Kyodo News Digest: April 25, 2024
The Japan Meteorological Agency’s new weather observation ship, Ryofu Maru, is shown to the media in Tokyo’s Daiba waterfront area on April 24, 2024, featuring an antenna to measure the level of moisture vapor. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Number of young women to halve in 40% of Japan localities by 2050
TOKYO – More than 40 percent of Japanese municipalities are likely to see the number of their young female residents drop by more than half in the 30 years through 2050 as the country’s population rapidly declines, a study by private-sector experts’ panel showed Wednesday.
The panel on population strategy warned that 744 municipalities were deemed at “risk of disappearing” due to the likely sharp fall in the number of women in their 20s to 30s, regarded as the core generation responsible for bearing children.
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Yen drops to 155 range, new 34-year low against U.S. dollar
NEW YORK – The yen weakened to the 155 range against the U.S. dollar in London and New York on Wednesday, hitting a fresh 34-year low, amid expectations the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates elevated for longer than projected.
The Japanese currency stayed in the lower 155 range against the dollar through nearly the entire day in New York, after briefly falling below the 155 line in London for the first time since June 1990.
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Kishida deserves credit for passage of Ukraine aid: U.S. diplomat
WASHINGTON – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida should be given a share of the credit for U.S. congressional passage of a long-overdue national security supplemental that includes aid for Ukraine, a senior diplomat said Wednesday.
Kurt Campbell, the second-highest ranking official at the U.S. State Department, said Japan’s strategic thinking is increasingly becoming global, and Tokyo, unlike in the past, is persuading Washington to do more to exercise leadership in dealing with international issues.
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Russia blocks U.S.-Japan resolution at U.N. on peaceful use of space
NEW YORK – Russia on Wednesday blocked a U.N. Security Council resolution, sponsored by the United States and Japan, that would have promoted a ban on nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction in space.
Thirteen of the 15 members of the council backed the resolution in Wednesday’s vote while China abstained.
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BOJ to check effects of rate hike amid weak yen at policy meeting
TOKYO – The Bank of Japan is widely expected to leave its policy rate unchanged at a two-day meeting from Thursday, a month after implementing a hike for the first time in 17 years, though a persistently weak yen is raising the prospect of higher inflation driven by import costs.
The Policy Board shifted to using short-term rates as its major policy tool last month, guiding them in a range of between zero and 0.1 percent. It ended unorthodox monetary easing that had weakened the yen, including its negative rate and yield cap program, as robust wage growth has boosted the BOJ’s confidence that stable inflation can be achieved.
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Japan to tighten export controls for cutting-edge technologies
TOKYO – The Japanese government said Wednesday it will require advance notification from private firms seeking to export cutting-edge technologies such as quantum science, in an effort to prevent such technologies from being diverted to military purposes in countries like Russia and China.
Export controls will also be tightened for non-cutting edge fields at risk of being used in conventional weapons, with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to request that firms investigate the possibility of such use, it said.
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ANA plane lands at Hokkaido airport with hydraulic trouble
SAPPORO – An All Nippon Airways aircraft carrying a total of 213 people landed safely at an airport in Hokkaido in northern Japan on Wednesday after a hydraulic system issue was detected.
The airline said oil leaked from the Boeing 787 plane, which had departed from Tokyo’s Haneda airport and landed at New Chitose Airport, resulting in what appears to be white smoke, possibly due to the oil vaporizing as it neared the engines. There were no reports of injuries, according to authorities.
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Japan launches new alert system as heat stroke deaths rise
TOKYO – Japan’s Environment Ministry launched a special heat stroke alert system Wednesday as part of efforts to address the increasing number of deaths due to the summer heat in recent years.
When the alert is issued, municipalities will open designated facilities such as libraries and community centers to residents as “cooling shelters.” The system will be in effect through Oct. 23 this year.
Video: Japan weather agency’s new observation ship unveiled
