月: 2023年4月

1. The Bank of Japan has wrapped up a two-day policy meeting—the first since Ueda Kazuo became its governor earlier this month. Policymakers say they are leaving the central bank’s easing program unchanged. They also announced that they will conduct a review of their measures. 2. Work to raise a sunken Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter is expected to begin shortly now that a salvage ship has arrived in the area where its apparent wreckage was found. The helicopter , carrying a crew of 10, dropped off radar near the island of Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 6. Five of the missing crewmembers have since been confirmed dead.
3. Japan will end its COVID-19 requirements for people arriving in the country starting on Saturday. The Japanese government currently requires people entering the nation to show proof that they have received three or more vaccinations, among other requirements. Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu said in a news conference on Friday that the requirements will be lifted for people arriving on Saturday onwards.

1. Japan’s health ministry has officially decided to downgrade the legal status of the coronavirus on May 8. The ministry on Thursday endorsed the government’s plan to categorize the coronavirus in the same group as seasonal influenza. The ministry plans to have more medical institutions examine and treat coronavirus patients after the downgrading. 2. Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says he wants to see women in at least 30 percent of executive positions at Japan’s top listed companies by 2030. Kishida presented the goal at a meeting of the government’s Council for Gender Equality held on Thursday.
3. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to establish a large-scale startup support center to actively promote the development of innovative businesses and overseas expansion. The metropolitan government aims to boost the numbers of entrepreneurs and so-called unicorn firms with valuations of 1billion dollars or more.

1. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden visited a memorial for the Korean War in Washington on Tuesday ahead of a bilateral summit. Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, went to the Korean War Veterans Memorial together with Biden and his wife, Jill. 2. Japan’s prime minister has reiterated his plan to raise taxes to help pay for defense. He stressed that this will remain within the scope of the increase the government decided in December. 3. A Japanese space company’s attempt to make lunar history appears to have failed. Its lander made what it calls a “hard landing,” and communication with it has been lost. The vehicle, developed by ispace, lifted off in December on a rocket from the US firm SpaceX. The craft had entered orbit about 100 kilometers above the moon’s surface on April 13. It was supposed to land near a crater in the moon’s northern hemisphere at around 1:40 a.m. Wednesday, Japan time.

1.Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says all Japanese nationals and their families who wanted to leave Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, have been evacuated. Kishida told reporters on Tuesday morning that eight more individuals have been evacuated from Sudan. This follows the evacuations of 45 people who arrived in nearby Djibouti on an Air Self-Defense Force aircraft on Monday. 2. A White House official says President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol will reaffirm the United States’ extended deterrence against North Korea when they meet on Wednesday. Yoon arrived in Washington on Monday. He is the first South Korean president in 12 years to pay a state visit to the US.
3. Ministers from the Group of Seven nations plan to discuss how best to promote artificial intelligence when they meet in Japan this weekend. This comes as the popularity of programs like Chat GPT takes off, and the debate intensifies about the free exchange of data across borders. The G7 ministers for digitalization and technology will meet from Saturday in Takasaki City, north of Tokyo.

1. Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says he sees the results of Sunday’s Diet by-elections as encouragement for his party to follow through on its key policies. Kishida spoke to reporters on Monday, a day after his main governing Liberal Democratic Party won four out of the five seats contested in the by-elections and increased its Diet presence. 2. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says the government is doing all it can to ensure the safety of its evacuation effort in Sudan. About 60 Japanese nationals are in the African country. Kishida said the government is carefully monitoring the situation in Sudan and closely cooperating with other concerned countries.
3. One year has passed since a sightseeing boat carrying 26 people sank off the coast of Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido. Twenty people were confirmed dead, with six others still unaccounted for. A memorial ceremony took place in the town of Shari on the Shiretoko Peninsula on Sunday.

1. A paramilitary group clashing with Sudan’s armed forces says it has agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire on humanitarian grounds. It comes after almost a week of fighting that the United Nations says has killed at least 330 people and injured thousands.
2. Japan’s Environmental Ministry says the country’s greenhouse gas emissions in fiscal 2021 increased from the previous year for the first time since fiscal 2013.
3.The Tokyo District Court has handed down suspended sentences to three former officials of a business suit retailer for their involvement in a bribery scandal related to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. This is the first ruling in connection with the scandal.

1. Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force has named a replacement for the head of its 8th Division who was on board a missing GSDF helicopter. The helicopter dropped off radar on April 6 near Miyakojima Island in Okinawa Prefecture. The 10 personnel onboard included Sakamoto Yuichi, who headed the 8th division. 2.A new ceasefire between rival factions fell apart Wednesday night in Sudan. Japanese government officials say they are getting ready to airlift around 60 nationals from the country as deadly clashes continue.
3. More than 1.8 million foreign visitors arrived in Japan in March, up 23 percent from the previous month. The Japan National Tourism Organization sys 466,800 were from South Korea, the most from any country or region. The second highest was Taiwan, with 278,900, followed by the United States with 203,000.

1. Japan’s government is preparing to send Self-Defense Force aircraft to transport Japanese nationals from Sudan, as fierce fighting continues there between military and paramilitary forces. Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuo Hirokazu said about 60 Japanese nationals were in Sudan as of Wednesday. 2. Ukraine and Poland have agreed to restart transit of grain and other farm products from Ukraine through Poland for export, on condition that they are sealed and monitored to ensure that they do not stay in Poland. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced the country to send its produce through neighboring Poland, Hungary and Slovakia for export to Africa and elsewhere. But the three countries recently announced a ban on such transfer, saying it harms domestic farmers as large quantities of the products are traded in the countries.
3. The man arrested on suspicion of throwing an explosive device at Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio had unsuccessfully sued the government over electoral eligibility. Police are investigating where the issue is related to the suspect’s motive.

1. News stats suggest China’s economy is turning the corner as the government’s ultra-strict coronavirus measures fade from view. GDP growth for the January-to-March period was 4.5 percent up on the same period last year. The National Bureau of Statistics made the announcement on Tuesday. The figure beats market expectations of about 4 percent, adjusted for inflation.
2. A research group in Japan says it has found that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can infect the brain’s immune cells—a factor that could explain how neurological disorders, such as brain fog, occur in some people.
3. The wife of Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio visited the White House on Monday to meet with First Lady Jill Biden. Kishida Yuko became the first spouse of a Japanese prime minister to travel to the United States without her husband at the invitation of the First Lady. Japan’s Foreign Ministry said the two met over tea prepared by Kishida, who later greeted President Joe Biden in the Oval Office.

1. Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations agreed on Monday that Russia must immediately and unconditionally withdraw all forces from Ukraine. Japan’s Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and his counterparts reached the agreement on their second day of talks at a hotel in the resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture in central Japan. 2. Past details are emerging about the man who allegedly threw an explosive device toward Prime Minister Kishida Fumio during an outdoor election rally on Saturday. The incident occurred when Kishida was about to give a speech at a fishing port in the western city of Wakayama. The 24-year-old suspect, Kimura Ryuji, was arrested on the spot and has been sent to prosecutors. When Kimura completed elementary school, he wrote a short graduation essay saying that his dream is to become “a pastry chef or an inventor.”
3. Officials of Sagamihara City, near Tokyo, have begun conducting emergency checks at local campsites, one day after a tree fell and killed a camper. Early on Sunday, a tree fell onto a tent at a campsite in the city, killing a 29-year-old woman from Tokyo and seriously injuring her husband, who were inside.