Tokyo, 21 December, /AJMEDIA/
Japan sought China, South Korea’s views before 1991 SDF Gulf dispatch
TOKYO – Japan sought the understanding of other countries, including China and South Korea, in advance of its decision to send Self-Defense Forces minesweepers to the Middle East after the Gulf War cease-fire in 1991, according to diplomatic records declassified Wednesday.
Before finalizing the dispatch of SDF ships to the Persian Gulf in April that year, Japan had, behind the scenes, sounded out other Asian nations as well on their views on such a move, fearing that doing so could stir up memories of Imperial Japan’s militarism, according to the records.
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Japan ruling party lawmaker quits over funds underreporting scandal
TOKYO – Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Kentaro Sonoura resigned as a lawmaker on Wednesday after being accused of underreporting political funds, delivering a fresh blow to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of a string of local elections next spring.
Sonoura voluntarily submitted to questioning by prosecutors after being suspected of underreporting some 40 million yen ($303,000) collected through fundraising parties, sources close to the matter said.
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BOJ’s widening of yields band to raise Japan housing loans, hits consumers
TOKYO – The Bank of Japan’s surprise decision to allow long-term interest rates to move in a wider range will likely raise borrowing rates for households taking out housing loans.
Fixed housing loan rates track movements in Japanese long-term government bond yields. The BOJ on Tuesday widened the trading band for 10-year Japanese government bond yields between minus 0.5 percent and 0.5 percent, wider than the previous range of minus 0.25 and 0.25 range.
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FEATURE: Return to maskless world still only in realm of fantasy in Japan
TOKYO – In May 2020, a conference of infectious disease experts in Japan laid out a proposal for a “new lifestyle” under the coronavirus, including the strict observance of social distancing, hand-washing and wearing masks “even when showing no symptoms.”
That year, there were about 60,000 confirmed coronavirus infections in Tokyo, but by the end of September this year, the cumulative total had shot up to about 2.76 million.
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Japan hid summit exchanges on rice tariffication with U.S. in 1991
TOKYO – Japan did not reveal exchanges between its prime minister and the U.S. president in July 1991 on converting the Asian country’s nontariff rice import barriers to tariffs, according to a Japanese diplomatic document declassified Wednesday.
Then Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu talked with U.S. President George H.W. Bush in the United States, at a time when Japanese lawmakers backed by the farm sector opposed tariffication as it would lead to the opening of the nation’s rice market.
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Japan keeps view economy recovering in Dec.
TOKYO – Japan on Wednesday maintained its assessment on the economy for December, saying that it is “picking up moderately,” but cut its view on production for the first time in six months in a sign that global economic growth is slowing.
It is the sixth straight month that the Cabinet Office has left its monthly assessment unchanged. It continued to warn of fluctuations in financial markets and added a new reference saying that coronavirus infection trends in China warrant “full attention” amid a gradual easing of its zero-COVID policy.
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Sake plant in N.Y. seeks to make new cuisine trend brew in U.S.
NEW YORK – The major Japanese sake firm known for its signature product Dassai will begin brewing at a plant in New York next spring, seeking consumers in the already crowded market in the United States.
As the first major Japanese company to set up a sake production facility on the U.S. east coast, Asahi Shuzo Co. is looking to promote sake as a go-to beverage served not only with Japanese foods but a variety of global cuisines.
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6 dead, 23 missing after Thai warship sinks
BANGKOK – The Royal Thai Navy said Tuesday that six bodies have been recovered and 23 other crew members remain missing after one of its ships sank in the Gulf of Thailand amid rough seas on Sunday.
So far, more than 70 crew members of the Sukhothai corvette have been rescued. Search and rescue efforts are continuing by air and sea, with rescue workers sent off the coast of Prachuap Khiri Khan Province in central Thailand.
