Tokyo, 8 December, /AJMEDIA/
U.S. welcomes Japan’s plan to boost defense budget amid acute threats
WASHINGTON – The United States on Wednesday welcomed Japan’s recently announced plan to significantly increase its five-year defense spending to over 40 trillion yen ($293 billion), citing the “acute” security challenges Asia is facing.
“There is no question that Northeast Asia has become a more dangerous neighborhood,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told a press conference, highlighting the intensifying pace and scale of North Korea’s provocations and ballistic missile tests.
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Japan July-Sept. GDP shrinks annualized real 0.8%, revised up
TOKYO – Japan’s economy shrank an annualized real 0.8 percent in July-September, less than previously reported, as domestic demand was slightly stronger, although its recovery from the COVID-19 fallout lacked vigor, government data showed Thursday.
Real gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, shrank 0.2 percent on a quarterly basis, revised upward from minus 0.3 percent. Japan has seen the size of its economy return to pre-pandemic levels, but its recovery has been slower than other economies.
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Japan to describe China military moves as “challenge” to int’l order
TOKYO – Japan is considering describing Chinese military moves as posing a “challenge” to the international order, as well as to Japan and like-minded countries, in its National Security Strategy to be revised together with two other security-related documents next week, a government source said Wednesday.
The planned reference may provoke Beijing, but the wording is softer than “threat,” a term some Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers have advocated in a show of their perception of the emerging power.
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Ukrainian President Zelenskyy picked as Time’s Person of the Year
NEW YORK – Time magazine on Wednesday picked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as its annual Person of the Year, along with individuals seen as representing the “Spirit of Ukraine” for their aid relief and other efforts amid the country’s invasion by Russia.
“In the weeks after Russian bombs began falling on Feb. 24, (Zelenskyy’s) decision not to flee Kyiv but to stay and rally support was fateful,” said Time’s Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal in a press release.
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Red Sox, Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida agree to deal: report
SAN DIEGO, California – Masataka Yoshida, a two-time batting champion in Japan’s Pacific League, has agreed to a five-year, $90 million deal with the Boston Red Sox, MLB.com reported Wednesday, quoting a source.
“The Red Sox made their first major counter move to the rival Yankees, agreeing to a five-year, $90 million deal with Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida,” said the official website of Major League Baseball.
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Football: Japan’s World Cup team gets hero’s welcome back home
NARITA, Japan – Japan’s national team returned home Wednesday having surprised the world with group-stage wins over Germany and Spain in soccer’s World Cup in Qatar, eventually exiting in the round of 16 on penalties to Croatia.
Samurai Blue manager Hajime Moriyasu and captain Maya Yoshida alongside other players such as Ritsu Doan and Junya Ito were welcomed back by a huge crowd at Narita airport near Tokyo.
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Japan, Britain launch digital partnership on AI, semiconductors
TOKYO – Japan and Britain launched on Wednesday a digital partnership aimed at strengthening cooperation across 14 areas ranging from cybersecurity to artificial intelligence, an initiative they say is intended to “stay on the frontier of technological advancement.”
The collaboration also aims to help improve the resiliency of semiconductor supply chains after a pandemic-induced global shortage snarled production for a wide range of products from cars to smartphones and laptops that use the essential component.
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Assaulted sociologist Shinji Miyadai leaves hospital, ready to resume work
TOKYO – Shinji Miyadai, a sociologist who was assaulted on a university campus in Tokyo last week, has been discharged from hospital and said he is ready to resume work in a video message released Wednesday.
“I suffered serious physical damage,” Miyadai said, appearing in the video with bandages over the left part of his head following six hours of surgery. “But my mind has not been damaged,” he added.
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2 ex-Square Enix employees rearrested over insider trading
TOKYO – Tokyo prosecutors served fresh arrest warrants Wednesday against two former employees of major gaming firm Square Enix Co. over a second case of alleged insider trading.
One of the two is Yuji Naka, who is known as a creator of video game series Sonic the Hedgehog when he previously worked for Sega Corp., another gaming company in Tokyo.
