月: 2024年3月

1. Cherry blossoms started blooming in Tokyo on Friday, five days later than they usually do. The Meteorological Agency announced the start of the cherry blossom season, after it spotted eleven blossoms on a benchmark cherry tree at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. 2. Japan ‘s health ministry says the number of children who took their own lives remained at a record-high level in 2023. More than 510 reportedly took the action. The total figure is down by 44 from the previous year. Males accounted for 14, 862 of the cases, while females accounted for 6,975 of the cases. The figure for males rose by 116, but the number for females fell by 160.
3. Japan’s internal affairs ministry says tickets for two types of lotteries will go on sale to help rebuild communities affected by the New Year’s Day earthquake. Internal affairs minister Matsumoto Takeaki announced the plan on Friday. He urged people to buy the lottery tickets to help people in the quake-hit areas.

1. Australian researchers say China’s Belt and Road initiative is stumbling. They’ve released a new report showing many of Beijing’s investment commitments for infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia went unfulfilled.
2. Japanese musical theater company Takarazuka Revue has admitted that one of its performers who died last year was harassed, and apologized to her bereaved family.
3. The US Navy has begun training for Japan’s Self-Defense Forces on how to handle Tomahawk cruise missiles that Japan decided to purchase from the United States.

1. Japan’s health ministry says a major Japanese drug maker has reported the second death of a person who had taken its health supplements containing red yeast rice, or “beni-koji.” Osaka-based Kobayashi Pharmaceutical issued a voluntary recall last week for three products containing the ingredient. The move came after the revelation that some people have developed kidney disease or other health issues after consuming one of those products. 2. The US Coast Guard says the six people missing after a bridge collapsed in the eastern state of Maryland are now presumed dead. It has suspended search and rescue operations. Coast Guard officials said on Tuesday evening that it’s unlikely that those missing are still alive, given the length of time that had passed since the accident. A large cargo ship rammed into one of the columns supporting the bridge in Baltimore in the early hours of Tuesday. A major portion of the bridge collapsed.
3. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has conveyed his concern to his Israeli counterpart about Israel’s plan for a ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Austin met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Washington on Tuesday. The two discussed alternative approaches to the planned military operation. Referring to the situation in the Gaza Strip, the US defense secretary described the number of civilian casualties as “far too high” and the amount of humanitarian aid as “far too low.”

１．Major Japanese drugmaker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical says a person who took a health supplement it’s recalling has died of kidney disease. The product contains a type of yeast-fermented rice called beni-koji.　The company says it suspects the death is related to its product, and is investigating.　The person’s family contacted the company on Saturday night. The person had been taking the Beni-koji Cholesterol Help supplement since April 2021.　 2. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again dismissed a view expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine may have played a role in last Friday’s deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow. Putin said on Monday that the attack was carried out by radical Islamists, but added that the atrocity may be linked to a series of attempts by “those who have been at war with our country since 2014 by the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime,” referring to Ukraine.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
3. Major League Baseball’s Ohtani Shohei has spoken to the media for the first time about his former interpreter’s alleged illegal sports gambling.　The Japanese superstar said he had no involvement in Mizuhara Ippei’s betting.　Ohtani spoke in front of about 100 reporters. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ manager, Dave Roberts, and senior executives of the team were also present.

1. The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio recently conveyed his intention to meet Kim face-to-face for summit talks as soon as possible. Kim Yo Jong said Kishida recently conveyed his intention “through another channel.” The statement reiterated North Korea’s position that an abduction issue has already been settled.
2. Russian authorities have charged four suspects with terrorism over the deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow. The Russian Investigative Committee says 137 people died in Friday’s attack in the city of Krasnogorsk. Health officials say 182 are undergoing treatment at hospitals.
3. The New Year’s Day earthquake seemed to mark the end for a century-old sake maker in Ishikawa Prefecture. But thanks to the help of a fellow brewery, he’s already been able to restart production.

1. A senior US government official has hinted that next month’s Japan-US summit will discuss technological collaboration between Japan and AUKUS, a security framework of Australia, Britain and the United Sates.
2. US secretary of State Antony Blinken says “the gaps are narrowing” for reaching a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held by Hamas. Blinken discussed the negotiations for a pause in the fighting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and other officials in Cairo on Thursday. The US, Egypt and Qatar are brokering the talks between Israel and Hamas.
3. The Associated Press has reported the recently fired interpreter for Major League Baseball star Ohtani Shohei is under criminal investigation by US tax authorities. Mizuhara Ippei was dismissed by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday as US media outlets reported allegations that he gambled illegally.

1. Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force has resumed flights of Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft for the first time since a fatal crash last November. The GSDF has 14 Ospreys deployed on a temporary basis at Camp Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo.
2. Indonesia’s election commission has announced that Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto won the presidential election held last month. Authorities released the results of the February 14 vote on Wednesday after more than a month of ballot-counting was completed.
3. US media have reported that an interpreter for Major League baseball superstar Ohtani Shohei has been fired from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Los Angeles Times and other media outlets said on Wednesday that lawyers for Ohtani accused Mizuhara Ippei of being involved in Illegal gambling.

1. People in quake-devastated Wajima City, central Japan, offered their prayers at their family graves on Wednesday to mark the spring equinox. The day is a national holiday that falls in the middle of the Buddhist “higan” period, when people remember their deceased relatives.
2. Victims of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system were remembered on the 29th anniversary of the deadly incident on Wednesday. On March 20, 1995, members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released the toxic nerve gas inside packed rush hour subway cars on three lines in central Tokyo. Fourteen people died and about 6,300 others were injured.
3. A subway operator in the Washington metropolitan area has unveiled the design of a train that Japan’s Hitachi will manufacture in the United States. The operator of the railway connection Washington D.C. with neighboring states, including Maryland and Virginia, awarded Hitachi a contract to provide 256 train cars.

1. Japan’s Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko has indicated that Japan, along with the United States, plans to sponsor a draft UN Security Council resolution aimed at preventing the deployment of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction in space. Kamikawa chaired a ministerial-level meeting of the security council on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in New York on Monday.
2. The Bank of Japan marks a landmark shift away from its massive monetary stimulus. The central bank has decided to end its negative interest rate policy and raise borrowing rates for the first hike in 17 years. It will also abandon its yield-curve control framework, which holds down long-term interest rates as well as short-term rates.
3. A temple in western Japan has displayed a repaired doll modeled after Murasaki Shikibu, a noblewoman who authored the 11th-century masterpiece, “The Tale of Genji”. Ishiyamadera Temple in Otsu City, near Kyoto, is where Murasaki Shikibu is said to have conceived the concept of the novel, a story about the life and love affairs of Prince Genji.

1. Incumbent Russian leader Vladimir Putin has declared himself the victor in the country’s presidential election. Putin said he wanted to thank all Russians who came out to vote, claiming the country is one united family. He also said the result of the election would allow Russia to become stronger.
2. The United States and Britain have called into question Russia’s latest presidential election. President Vladimir Putin declared victory in the race. A White House National Security Council spokesperson released a statement on Sunday. The statement says: “The results were unsurprising. The elections were obviously not free nor fair given how Mr. Putin has imprisoned political opponents and prevented others from running against him.”
3. Bank of Japan policymakers will discuss ending the era of negative interest rates at their two-day meeting starting on Monday. Many observers say recent pay hikes signal that the economic conditions are being met for a shift in the BOJ’s massive monetary easing.