Kyodo News Digest: April 29, 2025
Japanese golfer Mao Saigo (R) jumps into the pond after winning the Chevron Championship in a five-way playoff at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas, on April 27, 2025. (Kyodo)
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Cross-party Japan lawmakers seek end to China’s seafood import ban
BEIJING – A cross-party group of China-friendly Japanese lawmakers urged Beijing on Tuesday to lift its ban on Japanese seafood imports during their meeting with the country’s top legislator Zhao Leji, the No. 3 in the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s leadership.
Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who heads the delegation, told reporters following their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing that Zhao mentioned “proactive moves” among Chinese government entities toward lifting the seafood import ban.
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Japan, Philippines leaders to agree on talks for key security pacts
MANILA – The leaders of Japan and the Philippines are set to agree Tuesday on the start of discussions to pave the way for the conclusion of key security pacts, aiming to further strengthen their security ties with China in mind, government sources said.
At their summit in Manila, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. are also expected to confirm that their coast guards will conduct joint drills and to exchange views on the global economy amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of higher import tariffs.
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Sumitomo Mitsui system failure hits many ATMs in western Japan
TOKYO – Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. said Tuesday that automated teller machines were unavailable at 50 locations, mainly in Hyogo and Osaka prefectures in western Japan, due to a system failure.
The cause of the disruption, which started around 1:20 a.m., is under investigation, the banking arm of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said, adding, “We deeply apologize for the inconvenience and concern the incident has caused.”
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Demand for pet funerals stronger than ever in Japan
TOKYO – Japanese people now have more options than ever if they wish to have a funeral for, or with, their pet — be it a dog, cat or even a bug.
Demand for joint burials with pets has grown in recent years despite religious prohibitions, with one pioneer company in Tokyo providing “with pet” graves since 2003.
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Families of Japanese abducted by North Korea to seek U.S. aid for return
TOKYO – The families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago said Tuesday they are planning to meet with U.S. government officials and lawmakers to seek support for the early return of the victims.
Takuya Yokota, 56, the younger brother of Megumi Yokota — a symbolic figure among the Japanese abductees — and others including Koichiro Iizuka, 48, the son of Yaeko Taguchi, who went missing in 1978 at age 22, left Tokyo for Washington the same day.
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IOC’s Bach, ex-U.S. envoy Hagerty among foreigners decorated in Japan
TOKYO – International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, who served as U.S. ambassador to Japan, are among the 107 foreigners recognized in this year’s spring decorations for their contributions to Japan, the government said Tuesday.
Bach, a 71-year-old German Olympic champion in fencing, steered the IOC when Japan hosted the Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hagerty, 65, was ambassador from 2017 to 2019 during the first administration of President Donald Trump.
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3 anti-nuclear groups urge Trump, Putin to agree on disarmament
GENEVA – Three Nobel Peace prize-winning organizations, including a Japanese group of atomic bombing survivors, have urged U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach an agreement toward ridding the world of nuclear weapons.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and Nihon Hidankyo made the call in a letter released for Monday’s start of a U.N. conference on nuclear nonproliferation in New York.
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Japan urges “collaboration” on nuke disarmament toward 2026 confab
NEW YORK – Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on Monday called for “dialogue and collaboration” to advance nuclear disarmament toward a key U.N. conference next year, highlighting efforts by an atomic bomb survivors’ group that received the Nobel Peace Prize for conveying the horrors of the destructive weapons.
“The cry that the tragedies of nuclear weapons must never be repeated and the call for achieving a ‘world without nuclear weapons’ are now louder than ever,” Iwaya said in a speech in New York at a preparatory committee meeting for the 2026 review conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Video: Palau celebrates National Day at World Expo in Osaka
