月: 2021年7月

1. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach received a cold welcome from people who oppose the Tokyo Games during his visit to Hiroshima on Friday. He visited the city to meet survivors of the atomic bombing.
2.A member of the Ugandan Olympic team has gone missing in a western Japanese city where the team is holding a training camp ahead of the Tokyo Games. Officials of Izumisano City, Osaka Prefecture, say weightlifter Julius Ssekitoleko disappeared from a hotel. 3.An NHK survey shows that a majority of Tokyo hotels hosting overseas visitors involved in the Tokyo Games are concerned about enforcing anti-coronavirus rules. Arrivals of foreign media crews and other non-athletes are in full swing, one week ahead of the start of the Olympics.

1. Japan’s government has withdrawn a notice it issued last month to ask liquor vendors not to sell alcohol to bars and restaurants if they fail to comply with requests to close or shorten business hours as antivirus measures.
2.International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has told Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko that Tokyo Games participants will pose no risk of coronavirus infection for others. 3. The Japanese government says that nearly 80 percent of the elderly in the country have received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine so far, and more than half of them have been fully vaccinated with two shots.

1. A long-standing territorial dispute between Japan and Russia persists over four Russian-controlled islands. The Japanese government maintains that the islands were illegally occupied after World War II. Former Japanese residents of the islands are allowed to visit the islands without visas under a three-decade long exchange program between Japanese and Russian citizens. But due to the pandemic, visits have been put on hold. Given the current circumstances, some Russians living on one of the four islands have been looking after a Japanese cemetery.
2. Ohtani Shohei’s success on the diamond is echoing beyond the ball park. His example is attracting new fans to the sport and inspiring people back home in Japan.
3.Indonesia has seen more coronavirus cases than anywhere else in Southeast Asia…including a new one-day record of over 54,000 on Wednesday. The government is working to boost the vaccination rate from the current 8 percent to all eligible people by March next year. And it is being joined by businesses eager to keep the economy moving forward.

1. Japan has released an annual defense report that focuses on the U.S.-China rivalry, and calls for the need to closely monitor the situation surrounding Taiwan amid growing Chinese military pressure. 2. NHK has learned that Shizuoka Prefecture will set up an expert panel to look into the collapse of a soil mound, following the deadly mudslides that struck the city of Atami earlier this month. 3. Japanese police have arrested two American and two British electricians working for the Tokyo Olympics on suspicion of using cocaine.

1. An NHK survey has found that the approval rating for Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide’s Cabinet has fallen to an all-time low, while the disapproval rating is at its highest ever. 2. Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo is preparing to launch a large-scale clinical trial on tis experimental coronavirus mRNA vaccine as early as this year. 3. Tokyo enters its fourth coronavirus state of emergency on Monday, with bars and restaurants being requested not to offer alcohol as part of efforts to prevent infections.

1. Japan’s minister for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games has announced that no spectators will be allowed at Olympic venues in Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.
2. Olympic organizers say there will be no fans cheering on the world’s top athletes when they compete in Tokyo-area venues. The Games will kick off in just two weeks. Reaction to the news of the spectator ban has been mixed—both at home and abroad. The organizers decided not to allow spectators at events in Tokyo and the neighboring prefectures of Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa. But a limited number of fans will be allowed in four prefectures, including Fukushima.
3. The United Nations General Assembly has called on all member countries to observe a truce during the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. The tradition of an Olympic Truce dates back to Ancient Greece. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to renew the practice in 1993.

1. Deaths worldwide from the coronavirus have now topped four million. The Unite States tops the list with 606,218 deaths, followed by Brazil with 528,540, India with 404,211, and Mexico with 233,958. 2. The Japanese government has decided to place Tokyo under a coronavirus state of emergency, its fourth so far. Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide announced it will be in effect from Monday July 12 to August 22. That will include the duration of the Tokyo Olympics. 3. A Japanese -owned shipping vessel that blocked the Suez Canal has resumed its journey after being held for more than three months due to a dispute over compensation. The Ever Given, owned by Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha, was grounded across the canal for nearly a week in March. The blockage disrupted global trade. Shoei Kisen and the Suez Canal Authority reached a settlement on compensation, and their representatives signed the agreement in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia on Wednesday.

1. Japan’s Meteorological Agency says well-developed rain clouds are hovering over a wide stretch of land across the Sanin and Tokai regions. The agency is urging people there to be on the alert for landslides and floods. It says that clouds may dump more rain on areas along the Sea of Japan coast from northern Kyushu to the Tohoku region.
2. Rescuers digging through piles of mud left by massive mudslides in a spa resort town southwest of Tokyo say they aren’t giving up hope—now four days after disaster struck. More than 20 people remain unaccounted for. 7 people have died.
3. The Japanese government will discuss a possible extension of targeted anti-coronavirus measures on Wednesday. It plans to make a decision as early as Thursday after listening to experts’ opinions. The decision could affect attendance at the Tokyo games.

1. Rescuers continue to search for who may have been trapped by deadly mudslides which tore through a resort city about 90 kilometers from Tokyo. Officials in Atami have confirmed the safety of another 41 people but 29 people remain unaccounted for. A crucial 72-hour window for finding survivors has closed.
2. Japan has officially inaugurated its team of athletes for the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to open on July 23. A ceremony was held in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon. A record 582 athletes will represent Japan at the Tokyo Games. But due to coronavirus restrictions, the number of attendees at the ceremony was limited, with most participating online.
3. An Asian industry group of international companies, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google, says its members may stop offering services in Hong Kong due to the amendment to privacy rule.

1. Rescue crews are expanding the search for survivors of last weekend’s deadly mudslides in the city of Atami in central Japan. City officials say four people have been confirmed dead, while 80 others remain unaccounted for.
2. Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics have postponed announcing the results of a lottery to determine which ticketholders can attend the opening and closing ceremonies as well as some matches for seven sporting events.
3. Japan’s top court has turned down an appeal by the fourth daughter of the late Aum Shinrikyo cult leader Asahara Shoko requesting possession of her father’s cremated remains. The Supreme Court has instead ruled that the second daughter of Asahara, whose real name was Matsumoto Chizuo, can receive the ashes.