Japan

New coronavirus variant found in travellers from Brazil in Japan

A new coronavirus variant has been detected in four travellers from Brazil's Amazonas state, Japan's Health Ministry said on Sunday, in the latest instance the pandemic virus is evolving. A…

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Toyota’s sales in China rise 11% in 2020 even as pandemic hits market

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp said on Thursday it sold 1.8 million vehicles last year in China, up 11% from a year earlier, narrowing the gap with Volkswagen AG and…

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Bridgestone to sell Firestone Building Products to LafargeHolcim for $3.4 bln

LafargeHolcim, the world's biggest cement maker, on Thursday announced $3.4 billion deal to buy Firestone Building Products from Japan's Bridgestone Corporation in its biggest acquisition in more than a decade.…

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Japan declares state of emergency for Tokyo area as COVID-19 cases surge

Japan declared a one-month state of emergency in the capital, Tokyo, and three neighbouring prefectures on Thursday to stem the spread of coronavirus infections, as new daily cases surged to…

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Photo Story: The traditional Toyosu Market New Year auction in Tokyo

Staff members pose before the auctioned tuna at a restaurant in Ginza, after the first auction for the year of Toyosu Market in Tokyo, Japan. Wholesaler Yamayuki bid for the…

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Tokyo daily coronavirus cases exceed 1,500, renewing record

Tokyo reported a record 1,591 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, as Japan's government faces increasing pressure from health experts to impose a strict state of emergency for the greater metropolitan…

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Tokyo to request new emergency declaration as COVID-19 cases increase

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will ask the central government later on Saturday to declare a state of emergency following a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, local media reported. Tokyo Governor Yuriko…

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Nissan Motor to reduce presence in Europe as part of turnaround plan

Nissan Motor is planning to further reduce its presence in Europe and outsource the sales and manufacturing of its cars to alliance partner Renault, the daily Yomiuri newspaper reported. As…

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Japan reports South African Coronavirus variant

TOKYO, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Japan on Monday detected a coronavirus variant found in South Africa, the government said, the first such discovery in a nation that has already identified…

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Ex-minister dies of COVID as Japan closes to foreigners

TOKYO, Dec 28 (Reuters) - A 53-year-old former Japanese minister has died of COVID-19, his party said on Monday, becoming the first incumbent lawmaker to succumb to the disease in…

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Japan bans new entries of foreigners

Japan on Saturday said it would temporarily ban non-resident foreign nationals from entering the country as it tightens its borders following the detection of a new, highly infectious variant of…

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Tokyo coronavirus cases hit record 949: media

TOKYO (Reuters) - Coronavirus infections in Tokyo hit a record daily high of 949 cases on Saturday, local media reported, as Japan heads into the New Year holiday period, which…

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Japan ex-PM Abe apologises, corrects parliament statements on funding scandal

TOKYO (Reuters) - Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday corrected statements he had made in parliament, apologising for what he said were mistakes regarding a political funding scandal…

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France’s L’Oreal to buy Japanese skincare company Takami

French cosmetics maker L'Oreal has signed an agreement to buy Japanese skincare company Takami, it said on Wednesday. A L'Oreal statement said the acquisition should be completed in the next…

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Tokyo governor urges residents not to go out during holiday season

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Monday urged the capital's 14 million residents to stay home during the upcoming holiday season to prevent the further spread of coronavirus infections, as the…

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Japan’s “Twitter killer” sentenced to death

Tokyo district court on Tuesday sentenced a man to death for the 2017 murders of nine people, local media reported, ending a case that grabbed headlines in Japan with the…

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Bird flu spreads to 10th Japanese prefecture

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's worst bird flu outbreak on record spread to new farms and now affects more than 20% of the country's 47 prefectures, with officials ordering cullings after…

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Study links Japan’s domestic travel campaign to increased COVID-19 symptoms

Researchers in Japan found a higher incidence of COVID-19 symptoms among people who have participated in a domestic travel campaign promoted by the government, suggesting that it is contributing to…

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Hitachi to sell overseas home appliance business to Turkey’s Arcelik

Japan's Hitachi Ltd plans to sell a 60% stake in its overseas home appliance business to Turkish consumer electronics maker Arcelik AS for about $300 million, and jointly operate the…

