Japan

29 Jan 2023; AA: Japan logged 252 new coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, exceeding the monthly figure of 10,000 for the first time, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

The new fatalities have brought the death toll for January to 10,124, Kyodo News agency reported, citing a tally based on prefectural reports.

Previously, over 7,600 people died in December, the highest monthly total at that time.

The nation has seen a rapid surge in coronavirus deaths since November.

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — A Japanese whaling operator, after struggling for years to promote its products amid protests from conservationists, has found a new way to cultivate clientele and bolster sales: whale meat vending machines.

The Kujira (Whale) Store, an unmanned outlet that recently opened in the port town of Yokohama near Tokyo, houses three machines for whale sashimi, whale bacon, whale skin and whale steak, as well as canned whale meat. Prices range from 1,000 yen ($7.70) to 3,000 yen ($23).

TOKYO, Jan 25 (NNN-NHK) – Heavy snow and powerful winds are continuing to affect many parts of Japan today, with the stormy conditions disrupting a number of transportation systems.

As wide swathes of the country are in the grip of the coldest seasonal front in a decade, railway operators on major lines have cut back on services or suspended operations, all together.

East Japan Railway Company said, it will halt operations between some stations on the Yamagata Shinkansen line, throughout today, and part of Tohoku Shinkansen services will also be suspended.

TOKYO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Heavy snow blanketed wide swathes of Japan on Wednesday, snarling traffic, forcing hundreds of flight cancellations, disrupting train travel and leaving at least one person dead.

An unusually cold weather front and extreme low pressure systems set snow falling and strong winds blowing across Japan from Tuesday after causing havoc in other Asia countries earlier this week.

TOKYO, Jan 22 (NNN-NHK) – The average number of flu patients per medical institution in Japan, in the week through today, came to 7.37, signalling the beginning of an epidemic, a health ministry survey said.

About 5,000 medical institutions in all of Japan’s 47 prefectures reported 36,388 cases of seasonal flu, during the seven-day period, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases said, Friday.

TOKYO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Japan's suicide rate increased from the previous year in 2022 owing to the increased rate among males for the first time in 13 years, the government said in a report on Friday.

According to the health ministry, there were a total of 21,584 suicides in 2022, 577 more than the previous year, with suicides by men comprising 14,543 of the annual total of deaths, which was 604 more than the previous year.

TOKYO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The approval rating for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's cabinet dropped to 26.5 percent, a record low since he took office in October 2021, as a majority opposed tax hikes for defense spending, according to a Jiji Press survey released on Thursday.

The latest public opinion survey found that the Kishida cabinet's approval rating dropped 2.7 percentage points from the previous month to 26.5 percent, below 30 percent for the fourth consecutive month, and that the disapproval rating grew 1.1 points to a record high of 43.6 percent.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading mixed Thursday, as investors grew cautious after Wall Street’s biggest pullback of the year.

Shares dipped in Tokyo, but rose in Seoul and Sydney, where they recouped earlier losses by late morning. Hong Kong shares were slightly lower, while Shanghai shares were little changed.

TOKYO, Jan 18 (NNN-NHK) – The Japan Coast Guard, today said, one of its patrol boats had run aground in shallow waters, off the coast of Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture.

According to the Niigata coast guard, none of the 43 crew members of the patrol boat, Echigo were injured, although local reports said, the vessel is taking on water and leaking oil.

The patrol boat reportedly contacted the Japan Coast Guard at around 6:30 a.m. local time, to say the boat was stranded as it had run aground in shallow waters.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese prosecutors formally charged the suspect in the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with murder, sending him to stand trial, a court said Friday.

Tetsuya Yamagami was arrested immediately after allegedly shooting Abe with a homemade gun as the former leader was making a campaign speech in July outside a train station in Nara in western Japan. He then underwent a nearly six-month mental evaluation, which prosecutors said showed he is fit to stand trial.