Kyodo News Digest: Jan. 22, 2025


Photo taken on Jan. 20, 2025, in Shimukappu, a village in northern Japan known for its cold temperatures, which can fall as low as 30 C below zero, shows the inside of a dome-shaped hotel where the ceiling, walls, and furnishings, such as beds and tables, are all made of ice. Guests of the hotel at Hoshino Resorts Tomamu can spend the night in sleeping bags inside the dome that is 3.5 meters high and 8.5 meters wide. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

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

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Trump considering additional 10% tariff on China from Feb. 1

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is considering imposing an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports, probably from Feb. 1, a move expected to raise trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

“We’re talking about a tariff of 10 percent on China based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” the president told reporters, referring to the drug transported across U.S. borders that is the leading cause of overdose deaths in the nation.

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Japan annual wage talks begin amid high hopes for sustained pay hikes

TOKYO – Japan’s annual spring wage negotiations began Wednesday, with the leaders of the country’s top business lobby and biggest labor federation agreeing on the importance of maintaining momentum for pay hikes amid soaring prices.

The focus is on whether an average wage increase of 5 percent or more, a level demanded by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo, will be agreed following significant increases in the past two years, observers said.

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Baseball: Ichiro Suzuki becomes 1st Asian elected to U.S. Hall of Fame

NEW YORK – Former Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki became the first Asian player elected to the U.S. National Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday, when the institution announced the results of its 2025 ballot.

Ichiro, widely known by his first name, was named on 99.7 percent of the ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, falling one vote short of being the hall’s second unanimous selection after former New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

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Top diplomats of Japan, U.S. agree to take ties to “new heights”

WASHINGTON – The top diplomats of Japan and the United States agreed Tuesday to elevate the bilateral relationship to “new heights” on all fronts and continue working multilaterally with like-minded countries such as the Philippines and South Korea, just a day after Donald Trump returned to the White House for a nonconsecutive second term.

After holding talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters that they also agreed to continue making arrangements for a meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump at an early date.

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LDP’s No. 2 calls for consensus on selective surname system

TOKYO – The No. 2 figure in Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Wednesday that its lawmakers should reach a consensus if related bills to allow married couples to use different surnames are put to a vote in the parliament.

LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama said in an interview with Kyodo News that party members should be “cautious” in assessing whether the current requirement forcing married Japanese couples to have the same surname should be changed.

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Japan ruling coalition partner urges PM’s fresh war anniv. statement

TOKYO – The head of Japan’s ruling coalition partner on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to issue a fresh war anniversary statement as this year marks 80 years since the end of World War II.

Komeito party leader Tetsuo Saito made the comments after Ishiba said in a Japanese media interview that he will consider whether to issue his own statement this year.

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U.S., Japan, Australia, India agree to boost free, open Indo-Pacific

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed Tuesday with his counterparts from Japan, Australia and India to strengthen a free and open Indo-Pacific, just hours after he was sworn in as Washington’s top diplomat.

Following a meeting of the grouping known as the Quad, the four foreign ministers released a joint statement saying that “the rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty, and territorial integrity” should be upheld in the region, where China is increasingly seen as engaging in assertive behavior.

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Ghibli Park to exhibit anime director Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved car

NAGOYA – A theme park in central Japan devoted to the world portrayed in Studio Ghibli’s animation movies such as “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Spirited Away” said Wednesday it will display a Citroen 2CV car once used by their director Hayao Miyazaki later this month.

The French classic car will be exhibited at Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, one of the five areas of the park located in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture. Also on display from Jan. 29 will be a manga by Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli Inc., illustrating how he purchased the car to drop off and pick up his child at a nursery and gradually fell in love with it.


Video: Fire in the vicinity of Osaka’s Tsutenkaku Tower






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