Katsuyuki Kawai is Japan's second cabinet minister to step down in less than a week.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon agreed on Thursday on the need to cooperate on North Korea despite frigid bilateral ties, but Abe repeated that Seoul needed to keep its promises for relations to improve.
The Japanese government is considering postponing a celebratory parade after Emperor Naruhito's formal enthronement ceremony next week due to damage from Typhoon Hagibis, national broadcaster NHK said on Thursday.
It came a day after North Korea announced the resumption of talks with the United States aimed at ending its nuclear program.
Stocks in Asia declined Monday following an escalation in the U.S.-China trade war.
Top negotiators for Japan and the United States on Thursday failed to reach an agreement on a two-way trade deal and decided to extend talks for another day in a last-ditch effort to bring tangibles to a weekend bilateral summit.
Japanese companies broadly support Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's tough trade stance against South Korea, a Reuters poll found.
If Japan takes away special trade privileges from South Korea, Samsung could be forced to look for alternative suppliers for its memory chips and that could give prices a boost, says Mark Newman from Sanford C. Bernstein.
Japan's prime minister and his coalition won a majority of the upper house elections on Sunday, but couldn't secure enough votes to revise the constitution.
Stocks in Asia were lower on Monday, as shares on a new Nasdaq-style technology board on the Shanghai Stock Exchange skyrocketed on their debut day.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling coalition party are set for a victory at the polls on Sunday, and next, he'll be seeking out a big win in his dealings with other countries — such as trade, according to analysts.
Japan will go to the polls this weekend, and analysts are expecting the ruling coalition to win again — an outcome that would maintain political stability in the country despite a slowing economy.
As the trade battle between South Korea and Japan drags on, Seoul announced it will cut down its economic dependence on Japanese industries.
The recent tensions between the two countries stem from more than six decades of resentment.
Improving domestic demand may offer some support for Japan's economy, which is facing growing external pressure and deflation.
Trump has begun a process with Russia and China at the G-20 meeting that could bring lasting peace and economic prosperity to the world, writes Michael Ivanovitch.
Group of 20 leaders stopped short of denouncing protectionism, instead calling for the need to realize a "free, fair, non-discriminatory" trade environment in a communique issued after their two-day meeting in Osaka, western Japan, on Saturday.
Carole Ghosn called on world leaders to hold Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe accountable for what she has repeatedly called the country's "hostage justice system."
Prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong said Friday that G-20 leaders meeting in Japan can help protect the city's freedoms by raising their concerns with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Tokyo and Washington are engaged in difficult trade talks as Trump's administration seeks to lower the U.S. trade deficit.
Data also provided by 
