also visited a few cafes, which gave them the chance to see the ins and outs of Japanese coffee shops first-hand. Juelke explained that Japanese shops tend to focus on pour-over and drip coffee rather than espresso drinks like lattes.

“We got to talk to some of the baristas there and just experience how coffee was different,” Juelke said. “Even when I did have lattes, their art was so impeccable and so detailed. They really honed their skills there.”

Juelke was the barista who really pushed for the trip, posing the idea last year as a chance to see Zalewski’s brother and travel with her Red Frog friends. Seeing the trip go from concept to reality, Juelke said, was “unbelievable.”

“It just makes me feel like anything is possible,” Juelke said. “You can make anything happen, really, if you want it to happen.”

Another barista, Sarah Roberts, said one of her favorite parts of the trip was when they visited a market with hundreds of local artisans. Roberts also appreciated the opportunity to see how coffee is treated in Japan and even got to go behind the counter at one of the shops.

This trip was especially exciting for Roberts as it also marked her first time traveling internationally.

“(I got) a new perspective of people as a whole,” Roberts said. “There is a lot to learn in any area that you go to.”

Zalewski compared the bond the Red Frog team forged over a week of eating and sleeping together in a foreign country to that of a family.

“I think it’s cool for anyone to consider if they can ever do (a trip) for their staff,” Zalewski said. “It’s so special for that group of people.”



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Japan lodges protest with Russia over suspension of tax treaties


TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Wednesday that Japan has lodged a protest with Russia over Moscow’s suspension of tax treaties.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree suspending Russia’s double-taxation agreements with what it calls “unfriendly countries” – those that have imposed sanctions – state news agency RIA reported on Tuesday.

“It is regrettable that Russia decided to unilaterally suspend certain provisions of the Japan-Russia tax treaty, which is an unjustified measure that could be detrimental to Japanese citizens and businesses,” Matsuno told a news conference.

“Japan lodged a protest against Russia through diplomatic channels and asked them to withdraw their decision,” he said.

Matsuno also said that the government would closely examine Russia’s decision, and would collect information on the situation of Japanese companies there and take appropriate action.

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Gerry Doyle)



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