After sumo, golf and dinner, Trump and Abe get down to business

May 27, 2019 | News On Japan

May 27, 2019 (Japan Today) - After a fun-filled weekend of golf, sumo, cheeseburgers and charcoal-grilled meat and vegetables, U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are set to hold formal talks Monday, with trade and tensions with North Korea topping the agenda.

The two "golf buddies" enjoyed a round at a course near Tokyo before Trump donned slippers to present the gargantuan President's Cup to the winning sumo wrestler on the final day of the summer basho or tournament.

But Monday sees the start of the more formal section of the four-day state visit as Trump becomes the first foreign leader to visit Japan's new emperor Naruhito, who took the Chrysanthemum Throne only three weeks ago, after his father's historic abdication.

Trump visits Naruhito in the morning, before an hour of talks with Abe, with the day culminating in a state banquet with the emperor.

The president has already set out his stall on the two main issues confronting the two allies: trade, and the mounting threat from North Korea in the wake of February's failed Hanoi summit between Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un.

Within an hour of touching down in Tokyo, Trump railed against what he sees as a trade imbalance between the world's top and third-largest economies and vowed the relationship would be "a little bit more fair" after a deal.

But very soon after stepping off the course, he said that "much" of that deal would wait until Abe faces upper house elections likely in July -- as rumors swirl that the popular prime minister will combine that vote with a snap general election.

Typhoons No. 28 and 29 Bring High Waves to Japan's Pacific Coast

Two typhoons moving across the Pacific southeast of Japan are expected to remain well away from the Japanese mainland, but powerful swells could bring rough seas to a wide stretch of the country's Pacific coastline throughout the three-day holiday weekend, according to forecasts updated at 3 a.m. on October 10.

Cyberattacks Spread Across Japan

A series of cyberattacks has disrupted business operations and exposed millions of customer records across Japan, with a ransomware attack on a cloud service provider affecting 495 companies and local governments nationwide, while convenience store operator Lawson has disclosed a separate breach involving more than 2.15 million personal information records.

Japan's First 360-Degree Projection Mapping Opens in Osaka

Japan's first 360-degree projection mapping show will open at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts on October 10, transforming the historic building into an immersive world of light, music, and seasonal imagery, with organizers hoping the attraction will also help stimulate the city's nighttime economy.

Tokyo University Professor Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Tokyo University of Science professor emeritus Kenzo Soai has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with French chemist Henri B. Kagan for discoveries that transformed scientists' understanding of how chemical reactions can favor one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule.

US Military Halts All Okinawa Operations for 48 Hours

The US military suspended activities by all forces stationed in Okinawa for 48 hours from noon on October 7, an unusual measure following the arrest of a US Marine in connection with a robbery and murder case that has renewed scrutiny of crimes involving American service members.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Society NEWS

Most Sightings of Fugitive Yoichi Hatta Reported in Kanto

Police in Oita Prefecture have revealed that the Kanto region accounts for the largest number of reported sightings of Yoichi Hatta, a fugitive wanted in connection with a fatal hit-and-run incident in Beppu in 2022, with authorities preparing to distribute new wanted posters nationwide from November as the search enters its fifth year.