Japan

Torrential rains in Japan unleash fatal landslides

At least two people were feared dead on Saturday after landslides triggered by heavy rains hit the central Japanese city of Atami, where about 20 people were still missing, public…

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Photo Story: Robot waiter with a cause in Japan

An OriHime-D robot passes through tables at the cafe ‘Avatar Robot Cafe DAWN ver.beta’ in Tokyo, Japan. OriHime-D is a robot operated remotely by disabled people to serve customers at…

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Japan Olympic Committee chief says strict border controls needed to prevent COVID-19 spread

TOKYO (Reuters) - There is no way there will be zero coronavirus cases among athletes arriving for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, so border controls need to be stict to…

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Japan top court backs ban on separate married surnames

Japan's top court on Wednesday ruled a law requiring married couples to have the same family name is constitutional, rejecting plaintiffs who sought the right to keep separate surnames, local…

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Mazda to temporarily halt production at Japanese plant in July due to chip shortage

Mazda Motor Corp said on Wednesday that it will suspend production at a factory in Japan for a total of ten days in July due to a chip shortage. The…

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Japan exports jump most in 41 years, machine orders rise

Japan's exports rose at the fastest pace since 1980 in May and a key gauge of capital spending grew, helping the world's third largest economy offset sluggish domestic demand as…

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Japan investigates subway death of Olympic official

Tokyo police said they are investigating a deadly incident on the city's subway, which media reports said involved a senior official at the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC). Private broadcaster Nippon…

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Number of babies born in Japan falls to record low

The number of babies born in Japan fell to a record low last year, the health ministry said, as more couples put off marriage and starting a family amid a…

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EU delays including UK to Covid ‘white list’ due to fears of Delta variant

The EU has delayed putting the UK on a “white list” of countries from where non-essential travel into the bloc is approved because of concerns about the rise in cases…

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UPDATED: UK gets green light to start talks on joining Pacific trade deal

Member nations of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on Wednesday agreed to allow Britain to start the process of joining the pact, Japan's economy minister said.…

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EU to add Japan to safe travel list, leave UK off for now

The European Union is set to add Japan to its small list of “safe” countries from which it will allow non-essential travel, but will hold off opening the door to…

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Japan, sponsors join athletes to support Osaka after French Open withdrawal

Naomi Osaka received support from her country Japan, her sponsors, leading sporting figures and tennis fans on Tuesday after the world number two withdrew from the French Open in a…

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Japanese cargo ship collides with foreign vessel, three missing

A Japanese cargo ship collided with a foreign-registered vessel in the Seto Inland Sea off the island of Shikoku in western Japan late on Thursday, national broadcaster NHK reported on…

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Japan’s service prices creep up as freight costs pinch firms

Japan's corporate service prices rose for the second straight month in April due to a rebound in advertising and freight fees, data showed on Wednesday, a sign the economy was…

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Official Tokyo Olympics partner, urges Games cancellation

TOKYO, May 26 (Reuters) - Japan's Asahi Shimbun, an official partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, called for the Summer Games to be cancelled in an editorial on Wednesday, citing…

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Exhausted doctors warn of a “system collapse”, and advise against holding the Olympics this summer

Hospitals in Japan's second largest city of Osaka are buckling under a huge wave of new coronavirus infections, running out of beds and ventilators as exhausted doctors warn of a…

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Tokyo doctors call for cancellation of Olympic Games due to COVID-19

A top medical organisation has thrown its weight behind calls to cancel the Tokyo Olympics saying hospitals are already overwhelmed as the country battles a spike in coronavirus infections less…

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Fujifilm unit launches COVID-19 detection kit for Indian, Californian variants

Fujifilm Holdings Corp said on Monday a subsidiary had launched a detection kit that can identify COVID-19 variants that were first identified in India and California. The kit developed by…

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Quake of magnitude 5.8 strikes off Japan’s southeast coast -EMSC

An earthquake of preliminary magnitude 5.8 struck on Sunday off the southeast coast of Asahikawa in Japan, the European earthquake monitoring service EMSC said. The quake hit at a depth…

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Unused COVID shots piling up in Japan amid slow rollout

