Tag: Japan

Peak Japan: Hello Kitty bullet train debuts this week

    TOKYO, JAPAN (AFP) – Resplendent in shocking pink, a sleek “Hello Kitty” bullet train, complete with special carriages festooned with images of the global icon from Japan, has been unveiled before it chugs into service this week. The special shinkansen or bullet train will run for the next three months between the western cities of Osaka and Fukuoka from Saturday, the West Japan Railway firm said, hoping that one of the country’s most […]

Japan halts missile drills after Trump-Kim summit: reports

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan has halted evacuation drills simulating a North Korean missile attack in the wake of historic talks between Washington and Pyongyang, local media reported Thursday. Government officials did not immediately confirm the reports, but authorities in one town told AFP they were suspending a drill planned for next week on orders from Tokyo. The decision comes after US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un met last week […]

Moon suggests Russian gas be piped to Koreas, Japan

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — New pipelines could be laid to bring Russian gas through North Korea to the South and even on to Japan following the diplomatic thaw with Pyongyang, Seoul’s leader suggested Wednesday. President Moon Jae-in was speaking to Russian news media before a three-day visit to Moscow starting Thursday, with the presidential Blue House releasing the transcript. Russia and South Korea agreed in 2008 to lay gas pipelines through the North to […]

UPDATED: Japan makes history with win against 10-man Colombia in World Cup Group H opener

by Ryland James Agence France Presse SARANSK, Russia — Yuya Osako exacted sweet revenge for Japan on Tuesday as the Blue Samurai beat Colombia  2-1, becoming the first Asian side ever to beat a South American team at the World Cup. Osako’s 73rd-minute winner meant the Japanese avenged their 4-1 mauling in the group stages of Brazil 2014 as Colombia played with a man down for 86 minutes in Saransk. After leaving Brazil without a […]

Toll rises to five after quake in Japan’s Osaka

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The death toll in a powerful earthquake that rocked Japan’s Osaka on Monday has risen to five, with some 370 injured, officials said Tuesday, urging vigilance against landslides ahead of heavy rains. The fifth fatality was a 66-year-old man who was found dead on Tuesday under a number of books and CDs in his home, a local government spokeswoman said. The other casualties were a nine-year-old girl who was killed […]

Jilted Fujifilm sues Xerox for $1bn after aborted merger

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese technology giant Fujifilm said Tuesday it was suing US firm Xerox, seeking more than $1 billion in damages after a merger between the two firms was scrapped last month. Fujifilm slammed what it said was a “unilateral decision to terminate without legitimate cause” the planned merger announced in January. The merger was shelved after a lawsuit by powerful shareholders Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason, who together own more than 15 […]

Updated: Toll rises to four after quake in Japan’s Osaka

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The death toll in a powerful earthquake that rocked Japan’s Osaka on Monday has risen to four, with over 380 injured, officials said Tuesday, urging vigilance against landslides ahead of heavy rains. The fourth fatality was an 81-year-old woman, who died after she was trapped under a chest of drawers in her house, officials said. The other fatalities included a nine-year-old girl who died in the city of Takatsuki north of […]

PHL condoles with Japan quake victims; no Filipinos reported among casualties, says DFA

  (Eagle News) — The Department of Foreign Affairs has expressed its condolences to Japan following two strong quakes that rocked western Japan which killed three persons and injured more than 200 persons. The DFA said it had not yet received reports of any Filipino casualty in the strong quakes that were recorded, the strongest of which happened early morning on Monday, with recorded magnitudes of 4.5 (12:43 am Japan time) and 5.3 which occurred […]

S. Korea holds war games to defend against Japan

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Monday  began two days of war games to practise defending the disputed Dokdo islands off its east coast — against an unlikely attack by Japan. The drills come just days after President Donald Trump announced the suspension of long-running US joint exercises with South Korea — aimed at deterring North Korea — calling them expensive and “provocative”. The two-day exercise — tiny compared with the suspended US-South […]

Updated: Three dead as strong quake shakes Japan’s Osaka

  by Shingo Ito / Sara Hussein © Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A powerful quake rocked Japan’s second city of Osaka on Monday, killing three people including a nine-year-old girl and injuring scores of others, according to an official tally. Television images showed buildings swaying and burst pipes spewing water after the quake, which struck at the height of rush hour in the city of around two million people. However, there was no large-scale […]

UPDATED: Three dead, 300 hurt as strong quake jolts Japan’s Osaka

by Sara HUSSEIN Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A powerful earthquake rocked Japan’s second city of Osaka on Monday, killing three people including a nine-year-old girl and injuring more than 300, according to an official tally. Television images showed buildings swaying and burst pipes spewing water after the quake, which struck at the height of rush hour in the city of around two million. However, there was no large-scale destruction and no tsunami warning issued […]

Strong quake hits western Japan, no tsunami risk

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A strong quake hit western Japan early Monday, but there were no immediate reports of major damage or risk of tsunami waves, officials said. The 5.3-magnitude quake struck at a depth of 15.4 kilometres (10 miles) at 7:58 am (2258 GMT Sunday) near Osaka, according to the United States Geological Survey. There was no risk of tsunami from the tremor, the Japanese meteorological agency said, putting its magnitude at 5.9, and […]