TOKYO – The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japanese H3 rocket fails to put geolocation satellite into orbit
TOKYO – A Japanese H3 rocket carrying the sixth satellite in a seven-orbiter geolocation system failed to deliver its payload into the target orbit after liftoff on Monday, the country’s space agency said.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is assessing the situation and gathering relevant data regarding the second-stage engine’s premature cutoff that occurred about 30 minutes after the 10:51 a.m. liftoff from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, the agency said.
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70% of employers did not use sex offense database when hiring teachers
TOKYO – Nearly 70 percent of local governments and schools that hired teachers from April 2023 did not make proper use of a nationwide database of educators dismissed due to sexual misconduct introduced the same year, a study by the education ministry showed Monday.
Despite employers being legally required to check the database during the hiring procedure, 42.7 percent had not even registered to use it, according to the study, highlighting widespread noncompliance, with many citing a lack of understanding that it is mandatory.
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Panel calls for tighter Japan immigration control, help language learning
TOKYO – Japan must strengthen its immigration control to prevent illegal employment while providing more opportunities for foreign residents to learn the Japanese language and deepen their understanding of its culture, an advisory panel said Monday.
The panel, mostly consisting of academics, submitted its recommendations to Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi as his ministry plans to update its basic plan on immigration to realize a more inclusive society in which both Japanese and non-Japanese residents coexist amid a recent sharp rise in foreign residents.
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Japan 10-year gov’t bond yield jumps to 2.1%, highest since 1999
TOKYO – The yield on Japan’s benchmark 10-year government bond surged and hit 2.100 percent on Monday, its highest level since February 1999, lifted by prospects of the Bank of Japan continuing to raise interest rates.
The barometer of long-term interest rates kept climbing sharply after surpassing 2.000 percent on Friday, following the central bank’s decision to lift its policy rate to a 30-year high of around 0.75 percent.
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Hiroshima urges Japan gov’t maintain no-nuke policy in written opinion
HIROSHIMA – The Hiroshima prefectural assembly on Monday unanimously adopted a statement urging the Japanese government to adhere to the country’s non-nuclear principles and work toward a nuclear-free world, after a security official recently suggested the country should possess nuclear weapons for its defense.
In the written opinion, the assembly cited local concerns about reviewing the so-called three principles prohibiting the possession, production, or permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party moves to update the country’s key national security documents by the end of next year.
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Japan convenience store sales up 2.4% in Nov. on Black Friday promotions
TOKYO – Convenience store sales in Japan rose 2.4 percent in November from a year earlier, helped by Black Friday promotions even as consumers grappled with rising living costs, an industry body said Monday.
Same-store sales at seven major convenience store operators totaled 950.95 billion yen ($6 billion), marking a ninth straight monthly increase, according to the Japan Franchise Association.
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Uniqlo operator to raise starting salary in Japan to 370,000 yen
TOKYO – Fast Retailing Co., the operator of the Uniqlo clothing chain, said Monday its group will hike the starting salary of new employees in Japan to 370,000 yen ($2,350) from 330,000 yen, raising it for the second consecutive year to spur competitiveness.
Uniqlo, GU, PLST and Link Theory are set to take on roughly 480 new graduates in the spring and the 40,000 yen hike is for those hired in management candidate programs that often involve overseas transfers.
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ASEAN foreign ministers meet on Thai-Cambodia conflict
KUALA LUMPUR – Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations gathered for a special meeting in Malaysia on Monday to seek ways to end the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia that reignited earlier resulting in at least 40 people being killed.
Thailand and Cambodia attended the meeting, after Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the regional bloc’s rotating chair this year, said Sunday he had spoken to his Thai and Cambodian counterparts, Anutin Charnvirakul and Hun Manet.
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