Japanese statesman, long-serving prime minister (2006–07, 2012–2020)
Kono has died at 89. He helped shape Japan's wartime apology with the 1993 Kono Statement and the 1995 Murayama apology, influencing regional ties with China and Korea. Conservatives have since challenged those acknowledgments. The former cabinet secretary and LDP chief warned against whitewashing history as relations with neighbors fray.
The India-Japan summit in New Delhi has produced joint statements on economic security, AI, energy resilience and defence cooperation. Leaders have announced a three-pronged push: strengthening supply chains, expanding defence tech collaboration, and boosting private investment, with a long-term goal of greater Indo-Pacific stability.
New episodes and updates across Northstar Politics and Manifesto examine accountability in politics, the role of wealth taxes, religion in leftist discourse, and a mass-shooter manifesto turned documentary project. Independent pieces highlight how platforms shape political imagination and how a true-crime format reframes public understanding of violence.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited Iturup (Etorofu), one of four islands Japan calls the Northern Territories, touring a fish-processing plant, a hospital and a school. Japan has protested: Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi have said the visit is "absolutely unacceptable" and have summoned the Russian ambassador.
Koizumi pays respects at Yasukuni on the 81st anniversary of Japan's surrender; the shrine commemorates 2.5 million war dead, including 14 convicted war criminals. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not attend, signaling a potential shift in diplomatic messaging amid regional tensions with China and South Korea. Chinese and South Korean officials condemn the visits; the emperor urges remembrance of wartime suffering.