Tokyo, 28 November, /AJMEDIA/
Kishida Cabinet support rate drops to 33.1%, lowest since launch
TOKYO – The support rate for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet has dropped to 33.1 percent, the lowest since its launch last year, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday, after three of his ministers were forced out in less than a month.
The approval rating was down from 37.6 percent in the previous poll conducted in late October, while the disapproval rating rose to 51.6 percent, exceeding 50 percent for the first time since Kishida took office in October last year, according to the two-day nationwide telephone survey conducted from Saturday.
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Football: Japan let World Cup chance slip in 1-0 loss to Costa Rica
AL RAYYAN, Qatar – Japan potentially jeopardized their path to the World Cup round of 16 Sunday by falling 1-0 to underdogs Costa Rica in their second Group E game in Qatar.
Coming off a historic 2-1 win over Germany in Wednesday’s opening clash, the Samurai Blue let slip a golden opportunity to put one foot in the knockout phase against the Central Americans at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan.
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’90s Japanese film “All Under the Moon” director Yoichi Sai dies
TOKYO – Yoichi Sai, a film director known for his realistic depictions of the stories of Koreans living in Japan in the 1993 film “All Under the Moon” and the 2004 film “Blood and Bones,” died of bladder cancer at his home in Tokyo on Sunday, his family said. He was 73.
Born in Nagano Prefecture to an ethnic Korean father and a Japanese mother, Sai was a longtime leader in the Japanese film industry, having served as president of the Directors Guild of Japan for 18 years beginning in 2004.
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Anti-lockdown protests spread in China with rare call for Xi to quit
BEIJING – Protests against China’s strict “zero-COVID” policy involving lockdowns further spread over the weekend amid a spike in infections, with demonstrators in Shanghai making a rare demand for President Xi Jinping to step down, according to witnesses and videos shared on social media.
In Shanghai, hundreds of people gathered Sunday night for a rally held for the second straight day, with participants venting their anger against authorities. They chanted slogans such as, “Down with Xi Jinping,” and “Down with the emperor” in reference to the leader.
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N. Korean leader’s daughter described as “most beloved,” “precious”
BEIJING – North Korea again reported on leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter on Sunday, describing her as “most beloved” and “precious,” with new photos released of her accompanying him at a session with contributors to the successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
In the undated pictures unveiled by the country’s state media, the young girl in a black coat waved to and shook hands with participants of the photo session with those involved in the Nov. 18 test-firing of a new type of “Hwasong-17” ICBM.
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Japan WWII foreign minister asked Holy See to avert war with U.S.
ROME – A Japanese foreign minister met Pope Pius XII and his secretary of state during World War II to seek mediation in a desperate bid to avert war with the United States, eight months before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Vatican documents recently seen by Kyodo News show.
Yosuke Matsuoka wanted the Holy See to speak to President Franklin Roosevelt to try to prevent “a war of mutual destruction,” telling Cardinal Luigi Maglione that Tokyo also wanted a cease-fire with China after more than three years of war, according to a summary by the cardinal’s office of a meeting on April 2, 1941, between the two.
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Daiso value retailer aims to increase U.S. stores 10-fold
WASHINGTON – Japanese 100-yen shop operator Daiso Industries Co. aims to increase the number of its stores in the United States more than 10-fold in the long-term to 1,000, as soaring inflation has spurred more American consumers to look for high-quality products on a budget.
The value retailer, which has won over customers in Japan during the country’s decades-long deflation, currently operates more than 80 U.S. stores in states such as California and Texas.
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23% of major Japanese firms may raise prices next yr on rising costs
TOKYO – Nearly a quarter of major companies in Japan are considering raising the prices of their products next year or later due to increasing material costs and a weaker yen, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday.
Of the 80 companies surveyed, including Toyota Motor Corp., Nintendo Co. and Shiseido Co., 23 percent said they are mulling price hikes on consumer products, while 49 percent said they were undecided about doing so.
