Japan

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Saturday marked the 75th anniversary of its surrender in World War II, with Emperor Naruhito expressing “deep remorse” over his country’s wartime actions at a somber annual ceremony curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Naruhito pledged to reflect on the war’s events and expressed hope that the tragedy would never be repeated. There was no word of apology from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who gave thanks for the sacrifices of the Japanese war dead but had nothing to say about the suffering of Japan’s neighbors.

TOKYO (AP) — Seventy-five years after the end of World War II, more than 1 million Japanese war dead are scattered throughout Asia, where the legacy of Japanese aggression still hampers recovery efforts.

The missing Japanese make up about half of the 2.4 million soldiers who died overseas during Japan’s military rampage across Asia in the early 20th century.

They are on remote islands in the South Pacific. They are in northern China and Mongolia. They are in Russia.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s government and the city of Hiroshima have appealed a court ruling ordering them to certify dozens of people who were exposed to radioactive “black rain” in the aftermath of the 1945 U.S. atomic bomb attack.

The appeal comes after the Hiroshima District Court for the first time on July 30 recognized the “black rain” victims outside of a government-set physical boundary used as a basis for deciding survivors’ eligibility for medical benefits. Both the city and the prefectural government joined the appeal.

MITO, Japan (AP) — The number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide topped 20 million on Tuesday, more than half of them from the U.S., India and Brazil.

Health officials believe the actual number is much higher than that tally kept by Johns Hopkins University, given testing limitations and the fact that as many as 40% of those who are infected have no symptoms.

It took six months or so to get to 10 million cases after the virus first appeared in central China late last year. It took just over six weeks for that number to double.

TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese city of Nagasaki on Sunday marked its 75th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing, with the mayor and dwindling survivors urging world leaders including their own to do more for a nuclear weapons ban.

At 11:02 a.m., the moment the B-29 bomber Bockscar dropped a 4.5-ton (10,000-pound) plutonium bomb dubbed “Fat Man,” Nagasaki survivors and other participants stood in a minute of silence to honor more than 70,000 dead.

HIROSHIMA (Japan), Aug 7 (NNN-AFP) — Japan on Thursday marked 75 years since the world’s first atomic bomb attack, with the coronavirus pandemic forcing a scaling back of ceremonies to remember the victims.

Survivors, relatives and a handful of foreign dignitaries attended this year’s main event in Hiroshima to pray for those killed or wounded in the bombing and call for world peace.

But the general public was kept away, with the ceremony instead broadcast online.

(AP) --- Stocks were mixed in Asia on Thursday despite strong gains overnight on Wall Street, where the rally just kept on rolling.

Investors are watching to see if lawmakers will come ahead with fresh stimulus for the U.S. economy.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index shed 0.4% to 22,438.61 while the Shanghai Composite index gave up 0.3% to 3,367.65. Hong Kong lost 1.2% to 24,779.07. South Korea’s Kospi added 1% to 2,333.86 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.7% to 6,043.00.

(AP) --- Shares advanced across Asia on Tuesday after Wall Street closed broadly higher on encouraging economic reports, starting off August by closing within 3% of the record high it set in February.

Investors appear to be shrugging off surging coronavirus caseloads in dozens of countries.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.4% to 22,505.83 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.7% to 24,637.24. Sydney’s S&P ASX 200 jumped 1.6% to 6,022.50 and the Kospi in Seoul picked up 1.1% to 2,275.84. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher to 3,372.76.

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — For nearly 70 years, until he turned 85, Lee Jong-keun hid his past as an atomic bomb survivor, fearful of the widespread discrimination against blast victims that has long persisted in Japan.

But Lee, 92, is now part of a fast-dwindling group of survivors, known as hibakusha, that feels a growing urgency — desperation even — to tell their stories. These last witnesses to what happened 75 years ago this Thursday want to reach a younger generation that they feel is losing sight of the horror.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Pacifist Japan took a step closer to acquiring weapons able to strike North Korea on Friday after a ruling party committee approved proposals to consider acquiring strike capability to halt ballistic missile attacks.

Giving long-range munitions to Japan’s Self Defence Forces is a controversial issue for a country that renounced the right to wage war after its defeat in World War Two. The proposal is also likely to anger China and Russia, which could fall within range of any new strike weapons.