Tag Archives: Japan

The South China Morning Post reports: US President Donald Trump is expected to attend the final day of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo in late May and may be granted the honour of awarding the Emperor’s Cup to the victorious wrestler. The White House has requested front-row box seats at the Ryogoku Sumo Stadium on May 26, the …

NBC News reports: Japan’s space agency said an explosive dropped Friday from its Hayabusa 2 spacecraft successfully blasted the surface of an asteroid for the first time to form a crater and pave the way for the collection of underground samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system. Friday’s mission was the riskiest for Hayabusa 2 because …

The Guardian reports: The Japanese prime minister has declined to say if he had nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel peace prize, though he emphasized he did not deny doing so. Trump’s assertion on Friday that Shinzō Abe had nominated him for the honour and sent him a copy of the letter has raised criticism in Japan. Questioned in parliament …

Reuters reports: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated U.S. President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize last autumn after receiving a request from the U.S. government to do so, the Asahi newspaper reported on Sunday. The report follows Trump’s claim on Friday that Abe had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for opening talks and easing tensions with …

The Kyodo News reports: Thirteen same-sex couples demanding marriage equality filed lawsuits against the government at district courts across Japan on Valentine’s Day on Thursday, arguing that its refusal to allow them to marry is unconstitutional and discriminatory. Each of the 26 plaintiffs is seeking 1 million yen ($9,000) in compensation, claiming that the government’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage …

Science Daily reports: In a study with significant implications for human organ transplantation, researchers have successfully grown functional mouse kidneys inside rats from just a few donor stem cells. The results of the study, led by researchers from the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan, will be published in an upcoming issue of Nature Communications. For patients with end-stage …

The Guardian reports: Japan is facing international condemnation after confirming it will resuming commercial whaling for the first time in more than 30 years The country’s fleet will resume commercial operations in July next 2019, the government’s chief spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, said of the decision to defy the 1986 global ban on commercial whaling. Suga told reporters the country’s fleet …

USA Today reports: Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co.’s influential chairman Carlos Ghosn was fired and arrested Monday after an internal probe found he underreported his salary and for other financial violations, including the personal use of company assets, the firm and Japanese state media said. Nissan said in a statement that Ghosn would be dismissed after an internal probe based …

Axios reports: President Trump raised a bid from GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson to build a casino in Japan during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to a report from ProPublica‘s Justin Elliott. Abe and his aides were “incredulous” that Trump “would be so brazen,” according to a source briefed on the conversation. The project is a top …

Human Rights Watch reports: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has passed a bill that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, Human Rights Watch said. The act, enacted on October 5, 2018, also commits the city government to conducting public education about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. Tokyo authorities were inspired to draft the bill …

The Japan Mainichi reports: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is set to propose the first ordinance bill including a stipulation to prohibit discrimination against LGBT and other sexual minorities to the metropolitan assembly on Sept. 19. The bill is prospectively named “the ordinance aiming to realize the idea of respect for human rights in the Olympic Charter.” The Olympic Charter, established …

The Guardian reports: Japan has launched a controversial bid to end the ban on commercial whaling, claiming that populations of certain types of whale have recovered sufficiently to allow the resumption of “sustainable” hunting. Representatives of Japan’s 70-strong delegation at this week’s International Whaling Commission [IWC] meeting in Florianópolis, Brazil, argued that the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling was intended …

CBS News reports: President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are meeting at the White House and holding a joint press conference Thursday, as the date of the U.S.-North Korea summit fast approaches. Speaking to reporters alongside Abe on Thursday, Trump said that the Tuesday summit is still subject to change. “I think I’m very well prepared,” Trump said …

NPR reports: Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his government “cannot accept” new U.S. tariffs on imported automobiles, as is reportedly being considered as a possible next move by the White House. President Trump last week launched an investigation into whether auto imports posed a national security risk to the U.S., a justification that might be used to raise the …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold a joint press conference Wednesday amid Abe’s visit to Trump’s golf club in Florida. The pair of leaders will likely address efforts to deter North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. Earlier Wednesday, the president confirmed CIA Director and Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo met directly with …

CNN reports: Japanese national broadcaster NHK issued an on-air apology Tuesday after issuing an alert incorrectly claiming that North Korea had launched a ballistic missile. The message, received by phone users with the NHK app installed on their devices, read: “NHK news alert. North Korea likely to have launched missile. The government J alert: evacuate inside the building or underground.” …

Raw Story reports: Addressing how he first became acquainted with Japanese Prime Minister Abe — who Trump referred to by his first name, Shinzo — Trump made the off-hand comment, appearing to go off-script from his prepared remarks. “So my relationship with Shinzo got off to quite a rocky start because I never ran for office, and here I am,” …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump embarked on the longest trip of his presidency Friday — a five-country, 10-day tour of Asia designed to strengthen diplomatic and economic partnerships while contending with North Korea’s nuclear threat. The president heads overseas during a time of what some experts see as a decline of U.S. influence in the region and they suggest …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump said Tuesday that “all options are on the table” in terms of a U.S. response to North Korea’s launch of a missile over Japan. In a terse, written statement Tuesday, Trump said that with the missile launch North Korea has “signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, …

Newsweek reports: Toxic waste produced by one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters will be dumped into the sea, according to the head of the Japanese company tasked with cleaning up the radioactive mess, despite protests from local fishermen. Takashi Kawamura, chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), told foreign media that nearly 777,000 tons of water tainted with tritium, …