Kyodo News Digest: Oct. 12, 2024


Princess Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito, visits the Japan Games sports festival in Saga, southwestern Japan, on Oct. 11, 2024. (Kyodo)

 

The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.

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Nobel committee’s aim to make anti-nuclear movement global: Hidankyo

TOKYO – The Nobel committee likely gave the peace prize to Nihon Hidankyo to share the voices of atomic bomb survivors and make the anti-nuclear movement global, Terumi Tanaka of the leading atomic bomb survivors’ group said Saturday.

A day after winning the prize, senior members of the organization gathered in person and remotely to take part in an emotional press conference in Tokyo to describe their happiness as the win finally sinks in and their resolve to continue calling for a world without nuclear arms.

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PM seeks realistic approach after A-bomb survivors’ group wins Nobel prize

TOKYO – Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Saturday called for taking a realistic approach to the abolition of nuclear weapons, a day after Japan’s leading organization of atomic bomb survivors, Nihon Hidankyo, won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

Ishiba, who congratulated Terumi Tanaka, the 92-year-old co-chairman of the group, by phone, cited the need for nuclear deterrence as a “pragmatic response,” while saying nuclear abolition is the ultimate goal.

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U.S.-led Indo-Pacific clean, fair economy deals take effect

TOKYO – Clean and fair economy agreements involving the United States, Japan and a dozen other Indo-Pacific countries have taken effect in a step to advance decarbonization and economic cooperation in the region.

The deals on two of the four pillars of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework entered into force on Friday and Saturday, respectively. An accord on strengthening supply chains already took effect in February, while the remaining pillar is still being negotiated.

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Sumitomo Life launches 1st eye insurance for contact lens users

TOKYO – Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. has launched an insurance policy specifically covering costs for treating eye conditions, available only to those who purchase disposable contact lenses sold by the Japanese unit of U.S. pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson.

The product, offered to “Acuvue” users free of charge if certain conditions are met, is the first of its kind in Japan’s life insurance industry, according to the insurer.

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Japan’s Kumamoto Castle floats in artificial sea of clouds

KUMAMOTO, Japan – Kumamoto Castle, a popular tourist destination in southwestern Japan, appears to be floating in a sea of clouds after its host city started generating them Friday for a limited-time event, giving the castle’s famous stone walls a different look.

Through Nov. 4, pure white mist, made using water partly taken from the castle’s old well, emerges around the steeply curving stone walls of the main tower of the castle, which is undergoing repair work after a pair of massive earthquakes in 2016, according to the Kumamoto municipal government.

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Baseball: Yamamoto pitches Dodgers past Darvish, Padres into NLCS

LOS ANGELES – Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw five scoreless innings to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-0 win over the San Diego Padres in a do-or-die Game 5 of their National League Division Series on Friday featuring a historic pitching duel with Japanese compatriot Yu Darvish.

With a place in the NL Championship Series at stake, it was the first Major League Baseball playoff game featuring two starting pitchers from Japan.


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