Kyodo News Digest: March 27, 2024
Japanese Princess Aiko visits Ise Jingu shrine in Ise in the central Japan prefecture of Mie on March 26, 2024. The 22-year-old daughter of Emperor Naruhito graduated last week from Gakushuin University, where she studied Japanese literature. (Kyodo)
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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2 die, 100 hospitalized after consuming Japan drugmaker’s supplements
TOKYO – Two people are believed to have died and over 100 hospitalized after consuming red yeast rice dietary supplements from Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., the Japanese drugmaker and the health ministry said Tuesday, amid swelling safety concerns over the products.
One person was reported by the Osaka-based drugmaker to have died from kidney disease after apparently taking the “beni-koji” supplements for around three years. A second death was reported to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare following a hearing with the company.
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North Korea rejects talks with Japan, nixes floated summit: KCNA
BEIJING – North Korea on Tuesday rejected any further contact or negotiations with Japan and said a floated summit meeting between leader Kim Jong Un and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is of no concern to it, according to state-run media.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of the North Korean leader, clarified Pyongyang’s stance in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, a day after Tokyo rejected her call to drop its insistence on the return of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.
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Top court says same-sex partners eligible for crime victims’ benefit
TOKYO – Japan’s top court on Tuesday said same-sex partners are eligible for crime victims’ benefits as surviving family members, the first such ruling in the country that does not recognize same-sex marriage.
The Supreme Court’s Third Petty Bench scrapped the Nagoya High Court ruling and sent back the case to the high court, which did not recognize the eligibility of Yasuhide Uchiyama, 49, whose same-sex partner of decades was murdered.
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U.S., Japan national security aides prepare for Kishida’s visit
WASHINGTON – The highest-ranking U.S. and Japanese national security advisers on Tuesday discussed measures to reinforce the deterrence capabilities of their countries’ decades-old alliance in preparation for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Washington next month.
President Joe Biden’s top national security official Jake Sullivan held a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Takeo Akiba, during which the two also discussed ways to deepen cooperation with like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere, according to the Japanese government.
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Weapon export rules eased to allow Japan to sell fighter jets
TOKYO – Japan on Tuesday eased its strict defense equipment transfer rules to allow the worldwide export of next-generation fighter jets set to be jointly developed with Britain and Italy, removing a hurdle for the trilateral project.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet approved the updated guidelines of the “three principles on transfer of defense equipment and technology” after his ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, the Komeito party, agreed on the revised export rules on March 15.
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Japan envoy in China meets detained national for 2nd time
BEIJING – Japanese Ambassador to China Kenji Kanasugi met Tuesday for the second time with a Japanese citizen who has been detained in Beijing for about a year on suspicion of espionage, a Japanese government source said.
Last week, Chinese authorities notified Tokyo of their decision to launch a process to examine whether to indict the man, a senior Astellas Pharma Inc. employee who was formally arrested in October.
Video: Details emerge of ancient sword unearthed in Japan’s Nara
