The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan steps up warnings as yen plunges to fresh 20-yr low
TOKYO - Japan on Tuesday ramped up its verbal warnings against the rapid pace of the yen's fall to a fresh 20-year low against the U.S. dollar, as concerns have grown at home about its blow to the economy.
Shortly after the yen slid past the 128 line, Japan's top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said the government is monitoring developments in the currency market, including the yen's depreciation, and their impact on the economy "with a sense of vigilance."
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U.S. Marine indicted over sexual assault on woman in Okinawa
NAHA, Japan - A 22-year-old U.S. Marine was indicted last December over a sexual assault resulting in injury on a woman in Okinawa Prefecture, local prosecutors said Tuesday, bringing to light another alleged crime involving U.S. military personnel on the southern island.
The Marine, Lance Corporal Jordan Begaye, allegedly assaulted the woman with whom he had no personal acquaintance off base in October. The victim sustained injuries in the assault, according to the indictment and investigators.
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Yoshinoya beef bowl executive dismissed over sexist remarks
TOKYO - A managing director for "gyudon" beef bowl restaurant chain Yoshinoya Co. has been dismissed over inappropriate remarks about young women made at a university-hosted lecture, the parent company said Tuesday.
Masaaki Ito, 49, also an executive officer at the parent company, Yoshinoya Holdings Co., was giving a lecture Saturday on digital marketing for working adults held at Waseda University, where he likened an approach to targeting young female diners to keeping them captive and getting them addicted to drugs.
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TSMC unit to start chip plant construction in Japan this week
KUMAMOTO, Japan - A Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. subsidiary said Tuesday it will start construction of a chip plant in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Thursday in a project also involving the Japanese government.
The world's largest contract chipmaker aims to ship products from the plant beginning in December 2024, Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc. said, a development that would help ease global semiconductor shortages.
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Japan greenlights Novavax vaccine, shots to start as early as May
TOKYO - Japan's health ministry Tuesday approved the use of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. biotechnology firm Novavax Inc., with deliveries of the drug to local governments expected to start in late May, and shots might also begin that month.
The approval by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare marks the fourth vaccine to be greenlit for use in Japan and will be produced domestically by medical giant Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., which has been given the technology to manufacture the drug.
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Train in Ukrainian flag colors runs in western Japan
TAKAMATSU, Japan - A railway operator in the western Japanese city of Takamatsu started Tuesday running a train in the Ukrainian flag colors, in a move to show solidarity with the war-torn country and its railway staff who have been operating trains amid the ongoing conflict.
The two-car train wrapped in yellow- and blue-colored sheets, operated by Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad Co., also bore messages saying "We stand with you," "To the Ukrainian railway operators working to protect people's lives-" and "We wish for world peace" on both sides.
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Japan train driver awarded 45 cents in docked wages for 1-min. delay
OKAYAMA, Japan - A Japanese court on Tuesday ordered West Japan Railway Co. to posthumously return 56 yen ($0.45) it had deducted from the pay of one of its train drivers over a one-minute delay in 2020.
While the Okayama District Court ruled that the pay cut by the Okayama branch of the operator known as JR West was unjustified, it dismissed the man's additional claim for 2.2 million yen in compensation for emotional distress.
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Japanese pediatrician creates website to help fleeing Ukrainian kids
TOKYO - A Japanese pediatrician has launched a website in Ukrainian and three other languages to help caregivers and children fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine deal with the challenges they face in places of shelter such as limited water or warmth.
The site, which is in Ukrainian, Polish, English and Japanese, compiles information on topics including children's mental health care, treating diarrhea, baby hygiene, and preventing dehydration and infectious diseases.
