Japan

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese prosecutors raided the headquarters of major advertising company Dentsu on Friday, as the investigation into corruption related to the Tokyo Olympics widened.

Major local TV broadcasters showed Tokyo District Prosecutors and Japan Fair Trade Commission officials entering Dentsu headquarters.

Dentsu dominates event organizing, marketing and public relations in Japan. It helped land the 2020 Games for Tokyo, and then lined up record domestic sponsorships.

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mixed Friday as worries deepened about the regional economy and Japan reported higher-than-expected inflation.

France’s CAC 40 was little changed, inching down less than 0.1% to 6,704.00. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.1% to 14,524.48. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.1% to 7,473.46. The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.2% while that for the Dow industrials was up 0.1%.

TOKYO, Nov 22 (NNN-NHK) – Japan’s space agency, today said, it has given up on a plan to land its Omotenashi space probe on the Moon’s surface.

The news comes, following the ultra-small, unmanned lander, failing to maintain stable communications with controllers on Earth, and as a result, it was unable to correct its trajectory after its launch last week, sources close to the matters said.

TOKYO, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Japan launched a probe into the Unification Church on Tuesday that could threaten its legal status, after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July revealed its close ties to the ruling party and triggered a public backlash.

For the Unification Church, founded in South Korea in 1954 and relying on its Japan followers as a key source of income, the investigation could deliver a severe financial blow, affecting its tax exemptions and even its property holdings.

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese government-commissioned panel said in a report to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that drastic defense buildup including the use of preemptive strike is “indispensable” to counter growing threats in the region.

It called for the public’s understanding to bear the financial burden for the defense of the country. Kishida’s governing party wants to double Japan’s current defense budget to about 10 trillion ($70 billion) in the next five years.

TOKYO, November 20. /TASS/: Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has censured Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky for having caused suffering to many of his fellow citizens, says an article published on the website of The Nikkei newspaper on Sunday.

"Why is it that everyone criticizes Russian President [Vladimir] Putin, but no one bashes Zelensky? He has caused suffering to many Ukrainians," the former prime minister said, speaking at an event organized by Muneo Suzuki, a member of the upper house of parliament, in Tokyo on November 18.

TOKYO, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday evening affirmed his plan to appoint Takeaki Matsumoto, former foreign minister, as the country's new internal affairs minister.

This came after Minoru Terada was sacked by Kishida earlier in the day amid mounting pressure due to a fund-related scandal and declining support for his cabinet.

The replacement will be formally announced on Monday morning, according to local media.

TOKYO, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Internal Affairs Minister Minoru Terada was sacked by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday amid mounting pressure due to a fund-related scandal and declining support for his cabinet, local media reported.

After meeting with Kishida at the prime minister's official residence, Terada told reporters that he did not want to be an obstacle to the government's legislative efforts during the ongoing parliamentary session, Kyodo News reported Sunday.

Kishida told the press that Terada's successor will be announced on Monday morning.

TOKYO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A missile fired on Friday by North Korea had sufficient range to reach the United States mainland, and was capable of flying as far as 15,000 km (9,320 miles), Japan's defence minister, Yasukazu Hamada, said.

The projectile, in the class of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), reached an altitude of 6,000 km (3,730 miles), covering a range of 1,000 km (622 miles) on a lofted trajectory, Hirokazu Matsuno, the chief cabinet secretary, had said earlier.

TOKYO, Nov 17 (NNN-NHK) – Japan logged a 2.16 trillion yen (15.47 billion U.S. dollars) trade deficit in Oct, a record for the month, and marking a 15th straight month of red ink, as prices for energy and raw material imports soared, amid the yen’s steep decline, the government said here today.

According to the Finance Ministry, the country’s imports rocketed 53.5 percent from a year earlier, to 11.16 trillion yen (79.98 billion U.S. dollars), the highest since record keeping began, pushed up by rising costs for crude oil, liquefied natural gas and coal.