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Preparations are underway for a year-end Kabuki performance in Kyoto, western Japan, on Nov. 26, 2024, with wooden signs with the names of Kabuki actors written in the traditional style of “maneki-gaki” calligraphy, wishing for a full house, on display at Minamiza Theater. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan PM Ishiba mulls South Korea visit in early Jan. to meet with Yoon
TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is considering visiting South Korea in early January for talks with President Yoon Suk Yeol, diplomatic sources said Thursday.
The planned trip will be part of their “shuttle diplomacy,” or regular mutual visits, resumed between Tokyo and Seoul in 2023 before the 60th anniversary of the normalization of their ties next year.
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Extra Diet session begins with minority government eyeing budget, reforms
TOKYO – Japan’s parliament convened an extraordinary session Thursday for deliberations on a supplementary budget to help inflation-hit households and a revision of the political funds law following a bruising scandal, in the first major test for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s minority government.
The 24-day session through Dec. 21 will see Ishiba engage in substantive parliamentary debate for the first time since his ruling coalition lost its majority in the House of Representatives in late October.
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Lawmaker’s husband, daughter remain missing after Tokyo condo fire
TOKYO – The husband and eldest daughter of Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Kuniko Inoguchi remained unaccounted for Thursday after a fire at the family’s Tokyo condominium, metropolitan police said, though two bodies found at the scene have yet to be positively identified.
Inoguchi’s husband, Takashi, 80, a professor emeritus of politics and international relations at the University of Tokyo, and her 33-year-old eldest daughter were captured on security camera footage in the building late Wednesday afternoon, according to investigative sources.
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Toyota global output falls 0.8% in Oct. on price war in China
NAGOYA – Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday its global production for October fell 0.8 percent from a year earlier to 893,164 units, hit by tough price competition in China and a recall in North America.
Its overseas production fell 4.9 percent to 587,105 units, as output in China dropped 8.7 percent due to the Japanese automaker’s continued struggles in the world’s biggest auto market where BYD Co. and other local rivals are offering more affordable electric cars.
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Japan’s popular Nozomi bullet trains eye reducing nonreserved seats
NAGOYA – The operators of Nozomi bullet train services connecting Tokyo and Hakata in southwestern Japan are considering reducing the number of nonreserved seats from next spring, sources close to the matter said Thursday.
The move comes as the growing use of online reservation systems has increased demand for reserved seats for the super-express services linking Tokyo with major western Japanese cities including Osaka and Kyoto.
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Basketball: Watanabe ready to mediate in Hachimura’s row with JBA
TOKYO – Japan forward Yuta Watanabe voiced hope he might calm the waters after his national teammate Rui Hachimura openly questioned Tom Hovasse staying on as the men’s team head coach.
“I’m looking to communicate with Tom, Rui and also the Japan Basketball Association in order to make the national team better,” Watanabe, who played six seasons in the NBA before returning home with Chiba Jets this summer, told reporters Thursday.
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Man gets 8 yrs for dangerous driving over fatal accident in Japan
OITA, Japan – A Japanese court sentenced a man to eight years in prison Thursday for causing a 2021 fatal accident, after the charge was changed from negligent driving resulting in death to the more serious dangerous driving causing death.
The 23-year-old defendant, who was 19 at the time, was traveling at 194 kilometers per hour when he plowed into a car turning right at an intersection on Feb. 9, 2021, in Oita, southwestern Japan, killing a 50-year-old man, according to a ruling by the Oita District Court.
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Japan’s ex-top currency diplomat Masato Kanda picked as next ADB chief
TOKYO – Former top Japanese currency diplomat Masato Kanda has been selected as the next president of the Asian Development Bank, the Manila-based international lender said Thursday.
Kanda, 59, currently a special adviser to Japan’s prime minister, will take office on Feb. 24, 2025 as the 11th president, succeeding Masatsugu Asakawa, another former senior official of Japan’s Finance Ministry, the ADB said.
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