Kyodo News Digest: April 20, 2025
A dance performance is held at Malaysia’s pavilion for the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, western Japan, on April 17, 2025. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Discussion of security issues in tariff talks not appropriate: Japan PM
TOKYO – Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday that his government will not include discussions on security in its trade talks with the United States, while President Donald Trump has called for reducing the U.S. burden in defending Japan.
“I don’t think it is appropriate to discuss security and trade together. We should address security issues without linking them to tariffs,” Ishiba said on a TV program, days after his close aide met with Trump and senior U.S. officials on the recently increased levies.
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Central Tokyo train services resume after suspension affects 550,000
TOKYO – Train services on Tokyo’s busy Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines resumed Sunday following track-switching work for a new route to improve access to Haneda airport, with the suspension of over 24 hours affecting around 550,000 people.
The operator, East Japan Railway Co., carried out platform expansion work over a day and a half from Saturday at Tamachi Station and relocated nearby tracks to prepare for the construction of a new line directly connecting central Tokyo and the airport.
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Giant Evangelion appears in Hamamatsu city hall through early 2026
SHIZUOKA, Japan – A roughly six-meter-tall Evangelion Unit 01 statue made its appearance in Hamamatsu, central Japan, on Sunday as part of a local government tourism campaign through next February in the hope of cashing in on the city’s connection to the popular anime film.
The purple giant humanoid robot from the film “Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time” will tower over the lobby of Hamamatsu city hall in Shizuoka Prefecture until late January next year, including on weekends and public holidays.
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Baseball: Shohei Ohtani announces birth of daughter on Instagram
ARLINGTON, Texas – Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani announced the birth of his daughter, his first child with wife Mamiko, via Instagram on Saturday.
“Welcome to the Ohtani family!” the Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player wrote in his post, which included a photo of the baby’s feet.
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Organizers, visitors bracing for hot weather at Osaka World Expo
OSAKA – With Sunday marking one week since the opening of the six-month World Exposition on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, organizers and visitors are bracing for hot weather, as entrance gates and pavilions have been experiencing long lines.
The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition said it hopes to see an increase in daily visitors, which currently range from 40,000 to just under 80,000 on weekdays. If the current pace continues, attendance will fall short of the target of attracting 28.2 million people over the course of the event on Yumeshima through Oct. 13.
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Japanese-style inn operator eyes U.S. expansion after N.Y. listing
TOKYO – A Tokyo-based real estate company has chosen an unorthodox funding strategy by listing in New York before going public in its home market as it aims to popularize Japanese-style inns in the United States.
LogProstyle Inc., which operates traditional-style inns with tatami rooms in Tokyo, Yokohama, and Okinawa mainly targeted at foreign tourists, listed its shares on the NYSE American stock exchange in late March, in a rare initial public offering for a Japanese company.
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Football: Freiburg’s Doan nets 9th goal as Machino, Mitoma bag 8th
FREIBURG, Germany – Japan attacker Ritsu Doan scored his ninth goal of the season in Freiburg’s 3-2 home win over Hoffenheim in the German Bundesliga on Saturday, while Holstein Kiel’s Shuto Machino and Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma in England both bagged their eighth goals of the campaign.
Doan gave his side a 2-0 lead in the 36th minute at Europa-Park Stadion with a low strike into the corner from 20 meters out. He also stood out by providing key passes in the buildup to Lucas Holer’s 28th-minute opener from inside the box and 57th-minute tap-in winner.
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Basketball: Hachimura, Lakers off to losing start in NBA playoffs
LOS ANGELES – Rui Hachimura scored nine points with five rebounds in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 117-95 Game 1 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA playoffs Saturday.
The Japanese forward went 3-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-7 from three-point range, in nearly 30 minutes of play at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Video: Weekend crowds at Osaka Expo
