Japan

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo reported 816 new daily coronavirus cases on Sunday, a day after governors from the capital and neighboring prefectures called on the Japanese government to announce a state of emergency to combat a recent surge in cases.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has resisted calls for a second national state of emergency; the government first introduced that measure in April during an earlier wave of the pandemic. Suga is scheduled to speak publicly on Jan. 4.

TOKYO (Reuters) -The governors of Tokyo and three other Japanese prefectures urged the government on Saturday to declare a state of emergency following a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters at a briefing after meeting the governors that the government would need to hear from experts before deciding on whether to make an emergency declaration.

New COVID-19 infections in Tokyo hit a record 1,337 on Dec. 31, and on Friday numbered 783. A nationwide record was also set on Dec. 31 with 4,520 new cases.

TOKYO, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tokyo posted 1,337 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, the highest daily count ever, local media reported, as Japan is in the midst of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The figure was far larger than the previous single-day record of 949 new cases on Saturday, when Japan reported a national record of 3,851 new infections, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

The Japanese capital has been battered by a third wave of “unprecedented scale,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told a news conference.

TOKYO, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The number of new daily COVID-19 cases in Tokyo surpassed the 1,000-mark for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, Governor Yuriko Koike said Thursday, according to local media.

Public broadcaster NHK, meanwhile, quoted Tokyo metropolitan government sources as saying that new cases have topped 1,300, far eclipsing the previous record of 949 cases logged last Saturday, as the city continues to grapple with consistently rising infections.

TOKYO, Dec 30 (NNN-NHK) – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 struck Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture today, the weather agency here said, although no tsunami waning was issued.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor, which occurred at 9:35 a.m. local time (0035 GMT), was centred inland with its epicentre at a latitude of 36.4 degrees north and a longitude of 140.6 degrees east, with a depth of 60 km.

Tokyo, Dec 28 (AP-PTI) Japan's government will temporarily ban entry of all nonresident foreign nationals as a precaution against a new and potentially more contagious coronavirus variant that has spread across Britain.

The entry ban will start Monday and last through Jan. 31 for the time being, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Saturday.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan aims to eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles in about 15 years, the government said Friday in a plan to achieve Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s ambitious pledge to go carbon free by 2050 and generate nearly $2 trillion growth in green business and investment.

The “green growth strategy” urges utilities to bolster renewables and hydrogen while calling for auto industries to go carbon free by the mid-2030s.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan aims to eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles in the next 15 years, the government said on Friday in a plan to reach net zero carbon emissions and generate nearly $2 trillion a year in green growth by 2050.

The “green growth strategy,” targeting the hydrogen and auto industries, is meant as an action plan to achieve Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s October pledge to eliminate carbon emissions on a net basis by mid-century.

TOKYO (Reuters) - A top Japanese defence official on Friday urged U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to “be strong” in supporting Taiwan in the face of an aggressive China, calling the island’s safety a “red line.”

“We are concerned China will expand its aggressive stance into areas other than Hong Kong. I think one of the next targets, or what everyone is worried about, is Taiwan,” State Minister of Defense Yasuhide Nakayama told Reuters.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga urged the nation on Friday to spend a quiet New Year period without the usual social gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which has been breaking infection records almost on a daily basis.

Suga also announced a package of $2.6 billion for hospitals treating COVID-19 patients which have come under strain due to the rapid rise in cases across the northern island of Hokkaido as well as large cities like Tokyo and Osaka.