WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Top security officials of the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet Friday to discuss next steps on North Korea as President Joe Biden completes a policy review. Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, will huddle with his counterparts from South Korea and Japan, Suh Hoon and Shigeru Kitamura, at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Sullivan will share “where we are in terms of our review,” State […]
Tag: Japan
Japan raises alert level after volcano erupts
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A volcano in southwestern Japan has erupted, flinging large rocks hundreds of metres from the crater and prompting the meteorological agency to raise its alert level, Kyodo news agency reported early Wednesday. There were no immediate reports of injuries after the eruption of Mount Otake in Kagoshima prefecture, according to Kyodo. The report said the Japan Meteorological Agency had raised its alert level to a three on a scale of five, […]
North Korea launches suspected ballistic missiles
by Kang Jin-kyu SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea Thursday, in its first substantive provocation to the new US administration of Joe Biden. The nuclear-armed North has a long history of using weapons tests to ramp up tensions, in a carefully calibrated process to try to forward its objectives. Donald Trump’s first year in office was marked by a series of escalating launches, accompanied by a […]
Tokyo Olympics flame begins virus-delayed journey across Japan
by Andrew McKirdy with Sara Hussein in Tokyo FUKUSHIMA, Japan (AFP) — The Tokyo Olympics torch relay got off to a low-key start after a year’s coronavirus delay on Thursday, with fans kept away as it embarked on a four-month journey across Japan that will end at the opening ceremony on July 23. Spectators were barred from the departure ceremony and first leg over ongoing fears about the coronavirus, which forced the 2020 Games’ historic […]
Japan extends P78.5 million funding for PH agri projects
(Eagle News) – The Japanese government, thru its embassy, has allowed the grant of P75.8 million worth of funding support for three agricultural projects in the Philippines. In a statement, the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines said “Japanese Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko signed grant contracts with Japanese non-government organizations (NGOs) conducting activities in the Philippines namely OISCA International, Ikaw-Ako, and JAEC.” Silkworm farmers from the provinces of Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Aklan, Iloilo, Antique, Misamis Oriental, […]
7.2 magnitude quake off northeast Japan, tsunami warning issued
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s meteorological agency issued a tsunami advisory on Saturday, after a strong 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the northeastern coast. The quake hit at 6:09 pm (0909 GMT) in Pacific waters off Miyagi region with a depth of 60 kilometres (37 miles), the JMA said, issuing an advisory for tsunami waves of around one metre. There was no immediate reports of damage from Miyagi, and local utilities were inspecting the status […]
Japan to lift virus state of emergency in Tokyo area
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will lift a virus state of emergency in the Tokyo area, the prime minister said Wednesday, less than five months before the postponed Tokyo Olympics are due to begin. Yoshihide Suga said the measure would not be extended past Sunday, when it is due to end, because indicators including daily new cases and hospital bed occupancy “pointed towards lifting the state of emergency”. The official decision to end the state […]
Japan says PM Suga plans to meet Biden in US next month
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan said Friday Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will meet President Joe Biden in the United States next month, becoming the first foreign leader to hold face-to-face talks with him. “If various circumstances allow, Prime Minister Suga will visit the US as early as the first half of April,” top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato told reporters at a daily briefing. “With this visit, Prime Minister Suga is expected to be the first […]
Japan marks decade since 2011 quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster
by Harumi Ozawa with Sara Hussein in Tokyo HISANOHAMA, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Thursday marks 10 years since the worst natural disaster in the country’s living memory: a powerful earthquake, deadly tsunami and nuclear meltdown that traumatized a nation. Around 18,500 people were killed or left missing in the disaster, most of them claimed by the towering waves that swept across swathes of the northeast coast after one of the strongest quakes ever recorded. […]
Japan extends virus state of emergency in Tokyo area
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan extended a virus state of emergency in the Tokyo area by two weeks on Friday, less than five months before the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the decision, which affects the capital and three nearby regions, and warned people against holding traditional spring picnics under cherry blossom trees. “I ask you all to refrain from eating in large groups — even at graduation ceremonies, enrollment ceremonies, welcome […]
The towering sea wall legacy of Japan’s 2011 tsunami
by Natsuko FUKUE TARO, Japan (AFP) — The Japanese town of Taro had sea walls that were supposed to be able to survive almost anything the ocean could offer up, but the 2011 tsunami still brought utter destruction. A decade after the deadly waves unleashed by one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history, the lesson learned in many coastal towns was: build higher. That has left a legacy cast in concrete along hundreds […]
Japan to extend virus state of emergency in Tokyo area
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will extend a coronavirus state of emergency in the Tokyo area by a fortnight, officials said Friday, less than five months ahead of the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics. The emergency measure, which primarily calls for bars and restaurants to close from 8pm, was supposed to end on Sunday and has been lifted early in other regions. It has brought infections down in the capital but the rate of decline is slowing […]





