World English News » Japan

Japanese destroyer collides with South Korean ship

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:23:44 +0000

A collision between a Japanese destroyer and a South Korean container ship in the waters off western Japan caused severe damage to both vessels.

The NHK World reports, “Japan’s Defense Ministry says the 5,200 ton Kurama and the 7,400 ton South Korean-registered Carina Star collided shortly before 8 PM on Tuesday, Japan Time, in the Kanmon Strait between Japan’s main islands of Honshu and Kyushu.”

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Japan cuts almost 3 trillion yen from budget

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:24:34 +0000

In a story from asahi.com, “Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s Cabinet on Friday froze 2.9259 trillion yen in programs listed in the supplementary budget for fiscal 2009 passed by the previous administration.

The figure was just short of Hatoyama’s goal of 3 trillion yen in spending cuts.

Still, Hatoyama seemed pleased by the results, saying his ministers “did their best” to eliminate wasteful programs.”

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Japanese airline wants you to go before boarding

admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:25:28 +0000

[thestar.com]– If you want to go to Japan, you gotta go before boarding.

One Japanese carrier, All Nippon Airways, is asking its passengers to take a trip to the bathroom before climbing aboard to reduce weight, and therefore fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

The carrier is testing the policy on 42 flights, starting last Thursday, and hopes to achieve a five-tonne reduction in carbon emissions in the one-month experiment.

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Japan not to simply extend refueling mission in Jan.: Hatoyama

admin — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:51:52 +0000

[Kyodo News]– Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Friday he has no intention of simply extending the refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations after the law authorizing it expires in January and that his government is looking to help the Afghan people in a way that can satisfy both them and the United States.

”I would like to carry out support steps (for Afghanistan) that are most desired,” Hatoyama said during a press conference in Pittsburgh, where he took part in a Group of 20 financial summit, adding that such humanitarian support as farming assistance and vocational training could be possible.

On the issue of relocating some U.S. forces in Japan, Hatoyama said, ”I understand that no minute can be wasted when we think about sentiment in Okinawa.”

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Okada, Clinton OK talks on bases

admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:26:38 +0000

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton agreed Monday to continue negotiations on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.

Okada, appointed foreign minister last week after the Democratic Party of Japan swept into power, has made the bases issue a priority, vowing to tackle it during his first 100 days in office.

According to Japanese officials, Okada told Clinton that Japan wants to hold further discussions on the U.S. troop presence, including the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture.

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Hatoyama elected prime minister

admin — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:09:37 +0000

Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday was chosen as Japan’s 93rd prime minister, taking over a country with a sluggish economy and a populace demanding results from his bold promises of change.

Hatoyama, 62, will form his Cabinet this evening to begin work on a mountain of issues, including the widening new swine flu epidemic.

This is the first change in government in the postwar era brought about by a single opposition party capturing a majority of seats in a Lower House election.

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License

Coast guard sent to disputed waters

admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:03:47 +0000

Taiwan sent coast guard vessels to disputed waters in the East China Sea where Japan arrested a Taiwanese skipper, accusing him of illegal fishing, officials on both sides said yesterday.

The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said it had dispatched five patrol boats to the area, 110 nautical miles (200km) east of Taiwan, after Japanese officials said they were holding the skipper for questioning.

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Man denies starting fire that killed 16

admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:50:43 +0000

A man accused of setting a fire at a video parlor that killed 16 people pleaded innocent Monday, saying prosecutors falsely painted him as a suicidal failure with an intent to kill.

“I did not set fire to the establishment,” Kazuhiro Ogawa, 47, said during his first hearing at the Osaka District Court.

He said the fire on Oct. 1, 2008, did not start at the booth where he was staying, and that he was sleeping when the blaze broke out.

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Real estate auctions double as debtors default

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:40:39 +0000

Court-sanctioned real estate auctions have nearly doubled in number since spring last year, largely due to an upswing in homeowner failures to repay loans amid the economic downturn.

In July, 7,229 properties were auctioned at courts nationwide, up from 3,773 in March 2008, according to industry association Fudosan Keibai Ryutsu Kyokai.

Of the July total, 3,512 were detached houses, a jump from 1,744 in March 2008.

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N. Korea urges Japan to drop ‘hostile’ policy, sanctions after election

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:35:10 +0000

North Korea wants the next Japanese administration after the upcoming general election to drop Tokyo’s ”hostile” policy toward Pyongyang through the lifting of sanctions and other ice-thawing measures, a North Korean official in charge of Japanese affairs said Wednesday.
In an interview with Kyodo News in Pyongyang, Ro Jong Su, a director-level researcher at the Foreign Ministry, dismissed the claim in some circles in the United States that Japan and South Korea could go nuclear unless the international community stops Pyongyang’s nuclear development, calling such a claim ”outrageous” and ”far from the reality.”

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