Japan

TOKYO, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A man in his 30s living in Japan's Saitama prefecture near Tokyo has died of mpox disease, the first such death in the country, the health ministry said Wednesday.

According to the ministry, the man suffered from immunodeficiency due to being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

The man was diagnosed with mpox at a local hospital in September and died two months later, the ministry said, adding that he had no history of overseas travel.

TOKYO (AP) — Divers on Sunday recovered the remains of the seventh of the eight crew members from a U.S. military Osprey aircraft that crashed off southern Japan during a training mission.

The Air Force CV-22 Osprey went down Nov. 29 just off Yakushima Island in southwestern Japan while on its way to Okinawa. The bodies of six of the crew had since been recovered, including five from the sunken wreckage of the aircraft.

TOKYO, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Japan's parliament approved a bill on Wednesday to legalize cannabis-derived medical products while criminalizing the use of the chemical other than for medicinal purposes.

The upper house of the National Diet of Japan passed the revised cannabis and narcotics control laws during the day, which will enter into force within a year from promulgation.

TOKYO (AP) — U.S. and Japanese divers have discovered wreckage and the remains of five crew members from a U.S. Air Force Osprey aircraft that crashed last week off southwestern Japan, the Air Force announced Monday.

The CV-22 Osprey carrying eight American personnel crashed last Wednesday off Yakushima island during a training mission. The body of one victim was recovered and identified earlier.

TOKYO (AP) — A crew member who was recovered from the ocean after a U.S. military Osprey aircraft carrying eight people crashed Wednesday off southern Japan has been pronounced dead, coast guard officials said.

The cause of the crash and the status of the seven others on board were not immediately known, coast guard spokesperson Kazuo Ogawa said.

TOKYO (AP) — The release of a third batch of treated radioactive wastewater from Japan’s damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean ended safely as planned, its operator said Monday, as the country’s seafood producers continue to suffer from a Chinese import ban imposed after the discharges began.

TOKYO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Daisaku Ikeda, who helped spread Buddhist thought around the world through Soka Gakkai - Japan's largest religious organisation and an ally of the government - has died, the organisation said on Saturday.

Ikeda died on Wednesday evening from natural causes at age 95, Soka Gakkai said in a statement on its website.

He was the longtime spiritual leader of the lay Buddhist organisation known abroad for its association with celebrities and at home for its influence on politics.

TOKYO, Nov 13 (NNN-NHK) – A 33-year-old former secretary of a ruling party, has become Japan’s youngest-ever female mayor, after winning election in Yawata, Kyoto Prefecture, local media reported, today.

Shoko Kawata, an independent, backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), junior coalition partner, Komeito, and the main opposition party Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, beat two other contenders in the mayoral election, held yesterday, following the resignation of the former mayor, Kyodo News reported.

TOKYO (AP) — Top diplomats from the Group of Seven leading industrial democracies called Wednesday for “urgent action” to help civilians trapped in an increasingly dire situation in Gaza, including pauses in the fighting to allow aid in and people out, in announcing a unified stance on the Israel-Hamas war.

TOKYO, Nov. 7. /TASS/: Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries kicked off two days of meetings in Tokyo on Tuesday, with the focus expected to be on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the situation in Ukraine.

"Amid an increasingly complex international environment, close dialogue among G7 members is more important than ever," Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said at the opening of the meeting.

The meeting of G7 foreign ministers opened with a working dinner, while the main events of the agenda are set to take place on November 8.