Tokyo, 18 April, /AJMEDIA
Kyoto University eyes providing gene-edited iPS cells from 2023
TOKYO – A Kyoto University foundation is preparing to provide induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, for medical use from next March, using cells that have the reduced risk of transplant rejection thanks to the gene-editing tool CRISPR, a foundation official said Sunday.
The CiRA Foundation, an offshoot of the university’s Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, plans to increase the types of iPS cells it has, with the view to increasing the stock of cells that match nearly all Japanese and 95 percent of the world’s population.
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7 in 10 Japanese support Russia sanctions even if they feel impact
TOKYO – More than seven in 10 Japanese support economic sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine even if the sanctions’ impact extends to the Japanese economy and their lives, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday.
In the two-day telephone survey through Sunday on 1,067 eligible voters, 58.7 percent of respondents supported Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet, compared with 60.1 percent in March.
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South Korea president-elect to send team to Japan for policy talks
SEOUL – South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol will send a delegation to Japan this month for policy consultations on bilateral issues and cooperation in responding to threats by North Korea, his transition team said Sunday.
The delegation, led by Chung Jin Suk, a member of Yoon’s People Power Party, and also involving diplomatic experts, will arrive in Japan on April 24 and meet with lawmakers, diplomats and business leaders.
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Baseball: Sasaki’s 2nd-straight gem can’t prevent Marines’ defeat
CHIBA, Japan – A week after throwing Japan’s first perfect game in 28 years, 20-year-old Roki Sasaki delivered an eight-perfect-inning encore Sunday for the Lotte Marines in a 1-0, 10-inning Pacific League loss to the Nippon Ham Fighters.
After 102 pitches at Chiba’s Zozo Marine Stadium outside Tokyo, and striking out 14 of the 24 batters he faced and retired, Sasaki did not go out to the mound for another shot at history.
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North Korea test-fired “new-type tactical guided weapon”: KCNA
BEIJING – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed the test-firing of a “new-type tactical guided weapon,” state-run media reported Sunday, suggesting that it launched a short-range missile the previous day.
The development came after North Korea on March 24 conducted the first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile since November 2017, marking an end to its self-imposed moratorium on ICBM tests introduced in April 2018.
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LDP money used to secure votes in 1968 poll in U.S.-ruled Okinawa
NAHA, Japan – Over $700,000 of ruling Liberal Democratic Party money was funneled to the campaign of a conservative pro-U.S. candidate and distributed to municipal leaders to help secure votes in the first public election of the head of the Ryukyu government in Okinawa in 1968 while it was still under U.S. rule, according to a former campaign official.
Previously declassified diplomatic documents have shown the United States, concerned that a rival candidate who called for an immediate reversion of Okinawa to Japan without precondition would win the contest, had urged the LDP to help a conservative party in Okinawa financially.
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U.S. to host ASEAN leaders in May to counter China’s growing clout
WASHINGTON – The United States will host a two-day special summit meeting with Southeast Asian nations from May 12, the White House said Saturday, as the administration of President Joe Biden seeks to step up engagement with a region seen as key to countering China’s increasing clout.
The U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit was initially planned for late March but postponed, with Cambodia, the current chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, reportedly citing scheduling conflicts.
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Major Japan firms shifting toward more recruitment, post-COVID growth
TOKYO – Forty-two percent of major Japanese firms are planning to increase hires of new graduates in fiscal 2023, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday, reflecting more companies projecting a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
The ratio of such optimistic firms jumped by 25 points from a survey held a year ago. It topped that of companies planning to curb new graduate hiring, 9 percent, for the first time in three years.
