The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan seriously considering high-level dialogue with South Korea
TOKYO - The Japanese government is seriously considering high-level dialogue with incoming South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, with the conservative president-elect seen as willing to improve soured bilateral ties, a government source said Saturday.
High-level dialogue has not been held between the two countries for a while as the current administration of liberal President Moon Jae In has clashed with Japan over issues stemming from Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
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No need to stop social activities with Omicron: Japan COVID adviser
TOKYO - Japan's top coronavirus adviser said Friday the country no longer needs to "fully" stop social activities, as symptoms of the currently dominant Omicron variant are less severe than those of previous strains, in a major shift from his previous stance focusing on strict controls to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Shigeru Omi said in an interview with Kyodo News that Japan's coronavirus situation has entered a new phase and there is no more need to take measures such as shutting down schools and department stores as the government did in April 2020 when the country's first COVID-19 state of emergency was declared.
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Japan tilts toward Hiroshima as G-7 summit location for 2023: sources
TOKYO - Japan is considering Hiroshima, one of the two atomic-bombed Japanese cities in World War II, as the most viable location to host a summit of the Group of Seven nations next year under its presidency, government sources said Friday.
The choice of Hiroshima is seen as fitting to stress the importance of peace after Russia's aggression in Ukraine and its threat of using nuclear weapons, the sources said.
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Japan firm donates 1,000 interpreting devices to help Ukrainian evacuees
TOKYO - A Japanese firm has donated 1,000 pocket interpreter devices to the Ukrainian Embassy in Japan to ease the language difficulties many evacuees face starting new lives in the country.
The initiative to provide the Pocketalk handhelds came from Tokyo-based Pocketalk Corp. "Our mission is to eliminate language barriers. I hope they can help evacuees," its president, Noriyuki Matsuda, said.
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Japan's ruling LDP proposes acquiring enemy base strike capability
TOKYO - A national security panel of the Liberal Democratic Party has proposed that Japan acquire an enemy base strike capability, in a move to counter growing missile and other security threats in the region, ruling party lawmakers said Friday.
Whether to push for the controversial plan to possess such capability has been the key issue for a major policy review into Japan's security by year-end, at a time when China and North Korea are ramping up their military activities.
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Baseball: Shohei Ohtani ends home run drought, hits 2 in Angels win
ARLINGTON, Texas - Two-way star Shohei Ohtani blasted his first two home runs of the season Friday as the Los Angeles Angels came from behind to beat the Texas Rangers 9-6.
The reigning American League MVP had not homered in his first seven games of the season for the first time in his five MLB seasons. He ended the drought by connecting on the first pitch on his 31st trip to the plate this year.
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Tokyo to hold cycling event on iconic Rainbow Bridge for 1st time
TOKYO - The Tokyo metropolitan government will hold a cycling event later this year with part of the course going across the iconic Rainbow Bridge, marking the first time that bicycles will be allowed to cross the bridge since it opened in 1993.
The event, set to take place on Nov. 23 and made up of three kinds of courses with different distances, will also go through the Odaiba tourist district and other bayside areas of the capital as part of the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games held last summer, organizers said.
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Japan's population falls by record 644,000 to 125.5 mil. in 2021
TOKYO - Japan's population had its largest drop on record, falling by 644,000 to just over 125.5 million in 2021, reflecting a decline in foreign residents amid tighter border controls over the coronavirus pandemic and the rapidly aging society, government data showed Friday.
The population stood at 125,502,000 as of Oct. 1, down 644,000 from a year earlier for the 11th consecutive year of decline. The drop was the biggest since comparable data became available in 1950, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.
