Category: Japan

Dollar edges to lowest against yen since Feb. 9

A U.S. one-hundred dollar bill and Japanese 10,000 yen notes are spread in Tokyo, Japan in this February 28, 2013 picture illustration. The dollar slipped to a more than two-week low against the yen on Monday, as investors awaited this week’s speech by U.S. President Donald Trump for clues on tax reform.

More culling in Japan after bird flu strain detected

Tokyo, Feb 5 – Authorities in Japan’s Saga province have begun culling more chickens after detecting a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu in dead birds at a farm, the media reported on Sunday. The culling began late Saturday, after the presence of a subtype of the H5 virus was detected at a farm in Kohoku locality.

Japan OKs retinal cell transplant using others’ iPS cells

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Wednesday approved transplant of retinal cells to treat patients using induced pluripotent stem cells derived from another person. According to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, the the application was filed in October last year by Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, the government-backed Riken institute in Kobe, Kyoto University and Osaka University.

Adult swaddling therapy fad hits Tokyo

Wrapped up from head to toe in a white bag and gently rocking from side to side, five Japanese mothers are hopeful Tokyo’s latest health trend can cure their post-pregnancy aches and pains. According to its exponents, Otonamaki, which translates as “adult wrapping”, was devised by a Kyoto midwife who thought replicating how children are swaddled at birth could help mothers overcome post labor shoulder and hip pain.

Could New Year address be Akihito’s last as Japan’s emperor?

Speculation about Akihito’s future emerged last year with reports he had told confidantes that he would like to step down Japan’s Emperor Akihito delivered his traditional New Year address Monday with tens of thousands of people flocking to the Imperial Palace for what could be his last such appearance after he expressed his desire to abdicate. It was his first New Year message since he announced in August that his advancing age and weakening health mean he may no longer be able to carry out his duties, setting the stage for Japan to prepare for an historic abdication.

China confirms second human bird flu infection this week

Workers wearing protective suits cull ducks after some tested positive for H5 bird flu at a poultry farm in Aomori, northern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo on Nov 29, 2016. – Reuters BEIJING: Chinese authorities have confirmed a second case of human bird flu infection this week, state media reported late on Wednesday, as South Korea and Japan battle to control outbreaks of the deadly virus.

China confirms second human bird flu infection this week

Workers wearing protective suits cull ducks after some tested positive for H5 bird flu at a poultry farm in Aomori, northern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo on Nov 29, 2016. – Reuters BEIJING: Chinese authorities have confirmed a second case of human bird flu infection this week, state media reported late on Wednesday, as South Korea and Japan battle to control outbreaks of the deadly virus.

Japan culling 210,000 birds amid spreading avian flu

Japan has begun slaughtering about 210,000 farm birds in northern Hokkaido to contain another outbreak of a highly contagious strain of avian flu, an official said Sunday. It is the fifth mass cull this winter in Japan with hundreds of officials working to prevent the spread of the virulent H5 strain, which has been detected at several farms across the country.