Rachel Weisz is set to co-star with Colin Firth in 'The Railway Man'.

REGIONAL tensions rose amid speculation that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi would visit a shrine for war dead tomorrow, on the anniversary of Tokyo’s World War Two surrender, which is seen by critics as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.

The apparent kidnapping of a Japanese man by a militant group in Iraq will not affect Tokyo’s troop deployment there, Japan’s defence chief said today as officials vowed to make every effort to win his release.

Comic Billy Connolly is to star opposite Tom Cruise in a new film about the final days of the samurai warriors, it was reported today.

The Japanese parliament has approved new laws allowing the country’s army to join the United States’ so-called "war on terrorism".