In his first official trip as secretary of defense, Jim Mattis traveled to East Asia, with scheduled stops in South Korea and Japan. “It is a priority for President Trump’s administration to pay attention to the northwest Pacific,” Mattis told the New York Times. “I am going to get current by listening to them, finding out where their issues are, and then we are going to work together and strengthen our alliance.”

The rekindling of a row between Japan and South Korea over symbols of the “comfort women” could hinder efforts to strengthen security cooperation between Washington’s two key Asian allies, according to an American scholar versed in Tokyo-Seoul ties.

A majority of Japanese people — 83.8 percent — are concerned the administration of new U.S. President Donald Trump could create global instability, according to a Kyodo News survey conducted Saturday and Sunday. Only 13.1 percent of the respondents to the nationwide telephone survey said they are not concerned about the administration of Trump, who was sworn in on Jan. 20 and is pushing an “America First” agenda on trade and immigration.

Filipino historians, along with arts and culture professionals, discussed the need to revisit details and connections in history to further deepen relations in countries. The symposium, which was held in Ateneo de Manila University Ricardo Leong Hall and was organized by the Japan Foundation Manila, brought together Fukuoka Prize recipients in the Philippines to lecture on the relations between the two countries going way back to prehispanic times as trade partners.

Caroline Kennedy stepped down on Wednesday after three years as US ambassador to Japan, where she was welcomed like a celebrity and worked to deepen the US-Japan relationship despite regular flare-ups over American military bases on the southern island of Okinawa [...] Some will also remember the efforts of the first female US ambassador to Japan to promote literacy and women’s and LGBT rights. 

The leaders of Australia and Japan agreed today to boost cooperation between their militaries, as Japan tries to shore up security ties throughout the Asia-Pacific region amid concern over China’s growing military might.

It was the opening ceremony of ‘2017 as the year of Japan-India friendly exchanges’ when renowned Indian film director-writer, Imtiaz Ali announced the production of his new film, ‘Love in Tokyo’ in collaboration with a major Japanese film studio, Shochiku. This Indo-Japanese collaboration is a part of the friendly exchanges the two countries are looking at by means of cultural exchanges.