TheNewsGuru

Tag: Japan

  • Insecurity: Japan donates $2.3m to Borno, North East Commission

    Insecurity: Japan donates $2.3m to Borno, North East Commission

    The government of Japan has donated the sum of $2.3million infrastructure funds to the Borno State government and Northeast Development Commission (NEDC).

    The fund is to strengthen healthcare provision and build the resilience of health systems in conflict-affected communities.

    This was revealed on Tuesday during a meeting by United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS) and NEDC officials and Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum.

    The project which is implemented by the UNOPS is primarily aimed at scaling up oxygen supply and expand vaccine storage capacity in 139 healthcare centers and nine hospitals across Borno State.

    The rollout phase for the oxygen plants is expected to commence by March 2022 and is expected to benefit 7.1million residents and Internally Displaced Persons IDPs across Borno State.

    Through the construction of oxygen systems in the state, the project launched virtually by Governor Zulum, fills critical gaps in clinical response to respiratory illnesses among residents of the state.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that Borno State is one of the worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency with many residents displaced and leaving in camps.

  • Former Japanese minister admits giving bribes during election

    Former Japanese minister admits giving bribes during election

    Former justice minister Katsuyuki Kawai pleaded guilty at a Japanese court on Tuesday to a bribery scandal and said he would step down as a lower house lawmaker, local media reported.

    At the Tokyo District Court, Kawai, a right-hand man to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, admitted that he had paid bribes.

    He said the bribe was paid to local politicians and supporters in the western prefecture of Hiroshima in return for securing votes for his wife Anri Kawai in the 2019 upper house elections, Kyodo News reported.

    Tsutomu Sato, Chairperson of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), told a news conference that Kawai, who was currently still a member of parliament, should quit.

    Kawai and his wife Anri, who won the race to become an upper house lawmaker, were indicted in July on charges of violating the nation’s election law by buying votes in the 2019 campaign.

    According to the indictment, Kawai, who once served as Abe’s special adviser for foreign affairs, handed out a total of about 29 million yen (267,000 dollars) to 100 local politicians and supporters in return for their efforts to secure votes for his wife.

    Most of the 100 people questioned by prosecutors have admitted to receiving the cash.

    The LDP injected an unusually large amount of 150 million yen into Kawai’s camp during the campaign.

    Anri Kawai was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for five years, for conspiring with her husband. She quit as a lawmaker in February.

  • Japan to keep foreign spectators away from Tokyo Olympics

    Japan to keep foreign spectators away from Tokyo Olympics

    Japan has decided to stage this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics without overseas spectators due to concern among the Japanese public about COVID-19, Kyodo news agency said on Tuesday.

    The Olympics, postponed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, are scheduled for July 23 to Aug. 8 and the Paralympics from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5.

    Kyodo which cited officials with knowledge of the matter said the government had concluded that welcoming fans from abroad would not be possible.

    It said this was in view of public concern about the coronavirus and the detection of more contagious variants in many countries.

    The opening ceremony of the torch relay would also be held without spectators, Kyodo said.

    “The organising committee has decided it is essential to hold the ceremony in the north-eastern prefecture of Fukushima behind closed doors, only permitting participants and invitees to take part in the event, to avoid large crowds forming amid the pandemic,” Kyodo said, quoting the officials.

    Representatives of Tokyo 2020 were not immediately available for comment.

    Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto had said she wanted a decision on whether to let in overseas spectators before the start of the torch relay on March 25.

    “We will really like people from around the world to come to a full stadium, but unless we are prepared to accept them and the medical situation in Japan is perfect, it will cause a great deal of trouble also to visitors from overseas,” Kyodo quoted Hashimoto as telling reporters last week.

    Most Japanese people do not want international visitors to attend the Games amid fears that a large influx of visitors could spark a resurgence of infections, a Yomiuri newspaper poll showed.

    The survey showed 77 per cent of respondents were against allowing foreign fans to attend, versus 18 per cent in favour.

  • Japan planning to ban overseas Olympic spectators

    Japan planning to ban overseas Olympic spectators

    Japan’s government is planning to stop overseas spectators coming to the Summer Olympics due to worries they will spread the coronavirus, a report said on Wednesday, as many Japanese remain opposed to holding the Games during the pandemic.

    The final decision would be made this month after talks with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other parties, the Mainichi newspaper reported, citing multiple unnamed sources.

    The government would continue to consider whether to accept spectators from within Japan, including the number allowed into venues, the Mainichi added.

    The report came as the local organising committee was set to host a meeting on Wednesday with officials from the IOC, the International Paralympic Committee, and the Tokyo and national governments.

    The question of whether to allow spectators into venues was top of the agenda and organisers have previously said they would make a decision by March.

    A Yomiuri newspaper poll showed on Wednesday that, if the Games are to go ahead as scheduled, 91per cent of people in Japan want spectators kept to a minimum or not allowed at all.

