Category Archives: Japan

South Korea to partially suspend military deal with North after launch of spy satellite

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Pyongyang claims success on third attempt – breaching a 2018 agreement meant to reduce tensions, says South

South Korea has moved to partially suspend a 2018 military agreement with North Korea, which said it had successfully launched its first military spy satellite into orbit, the Yonhap news agency reported.

“North Korea is clearly demonstrating that it has no will to abide by the 19 September [2018] military agreement designed to reduce military tension on the Korean Peninsula and to build trust,” the South’s prime minister, Han Duck-soo, told an extraordinary cabinet meeting that approved suspending the deal.

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Yemen’s Houthi rebels seize cargo ship in Red Sea, calling Israeli vessels ‘legitimate targets’

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Israel says Galaxy Leader is British-owned and describes seizure as an ‘escalation in Iran’s belligerence’

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they have seized what they called an Israeli cargo ship in the Red Sea, and warned that all vessels linked to Israel “will become a legitimate target for armed forces”.

Houthi forces would “continue to carry out military operations against the Israeli enemy until the aggression against Gaza stops and the ugly crimes … against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza and the West Bank stop”, said a spokesperson for the group, Yahya Saree, in a statement on X.

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Japan gets a new island after undersea volcano erupts

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New landmass about 100 metres across pops up above the waves near Iwoto island after eruptions began last month

Japan has gained another island to add to its already impressive collection, after an undersea volcanic eruption 1,200km (745 miles) south of Tokyo created a new landmass.

Experts said the tiny island emerged after a series of eruptions that began in October near Iwoto island, part of the Ogasawara island chain in the western Pacific.

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Osaka’s baseball underdogs hope one more win will lift curse of KFC

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Many in the city have put the Hanshin Tigers’ lack of success down to an unusual Colonel Sanders-based superstition, but it may be about to end

The last time the Hanshin Tigers were proclaimed the best baseball team in Japan, their fans celebrated by hurling themselves into a canal and carrying out an “abduction” that many believe placed their team under a curse that has lasted almost four decades.

On Saturday, the sleeping giants of Japanese baseball were forced to wait another day for the chance to banish the jinx by winning their first Japan Series title since 1985, after a defeat to local rivals Orix Buffaloes ensured that the season’s finale would go to a seventh and decisive game.

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Police arrest suspected gunman and free hostage at Japanese post office

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Man detained after eight-hour standoff at building in Warabi and earlier shooting at nearby hospital

Japanese police have captured a suspected gunman who holed up at a post office and have rescued a member of staff who was held hostage, NHK television reported on Tuesday.

The arrest ended a more than eight-hour standoff with the man, reportedly in his 80s, who entered the post office with a gun in Warabi, north of Tokyo, an hour after a hospital shooting in which two people were wounded in the nearby city of Toda.

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Sharp rise in bear attacks in Japan as they struggle to find food

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Amid lack of acorns and beechnuts in natural habitats, bears have injured 158 people and killed two since April

Experts in Japan have warned that bear attacks are rising at an unprecedented rate, as the animals struggle to find food in their natural habitat.

Bears have caused at least 158 injuries and two deaths since April, equalling the record set in 2020, according to media reports. Most of the attacks occurred in the northern part of Honshu, Japan’s biggest island, the environment ministry said.

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Fukushima nuclear plant workers sent to hospital after being splashed with tainted water

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The operator Tepco says the workers came in contact with the wastewater when a hose came off accidentally and have been taken to hospital as a precaution

Four workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant were splashed with water containing radioactive materials, with two of them taken to hospital as a precaution, according to the plant operator.

The incident, which took place on Wednesday, highlights the dangers Japan still faces in decommissioning the plant. The reactor was knocked out by an immense tsunami in 2011 in the world’s worst atomic disaster since Chornobyl in 1986.

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Japan court rules mandatory sterilisation of people officially changing gender unconstitutional

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Judges reject requirement for trans people to remove reproductive organs for state-recognised gender change

Japan’s top court has ruled that a legal clause requiring people to undergo sterilisation surgery if they want to legally change their gender is unconstitutional.

Several international organisations including the European court of human rights, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and UN had said the requirement was discriminatory and infringed on human rights.

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Japan investigates foreign YouTubers accused of dodging train fares and stealing food

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The rise in nuisance influencers comes as tourism numbers in Japan near their pre-pandemic levels

A rise in the antics of nuisance influencers in Japan, who are accused of duping train ticket collectors and pretending to be homeless to get cash, has caused consternation in the country as tourism number near their pre-pandemic levels.

A railway company in Japan is investigating allegations that a group of four popular foreign YouTubers had travelled long distances by train without paying. One of the suspected fare dodgers, known online as Fidias, posted a video to his 2.38 million subscribers over the weekend showing him and three others evading rail staff and blagging free food.

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Pokémon no go: Van Gogh Museum stops free cards amid tout chaos

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Booming resale market for cards featuring Pikachu in style of Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait With Grey Felt Hat

They are more commonly associated with pop concerts or football matches than art exhibitions. But rows of ticket touts have become a familiar sight outside the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in recent weeks as they seek to get their hands on a limited edition Pokémon card.

There was so much interest in the card, which was being offered as part of an exhibition of modern art by Pokémon artists inspired by Van Gogh’s links to Japanese culture, that the museum has clamped down.

