Tag Archives: Japan

The Associated Press reports: The postponed Tokyo Olympics are getting a kickstart. Local organizers on Friday announced a series of 18 test events set to begin in March and run into May. The Tokyo Olympics are set to open on July 23, 2021, after being postponed eight months ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement in an online news …

Reuters reports: In their first calls with Joe Biden since the U.S. election, the leaders of Japan, South Korea and Australia on Thursday reaffirmed plans to form close ties with the president-elect to tackle issues including climate change and regional security. The three key Asian allies – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Australian Prime …

The Guardian reports: Japan’s government has reportedly decided to release more than 1m tonnes of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, setting it on a collision course with local fishermen who say the move will destroy their industry. Media reports said work to release the water, which is being stored in more than 1,000 …

The BBC reports: Japanese PM Shinzo Abe has announced his resignation for health reasons. He said he did not want his illness to get in the way of decision making, and apologised to the Japanese people for failing to complete his term in office. The 65-year-old has suffered for many years from ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease, but he …

Reuters reports: U.S. authorities on Wednesday arrested a former Special Forces soldier and another man wanted by Japan on charges that they enabled the escape of former Nissan Motor Co boss Carlos Ghosn out of the country. Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts said that former U.S. Green Beret Michael Taylor, 59, and his son, Peter Taylor, 27, helped Ghosn last year …

The Associated Press reports: Japan’s Prime Minister says Japan has banned entry from 49 more countries, including the U.S., Canada, all of China, South Korea and seven Southeast Asian countries. That brings the total number of countries banned from entering Japan to 73. Shinzo Abe says the government has tightened visa restrictions and will require a two-week quarantine to visitors …

Sports Illustrated reports: Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike have proposed a one-year postponement of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in a conference call with International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach. Abe said Bach agreed “100%” with this proposal, which would have to be approved by the IOC’s Executive Board. The Olympics have never been postponed …

ABC News reports: Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged for the first time on Monday that the Summer Olympic Games could be delayed due to the coronavirus as countries began threatening to keep their athletes at home. “If it’s difficult to proceed in its complete form, then we must think about the athletes first and consider postponing,” Abe told Parliament. …

The New York Times reports: It remains unclear how any decision about the Olympics would unfold if officials in Tokyo conclude they have to alter plans for the Games. Seiko Hashimoto, Japan’s Olympic minister, said this week that Japan’s position was that as long as Tokyo held the Games in 2020, the I.O.C. could not cancel them. The 80-page contract …

Time Magazine reports: A spokesman for the Japanese government on Wednesday said the International Olympic Committee and local organizers are going ahead as planned with the Tokyo Olympics despite the threat of the spreading coronavirus. The comments from spokesman Yoshihide Suga follow the assertion by former IOC vice-president Dick Pound that organizers face a three-month window to decide the fate …

The Associated Press reports: Japan is announcing the closure of schools nationwide through March to help control the spread of the new virus. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he asked all elementary, middle and high schools to remain closed until spring break ends in early April. The measure comes amid growing concern about the rise in the number of untraceable …

Time Magazine reports: Americans evacuated from the virus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship are arriving in the United States, where they will be quarantined for another 14 days on military bases in California and Texas. “I have no idea where they will send me from here and I’m told we don’t get a choice,” Sarah Arana, 52, who was on the …

CNN reports: The Diamond Princess cruise ship has been quarantined off the coast of Yokohama, near Tokyo, since Tuesday, after a former passenger tested positive for the coronavirus. There are more than 3,700 people on board, including 2,600 passengers, of whom 428 are American. So far, 61 passengers have tested positive for the virus, and the quarantine is expected to …

CNBC reports: Lebanon received an Interpol arrest warrant on Thursday for ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, a Lebanese judicial source told Reuters. The request, an Interpol red notice that calls on authorities to arrest a wanted person, was received by Lebanon’s internal security forces and has yet to be referred to the judiciary, the source said. Ghosn fled to Beirut …

The Associated Press reports: Nissan’s former Chairman Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday from Lebanon that he was not fleeing justice but instead left Japan to avoid “injustice and political persecution” over financial misconduct allegations during his tenure leading the automaker. “I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is …

CNBC reports: Carlos Ghosn, the ousted boss of the Renault-Nissan carmaking alliance who was awaiting trial in Japan, flew into Lebanon on Monday evening, France’s Les Echos newspaper reported. It was unclear how Ghosn, who holds both French and Lebanese citizenship, would have been able to leave Japan, where he has been under strict court-imposed restrictions on his movements. Reuters …

The Daily Beast reports: The Japanese police have gotten the drop on a new breed of creep in Japan, called “AirDrop Chikan” (Airdrop Pervs) — men who use the photo and movie sharing function in many Apple products to send unwanted obscene photos to people close by. On Tuesday, the police in Fukokoka, in southern Japan, announced they had made …

The Associated Press report: A man screaming “You die!” burst into an animation production studio in Kyoto, Japan, and set it on fire Thursday, authorities said, leaving 33 people confirmed or presumed dead, shocking anime fans in and outside Japan. Most of the dead and the 36 injured were workers at Kyoto Animation, known for mega-hit stories featuring high school …

The Associated Press reports: A man carrying a knife in each hand and screaming “I will kill you!” attacked a group of schoolgirls and adults just outside Tokyo on Tuesday, killing two and injuring 16 others, officials said. Most of the victims were children who were lined up at a bus stop near Noborito Park in the city of Kawasaki …

The Guardian reports: On one side of the sumo ring stood a tall, hefty man with an unconventional hairstyle, bowing and smiling as the crowd applauded; opposite Donald Trump stood a professional wrestler, who on Sunday became the first recipient of a winner’s trophy awarded by the US president during his state visit to Japan. Trump had been spared the …