Tokyo, 1 January, /AJMEDIA/
Emperor Naruhito shares people’s pain, hope amid pandemic
TOKYO – Japanese Emperor Naruhito looked back on the second year of the coronavirus pandemic in a New Year video address Saturday, calling for people to “share their pain and support each other.”
Commending the vaccination rate in Japan while also acknowledging the emergence of the Omicron variant, the 61-year-old emperor expressed condolences for those who died from the virus and thanked medical staff involved in the fight against the pandemic.
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Japan PM Kishida vows focus on COVID-19 response, new capitalism
TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday vowed to continue to take all necessary measures to fight the spread of COVID-19 while accelerating his push to create a “new capitalism.”
In his New Year’s address, Kishida also said he would step up summit diplomacy in 2022 and that constitutional reform would be a “major theme” of the year.
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Japan business leaders voice resolve to tackle key growth challenges
TOKYO – The leaders of Japan’s major business organizations on Saturday expressed their resolve to address pressing challenges facing the country to support growth in 2022, ranging from digitalization and decarbonization to regional revitalization and deregulation.
“We will aim to establish a sustainable capitalism with determination that we, companies, need to take on the role of promoting growth and distribution,” Masakazu Tokura, chairman of the Japan Business Federation also known as Keidanren, said in his New Year’s address.
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Boxing: Ioka holds off Fukunaga in WBO super flyweight title defense
TOKYO – Japan’s Kazuto Ioka successfully defended his WBO super flyweight world championship for the fourth time on Friday, winning a 12-round unanimous decision over dogged sixth-ranked compatriot Ryoji Fukunaga.
Ioka was content early to watch his opponent probe from a distance at Ota City General Gymnasium before gradually going over to the attack from the second round.
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Xi vows to make Beijing Olympics success despite diplomatic boycott
BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged Friday to make the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics a success, while the United States and other democratic countries have announced they will implement a “diplomatic boycott” of the global sporting event.
“We will spare no effort to present a great games to the world. The world is turning its eyes to China, and China is ready” for the Olympics slated for February 2022, Xi said in his televised speech on New Year’s Eve.
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World’s 1st “wooden” satellite planned in Japan for 2023 launch
KYOTO – A plan is under way in Japan to launch the world’s first “wooden” satellite in 2023, as its development team aims to harness the environmental friendliness and low cost of wood in space development.
A satellite whose exterior is made of wood will burn up upon re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere after the end of its operation, giving less burden on the environment, according to the team comprised of Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry Co.
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Summer gathering for U.N. nuclear nonproliferation talks explored
NEW YORK – The chairman of a U.N. conference on nuclear nonproliferation has sounded out member states on a plan to hold a gathering next summer following the postponement from the earlier scheduled January amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, diplomatic sources said Thursday.
The meeting to review the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons slated from Jan. 4 to 28 at the U.N. headquarters was put off again after being delayed three times from its original date in the spring of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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FOCUS: RCEP’s fruits come with challenge of keeping China in check
TOKYO – With the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement taking effect Saturday, Japan and other member nations expect to revitalize the pandemic-hit economy through free trade in the economic bloc, regarded as the world’s largest, covering about a third of the global economy.
An outlook on its impact on Japan’s economy is particularly rosy, some analysis suggested. At the same time, however, Japan will face difficulties keeping China’s growing influence in the region in check, while its ally the United States remains at odds with China over human rights and other issues.