    The poll – conducted between Jan. 18 and Feb. 25 – showed 70 per cent of respondents said they were “interested in the Olympics”, but 58 per cent said they did not want them to be held this year because of fears over COVID-19.

    The 58 per cent in opposition was, however, about 20 percentage points lower than earlier opinion polls.

    The Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed last year because of the pandemic and rescheduled to take place this year from July 23.

    A survey by global consultancy Kekst CNC published on Wednesday showed similar rates of majority opposition to the Games going ahead in Japan, at 56 per cent, as well as in Britain and Germany, at 55 per cent and 52 per cent respectively.

    In France and Sweden, more people opposed than approved, while in the U.S., respondents were split at one-third between those who agreed and disagreed that the Games should go ahead, according to the survey.

    While coronavirus infection numbers are low in Japan compared with the U.S. and many European countries, the greater Tokyo metropolitan area remains in a state of emergency, with restrictions in place for spectator numbers for big sporting and cultural events, as well as closing times for bars and restaurants.

    The country remains closed to non-resident foreigners.

    A Reuters poll published last month showed nearly two-thirds of Japanese companies also oppose holding the Games as planned, swinging from the previous survey showing most in favour.

    Japan has so far confirmed 431,250 coronavirus cases and 7,931 deaths as of Monday.

  • Record-breaking Japan’s anime film ‘Demon Slayer’ lands in U.S. cinemas

    Record-breaking Japan’s anime film ‘Demon Slayer’ lands in U.S. cinemas

    The record-breaking Japanese anime film “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train” carried over its box-office buzz to the U.S. on over the weekend, captivating Florida fans in its first screening.

    The Demon Slayer film, based on a popular manga and TV anime series, has grossed over $350 million at theatres in Japan, in spite of COVID-19 restrictions, surpassing Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winner “Spirited Away” in just over two months to become the most successful Japanese anime of all time.

    “It exceeded my expectations. I cried so much,” said 20-year-old Miami resident Alex Acosta. “The animation was so good. It was a great storyline, for sure. I loved it,” she said.

    The film follows Tanjiro Kamado, a boy out to avenge his family after they were murdered by human-eating demons, as he sets off on the Mugen (“Infinity”) Train with his comrades.

    Carlos Brenes, 19, another Miami resident who saw the movie at the Landmark Theatres in Coral Gables, was also overwhelmed.

    “It’s such a captivating story and everything about it just clicked with me emotionally, and I was super-invested all the way through,” he said.

    Brothers Daniel, Javier and Luis Marmolejo thought the film should be up for Best Picture at the upcoming Oscars.

    “They should win because the movie is amazing,” Luis said.

  • Japan doubles down on Tokyo Olympics, denies report of cancellation

    Japan doubles down on Tokyo Olympics, denies report of cancellation

    Japan doubled down on its commitment to host the Tokyo Olympics this year and flatly denied reports on Friday of a cancellation, in a move that is unlikely to temper public fears of holding the event during a global pandemic.

    Though much of Japan is under a state of emergency due to a third wave of COVID-19 infections, Tokyo organisers have consistently vowed to press ahead with the Games scheduled to open on July 23 after having been postponed in March last year.

    A government spokesman said there was “no truth” to a report in The Times that Japan was now focused on rescheduling the event to 2032.

    “We will clearly deny the report,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Manabu Sakai said in a press conference on Friday.

    The Tokyo 2020 organising committee also denied the report, saying its partners including the Japanese government and the International Olympic Committee were “fully focused” on hosting the games as scheduled.

    In early international reactions, the Australian and U.S. Olympic Committees said they were preparing for the Games as planned.

    “Unfortunately, I need to address unfounded rumours that the Tokyo Olympic Games will be cancelled, rumours that only create more anxiety for athletes,” Matt Carroll, the chief executive of the Australian committee, told reporters in Sydney on Friday.

    “The Tokyo Games are on. The flame will be lit on July 23, 2021.”

    The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is run by the IOC’s pointman for the Tokyo Games John Coates.

    Olympic committees from the U.S. and Canada wrote on Twitter they had not received any information suggesting the Games would not happen as planned.

    Japan has been hit less severely by the pandemic than many other advanced economies, but a recent surge in cases has forced it to close its borders to non-resident foreigners and declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and major cities.

    About 80 per cent of people in Japan do not want the Games to be held this summer, recent opinion polls show, over fears the influx of athletes will spread the virus further.

    In an interview ahead of Friday’s report, Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said he was cautiously hopeful that successful rollouts of COVID-19 vaccines could help lead to the safe staging of the world’s largest sporting event.

    The Olympic Games represents a major milestone for Japan and its premier, Yoshihide Suga, who has said the event would bring “hope and courage” to the world. Suga reiterated on Friday that it would go ahead as planned.

    International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach reaffirmed his commitment to holding the Games this year in an interview with Kyodo News on Thursday.

    “We have at this moment, no reason whatsoever to believe that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will not open on the 23rd of July in the Olympic stadium in Tokyo,” Bach told Kyodo.

