Japan

Thousands march in Tokyo to protest Myanmar coup, biggest Japan demonstration so far

TOKYO (Reuters) - Thousands of mostly silent demonstrators paraded through central Tokyo on Sunday in protest against the coup in Myanmar, many carrying photos of detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi in what organisers said was the largest such march in Japan to date.

More than 4,000 took part in the protest, organisers said, streaming through the downtown shopping areas of Shibuya and Omotesando with posters saying “Help us save Myanmar” and “Stop Crimes Against Humanity”. Tokyo police said they couldn’t comment on how many people attended the event.

Powerful Japan quake sets off landslide, minor injuries

TOKYO (AP) — Residents in northeastern Japan on Sunday cleaned up clutter and debris in stores and homes after a strong earthquake set off a landslide on a highway, damaged buildings and parts of bullet train lines and caused power blackouts for thousands of people.

The 7.3 magnitude temblor late Saturday shook the quake-prone areas of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures that 10 years ago had been hit by a powerful earthquake that triggered a tsunami and a meltdown at a nuclear power plant.

Japan: Tokyo 2020 chief Mori to quit over sexist remarks

TOKYO, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo 2020 organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori will resign over his controversial remarks about women, media reports said here on Thursday.

Nearly all major Japanese media outlets, including state broadcaster NHK and news agency Kyodo, have reported that the 83-year-old former prime minister will quit the position since protests over his comments have shown no sign of abating.

Japanese submarine collides with commercial vessel, 3 injured

TOKYO, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine collided with a commercial vessel on Monday in the Pacific Ocean off the western main island of Shikoku, slightly injuring three crew members on the submarine, government officials said.

In the incident, the 84-meter-long Soryu scraped the hull of the vessel when it was surfacing, the Defense Ministry said.

Top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said at a press conference that the clash occurred at around 10:58 a.m. local time (0158 GMT) off Cape Ashizuri in Shikoku's Kochi Prefecture.

Japan: Tokyo Olympics face another problem because of its president

TOKYO (AP) — The postponed Tokyo Olympics have yet another problem besides the pandemic. This time it’s Yoshiro Mori, the president of the local organizing committee.

Mori made derogatory comments about women almost a week ago in a meeting of the Japanese Olympic Committee. He essentially said they talk too much, driven by a “strong sense of rivalry.”

Nissan stays in red ink amid pandemic, Japan criminal trial

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automaker Nissan reported Tuesday losses for the fiscal third quarter, as its sales were hit by the coronavirus pandemic and its brand image continued to take a beating from the financial misconduct scandal centered on its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn.

Nissan Motor Co. reported a 37.8 billion yen ($360 million) loss for October-December, bigger than the 26 billion yen loss racked up the previous year.

Quarterly sales fell to 2.2 trillion yen ($21 billion) from 2.5 trillion yen.

Japan’s PM seeks to continue talks with Russia based on Singapore agreements

TOKYO, February 7. /TASS/: Japan plans to continue talks on a peace treaty with Russia on the basis of the high-level agreements reached in Singapore back in 2018, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Sunday.

"The government led by me firmly relies on the outcome of the meeting between our countries’ leaders reached in 2018 in Singapore and we will continue talks on the basis of the agreements between our countries," Suga told the National Rally to Demand the Return of the Northern Territories (Japan’s term for the Southern Kuril Islands).

Asian shares down on caution after modest US gains

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares fell Thursday as caution set in over company earnings reports, recent choppy trading in technology stocks and prospects for more economic stimulus for a world battling a pandemic.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1.0% to 28,360.42, while South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.4% to 3,086.72. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.9% to 6,765.50. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9% to 29,048.31, while the Shanghai Composite was down 0.3% to 3,506.75.

Japan's PM extends state of emergency for one month until March 7

TOKYO, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Tuesday extended the state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic in struggling regions for one month to March 7.

Among the 11 of the Japan's 47 prefectures currently covered by the state of emergency, Tokyo and neighboring Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama prefectures will remain under the declaration, as well as Aichi, Gifu, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka prefectures, Suga said at a meeting of the government's COVID-19 task force.

Japan’s PM Suga Holds First Phone Conversation With Biden

TOKYO, Jan 28 (NNN-NHK) – Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, spoke with new U.S. President, Joe Biden, via the phone today (Thursday), which was their first phone conversation, since the American leader was inaugurated last week.

In the talks that lasted about 30 minutes, the two leaders affirmed the importance of Japan-U.S. alliance and discussed the situation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), as well as, COVID-19 response and climate change, among other issues.

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