Japan

TOKYO (AP) — The pressure of hosting an Olympics during a still-active pandemic is beginning to show in Japan.

The games begin July 23, with organizers determined they will go on, even with a reduced number of spectators or possibly none at all. While Japan has made remarkable progress to vaccinate its population against COVID-19, the drive is losing steam because of supply shortages.

ATAMI, Japan (AP) — Rescue workers slogged through mud and debris Monday looking for dozens feared missing after a giant landslide ripped through a Japanese seaside resort town, killing at least three people.

TOKYO (AP) — A member of the Serbian Olympic rowing team has tested positive for COVID-19 while trying to enter Japan for the Tokyo Olympics that are to open in just under three weeks.

The news was reported Sunday by the Japanese agency Kyodo and cited Japanese health ministry officials.

TOKYO (AP) — Voters in Japan’s capital are electing the Tokyo city assembly amid worries about health risks during the Olympics, opening in three weeks, as coronavirus cases continue to rise.

In Sunday’s balloting, 271 candidates are vying for 127 seats. Eligible voters total 9.8 million people in the megacity with a population of nearly 14 million.

Public opinion surveys show most people want the Games canceled or postponed again. Behind the fears is the lagging vaccination rollout, with only about 10% of the population fully vaccinated.

TOKYO (AP) — A powerful mudslide carrying a deluge of black water and debris crashed into rows of houses in a town west of Tokyo following heavy rains on Saturday, leaving at least 19 people missing, officials said.

As many as 80 homes in Atami were completely buried, according to an official with the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

TOKYO, Jul 1 (NNN-NHK) – IOC president, Thomas Bach, will arrive in Japan on Jul 8, with just over two weeks to go until the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics.

The IOC announced on its official website that, Bach will go to Tokyo fully vaccinated, and follow the playbooks’ guidelines, to ensure that the Games is safe and secure.

TOKYO, June 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor and his son Peter told a Tokyo court on Tuesday that they regretted helping former Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201.T) chairman Carlos Ghosn flee Japan, where he faced trial for alleged financial crimes.

Flanked by guards, the two men, who were brought into court handcuffed, bowed deeply to the three judges who will decide their sentence, and asked to be allowed to return to the United States to see family.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga pledged Monday to strengthen health controls at airports after a Ugandan Olympic team member tested positive for COVID-19 at the town hosting their training camp, triggering concerns that the upcoming games will spread infections.

A Ugandan team member, reportedly a coach, tested positive on Saturday at Tokyo’s Narita airport and was quarantined there. But the rest of the nine-person team was allowed to travel more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) on a chartered bus to their pre-Olympics camp in the western prefecture of Osaka.

TOKYO, June 27 (Xinhua) -- More American opinion leaders consider China as the United States' most important partner in Asia given the countries' trade relations, a survey by the Japanese Foreign Ministry revealed.

When asked to pick "the most important partner of the United States" among Asian and nearby countries, 35 percent of 200 opinion leaders from a range of fields picked China, while 33 percent picked Japan, according to the survey conducted between December 2020 and January 2021, local media reported Saturday.

TOKYO, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Japan on Friday ratified the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world's biggest free trade agreement, which comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including China and 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry, as reported by local media, said Tokyo deposited its ratification instrument with the ASEAN Secretariat. In doing so Japan has become the third member toward the enforcement of RCEP.