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By Tomohiro OSAKI TOKYO, June 6, 2024 (AFP) – UFO sightings should not be dismissed out of hand because they could in fact be surveillance drones or weapons, say Japanese lawmakers who launched a group on Thursday to probe the matter. The non-partisan group, which counts former defence ministers among its 80-plus members, will urge Japan to ramp up abilities to detect and analyse unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), more commonly known as UFOs. Although the […]
By Hiroshi HIYAMA TOKYO, June 6, 2024 (AFP) – A tall metal fence will be built to control unruly tourists who have annoyed locals at a popular Mount Fuji photo spot, a Japanese official said Thursday. It follows the construction last month of a black screen in another nearby town to block an Instagram-famous view of the snow-capped volcano rising from behind a convenience store. Now residents have complained about mostly foreign visitors venturing into […]
TOKYO, June 4, 2024 (AFP) – Japanese transport officials inspected Toyota’s headquarters Tuesday after the top-selling automaker and four others including Honda and Mazda admitted failure to fully comply with national vehicle inspection standards. Five representatives visited the offices in central Aichi region to probe breaches declared by the company related to domestic shipment certifications. The transport ministry on Monday told five Japanese auto giants — Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Suzuki and Yamaha — to stop […]
LONDON, June 4, 2024 (AFP) – Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will visit Britain at the end of June, spending three days as guests of King Charles III, Buckingham Palace confirmed on Tuesday. The royal couple is due to arrive on June 22, but will spend the first three days in private engagements before beginning the official state visit, which will run from June 25 to 27. Naruhito, 64, will meet Charles and his […]
TOKYO, June 3, 2024 (AFP) – A strong magnitude 5.9 earthquake on Monday shook the area of central Japan that was hit by a devastating jolt in January, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said, but there was no threat of a tsunami. Three houses collapsed but there were no reports of deaths or injuries, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said after the shallow quake struck the Noto Peninsula at 6:31 am (2131 GMT Sunday). […]
SEOUL, May 27, 2024 (AFP) – Leaders from South Korea, China and Japan reaffirmed their goal of a denuclearised Korean peninsula Monday, during a rare summit at which they also agreed to deepen trade ties. The summit brought together South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Seoul for the countries’ first trilateral talks in nearly five years, partly due to the pandemic but also to […]
By Juliette Collen PARIS, May 26, 2024 (AFP) – Will clouds help cool or warm our world in the years ahead? The EarthCARE satellite will soon blast off on a mission to find out, aiming to investigate what role clouds could play in the fight against climate change. The collaboration between the European Space Agency and Japan’s JAXA space agency is scheduled to launch Tuesday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Vandenberg base. […]
SEOUL, May 26, 2024 (AFP) – The premiers of China and Japan arrived in Seoul Sunday for their first trilateral summit in five years, which is expected to focus on economic issues rather than sensitive geopolitics. There are low expectations of any major announcements or breakthroughs at the trilateral meeting Monday, but the leaders have expressed hopes it could help revitalise three-way diplomacy and ease regional tensions. On Sunday afternoon, South Korean President Yoon Suk […]
TOKYO, May 24, 2024 (AFP) – The pace of Japanese inflation slowed in April to 2.2 percent as gas bills fell, government data showed Friday, with the figure remaining above the Bank of Japan’s two percent target. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) excluding volatile fresh food prices eased from a 2.6 percent year-on-year rise in prices logged in March by the internal affairs ministry. Friday’s figure was in line with market expectations and comes as […]
By Caroline GARDIN FUJIKAWAGUCHIKO, Japan (AFP) – A Japanese town mounted a large mesh barrier at a popular viewing spot for Mount Fuji on Tuesday, in an attempt to deter photo-taking by an ever-growing number of tourists. Japan’s most famous sight can be seen for miles around, but Fujikawaguchiko locals are fed up with streams of mostly foreign visitors littering, trespassing and breaking traffic rules in their hunt for a photo to share on social […]
MANILA, May 17, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippines has agreed to buy five coast guard patrol ships from Japan in a deal worth more than $400 million, Manila said Friday, as the Southeast Asian country faces growing Chinese pressure in the South China Sea. Japan will loan the Philippines 64.38 billion yen ($413 million) to buy the five 97-metre Multi-Role Response Vessels and pay for the “development of the required support facilities”, the foreign ministry […]
TOKYO, May 16, 2024 (AFP) – Japan’s economy contracted by a worse-than-expected 0.5 percent in the first three months of the year, official government data showed Thursday. Gross domestic product in the world’s fourth-biggest economy was expected to have shrunk by only 0.3 percent from the previous quarter, according to economist forecasts. Exports shrank 5.0 percent, after growing 2.8 percent the previous quarter, while imports fell 3.4 percent, data from the cabinet office showed. […]