Unused COVID-19 vaccines in Japan are set to reach tens of millions of doses, as the country is poised to approve two more shots in coming weeks and the pace…

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IOC President Bach’s visit to Japan expected to be cancelled

TOKYO, May 7 (Reuters) - International Olympic Committee head Thomas Bach's visit to Japan is now expected to be cancelled given that the state of emergency has been extended in…

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First Olympic test events with international athletes take place

TOKYO (Reuters) - Diving and volleyball on Saturday became the first Olympic test events to include international athletes since such competitions resumed last month, as both began under close supervision…

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Japan says Olympics must not burden medical systems

TOKYO, April 30 (Reuters) - The Olympics must not be a burden on medical systems, Japan's chief government spokesman said on Friday, amid worries that daily athlete testing will tax…

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IOC president says he understands Tokyo’s COVID-19 emergency move

TOKYO, April 28 (Reuters) - Thomas Bach, head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said on Wednesday he fully understood the decision to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo…

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Japan to open large vaccination centers in Tokyo, Osaka -media

TOKYO, April 25 (Reuters) - The Japanese government is planning to open large vaccination centres in Tokyo and Osaka in the coming weeks in a bid to speed up its…

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Tokyo Olympics must be ‘reconsidered’ due to Japan’s failure to contain pandemic – report

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's inability to contain the COVID-19 pandemic means that plans to hold the Olympics in Tokyo should be reconsidered, health experts wrote in a commentary. The 2020…

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China says it shares stance with South Korea opposing Japan’s Fukushima water release

China will assess possible threats posed by Japan's release of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant to the safety of related food and agricultural products and their trade, the…

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UAE partners with Japan’s ispace to send rover to the moon in 2022

Lunar exploration company ispace will transport a United Arab Emirates rover to the moon in 2022, the company said on Wednesday, as the UAE pushes for rapid expansion in the…

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Japan has world’s most powerful passport in post-pandemic world

Japan has the world’s most powerful passport, the latest rankings have revealed. As vaccine rollouts increase the likelihood of international travel resuming, the Henley Passport Index specifically looked at travel…

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Japan to release contaminated Fukushima water into sea after treatment

Japan will release more than 1 million tonnes of contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear station into the sea, the government said on Tuesday, a move opposed by neighbours including China,…

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Japan fears COVID-19 variants are behind possible fourth wave

Japanese health authorities are concerned that variants of the coronavirus are driving a nascent fourth wave in the pandemic with just 109 days remaining until the Tokyo Olympics. The variants…

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Subaru to temporarily shut its plant due to chip shortage

Japan's Subaru Corp said on Monday that the automaker will shut its Yajima plant between April 10 and 27 due to a chip shortage, affecting 10,000 vehicles. Subaru will restart…

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Leukaemia survivor Ikee defies odds by securing Olympics berth

Japanese swimming star Rikako Ikee defied the odds and secured an Olympics berth after the leukaemia survivor won the women's 100-metre butterfly at the national championships on Sunday, less than…

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Japan PM says to expand emergency measures as needed amid fears of new strains

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Sunday that he would expand emergency measures as needed to contain a new wave of coronavirus infections, amid fears over the spread of…

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Troubling “Eek” variant found in most Tokyo hospital COVID cases

Around 70% of coronavirus patients tested at a Tokyo hospital last month carried a mutation known for reducing vaccine protection, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said on Sunday. The E484K mutation,…

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U.S., Japan, South Korea begin talks on North Korea

The United States, South Korea and Japan began a day of talks on Friday to discuss President Joe Biden's long-awaited review of North Korea policy and other pressing concerns, including…

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Osaka wants its torch relay cancelled as COVID cases jump

Authorities in Japan's Osaka will discuss plans on Friday with organisers of the 2020 Tokyo Games to cancel the western region's leg of the Olympic torch relay, its governor said,…

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Japan looking to halve number of official travellers to Games: Kyodo

Japan's government will begin talks soon on potentially halving the number of official travellers to the country for this year's Olympics to around 30,000 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Kyodo news…

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Olympic Torch Relay Gets Going Under Pandemic Shadow

