Tokyo, 8 July, /AJMEDIA/
2 years after fatal shooting of Abe, Unification Church issues remain
NARA, Japan – Monday marks two years since former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot, while issues related to the Unification Church and the plight of “second-generation” members of religious groups that drew attention afterward remain unsolved.
Many mourners visited a flower-laying table set at the site where Japan’s longest-serving prime minister was shot in Nara, western Japan, on July 8, 2022, at the age of 67, by a man allegedly using a homemade gun during an election campaign speech.
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Japan, Philippines concerned by China’s “dangerous, escalatory” acts
MANILA – The foreign and defense ministers of Japan and the Philippines on Monday aired “serious concern over the dangerous and escalatory actions by China” in the South China Sea as they contend with Beijing’s growing assertiveness in regional waters.
In a joint press release following their “two-plus-two” ministerial security talks in Manila, the two nations also said their close four-way collaboration with the United States and Australia is key to “promoting the shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
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Japan real wages down 1.4% in May, 26th monthly fall despite hikes
TOKYO – Japan’s real wages in May fell 1.4 percent from a year earlier, declining for a record 26th straight month, as the sharpest base wage growth in 31 years was offset by inflation, government figures showed Monday.
The drop in May was larger than a revised 1.2 percent fall in April, with higher material costs and a weakening yen pushing up import costs, data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare showed.
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Japan’s ruling LDP reeling in shock following key Tokyo elections
TOKYO – Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party was reeling in shock on Monday following its defeat in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly by-elections the previous day, despite the victory of the party-backed incumbent in the capital’s gubernatorial race.
Many LDP lawmakers are worried about the repercussions of the local polls on a possible national election as a high-profile political funds scandal has eroded public trust in the party.
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Israel to attend Hiroshima peace ceremony amid call for cease-fire
HIROSHIMA – The western Japanese city of Hiroshima on Monday announced that Israel has expressed its intention to attend the Aug. 6 annual peace ceremony commemorating the atomic bomb attack on the city, bringing the number of countries slated to take part to a record high of 115.
The invitation to Israel, widely regarded as a nuclear-armed state, included a call for an immediate cease-fire to the conflict in the Palestinian territory, which has drawn increasing international opposition.
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Xi seeks de-escalation of Ukraine crisis in talks with Hungary PM
BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the de-escalation of the situation in Ukraine in talks Monday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, urging the international community to create conditions for Kyiv and Moscow to resume direct dialogue, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
Orban made a surprise visit to Beijing following his trips to Ukraine and Russia last week. In a post to the X social media platform, he said China is a “key power in creating the conditions for peace” in the Ukraine war and that was the reason for his meeting with Xi.
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BOJ ups econ views on 2 areas despite inflation, weak yen
TOKYO – The Bank of Japan on Monday upgraded its economic assessment of two of Japan’s nine regions but became more cautious about another two, painting a mixed picture of the economy as it grapples with inflation and an inbound tourism boom amid a weak yen.
In the quarterly Sakura report on regional economies, the BOJ maintained the view that private consumption remains resilient and pay hikes are broadening. But inflation’s continued outpacing of wage growth cast a pall over the outlook, though economists expect the economy to rebound in the April-June quarter from a sharp contraction.
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10 Japan, U.S. firms join forces to develop chip tech for AI
TOKYO – Leading Japanese chip material maker Resonac Holdings Corp. said Monday it will form a consortium with nine other Japanese and U.S. firms to collaborate over the development of technologies deemed key in manufacturing state-of-the art semiconductors used for generative artificial intelligence.
The consortium, called US-JOINT, will be based in Silicon Valley, setting its main focus on developing so-called back-end technologies of packaging semiconductors. Its facility is expected to become fully operational next year.
