China has banned exports to Japan of dual-use goods for military purposes. The move comes at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and Tokyo.

Japan's plan to give authorities the power to order foreign investors to retroactively divest acquisitions is aimed at sheltering major firms and supply chains, though it is unlikely to curtail increased M&A interest,

Also part of the equation this week: China's visible pivot to another regional neighbor, South Korea, whose president spent four days in Beijing. Seoul has a bumpy history of its own with Japanese aggression and also sporadic — though generally less intense — friction with Beijing, a longtime supporter and ally of its rival North Korea.

A moderately strong, 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck in Japan on Tuesday, according to the United States Geological Survey. The temblor happened at 10:18 a.m. Japan time about 11 miles south of Matsue, Japan, data from the agency shows. U.S.G.S. data earlier reported that the magnitude was 5.8.

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday she would meet her counterparts in the United States next week to discuss rare earths supplies, and repeated Tokyo's condemnation of China over its latest export controls.

The epicenter of the first earthquake was in eastern Shimane prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Lately a diplomatic spat with China has begun depressing the number of people coming to Japan from that country—but even this does not seem to have much deterred Japan’s leaders from their course. Three related trends have fuelled what anxious Japanese have come to call the “foreigner problem”.

Tokyo is concerned at signs that Beijing may be laying the groundwork to restrict access to the metals vital to manufacturing.

Japan’s lack of public trash cans often surprises visitors, but cultural norms and safety concerns explain why travelers carry their trash all day.

With Japan preparing to restart a nuclear reactor, the world’s largest, in the coastal prefecture of Niigata, a Newsweek map shows the locations of the country’s nuclear power plants.