With waves, smiles and high fives, but no cheers, the Olympic torch relay set off on Thursday, beginning a four-month countdown to the postponed 2020 summer Games in Tokyo, the…

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Japan car makers scramble to assess impact of Renesas auto chip-plant fire

Toyota, Nissan , Honda and other Japanese automakers scrambled on Monday to assess the production impact of a fire at a Renesas Electronics automotive chip plant that could aggravate a…

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In landmark ruling, Japan court says it is ‘unconstitutional’ to bar same-sex marriage

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese court ruled on Wednesday that not allowing same-sex couples to get married is "unconstitutional," setting a precedent in the only G7 nation not to fully…

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Magnitude 4.8 earthquake shakes buildings in Tokyo, no tsunami warning – NHK

An earthquake of preliminary magnitude of 4.8 struck in central Japan's Ibaraki prefecture north of Tokyo at 4:56 a.m. local time (1956 GMT), according to public broadcaster NHK, briefly shaking buildings in…

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Japan asks for small VIP delegations to Olympics amid pandemic

Kyodo / Reuters - Japan has asked nations sending their heads of state or government to this summer's Olympics and Paralympics to limit the number of each of their accompanying…

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Japan mulls 50% cap on Olympics spectators

TOKYO, March 14 (Reuters) - Japan is considering limiting spectators for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics to 50% of venue capacity due to risks posed by the spread of…

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Myanmar’s first satellite held by Japan on space station after coup

Myanmar’s first satellite is being held on board the International Space Station following the Myanmar coup, while Japan’s space agency and a Japanese university decide what to do with it,…

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Ten years on, Japan mourns victims of earthquake and Fukushima disaster

With a moment of silence, prayers and anti-nuclear protests, Japan on Thursday mourned about 20,000 victims of the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan 10 years ago, destroying towns…

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Japan to keep foreign spectators away from Tokyo Olympics, Kyodo says

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan has decided to stage this summer's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics without overseas spectators due to public concern about COVID-19, Kyodo news agency said on Tuesday, citing…

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Japan COVID-19 inoculations hit by vaccine, syringe shortages

Japan's COVID-19 inoculation campaign is moving at a glacial pace, hampered by a lack of supply and a shortage of specialty syringes that underscore the enormous challenge it faces in…

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Olympics in Japan might happen without overseas spectators

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government will decide whether to let overseas spectators attend the Summer Olympics in Tokyo by the end of March, Olympics Minister Tamayo Marukawa said on Wednesday. Her comments were…

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Fukushima operator completes removal of second set of spent fuel rods

Tepco, the operator of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima atomic plant, said it had successfully removed spent uranium fuel from a damaged reactor building in a key step in its clean up…

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Japan’s Osaka claims fourth slam with Australian Open victory over Brad

Berlin (dpa) - Japan's Naomi Osaka has won the Australian Open for a second time with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over American Jennifer Brady. The 23-year-old third-seed Osaka now has four grand slam…

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Japan finds new COVID-19 strain

Japan confirmed a new variant of COVID-19 presenting new challenges as the country tries to overcome a third wave of the pandemic. The new variant has been found in 91…

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Japan Health Ministry says it has approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine

TOKYO, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Japan's Health Ministry said on Sunday it has officially approved Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine, the first such approval in the country as it steps up…

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Japan quake brings back memories of deadly 2011 tsunami

The stench of alcohol filled the small bar on Sunday as Aoi Hoshino swept up glass from whiskey bottles smashed in a strong earthquake the night before, one appearing to…

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Strong earthquake hits off coast of Japan’s Fukushima

TOKYO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 hit off the coast of eastern Japan on Saturday, shaking buildings in Tokyo, but there appeared…

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Tokyo governor says Olympics facing ‘major issue’ after Mori’s sexist remarks

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Friday the Olympic Games were facing a "major issue" after the head of the organising committee made sexist remarks, with criticism of his comments…

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COVID-19 infections in Tokyo may have jumped nine-fold, antibody survey shows

The number of COVID-19 infections in Tokyo may have jumped by nine-fold since last summer, coronavirus antibody tests showed, as Japan tries to rein in the country's third and most lethal wave of the…

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