Tag Archives: Japan

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 …

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 …