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

Visitors walk by a religious ornament with the "manji" sign, the mirror image of a swastika, which comes from the ancient Sanskrit and has been widely used for centuries to denote Buddhist temples on maps and elsewhere, at a temple in Tokyo, February 3, 2016 (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

February 5, 2016, 7:15 pm

Japan weighs change to swastika-like temple symbol

With 2020 Olympics approaching, officials worry foreigners may confuse traditional Buddhist icon on maps with Nazi emblem

By Mari Yamaguchi

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C) leaves his official residence in Tokyo, after he attended a ministerial meeting on an online video showing purportedly Japanese hostage killed by the Islamic State on February 1, 2015. (photo credit: AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO)

February 5, 2015, 8:03 pm

Some Japanese see slain hostages, Abe as troublemakers

Many believe journalists should not have ignored warnings on travel to Syria, criticize PM’s support for strikes

By Mari Yamaguchi

A masked Islamic State fighter speaks during a ransom video demanding $200 million for the release of two Japanese citizens. (screen capture: YouTube)

January 24, 2015, 8:16 pm

Japan: Still working to free hostages after unverified video

IS posts video claiming one of two captives killed, demands release of female terrorist in exchange for remaining hostage

By Mari Yamaguchi and Elaine Kurtenbach