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Sony to buy AT&T’s anime business for $1.18 bln to expand global footprint

Sony Corp will buy AT&T Inc's animation business Crunchyroll for $1.175 billion, the two companies said on Thursday, as the Japanese electronics conglomerate aims to beef up its entertainment content…

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Honda hopes to resume UK car output on Monday after parts shortage

Japanese carmaker Honda said it hoped to restart production at its British factory on Monday after temporarily halting output because of transport-related delays that have caused a shortage of parts.…

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Japan Covid cases reach daily record as ‘third wave’ hits, bird flu outbreak worsens

Japan has reported a record daily number of coronavirus cases, prompting health experts to urge people not to travel in the run-up to the New Year holidays. The country reported…

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Japan retrieves asteroid samples in hunt for origins of planets

TOKYO/MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Japan has retrieved a capsule of asteroid dust from Australia's remote outback after a six-year mission that may help uncover more about the origins of the planets…

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Japan, France, U.S. plan their first joint military drills in May

Japan, France, and the United States will hold joint military drills on land and sea for the first time in May next year as the Chinese military steps up activity…

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Capsule with clues about solar system’s origins tumbles towards Earth

A spacecraft has sent a capsule tumbling towards earth, carrying samples from an asteroid that could contain clues to the origin of the solar system, Japan's space agency has said.…

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Tokyo prosecutors consider summary indictment of ex-PM Abe officials

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo prosecutors are considering a summary indictment of two officials in former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office for alleged violation of political funding laws, the daily…

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Japan may ban sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles in mid-2030s

Japan's government is considering abolishing sales of new gasoline-engine cars by the mid-2030s in favour of hybrid or electric vehicles in line with a global shift from traditionally powered cars,…

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Olympic rings illuminated upon return to Tokyo Bay

The Olympic rings monument was reinstalled in Tokyo Bay on Tuesday, after being removed in August, as organisers ramp up preparations for next year's postponed Summer Games. The rings were…

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Japan’s ANA to raise $3.2 bln in shares to weather pandemic, pay for planes

Japan's biggest airline ANA Holdings said on Friday it will issue new shares to raise 332 billion yen ($3.2 billion) to pay for Boeing 787 jets it has ordered and…

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Most Japan firms cancel year-end parties due to COVID-19

Nearly 90% of Japanese companies plan to skip year-end and New Year parties to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a private survey showed on Thursday, underscoring the pain the coronavirus…

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Japan games firm Nexon bets on growing computing power of mobile devices

Games company Nexon Co Ltd is betting on bringing long-running PC titles to mobile devices to drive revenue, as faster internet speeds and improved processing power improve the gaming capability…

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Japan maintaining behind-the-scene dialogue with North Korea

on Monday that Japan is maintaining dialogue with North Korea to resolve long-standing issues on its nuclear and missile developments and on Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents decades…

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Japan formally proclaims Crown Prince Akishino heir to throne

Japan formally proclaimed Crown Prince Akishino the first in line as heir to the throne on Sunday, the last of a series of ceremonies after his elder brother, Emperor Naruhito,…

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Japan opens airport coronavirus test lab for departing travellers

Japan’s largest airport opened a novel coronavirus testing facility on Monday as it takes steps to reopen international travel that has been largely grounded for months by the pandemic. The…

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Japan Airlines forecasts record annual loss of $3.6 bln

Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL) on Friday forecast a record operating loss of as much as 380 billion yen ($3.63 billion) for the year through March, and said it would…

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Japan’s ANA likely to suffer $5 bln net loss this year

Japanese airline operator ANA Holdings is expected to suffer a net loss of around 530 billion yen ($5 billion) for the fiscal year ending in March after the COVID-19 pandemic…

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New study shows Coronavirus survives on skin five times longer than flu

The coronavirus remains active on human skin for nine hours, Japanese researchers have found, in a discovery they said showed the need for frequent hand washing to combat the Covid-19…

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Reports Japan preparing to release Fukushima’s contaminated water into sea

Nearly a decade after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan’s government has decided to release contaminated water from the destroyed plant into the sea, media reports said on Friday, with a…

