Tokyo, 18 October, /AJMEDIA/
Yen falls to 149 zone vs. U.S. dollar, hits fresh 32-year low
NEW YORK – The yen fell to the 149 zone against the U.S. dollar on Monday in New York, hitting a fresh 32-year low, as rising inflation expectations strengthened the view that the Federal Reserve will continue aggressive interest rate hikes in the foreseeable future.
Investors bought the dollar against the yen as the Bank of Japan, in contrast to the Fed, is determined to maintain its ultraloose monetary policy, resulting in a wider interest rate differential between Japan and the United States.
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Slain teen’s parents hope U.S. gun control fight continues, 30 yrs on
NAGOYA – The parents of a 16-year-old Japanese high school student who was shot dead in Louisiana in 1992 hope the younger generation will carry on their decades-long fight for U.S. gun control as they marked on Tuesday the 30th anniversary of their son’s fatal shooting.
Masaichi and Mieko Hattori, whose son Yoshihiro was shot by the owner of a house that he mistakenly went to for a Halloween party in Baton Rouge on Oct. 17, 1992, are soon retiring from their work in calling for enhanced U.S. gun control measures.
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Ex-Tokyo Olympic exec to face 4th charge in growing bribery scandal
TOKYO – Japanese prosecutors are set to serve a fourth arrest warrant to a former Tokyo Olympic executive for allegedly accepting bribes from a company that sold officially licensed stuffed toys of the games’ mascots, sources close to the matter said Monday.
Haruyuki Takahashi, 78, who has been at the center of a growing corruption scandal over the selection of Summer Games sponsors, is believed to have received a total of 8 million yen ($54,000) in cash from stuffed toy maker Sun Arrow Inc., the sources said.
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Japan PM Kishida sends ritual offering to war-linked Yasukuni shrine
TOKYO – Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday sent a ritual offering to the war-linked Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, a source of diplomatic friction with some Asian neighbors who view it as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.
Kishida sent the “masakaki” ceremonial tree on the occasion of the Shinto shrine’s autumn festival, but he is likely to refrain from paying a visit during the two-day festival through Tuesday, people close to him said.
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Football: Former Japan, Celtic star Nakamura to retire at end of season
TOKYO – Former Japan and Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura, currently at Yokohama FC in the J-League second division, is set to retire at the end of the season, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.
The 44-year-old midfielder, known for his deadly set-piece deliveries with his left foot, played 98 games for Japan, scoring 24 goals, and was part of the 2006 and 2010 World Cup squads.
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Metaverse business tools on display at Japan annual tech show
CHIBA, Japan – Companies from Japan and abroad are showcasing next-generation business tools related to the metaverse — a virtual world in which people can work, shop and socialize — at Japan’s major electronics show that opened to the media Monday.
The annual show, which will be open to the public from Tuesday through Friday at Makuhari Messe convention center near Tokyo, was held online in the previous two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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China postpones release of July-Sept. GDP amid party congress
BEIJING – China said Monday it will postpone the release of its gross domestic product data for the July-September period originally scheduled for the following day, an extremely rare move, as the ruling Communist Party holds a weeklong congress.
The National Bureau of Statistics did not indicate when the data will be published, saying only that a scheduling conflict among its officials caused the postponement.
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Bones found near Universal Studios Japan confirmed as man’s
OSAKA – Human bones found near Universal Studios Japan’s premises in Osaka last week are those of a man aged between 60 to 79, police said Monday.
An autopsy found that the unidentified man was around 158 centimeters tall and that he died about two years ago, the Osaka police said.
