Tag Archives: Japan

A top Japanese virologist and government adviser have warned of the risks of spreading COVID-19 infections during the Tokyo Olympics, the Times of London reported on Tuesday, the latest high-profile caveat about the global sporting showpiece. Tohoku University professor Hiroshi Oshitani was an architect of Japan’s “Three Cs” approach to …

Japan is considering requiring fans attending the Tokyo Olympics to show negative COVID-19 test results or vaccination records, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Monday, as a new poll showed public opposition to the Games remained strong. With the opening of the Games less than two months away, public confidence has …

In what might be the unlikeliest indicator of a post-pandemic recovery, a pair of premium Japanese melons have sold for $24,800 at auction, over 22 times more than last year’s virus-hit price. The 2.7 million yen price tag at the season’s first auction for the famed Yubari melons is still …

The owner of a container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March says the canal authority was at fault over its grounding as it disputes the vessel’s detention and a compensation claim, a lawyer representing the owner said on Saturday. The Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container …

Sporting body chief offers Tokyo medical help, says most residents at Olympic Village will be vaccinated. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has sought to reassure a Japanese public anxious over Tokyo’s hosting of the Summer Games during the coronavirus pandemic, announcing that most athletes will be vaccinated before the sporting …

A top medical organization 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 than three months from the start of the Games. The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association representing about 6,000 primary care doctors …

Two South Korean fisheries associations have filed a lawsuit, demanding the Japanese government’s compensation over its plan to dump contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. The court filing is seeking 10 million won ($8,850) per day from the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company …

IOC President Thomas Bach has canceled a trip to Japan because of surging cases of COVID-19 in the country, the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said Monday in a statement. Bach was to visit Hiroshima next Monday and meet the torch relay and then probably travel to Tokyo. Organizing committee president …

Japan extended on Friday a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas until the end of May to stem a surge in coronavirus cases, but Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga reiterated that it is still possible to host Tokyo Olympics this summer. The government had hoped a “short and …

Japan was hit by its biggest economic slump on record in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic emptied shopping malls and crushed demand for cars and other exports, bolstering the case for bolder policy action to prevent a deeper recession. The third straight quarter of declines knocked the size …

A ship that has leaked more than 1,000 tonnes of oil in pristine waters off the Mauritius coast has split into two, its Japanese operator said Sunday. The bulk carrier MK Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef off the southeastern coast of Mauritius on July 25 and began oozing …

Urgent efforts increased in Mauritius on Monday to empty a stranded Japanese ship of an estimated 2,500 tons of oil before the vessel breaks up and increases the contamination of the island’s once-pristine Indian Ocean coastline. Already more than 1,000 tons of fuel have washed up on the eastern coast …

Britain and Japan have reached a substantial agreement in most areas for a bilateral post-Brexit trade deal and will try to clinch a preliminary deal by the end of this month, top officials from both countries said on Friday. “We agreed to accelerate talks with an aim of reaching an …

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a message referred to the 75th anniversary of atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, saying the US, ISRAEL nuclear weapons “threaten our region”. “75 years ago today, the US gained the infamy of becoming the 1st and ONLY user of nuclear …

Testimonies of hibakusha ‘very important in changing the entire narrative about nuclear weapons’ “In a city of two hundred and forty-five thousand, nearly a hundred thousand people had been killed or doomed at one blow; a hundred thousand more were hurt.” These haunting words, written by the journalist John Hersey …

Survivors of the world’s first atomic bombing gathered in diminished numbers near an iconic, blasted dome Thursday to mark the attack’s 75th anniversary, many of them urging the world, and their own government, to do more to ban nuclear weapons. An upsurge of coronavirus cases in Japan meant a much …

The atomic bomb that exploded over Hiroshima 75 years ago didn’t just kill and maim. The survivors have also lived for decades with lingering shame, anger, and fear. Many in Japan believed radiation sickness is infectious or hereditary. Some hid their status as survivors. Some harbored thoughts of revenge in …

The British government asked Japan to help build its 5G wireless networks without Huawei Technologies, the Nikkei said on Sunday, a further step in a global technology and security war between the United States and China. Britain named NEC Corp (6701.T) and Fujitsu Ltd (6702.T) as potential alternative suppliers to …

A Japanese rocket carrying the first Arab mission to Mars will blast into space on Monday, after being delayed by bad weather, the launch company said Friday. The lift-off of the United Arab Emirates’ “Hope” probe, originally planned for Wednesday, is now set for 6:58 am Monday (21:58 GMT Sunday) …