Japan

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — Nissan is considering adding a new auto plant in the U.S. to keep up with growing demand for electric vehicles, a top executive at the Japanese automaker said Friday.

“It may not be a surprise that we go for a third plant,” Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta told reporters at Yokohama headquarters.

TOKYO, May 7 (NNN-NHK) – The Japan Coast Guard and Self-Defence Forces, continued searching for those unaccounted for, in a tour boat sinking accident two weeks ago, local media reported yesterday.

The 19-tonne tour boat, Kazu I, was carrying 26 people, including its crew, when it went missing off the Shiretoko Peninsula, in Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on Apr 23, after making a distress call saying it was taking on water in rough seas, leaving 14 dead and 12 missing.

TOKYO, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The Japan Coast Guard said on Friday that the tourist boat that went missing six days ago with 26 people aboard was found underwater off Hokkaido in northern Japan.

The 19-ton Kazu I was located on Friday after the Maritime Self-Defense Force conducted a search with an underwater camera off the Shiretoko Peninsula in northeastern Hokkaido.

So far, the bodies of 14 people have been retrieved since the boat went missing on April 23. Twelve people remain unaccounted for.

TOKYO, Apr 28 (NNN-NHK) – Japan’s industrial production in the fiscal year 2021, grew at a record 5.8 percent, after being hit by the downside effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government said in a report today.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), from Apr, 2021, to Mar, 2022, the index of production at factories and mines stood at 95.5 against the 2015 base of 100.

The rate of increase was the highest since comparable data became available in fiscal 2014, and came on the heels of a 9.6-percent drop the previous year, the ministry said.

TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo’s Shibuya is famed for its Scramble Crossing, where crowds of people crisscross the intersection in a scene symbolizing urban Japan’s congestion and anonymity. It may have added another boasting right.

Tokyu Railways’ trains running through Shibuya and other stations were switched to power generated only by solar and other renewable sources starting April 1.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares declined Monday after U.S. stocks ended last week on a tumble as global markets’ expectations for higher interest rates continued to set the tone.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 1.9% in morning trading to 26,583.70. South Korea’s Kospi slipped 1.6% to 2,661.94. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.8% to 20,064.32, while the Shanghai Composite shed 2.4% to 3,012.93. Trading was closed in Australia for Anzac Day, a national holiday.

TOKYO, April 24 (Reuters) - An experimental treatment from Shionogi & Co Ltd (4507.T) has shown rapid clearance of the virus that causes COVID-19, according to new data, the Japanese drug maker said on Sunday.

The pill, S-217622, "demonstrated rapid clearance of the infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus", Shionogi said in a statement, citing Phase-2b results from the Phase II/III clinical trial of the drug.

The company has global aspirations for the antiviral pill, which is now being evaluated by Japanese regulators.

TOKYO (AP) — Rescuers said that 10 people who were retrieved Sunday from the frigid sea and the rocky coast of a northern Japanese national park had died, a day after a tour boat with 26 aboard apparently sank in rough waters, triggering questions why it was allowed to sail.

The search for the others is still ongoing after the boat sent a distress call on Saturday afternoon saying it was sinking. The location, near the Kashuni Waterfall, is known as a difficult place to maneuver boats because of its rocky coastline and strong tide.

TOKYO (AP) — A tour boat with 26 people aboard was missing in rough and cold waters off northern Japan on Saturday after issuing a distress call and reporting to be sinking, the coast guard said.

No survivors have been found after more than seven hours of an intense search involving six patrol boats and four aircraft.

The 19-ton Kazu 1 made an emergency call in early afternoon, saying the ship’s bow had flooded and was beginning to sink and tilt while it was traveling off the western coast of Shiretoko Peninsula in the northern island of Hokkaido, the coast guard said.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly fell Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated increases in interest rates must be faster to fight inflation.

Major indexes cascaded downward in Asia. Japan’s consumer price index data showed an increase for the seventh consecutive month, although the results were within market expectations.