Kyodo News Digest: Sept. 13, 2024
Lightning strikes over Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya in the western Japan prefecture of Hyogo on Sept. 12, 2024. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Gov’t, forced sterilization victims reach compensation settlement
TOKYO – The Japanese government and people who were forced to undergo sterilization surgeries from the 1950s to the 1970s under a now-defunct eugenics protection law settled their lawsuits on Friday, following a recent ruling by Japan’s top court that deemed the law unconstitutional.
Under the agreement signed by the government and the plaintiffs, the state will pay 15 million yen ($106,000) in compensation to each victim of forced sterilization surgery, considered by many to be the worst human rights violation in Japan’s post-World War II history.
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Japan PM hopefuls agree on Kishida’s economic push, differ on how
TOKYO – Contenders for Japan’s ruling party leadership, vying to become the next prime minister, underscored on Friday the need to build on the wage growth momentum seen under incumbent Fumio Kishida, but they differed on how to support households and the broader economy amid rising prices.
Shinjiro Koizumi, a rising star in the Liberal Democratic Party and one of the public favorites to take over from Kishida, said he would expand support to low-income households and pensioners via cash handouts.
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Japan’s August rice price soars 23% on summer heat, quake-warning
TOKYO – Rice prices sold at supermarkets in Japan in August jumped 23 percent from a year earlier due to tight supply from last summer’s extreme heat and a buying rush following a government advisory about a potential megaquake, a consumer data research firm reported Friday.
The average price of rice per 5 kilograms last month was 2,266 yen ($16), up from 1,839 yen in August last year, also reflecting demand boosted by booming inbound tourism, according to data from True Data Inc.
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North Korea’s Kim tours uranium enrichment site, KCNA reports
BEIJING – North Korean state media published on Friday images of leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a “uranium enrichment base,” reporting his call for more centrifuges to “exponentially increase” the country’s ability to produce weapons-grade nuclear materials.
The official Korean Central News Agency reported on Kim’s visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the production base of weapons-grade nuclear materials, the first time state media has detailed an in-person inspection of a uranium enrichment facility by the nation’s leader.
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Japan’s oldest man dies at 110
TOKYO – Japan’s oldest man, Tomisaburo Wakui, a 110-year-old resident of Atsugi, near Tokyo, has died just months after being recognized as the country’s longest-living male, the municipality said Friday.
Information regarding the date and cause of his death has been withheld at the request of the bereaved family, according to the Atsugi city government in Kanagawa Prefecture.
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Japan PM to attend Quad, U.N. meetings in U.S. from Sept. 21
TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit the United States from Sept. 21 to 23 for a Quad meeting with his U.S., Australian and Indian counterparts, and the leaders’ gathering at the U.N. General Assembly, the government said Friday.
During what will be his last overseas trip before stepping down as prime minister, Kishida plans to hold one-on-one talks with other leaders, according to Japan’s top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi.
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Russia’s security official Shoigu meets N. Korea’s Kim in Pyongyang
MOSCOW – Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Friday, the council said.
The pair discussed bilateral and international issues within the framework of the strategic dialogue between their countries, it said in a statement.
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Japan, U.S. scientists win Ig Nobel prize for study on anal breathing
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – A group of 11 Japanese and U.S. scientists won the Ig Nobel physiology prize Thursday for finding that many mammals can breathe with their intestines via the anus.
Group leader Takanori Takebe, a professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, said in remarks about receiving the spoof prize that he hopes the finding can someday help treat people who suffer from respiratory problems. Ig Nobel organizers say the awards are for research that “makes people laugh and then makes them think.”
Video: An explosion occurs at a sewage facility in Osaka
