Latest Japan News
Russia issue looms for Paris Olympics, Zelenskyy rebukes IOC
GENEVA (AP) — The question of if and how Russia competes at the Olympics hangs over the 2024 Paris Summer Games. Just as it has now for five straight Olympics during Thomas Bach’s leadership of the IOC, whose support this week for some Russians to compete in Paris was publicly...
Japan firm opens whale meat vending machines to push sales
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — A Japanese whaling operator, after struggling for years to promote its products amid protests from conservationists, has found a new way to cultivate clientele and bolster sales: whale meat vending machines. The Kujira (Whale) Store, an unmanned outlet that...
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda to step aside, become chairman
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota set up a new leadership team Thursday in what the Japanese automaker said was a move to stay abreast of social changes like electrification and becoming a wider “mobility company.” Chief Executive and President Akio Toyoda, grandson of the company's...
Heavy snow hits Seoul, traffic resumes on Japan highway
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Cars slowed and stopped on icy roads and bundled-up commuters gingerly navigated snow-covered sidewalks as a snowstorm swept through the South Korean capital of Seoul and nearby regions on Thursday, extending a frigid cold spell that has the country in its grip. ...
8 confirmed dead in ship sinking off Japan and South Korea
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese official said Thursday that eight people have died in the sinking of a cargo ship in waters between Japan and South Korea. Lyu Guijun, the consul general in the western Japanese city of Fukuoka, told state broadcaster CGTN that six of the eight victims were...
Japan launches intel satellite to watch N. Korea, disasters
TOKYO (AP) — Japan successfully launched a rocket Thursday carrying a government intelligence-gathering satellite on a mission to watch movements at military sites in North Korea and improve natural disaster response. The H2A rocket, launched by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.,...
Ship sinks between S. Korea and Japan; 2 dead, 8 missing
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ships searching in wind-whipped waters between South Korea and Japan have picked up at least 14 of the 22 crew members from a cargo vessel that sank early Wednesday, killing at least two, officials said. South Korean officials said nine of those rescued...
South Korea, Japan grapple with heavy snow chaos, delays
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Frigid winter weather gripped East Asia for the second straight day on Wednesday, causing several deaths and multiple injuries in Japan and a scramble for flights out of South Korea's resort island of Jeju following delays by snowstorms. Heavy snow and...
Asian shares rise, track Wall St gains as earnings ramp up
BANGKOK (AP) — Stocks were higher in Asia on Tuesday after a tech-led rally on Wall Street as investors bet the Federal Reserve will trim its rate hikes to tamp down inflation. Many markets in the region were closed for Lunar New Year holidays. A preliminary reading...
Kishida prioritizes arms buildup, reversing low birthrate
TOKYO (AP) — Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that Japan faces the severest security environment in the region since the end of World War II and pledged to push a military buildup under a newly adopted security strategy, as well as tackle rapidly declining births so the country can...
