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by Harumi OZAWA Agence France Presse NAGOYA, Japan (AFP) — With steely focus, player number 3 scored a stunning opening goal in the first few minutes of the high-stakes football match between a dominant Bordeaux and their plucky Chinese opponents. But as the crowds cheered, the pint-sized player, known as Arya, showed none of the customary swagger of triumphant strikers. In fact, robot number 3 and its teammates showed no emotion at all as they […]
by Miwa Suzuki Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s hawkish defense minister on Friday said she had resigned over a long-brewing scandal involving the handling of military documents, in a political blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe, who has seen his popularity plummet in recent weeks over a series of controversies, immediately apologized to the nation over the saga. “I decided to resign as defense minister,” Tomomi Inada told a press conference. […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Thursday shook hands with one of Japan’s high-tech robots, a humanoid candidate to carry the torch as part of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Johnson, kicking off a trip to Japan, visited the robotic centre at Waseda University, which works closely with Britain’s University of Birmingham on robotic technologies. He witnessed a demonstration of WABIAN II, which resembles a tiny astronaut that Waseda hopes will make […]
A virtual reality “space ride” in which viewers feel as if they are flying through the air inside a giant glass ball has been developed in Japan. (AFP Video) https://youtu.be/5SLty9acjMA
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Bleaching has damaged the world’s northernmost coral reef in Japan, a researcher said Tuesday, the latest example of a global phenomenon scientists have attributed to high ocean temperatures. Healthy coral reefs protect shores from storms and offer habitats for fish and other marine life, including ecologically and economically important species. After coral dies, reefs quickly degrade and the structures that coral build erode. While coral can recover from mild bleaching, severe […]
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Japan on Monday pledged $1 billion over the next two years to back the United Nations’ development agenda, raising its profile as one of the world’s largest foreign aid donors. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a meeting at the UN that the funding will go to help children and youth worldwide, in particular to promote education, health, disaster response and gender equality. The announcement provided a boost to the […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – A baby panda in Japan has survived its crucial first 30 days, zoo officials said Wednesday, as a fresh video showed the cub at one-month-old. The female panda was the first to be born at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo in five years. The rare birth delighted animal lovers and businesses keen to cash in on the excitement that the panda generated. Footage released by the zoo shows the cub being weighed and measured by […]
ICHINOMIYA, Japan (AFP) — Just 16 and still afraid of the water, hot-shot Japanese surfer Minori Kawai has set her sights on Olympic gold after a stunning victory at the venue for the 2020 Tokyo Games. Kawai won last month’s Chiba Open in her own backyard and feels she will have a psychological edge when the sun-swept sport makes its Olympic debut three years from now. “It’s given me a huge lift in confidence,” the […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The death toll from torrential rains and flooding that swept through Japan’s south has reached 25, the government said Tuesday, as rescue teams battled through thick mud to rescue more than 100 still stranded. Further downpours were predicted to pound Kyushu after swathes of the southwestern island were devastated last week by overflowing rivers — sweeping away roads, houses and schools and forcing thousands of people into makeshift shelters. But many […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks rose Monday morning, following a strong lead from Wall Street after a better-than-expected jobs report, while a weak yen boosted exporters. New York rallied Friday after government data showed that the US economy generated 222,000 jobs last month, far above market expectations. “Although the announcement was made on Friday, the positive energy remained strong enough to sustain the market today,” said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities. The […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in southern Japan has risen to 15, media reported Saturday, as rescuers continued work to bring out isolated survivors. Raging rivers overflowing with water and mud have devastated swathes of Kyushu — the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands — after heavy rainfall, sweeping away roads and houses and destroying schools. Thousands of rescuers have been fighting through thick mud and battling rain […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s chief atomic energy regulator has acknowledged it was inappropriate to say it would be “much better” if North Korea dropped a missile on Tokyo rather than on a nuclear plant. Shunichi Tanaka, head of the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), found himself in hot water on Thursday after he spoke to people living near a recently restarted reactor. “If it were me, I think it would be much better to drop (a missile) on central Tokyo,” said Tanaka. He was speaking about a […]
