Japan

TOKYO (AP) — The new governor of Japan’s central bank signaled Monday that he plans no drastic changes in its ultra-low interest rate policy, sticking to earlier messaging on the topic.

Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said Japan’s financial institutions are not facing the sorts of turmoil seen recently with bank failures in the U.S. and Europe. He pledged to do his utmost to maintain stability in both prices and financial systems in the world’s third-largest economy.

TOKYO, Apr 7 (NNN-NHK) – Security camera footage, showing a Sri Lankan woman, complaining of declining health before her death, in an immigration facility in central Japan, has been publicly released for the first time by lawyers representing her family.

Roughly seven minutes of a five-hour video taken of Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali, who died at the age of 33, while being held at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau, in Mar, 2021, was shown at a press conference in Tokyo yesterday.

TOKYO, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Japan (BOJ) said Friday it held more than 581 trillion yen (4.4 trillion U.S. dollars) in government bonds as of March, the largest on record for the end of a fiscal year.

The number was up 10.6 percent from a year earlier after the BOJ ramped up buying to hold down the yield on the benchmark 10-year issue, while the central bank's total assets, including exchange-traded funds, fell 0.2 percent to 734.85 trillion yen.

TOKYO (AP) — An unused lifeboat, a door and other fragments believed to be from a Japanese army helicopter were found after the Black Hawk carrying 10 crew members was presumed to have crashed at sea, officials said Friday.

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, apparently struggling to hold back tears, told reporters that none of the missing crew members have been found as the search continued Friday.

TOKYO, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Ten people were on board a Japan's Self-Defense Force (SDF) helicopter that disappeared from the radar on Thursday in waters off the southwestern prefecture of Okinawa, local media reported.

The UH-60 multipurpose chopper flying around Okinawa's Miyakojima Island disappeared from radar at around 4:40 p.m. local time, according to public broadcaster NHK citing defense ministry sources.

The SDF and the coast guard are searching for the helicopter, which belongs to a unit in the Kumamoto Prefecture, local media said.

TOKYO, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Japan saw excess deaths of up to 113,000 in 2022, more than double the year-earlier figure, according to newly released health ministry statistics, underscoring the possibility that COVID-19, directly and indirectly, contributed to the increase in excess mortality.

The estimates were compiled by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), an institution under the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

TOKYO (AP) — A missing Japanese army helicopter carrying 10 crew members is believed to have crashed into the sea off a southern island after objects appearing to be aircraft parts were spotted in the area, an official said Thursday.

The UH-60JA Black Hawk helicopter disappeared from radar on Thursday afternoon while on a reconnaissance mission north of Miyako island, the head of the Ground Self Defense Force, Yasunori Morishita, said at a news conference.

TOKYO, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Prices of gold in Japan leaped to a new high on Wednesday as investors have been switching out of riskier assets like stocks and into perceived safe havens like gold amid concerns over a U.S. economic slowdown.

On the Osaka Exchange late on Tuesday, benchmark gold futures temporarily hit 8,554 yen (65.16 U.S. dollars) per gram, and topped the 8,500 yen mark (64.76 dollars) per gram on Wednesday, dealers here said.

TOKYO (AP) — Images captured by a robotic probe inside one of the three melted reactors at Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant showed exposed steel bars in the main supporting structure and parts of its thick external concrete wall missing, triggering concerns about its earthquake resistance in case of another major disaster.

The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, has been sending robotic probes inside the Unit 1 primary containment chamber since last year. The new findings released Tuesday were from the latest probe conducted at the end of March.

TOKYO (AP) — Images captured by a robotic probe inside one of the three melted reactors at Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant showed exposed steel bars in the main supporting structure and parts of its thick external concrete wall missing, triggering concerns about its earthquake resistance in case of another major disaster.

The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, has been sending robotic probes inside the Unit 1 primary containment chamber since last year. The new findings released Tuesday were from the latest probe conducted at the end of March.