Japan

TOKYO; 3 Oct 2018; (AP) — A German-French observation device safely landed on an asteroid on Wednesday after a Japanese spacecraft released it as part of a research effort that could find clues about the origin of the solar system, Japanese space officials said.

The Japan Space Exploration Agency said the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout, or MASCOT, was released from the unmanned spacecraft Hayabusa2 and successfully landed on the asteroid Ryugu.

TOKYO (AP) — New photos taken on the surface of an asteroid show that it is (drum roll, please) ... rocky.

It may be no surprise, but Japan space agency scientists and engineers are thrilled by the images being sent to Earth by two jumping robotic rovers that they dropped onto an asteroid about 280 million kilometers (170 million miles) away.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency posted the latest photos on its website late Thursday. They show slightly tilted close-ups of the rocky surface from different locations.

TOKYO, September 20. /TASS/. Japan’s government is working out the possibility of organizing a meeting between Foreign Affairs Minister Taro Kono and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov during the UN General Assembly in New York on September 24-27, Japan’s NHK TV reported with reference to diplomatic sources on Thursday.

TOKYO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people across Japan rallied Wednesday to protest against the controversial security laws that were enacted by the parliament three year ago.

Over 5,000 protesters gathered in Hibiya Park, downtown Tokyo on Wednesday evening, calling for scrapping the controversial security laws.

TOKYO, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- A civil group in Japan's Okinawa, having collected the signatures of some 93,000 people, demanded on Wednesday a local referendum to be held on the central government's controversial plan to relocate a U.S. military base within the island prefecture.

Deputy Okinawa Governor Kiichiro Jahana, who took charge following the death of Governor Takeshi Onaga last month, said that he would convene a prefectural assembly meeting later this month on the referendum proposal.

By YURI KAGEYAMA

TOKYO; 31 Aug 2018; (AP) — Global shares mostly fell Friday following a report that the Trump administration could put tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods as early as next week.

KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 fell 0.5 percent in early trading to 5,451.68. Germany’s DAX lost 0.7 percent to 12,404.10. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.3 percent to 7,496.35. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.1 percent at 25,993. S&P 500 futures were also 0.1 percent lower at 2,898.70.

TOKYO, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed lower Wednesday on growing concerns over the possibility of Turkey's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports amid heightening tensions between the two sides.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 151.86 points, or 0.68 percent, from Tuesday to finish the day at 22,204.22.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, dropped 12.92 points, or 0.76 percent, to close at 1,698.03.

NAGASAKI, Japan, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a world free of nuclear weapons when meeting with representatives of atomic bombing victims here on Wednesday.

"When we see a lack of commitment to (nuclear) disarmament, to amplify the voice of the surviving victims becomes more and more important," Guterres told representatives of the atomic bombing victims.

He said that the UN would make joint efforts with these victims of atomic bombing to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.

TOKYO, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Japan logged a current account surplus of 1.18 trillion yen (11 billion U.S. dollars) in June, the Finance Ministry said in a report on Wednesday.

The latest reading marks the 48th successive month the current account has been in surplus.

The ministry also said in its preliminary report that the country had a goods trade surplus of 821 billion yen (7.3 billion U.S. dollars), while services trade stood at a deficit of 175 billion yen (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the reporting period.

26 July 2018; AFP; Japan on Thursday executed six more members of the cult behind the deadly 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway, local media said, weeks after the group's leader was hanged.

Public broadcaster NHK and other outlets said all six Aum Shinrikyo cult members remaining on death row had been executed on Thursday morning. There was no immediate official confirmation.

The executions come after authorities hanged "guru" Shoko Asahara and six of his one-time followers earlier this month, after years on death row.