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Reports that Japan to waive landing fees to prop up airlines

Japan's government will waive airport landing fees worth up to 12.5 billion yen ($120 million) to ease the financial burden on airline operators, two sources familiar with the matter said,…

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Photo Story: Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force unveils new submarine

The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force's new submarine Taigei is unveiled at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe Shipyard in Kobe, western Japan, 14 October 2020. Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force unveiled its new…

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Takeda-led COVID-19 plasma treatment enters clinical trial with first patient

Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co said on Friday an alliance of drugmakers it spearheads has enrolled its first patient in a global clinical trial of a blood plasma treatment for COVID-19…

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Japan to remove travel ban for 12 countries including China next month

Japan is planning to remove a ban on overseas travel to China and 11 other countries next month, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday. The 11 other countries and regions…

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Japan Airlines aims for discount network to capture post-coronavirus tourism

Japan Airlines wants to create a low-cost carrier network with three of its discount carriers to tap leisure travel that, unlike business travel, could rebound as the coronavirus wanes, the…

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Tokyo Stock Exchange suspends day’s trade after worst-ever system glitch

The Tokyo Stock Exchange suspended share trading for the full day on Thursday as a glitch in its electronic trading system caused the worst outage ever suffered by the world's…

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Photo Story: New attractions at Tokyo Disneyland

A staff member wearing a face mask cleans an artwork with disinfectant in the new 'Minnie's Style Studio' at Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, east of Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo Disneyland unveiled…

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Japanese researchers trial early warning test for acute COVID-19 cases

Japanese researchers have developed a blood test they say appears to serve as an early warning system for serious cases of COVID-19, and deployed 500 prototype machines to trial its…

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Nearly 36,000 Japan firms shut down business due to COVID-19

Nearly 36,000 Japanese companies have chosen to discontinue their business so far this year, mainly due to the hit from the coronavirus crisis and up sharply from a year ago…

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Fujifilm’s Avigan shown to be effective in Japanese Phase-3 trial for COVID-19

Fujifilm Holdings Corp said on Wednesday its Avigan drug reduced viral loads and symptoms of COVID-19 patients, paving the way for regulatory approval in Japan after months of delays. The…

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Study shows face shields ineffective at trapping aerosols

Plastic face shields are almost totally ineffective at trapping respiratory aerosols, according to modelling in Japan, casting doubt on their effectiveness in preventing the spread of coronavirus. The Guardian reports…

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New Japan PM to meet US Pompeo in October

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is preparing to meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Tokyo early next month, the first high-level meeting between the two allies since Suga…

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Japan’s Suga elected as country’s first new PM in 8 years

Yoshihide Suga was elected as Japan's prime minister on Wednesday, becoming the country's first new leader in nearly eight years and facing a raft of challenges including reviving an economy…

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Japan’s Suga wins ruling party leadership race to replace Abe

Japan's governing party has elected Yoshihide Suga as its new leader to succeed Shinzo Abe, meaning he is almost certain to become the country's next prime minister. Last month Mr…

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Magnitude 6.1 earthquake near Japan’s coastline

A handout image made available by the US Geological Survey (USGS) shows an intensity shake map of a magnitude 6.1 earthquake at a depth of 32.1 kilometres, some 57 km…

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UK and Japan strike Britain’s first post-Brexit trade deal

Britain struck its first post-Brexit trade deal with Japan on Friday, hailing the agreement as a "historic moment", just as it is struggling to clinch a deal with its closest…

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Japan wants to reach broad agreement on trade with UK this week – govt official

Japan wants to reach broad consensus with the United Kingdom on trade this week, a Japanese government official said, signalling Tokyo's desire to make progress on the bilateral trade deal…

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Race for Abe’s succession starts in Japan

As Japan's ruling party formally kicked off its leadership race on Tuesday, frontrunner and chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said that preventing the spread of the coronavirus should take priority…

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Astrazeneca to begin Phase 1/2 clinical trials of coronavirus vaccine in Japan

Astrazeneca said on Friday it is beginning Phase 1/2 clinical trials in Japan of its coronavirus vaccine candidate. Trials of the vaccine, known as AZD1222, will be conducted at multiple…

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