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Weighty issue: Japan Airlines lays on extra plane after sumo wrestlers make aircraft too heavy to fly

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Concerns over fuel capacity with wrestlers onboard led to national carrier taking the ‘unusual step’ of transferring sumo rikishi to another flight

Japan’s flagship carrier has been forced to lay on an extra flight at short notice after concluding that two of its planes were at risk of exceeding their weight limits. The culprit was not excess baggage, however, but a passenger list that included some of the country’s heaviest men.

Japan Airlines took the “very unusual” step of transferring a number of sumo wrestlers to a hastily arranged special flight last week over concerns that the two aircraft they had originally been due to fly would be unable to carry sufficient fuel due to weight restrictions.

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Ambiguous Japanese eco-drama wins London film festival top prize

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Evil Does Not Exist, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, is about community’s fight against ‘glamping’ development

A Japanese eco-drama about a lakeside community’s resistance to a corporate “glamping” development in their beautiful unspoilt village has won the top prize at the London film festival.

Evil Does Not Exist, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, tells the story of a community fighting to preserve its principles and the integrity of the natural world. They are up against a Tokyo company that has bought up swathes of nearby land, intending to turn it into a destination for well-off city tourists.

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Japan asks court to strip Unification church of religious status

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Move comes after assassination of former PM Shinzo Abe and growing criticism of fundraising activities

Japan’s government has asked a court to strip the Unification church of its status, amid growing criticism of the group’s fundraising activities after the assassination last year of the former prime minister Shinzo Abe.

If the Tokyo district court accepts the request, the church – whose members are colloquially known as Moonies – will be stripped of its status as a religious corporation and lose exemptions from corporate and property taxes, as well as a tax on income from monetary offerings.

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Manhole covers become collector’s items in Japan

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Kyoto to sell its obsolete manhole covers in a bid to cash in on the public’s fascination with the decorated pieces

They are heavy disks of wrought iron that separate us from our subterranean sewage, but in Japan, they are also highly coveted works of art, symbols of regional pride, and now, sources of revenue.

Local authorities are cashing in on the public’s fascination with the country’s decorated manhole covers, with Kyoto now joining a list of locations that are putting obsolete lids up for sale.

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Three bears that holed up in factory in Japan are captured and killed

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Official calls for use of hunting guns in towns to be made legal amid rise in number of marauding bears

Three bears that snuck into a tatami mat factory in northern Japan and were holed up inside for nearly a day have been captured and killed, according to town officials and media reports.

A patrolling official spotted the bears, believed to be a parent and two cubs, as they entered the factory on Wednesday morning in Misato, a town in Akita prefecture, where there have been a number of reported bear attacks in or near residential areas.

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Tokyo district mayor urges Halloween revellers to stay away amid crush fears

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Ken Hasebe issues warning after 2022 Itaewon tragedy in Seoul, in which more than 150 people died

Authorities in one of Tokyo’s liveliest neighbourhoods are pleading with revellers to stay away during Halloween, fearing a repeat of last year’s deadly crowd crush in the Itaewon district of Seoul.

Ken Hasebe, the mayor of Shibuya – a popular destination for young Japanese and foreign tourists – said partygoers hoping to mark the celebration in the area on and around 31 October would be disappointed.

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Bond market sell-off sends UK long-term borrowing cost to 25-year high

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Rate tops level last seen after Liz Truss mini-budget as fears of global inflation and US political instability spook markets

Britain’s long-term cost of borrowing has hit its highest level since 1998, as political instability in the US and fears of sustained high levels of inflation triggered a sell-off in global bond markets.

The yield, or interest rate, on 30-year UK government bonds hit 5.115% early on Wednesday, according to the financial data provider Refinitiv.

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J-pop agency Johnny & Associates to change name amid sexual abuse scandal

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Japanese talent agency to create new firm to manage artists as it tries to distance itself from disgraced founder

The Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates, whose late founder has been accused of sexually abusing hundreds of boys and young men, will change its name and establish a new firm to manage upcoming artists, as it struggles to repair its battered reputation.

The agency’s president, Noriyuki Higashiyama, told a televised press conference on Monday that the company would be renamed Smile-Up, as part of its attempts to distance itself from its disgraced founder, Johnny Kitagawa.

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Japan’s top companies cut ties with Johnny Kitagawa’s J-pop agency over sexual abuse scandal

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Moves by broadcaster NHK, McDonald’s, Nissan and Suntory follow allegations against late Johnny & Associates founder

Some of Japan’s best-known companies have cut ties with a powerful talent agency whose founder was accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of teenage boys, in a scandal that has rocked the country’s entertainment industry.

The public broadcaster NHK said this week it would not sign new contracts with stars from Johnny & Associates until it was convinced the firm had properly addressed the scandal.

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China, Japan and South Korea agree talks to calm fears over US ties

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Trilateral discussions to resume in response to Beijing’s fears over growing US influence in region

The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea will hold three-way talks “as soon as possible” after a meeting intended to ease Chinese concerns over Washington’s stronger security presence in the region.

Official said on Tuesday that the three countries’ deputy foreign ministers had agreed to revive trilateral talks after a four-year hiatus during which tensions have risen over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme and Chinese military activity.

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