The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan PM's LDP set to lose all 3 lower house seats in by-elections
TOKYO - Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, headed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, is set to lose three seats in national by-elections Sunday, including Shimane Prefecture, known as a conservative stronghold, exit polls showed, delivering a harsh indictment on the scandal-hit LDP.
The leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, led by left-leaning lower house lawmaker Kenta Izumi, is certain to acquire all three seats by obtaining support from anti-LDP voters, according to the polls.
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90% in Japan support idea of reigning empress: survey
TOKYO - A total of 90 percent of respondents in a recent Kyodo News poll said they would support the idea of a reigning empress as Japan's imperial family struggles with a shrinking number of male heirs.
The results of the mail survey, conducted in March and April ahead of the fifth anniversary of Emperor Naruhito's ascension to the throne, demonstrate how the majority of the public approves of expanding the right to rule to women, given imperial succession is currently limited to men from the paternal line.
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Japan, EU to boost economic security ties, reduce dependency on China
TOKYO - Japan and the European Union will agree to deepen cooperation on economic security, including strengthening supply chain resilience for semiconductors and other critical materials, government sources said Sunday, with the move coming amid efforts to reduce dependency on specific countries such as China.
The leaders of Japan and the 27-nation bloc are working toward issuing a joint statement promoting the establishment of transparent, resilient and sustainable supply chains at a Japan-EU High-level Economic Dialogue to be held in Paris in early May, the sources said.
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Electric scooter accidents in Japan surge after rules eased
OSAKA - The average number of monthly accidents involving electric scooters has shown a six-fold rise in Japan after the country started allowing users to ride the vehicles without a driver's license in July, recent data by the National Police Agency showed.
Traffic experts have warned of the risks of fatal accidents as the number of scooter users increases, and public awareness regarding the traffic rules associated with this relatively new form of transport seems to be low.
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Japan Akita dog society issues digital pedigrees to combat forgery
AKITA, Japan - A Japan-based society for Akita dogs has begun issuing digital pedigree certificates for the highly popular breed in an effort to combat forgery and people losing their paper-form documents.
The Akita Inu Preservation Society based in Odate, Akita Prefecture, is employing highly secure blockchain technology to issue pedigree certificates, which until now had only been issued in paper form and had suffered logistical problems, including documents getting lost in transit when being shipped to overseas recipients.
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Golf: Katsuragawa storms to victory at Japan-Europe tournament
GOTEMBA, Japan - Japan's Yuto Katsuragawa went on a back-nine birdie spree Sunday to win the ISPS Handa Championship, a men's golf tournament co-sanctioned by the JGTO Tour and Europe's DP World Tour.
Katsuragawa shot a bogey-free, 7-under 63 to finish with a 17-under 263 total, three strokes clear of Swedish runner-up Sebastian Soderberg, on Taiheiyo Club's Gotemba Course in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan.
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Horse racing: T O Royal captures spring Tenno-sho in 1st G1 win
KYOTO - Six-year-old favorite T O Royal unleashed a furious sprint around the final turn and the home stretch to win the spring Tenno-Sho in the race's 169th running Sunday.
The victory, by two lengths over 3,200 meters on turf at Kyoto Racecourse, was the first Grade-1 win for T O Royal, trainer Inao Okada and jockey Yuji Hishida.
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Football: Unbeaten Hiroshima held by Kawasaki, denied J1 top spot
HIROSHIMA - Sanfrecce Hiroshima missed a chance to move atop the J-League first division after a pulsating 2-2 draw at home with Kawasaki Frontale on Sunday.
The only unbeaten J1 team after 10 games, Hiroshima found Kawasaki keeper Naoto Kamifukumoto in spirited form at Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima and settled for a point that moved them to 18 points, one below leaders Cerezo Osaka, and Machida Zelvia.
Video: Sakhalin taimen, freshwater fish called ito in Japanese, in Hokkaido river
