by Andrew MCKIRDY TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Naoya Inoue’s nickname is “Monster” and with good reason — he is regarded as one of boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighters and has won all his 21 bouts, 18 by knockout. The reigning WBA and IBF bantamweight world champion made his Las Vegas debut last year with a typically devastating knockout win and fights back home in Japan for the first time in two years on Tuesday. Thailand’s Aran […]
Tag: Japan
Japanese tycoon ‘excited’ ahead of trip to ISS
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AFP) – Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa said Tuesday he was feeling “excited” ahead of his mission to the International Space Station, which marks Russia’s return to space tourism. Maezawa, a space enthusiast who made his wealth in online fashion, and his production assistant, Yozo Hirano, will spend 12 days on the ISS. Their Soyuz rocket operated by Russia’s Roscosmos space agency will blast off from the Moscow-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. “I […]
Japan eases blanket ban on new incoming flight bookings
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan has softened its suspension of all new incoming flight bookings to make it easier for citizens to return, the government said Thursday, a day after it announced the move prompted by worries about the Omicron coronavirus variant. The transport ministry abruptly said Wednesday it was asking airlines to stop taking all new incoming flight reservations for a month, in a surprise move affecting citizens and foreign residents. But on Thursday, […]
Japan halts new incoming flight bookings over Omicron strain: ministry
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan has asked airlines to stop taking new incoming flight bookings over concerns about the Omicron virus variant, the transport ministry said Wednesday. The announcement came as authorities announced they had detected a second infection with the new strain in an arriving traveler, a day after confirming a first case. “We have asked airlines to halt accepting all new incoming flight reservations for one month starting December 1,” a transport ministry […]
First Omicron case detected in Japan
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Tuesday confirmed its first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant, a day after authorities announced new Covid border restrictions. “Regarding the traveller arriving from Namibia, it was confirmed to be a case of Omicron after analysis at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases,” government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters. “This is the first Omicron case confirmed in Japan,” he said, adding that the infected traveller, a man in […]
Japan to bar new foreign arrivals over virus variant: PM
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will reinstate tough border measures, barring all new foreign arrivals over the Omicron Covid variant, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Monday, just weeks after a softening of strict entry rules. “We will ban the (new) entry of foreigners from around the world starting from November 30th,” Kishida told reporters. Japan’s borders have been almost entirely shut to new overseas visitors for most of the pandemic, with even foreign residents at […]
Deeper PHL-Japan security engagement pursued as Pres. Duterte, PM Kishida strengthen partnership
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida renewed their commitment to strengthen the strategic partnership between the Philippines and Japan, with the leaders agreeing that it was “high time for the Philippines and Japan to pursue deeper security engagement and coordination.” This is “by launching a Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting or 2+2 meeting” between the Philippines and Japan, according to a statement released by Malacanang. Among the regional […]
Japan unveils record $490 billion stimulus to boost pandemic recovery
by Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a record $490 billion stimulus for the world’s third-largest economy Friday as he looks to shore up the country’s patchy pandemic recovery. The 56 trillion yen injection, the third since the Covid crisis struck last year and expected to be approved by the cabinet later in the day, “is enough to deliver a sense of safety and hope to the Japanese people”, […]
Japan prices rise for second month
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s core consumer prices rose slightly year-on-year in October for the second month running, driven in part by higher fuel prices, government data showed Friday. The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices but includes fuel costs, was up 0.1 percent in October, tracking the same rise in September and in line with economist expectations. The second monthly rise follows 18 months of declines or stagnation during the […]
Covid hit Japan economy harder than expected in third quarter
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s economy shrank far more than expected in the three months to September, as a surge in virus cases hit spending and supply chain issues hampered business, data showed Monday. The world’s third largest economy shrank 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter, much worse than the 0.2 percent economists had forecast. The contraction was driven in part by a 1.2 percent dip in household consumption that tracked the imposition of a virus state of […]
New Japan foreign minister as PM unveils post-election cabinet
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida unveils his post-election cabinet Wednesday, with a new foreign minister but other posts unchanged as the government begins work on a new pandemic stimulus package. At a special parliament session, lawmakers voted Kishida in as prime minister after his victory in last month’s general election. The soft-spoken moderate took leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in September after former premier Yoshihide Suga decided not to […]
Japan eases border rules to allow business travellers, students
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan said Friday it will allow short-term business travellers, foreign students and other visa holders to enter the country, but tourists are still barred under pandemic border restrictions. From Monday, business visitors fully inoculated with an authorised vaccine will need to quarantine for only three days, down from a minimum of 10 days, the foreign ministry said. Daily cases in the country of 126 million have plunged from record highs […]
