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Mari Yamaguchi
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Saadabad Palace in Iran's capital Tehran on June 12, 2019. (AFP)
December 9, 2019, 2:54 pm
Japan PM to host Iran’s president, seeks greater mediator role with West
Rouhani-Abe meeting reportedly set for later this month; Tehran and Tokyo have traditionally had friendly relations
By Mari Yamaguchi
Japan's Emperor Naruhito attends a ceremony to proclaim his enthronement to the world, called Sokuirei-Seiden-no-gi, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan, October 22, 2019. (Issei Kato/Pool Photo via AP)
October 22, 2019, 12:24 pm
Japanese Emperor Naruhito enthroned in elaborate, brief ceremony
59-year-old first in decades to ascend Chrysanthemum Throne following father’s abdication, as Tokyo pardons 550,000 people
By Mari Yamaguchi
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga speaks during a press conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, October 18, 2019. (Toshiyuki Matsumoto/Kyodo News via AP)
October 19, 2019, 8:57 am
Japan to send own force, won’t join US naval coalition in Gulf
Tokyo says it will continue to work closely with Washington even without joining mission aimed at protecting vessels from Iranian attacks
By Mari Yamaguchi
Illustrative: In this Jan. 22, 2014 file photo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, attend a session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
June 12, 2019, 2:06 am
Japan premier hopes to ease US-Iran tensions in Tehran visit
Shinzo Abe’s trip to the Iranian capital is the first by a sitting Japanese PM in the 40 years since the Islamic Revolution
By Jon Gambrell and Mari Yamaguchi
In this image provided by the US Navy, a Russian destroyer, left, sails very close to the USS Chancellorsville, right, while operating in the Philippine Sea, Friday, June 7, 2019. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher J Krucke via AP)
June 7, 2019, 7:05 pm
US, Russia blame each other in near-collision of warships
American guided-missile cruiser and Russian destroyer come within 50 meters of each other in the East China Sea; no injuries reported
By Lolita C. Baldor and Mari Yamaguchi
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, right, walks to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, May 16, 2019. (Eugene Hoshiko/Pool/AP)
May 16, 2019, 12:13 pm
Iran says US sanctions ‘unacceptable’ as crisis mounts
Foreign Minister Zarif, visiting Japan, insists his country is within its rights to threaten an increase in uranium enrichment in response to US sanctions
By Aya Batrawy and Mari Yamaguchi
Japan's new Emperor Naruhito receives the Imperial regalia of sword and jewel as proof of succession at the ceremony at Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. (Japan Pool via AP)
May 1, 2019, 6:36 am
Emperor Naruhito ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne of Japan
A day after his father abdicates, the new monarch vows to fulfill his duty as a symbol of state and people
By Mari Yamaguchi
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga unveils the name of new era “Reiwa” at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo, April 1, 2019 (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
April 1, 2019, 7:56 am
Japan chooses name for new era under next emperor
Shinzo Abe says ‘Reiwa’ means that culture is born, nurtured; Emperor Akihito to step down on April 30, in first abdication in 200 years; will be replaced by Crown Prince Naruhito
By Mari Yamaguchi
Japanese journalist Jumpei Yasuda, center, is driven out of the immigration center in Antakya, Turkey, October 24, 2018. (Yosuke Mizuno/Kyodo News via AP)
October 25, 2018, 11:46 am
Freed from Syria, Japanese reporter happy to go home after 3 years in ‘hell’
Jumpei Yasuda recounts al-Qaeda captivity, where he wasn’t allowed to bathe for 8 months, says he’s uncertain how to catch up with a changing world
By Mari Yamaguchi
In this February 18, 2015 photo, Japanese freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda speaks during an interview in Tokyo. (Kyodo News via AP)
October 23, 2018, 8:18 pm
Japan says man believed to be missing journalist in Syria freed after 3 years
Turkish authorities verifying if released man is Jumpei Yasuda, who went missing in 2015 while covering the Syrian civil war
By Mari Yamaguchi
In this undated file photo, cult guru Shoko Asahara, left, of Aum Shinrikyo walks with Yoshihiro Inoue, then a close aid, in Tokyo. (Kyodo News via AP)
July 6, 2018, 10:55 am
Japanese cult leader, followers executed for 1995 Tokyo gas attack
Chizuo Matsumoto, founder of Aum Shinrikyo, or Supreme Truth, and six others put to death over subway nerve gas release that killed 13 and sickened over 6,000
By Mari Yamaguchi
In this Thursday, May 31, 2018, photo, customers come out of a Daimaru department store in Tokyo. The major Japanese department store removed a vendor specializing in wine from the Golan Heights at a recent food fair following protests. (AP Photo/Mari Yamaguchi)
June 1, 2018, 4:41 pm
Japan store bars wine from Golan Heights after protests
‘The wine we carry is authorized by the Japanese government, so I don’t see why it has to be discriminated against,’ says importer
By Mari Yamaguchi
A man walks by a TV screen showing a local news program reporting about North Korea's missile firing at Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 5, 2017. (Lee Jin-man/AP)
July 28, 2017, 9:36 pm
North Korea test-fires second ballistic missile, lands in sea off Japan
Launch is ‘a serious and real threat,’ says Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; US expert says missile can reach Alaska
By Eric Talmadge and Mari Yamaguchi
Satellite image of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea, April 12, 2017 (Airbus Defense & Space/38 North/Pleiades CNES/Spot Image via AP)
April 13, 2017, 7:33 pm
Japan PM: North Korea may be capable of sarin-loaded missiles
Shinzo Abe says ‘tension is certainly rising’ as international concern mounts over renewed activity spotted at Pyongyang’s nuclear site
By Mari Yamaguchi
A man clears away debris of a broken wall in Mashiki, Kumamoto prefecture on April 16, 2016, after a powerful earthquake hit southern Japan, the second in two days. (AFP PHOTO/KAZUHIRO NOGI)
April 16, 2016, 12:02 pm
Japan quakes kill at least 29; rescuers rush to free trapped
2 temblors in as many days leave up to 1,500 hurt; heavy rain threatens to complicate relief operation, set off more mudslides
By EMILY WANG and Mari Yamaguchi
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