  • Court sentences ‘Twitter Killer’ to death

    A Japanese court on Tuesday sentenced to death a serial killer, Takahiro Shiraishi, also known as the “Twitter killer” for murdering eight women and a man he met on social media.

    Delivering judgment, the Judge, Yano Naokuni, said the death sentence against Shiraishi was prompted by the “extreme seriousness” of his crimes, the New York Times quoted the Tokyo court as saying.

    ”Shiraishi did not just murder his victims but had trampled on the dignity of the dead,” Naokuni held.

    The convicted murderer had testified that he had at first considered denying his involvement but later changed his mind in the face of the overwhelming evidence against him.

    Shiraishi, nicknamed “the Twitter Killer” had confessed to meeting with eight women and a man at different times on social media and luring them to an apartment, where he killed them all.

    Shiraishi was arraigned before the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court in September.

    He was charged with sexual assault, murder and theft of the victims’ belongings, as well as abandoning the victims’ remains in coolers.

    The remains of the victims, aged between 15 and 26, were found at an apartment in the city of Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, in October 2017.

    The victims’ families and prosecution counsel had during the trial demanded a death sentence for Shiraishi.

    His lawyers (defence counsel) had argued that the victims wanted to die and went to see Shiraishi on their own will.

    Shiraishi had, however, rejected their submission before the court and made it clear that the victims did not give their consent to be killed by him.

    Shiraishi confessed outright before the court that his aim was to rape the victims and take their money.

    “I had a hard time making up my mind to do it, but I had done illegal things on a daily basis as part of my work as a scout and had internalised the idea that it’s only a problem if you get caught,” he was quoted as saying in court.

    He had also told the court that ”after the first murder, the rest was easy.”

    Delivering judgment, the Judge held that none of the victims wanted to be murdered, and that the defendant was found to be fully responsible for the crime.

    The Judge upheld the prosecution’s demand and sentenced Shiraishi to death accordingly.

  • Japan passes law to make COVID-19 vaccines free for residents

    Japan passes law to make COVID-19 vaccines free for residents

    Japan enacted a law on Wednesday to cover the cost of vaccination against COVID-19 for residents.

    Amid rising hopes for the early arrival of vaccines, following recent progress and a resurgence of infections in Japan, the country’s House of Councilors unanimously passed a bill to revise the current vaccination law.

    The revision came as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has promised to secure COVID-19 vaccines for all residents in Japan in the first half of next year.

    Japan has made deals with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc., U.S. firm Moderna Inc. and Britain’s AstraZeneca Plc to acquire sufficient vaccines for 145 million people following successful development.

    The government has set aside a budget of 671.4 billion yen (6.4 billion dollars) for the particular purpose, according to local media.

    The revised bill does not clarify whether the law will allow foreign residents in Japan to get free vaccination.

    Although the law strongly suggests people to be inoculated, the government will allow individuals to refuse if the vaccines have not been proved sufficiently safe by the time of approval.

  • Yoshihide Suga to take office as Japan’s new premier

    Yoshihide Suga to take office as Japan’s new premier

    Yoshihide Suga, the new leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is set to take office as the couñtry’s prime minister on Wednesday following the resignation of Shinzo Abe over ill-health, and amid the coronavirus pandemic.

    Suga, who won a resounding victory in the LDP leadership race on Monday, is expected to be nominated to succeed outgoing premier, Abe at an extraordinary parliamentary session on Wednesday, as the LDP and junior coalition partner Komeito control the powerful lower house.

    Suga, who has pledged to continue Abe’s policies, will then form a cabinet by reappointing many members such as Finance Minister Taro Aso and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, local media reported.

    “I will create a cabinet that works for people,” the 71-year-old said.

    Suga, who had served as chief cabinet secretary since Abe took office in late 2012, said Japan was facing an “unprecedented national crisis,” referring to the pandemic.

    He vowed to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus while protecting jobs and restoring the economy, which has been battered by the pandemic.

    The economy shrank a record annualized 28.1 per cent in the April-to-June period, marking the third straight quarterly contraction.

    In late August, Abe announced that he was stepping down after he was diagnosed with a recurrence of an intestinal illness called ulcerative colitis.

    In July 2007, the disease forced Abe to abruptly quit as prime minister only one year into the job.

    He returned to power in 2012.

  • Japan’s longest serving Prime Minister resigns

    Japan’s longest serving Prime Minister resigns

    Japan’s longest serving prime minister Shinzo Abe has resigned. He quit today over health concerns.

    The 65 year-old Prime Minister is said to be suffering from an inflammatory bowel condition.

    “For eight years I controlled my disease, now the disease has surfaced again. I need to have continuous drug administered now, and I can’t lose focus,” he said during a television address.

    “I need to fight against the disease and concentrate. I have to make a political decision.”

    “I can’t make any mistake in decision-making, and have decided to step down as PM,” Abe declared.

    Shinzō Abe became prime minister in 2012 as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party.

    He previously served as Chief Cabinet Secretary from 2005 to 2006.

    He also once served as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007.