March 19, Tuesday, 2024

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.