Kyodo News Digest: March 25, 2025
Traditional Japanese puppet theater “Seiwa Bunraku” is performed in Washington on March 21, 2025. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Chinese activity near Senkakus “escalating”: Japan top diplomat
TOKYO – The amount of activity by Chinese vessels near the Senkaku Islands is “clearly escalating,” Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Monday, expressing concern over the continued presence of two such ships in waters surrounding the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed islets in the East China Sea.
Iwaya told a Diet committee session that he conveyed the concern to top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi during their meeting in Tokyo on Saturday. His remarks came as the Chinese Coast Guard ships continued to operate within Japan’s territorial seas near the uninhabited islands since the early hours of Friday.
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Man acquitted of 1966 murders gets over 200 mil. yen in compensation
SHIZUOKA, Japan – A Japanese court has decided to compensate an 89-year-old man with about 217 million yen ($1.4 million) for nearly half a century of wrongful detention, following his acquittal in a retrial over a 1966 quadruple murder case, a source familiar with the matter said Monday.
According to Iwao Hakamata’s laywers, the sum is likely the highest-ever criminal compensation granted in Japan.
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U.S. tariffs may cut Japan’s steel output to lowest in over 50 years
TOKYO – The head of a major Japanese steel industry body said Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs plan could reduce Japan’s annual crude steel production to the lowest level in more than half a century by denting demand for autos and steel products.
Tadashi Imai, chairman of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, told a press conference that the country’s crude steel output could fall below 80 million tons a year after the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel imports remain in place and are extended to autos among other items.
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Trump says he will announce auto tariffs in “next few days”
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he plans to unleash additional auto tariffs in the “next few days,” suggesting the announcement will be made earlier than initially planned.
During a White House event, Trump said without further elaboration that he will likely unveil new tariffs on automobiles imported from other countries “fairly soon,” before “April 2 comes,” fueling confusion as to the timing of the trade action widely expected to affect Japanese and other foreign car makers.
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Taliban seeks Japan support for infrastructure, industry development
KABUL – The Taliban regime hopes to strengthen relations with Japan to obtain support for Afghanistan’s infrastructure and industry development, Deputy Minister of Economy Latif Nazari said in a recent interview following his trip to Japan.
While Japan is among the countries that do not officially recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s government, largely due to its repressive policies against women, Nazari insisted that the regime’s intention is “not to completely exclude women from social participation.”
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Int’l law, women’s voices necessary to end wars: Latvia minister
NEW YORK – The application of international law and the inclusion of groups often vulnerable to violence such as women are necessary in the work to end wars, including those in Ukraine and the Middle East, the Latvian justice minister said in a recent visit to the United Nations.
“The only long-term solution” to such wars is to “obey international law regarding the borders, the sovereignty (and) territorial integrity of every country,” Inese Libina-Egnere, the Baltic state’s minister of justice, told Kyodo News.
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1 dead, 1 critically hurt after minitruck hits group of kids in Japan
SHIZUOKA, Japan – A small truck drove into a group of four elementary school girls on bicycles in central Japan on Monday, killing one and leaving another unconscious, according to police.
Akihiko Furuhashi, a 78-year-old farmer, was arrested at the scene of the incident, which occurred on a curved slope near a zoo in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, they said. Two other girls sustained minor injuries.
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Firefighting efforts continue in western Japan wildfires
MATSUYAMA, Japan – Firefighting efforts continued Monday against wildfires in two western Japan prefectures, with local governments at one point ordering a total of more than 3,000 residents to evacuate.
The Ground Self-Defense Force has deployed 14 helicopters to spray water over the blazes and to engage in other disaster relief efforts, responding to requests from Okayama and Ehime prefectures made the previous day.
Video: JR Sakurajima Station finishes renovation in preparation for the 2025 World Exposition
