The defense chiefs of Japan, the United States and Australia have met on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, an Asian security forum meeting in Singapore.

In a joint statement, Japanese Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Australia's Minister of Defence Richard Marles expressed concerns about the increasingly severe security environment in the East China Sea.

The defense ministers of Japan, the United States and South Korea have held in-person talks on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, an Asian security forum in Singapore.

Japanese Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup met in the first 3-way meeting since the inauguration of South Korea's new government and the first such face-to-face meeting since November 2019.

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio is considering attending the review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in August.

Kishida would be the first Japanese leader to attend the meeting. He is expected to make a final decision after an Upper House election in July.

Japanese Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo has warned that something similar to Russia's invasion of Ukraine could happen in the Indo-Pacific and stressed his intention to secure a budget for boosting Japan's defense.

Kishi delivered a speech on Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue, which is being held in Singapore.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev has weighed in on Moscow's decision to suspend the implementation of a fishing agreement with Japan.

Trutnev, who is also in charge of Russia's Far East, was speaking to reporters on Friday.

Senior officials of Japan's financial and monetary authorities have said they share concerns about the recent rapid fall in the value of the yen.

The officials held a meeting on Friday as the yen slid to the lowest level against the dollar in about 20 years amid speculation that the gap between US and Japanese interest rates will expand.

A citizens' group has filed a criminal complaint against former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and three others over free alcoholic drinks offered by a major beverage company to parties held by Abe's political support association.

The group filed the criminal complaint with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on Friday. One of the three accused is a former state-paid secretary to Abe.

Japan has started accepting overseas tourists again after easing anti-coronavirus border controls. The long-awaited move is welcome news to businesses across the country.

Miyajima Island, in western Japan, is home to one of the country's most famous Shinto shrines.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu has expressed hope that the resumption of inbound tourism will help revitalize the country's local economies.

Japan eased its anti-coronavirus border controls on Friday and started accepting tourists from overseas.

Police in Tokyo have reportedly seized earbuds from the home of a Chinese national arrested on suspicion of cheating on a university entrance exam earlier this year in Tokyo.

The police suspect the man used the earbuds to listen to the answers to test questions.

Researchers who have analyzed samples from the Ryugu asteroid say its parent body is believed to have had large amounts of water.

The samples were collected and brought back to Earth by Japan's Hayabusa2 space probe in 2020.

Japan has eased its anti-coronavirus border controls to start accepting overseas tourists for the first time in about two years.

The government on Friday reopened the borders to foreign sightseers from 98 countries and territories deemed to be at the lowest risk of spreading COVID-19. They include the United States, South Korea and China.

Japan is due to relax its border controls against the coronavirus pandemic as the country reopens to foreign tourists for the first time in about two years.

The move comes after Japan doubled the limit for daily arrivals from abroad to 20,000 on June 1.

Japan's Lower House lawmakers have voted down a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Kishida Fumio.

The voting on the motion submitted by the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party took place at a Lower House plenary session on Thursday.