Political parties over the weekend competed for the support of heavy Internet users at an event hosted by an online video-sharing site in the runup to the House of Councilors election in July, the first election to allow politicians unfettered access to the Web in their campaigns. (Japan Times)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks Monday in Moscow on reviving long-stalled negotiations on a territorial dispute that has prevented the countries from concluding a postwar peace treaty. (Japan Times)

The Japanese government has held a ceremony to mark the country's recovery of sovereignty under the San Francisco Peace Treaty. A protest against the ceremony was held in Okinawa, which was left outside Japanese administration for another 20 years. (NHK)

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Vladimir Putin of Russia are expected to agree in their coming meeting that the two countries will restart negotiations to end their territorial row, a Japanese government official said Sunday. (Jiji Press)

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party pulled off a landslide victory in Sunday's House of Councillors by-election in the western Japan prefecture of Yamaguchi, home of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Jiji Press)

While the Japanese mainland celebrated Sunday, Okinawans staged a protest rally over the national 61st anniversary of the country receiving its postwar independence through a treaty with the United States. (stripes.com)

A territorial dispute has overshadowed relations between Japan and Russia for decades. Next week, Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe is visiting Moscow to initiate efforts to find a compromise. (Deutsche Welle)

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying clarified at a regular press conference Friday that the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea are part of the country's core interests concerning its territorial sovereignty. (Jiji Press)

A decommissioned Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel was sold to a demolition company run by a senior regional member of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), a pro-Pyongyang organization, without a JCG regional headquarters confirmation as to whether the vessel's navigation data was deleted, it has been learned. (Yomiuri)

Former prosecutor Masaru Wakasa, 56, a frequent commentator on news programs and talk shows who once worked in the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office, said Thursday he will run in this summer's Upper House election as a Liberal Democratic Party candidate. (Japan Times)

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Thursday discussed how they can speed up consultations with China on the South China Sea territorial dispute. (Kyodo)

South Korea called in Japan's ambassador Thursday to lodge a strong protest in an escalating diplomatic row over visits by Japanese cabinet ministers and lawmakers to a controversial war shrine. (AFP)

Japan and China are planning to hold a meeting of senior defense officials to discuss measures to prevent any accidental conflict in waters near the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday. (Jiji Press)

China has unveiled plans to build more aircraft carriers after commissioning its first last year, as the country extends its influence amid territorial disputes with neighbors including Japan and Vietnam. (Japan Times)

China said on Wednesday that "provocative actions" would not sway it from defending its territory, after Japan confirmed it would conduct military drills with the United States amid tension between Beijing and Tokyo over disputed islands. (Reuters)

Tokyo has again been forced into damage control over issues of history as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's remarks on Japan's wartime aggression Tuesday triggered big headlines in South Korea. (Japan Times)

Since taking over as Japan's prime minister in December, Shinzo Abe and his conservative Liberal Democratic Party have been juggling a packed agenda of complicated issues, including reviving the country's economy, coping with the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and managing prickly relations with neighbors like North Korea. Stirring up extraneous controversy is counterproductive, but that's exactly what he and his nationalist allies in Parliament have done. (News On Japan)

Japan and the United States will conduct a joint military drill in California on June 10-26 to practice recapturing a remote island, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Tuesday. (Jiji Press)

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns on Tuesday reaffirmed the importance of cooperation between Tokyo and Washington and among the two countries plus South Korea in dealing with provocations by North Korea in a decisive manner. (Jiji Press)

The fragile relationship between China and Japan came under fresh strain Tuesday as ships from both sides crowded into the waters around a disputed group of islands and nearly 170 Japanese lawmakers visited a controversial war memorial. (CNN)