The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
Japan's Diet enacts law to create economic security clearance system
TOKYO - Japan's parliament on Friday enacted legislation to establish a "security clearance" system, allowing critical government information to be classified on economic security grounds to prevent leaks to overseas entities.
Under the legislation, the government would be able to designate information as classified if it deems that its dissemination could undermine Japan's national security and make it accessible only to individuals who have passed background checks.
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Nuclear waste site survey to go ahead in southwestern Japan town
SAGA, Japan - The mayor of Genkai in southwestern Japan gave his approval Friday for a preliminary survey to be undertaken to gauge the town's suitability for the construction of an underground disposal site for highly radioactive waste, as he hopes to rouse public interest in the slow-moving progress.
The Saga Prefecture town will be the first municipality that hosts a nuclear plant to undergo such a survey, the initial part of a three-stage, 20-year process to select a permanent storage site for waste from nuclear power generation.
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Gov't panel members see weak yen risks, urge proper BOJ response
Private-sector advisers to the Japanese government on Friday warned that the yen's rapid depreciation may deal a blow to the economy by accelerating inflation, urging the Bank of Japan to respond "appropriately" to keep excessive price gains in check.
The members of the prime minister's top economic and fiscal policy advisory panel cited the weaker yen, inflation outpacing wage growth and lackluster private consumption as posing challenges to the Japanese economy, which likely contracted in the first three months of 2024.
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Accountant admits to false reporting in LDP funds scandal trial
TOKYO - An accountant of a major faction at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party previously led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday admitted to underreporting a total of around 1.35 billion yen ($8.67 million) in political funds.
Junichiro Matsumoto, 76, who was managing accounts as the faction's general secretary, pleaded guilty at the Tokyo District Court. He was the first to stand trial in the funds scandal, which has resulted in indictments or summary indictments of 10 people linked to three factions.
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Gov't panel members see weak yen risks, urge proper BOJ response
TOKYO - Private-sector advisers to the Japanese government on Friday warned that the yen's rapid depreciation may deal a blow to the economy by accelerating inflation, urging the Bank of Japan to respond "appropriately" to keep excessive price gains in check.
The members of the prime minister's top economic and fiscal policy advisory panel cited the weaker yen, inflation outpacing wage growth and lackluster private consumption as posing challenges to the Japanese economy, which likely contracted in the first three months of 2024.
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Japan city councilor quits over harassment of Aussie mayor's daughter
GIFU, Japan - The vice speaker of a city council in central Japan handed in his resignation to the council office on Friday after allegedly sexually harassing the daughter of an Australian mayor at a party last month, the office said.
Norio Nagata of the Minokamo city council in Gifu Prefecture decided to quit the post after the city's mayor Hiroto Fujii sent an apology email to its sister-city Dubbo in Australia late last month.
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Owner of unauthorized MSDF drone video knew risks, shared for fun
TOKYO - The owner of a video allegedly showing drone footage of a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel in port has said he posted the video to social media to attract attention despite knowing it was illegal to fly drones in the area.
The video, which appears to provide a clear shot from above of the deck of the carrier Izumo while it was anchored at an MSDF base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, stirred controversy after it was posted on a Chinese social media platform earlier this year.
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U.S. adds 37 China entities to trade blacklist over security concerns
WASHINGTON - The U.S. government on Thursday added 37 Chinese entities to its trade blacklist, citing national security concerns, with 11 of them accused of being connected with a suspected spy balloon that flew over sensitive areas of the United States last year.
Companies, and research institutions and other entities on the list are restricted from doing business with U.S. firms and must gain Commerce Department approval before obtaining goods and technologies from them.
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Japan enacts laws to set up joint command for defense forces by March
TOKYO - Japan's parliament on Friday enacted revised laws to set up a joint command headquarters for the Self-Defense Forces' ground, maritime and air units by the end of March 2025 to bolster new security domains such as cyberspace.
The launch of the new SDF headquarters also comes at a time when the United States is expected to strengthen the command functions of its military in Japan to enhance the bilateral alliance's interoperability amid security challenges, such as China and North Korea.
Video: Former Japanese football player Karina Maruyama wins the Best Mother Award
