Kyodo News Digest: Feb. 2, 2025


Kei Nishikori (front row, C) celebrates with teammates and team staff after Japan’s win over Britain in the first round of the Davis Cup team tennis qualifiers on Feb. 1, 2025, in Miki, Hyogo Prefecture. (Kyodo)

  

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

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Japan successfully launches flagship H3 rocket for more precise GPS

TOKYO – Japan on Sunday successfully launched a flagship H3 rocket and put into orbit a quasi-zenith satellite, aiming to improve the accuracy of global positioning data for various applications.

The No. 5 H3 rocket marked its fourth consecutive successful liftoff following a failed debut in 2023, carrying the No. 6 Michibiki satellite to enhance positioning accuracy by operating alongside previously launched satellites, reducing errors to just a few centimeters.

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Trump orders hefty tariffs on Canada, China, Mexico, trade wars loom

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an order enacting tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10 percent on goods from China, touching off potential trade wars and increasing uncertainty for global business.

Trump, spending this weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, followed through on his promise to impose such measures to pressure the three countries to crack down on fentanyl trafficking and to rectify trade imbalances with the United States.

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China vows to file lawsuit with WTO over new U.S. tariffs

BEIJING – China vowed Sunday to file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization over the United States’ decision to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on imports from the Asian country, saying the move “seriously violates” WTO rules.

The Commerce Ministry said in a statement China will take “corresponding countermeasures to firmly safeguard its rights and interests” but did not elaborate. The country is “strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes” the change that will be implemented Tuesday, according to the ministry.

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Japan concerned over impact of U.S. tariffs on China, others

TOKYO – Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato on Sunday expressed serious concern over the potential impact of U.S. tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico.

Kato said on a TV program that he is “very concerned about the possible impact on the global economy,” and stressed the need to “thoroughly assess” foreign exchange movements and the outlook of monetary policy in the United States, a key trade partner of Japan.

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Credit card ticketing on public transport nationwide eyed in 2026

TOKYO – A major Japanese credit card company plans to introduce touch payments for public transportation tickets across Japan in 2026 at the earliest, aiming to make travel easier for foreign tourists who often rely on cash or short-term transit cards.

Not only will the change benefit users of credit cards issued by the company, Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., but holders of other credit cards will also be able to use them in place of dedicated transport cards and tickets on trains and buses, according to a company official.

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Stray cats find warm welcome at southwestern Japan “ryokan” inn

OITA, Japan – For the past two decades, a traditional “ryokan” inn in southwestern Japan has been spreading its hospitality more broadly than most, dedicating more than half of its rooms to give shelter to stray cats.

The century-old Aratama ryokan in Beppu, Oita Prefecture has around 80 cats and has rescued over 1,000 felines to date, finding new homes for most of them.

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18-yr-old man arrested over killing of woman in southwestern Japan

KAGOSHIMA, Japan – An 18-year-old high school student was arrested Saturday for allegedly stabbing to death a woman on a southwestern Japan island last year, police said.

The suspect is accused of fatally stabbing Fusako Kikuchi at her home on Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture on Nov. 20. He admitted to the charge, according to police.

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Athletics: Kipchumba edges out Wakabayashi to win Beppu-Oita Marathon

OITA, Japan – Kenya’s Vincent Kipchumba pulled away from Aoyama Gakuin University senior Hiroki Wakabayashi with a little more than 1 kilometer to go en route to his Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon victory on Sunday.

Kipchumba crossed the finish line at J-Lease Stadium in a meet record of 2 hours, 6 minutes and 1 second, which was 6 seconds ahead of Wakabayashi, under ideal running conditions with a cloudy sky and almost no wind.


Video: Mao Asada at projection mapping lighting event at Mao Rink in Tachikawa






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