TOKYO - The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan PM calls for free, safe passage of Hormuz in phone talks with Oman
TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called for the resumption of free and safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in phone talks with Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on Monday, amid stalled U.S.-Iranian negotiations on the conflict.
Oman is engaged in talks with Iran, reportedly over shipping routes through the key trade artery. Haitham responded that Oman would consult with and respect the views of countries that use the waterway, Takaichi told reporters at her office in Tokyo.
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BOJ policymaker urged faster rate hikes on inflation risks in July meeting
TOKYO - A Bank of Japan policymaker called for the central bank to consider speeding up the pace of interest rate hikes given upside risks to prices, a summary of opinions at a policy meeting in July showed Monday.
At the July 30-31 meeting, where the bank left the benchmark policy rate unchanged to gauge the impact of its hike to a 31-year high of 1.0 percent in the June session, the Policy Board member said it is "necessary for the bank to accelerate the pace of adjustment to the degree of monetary accommodation."
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A-bomb victims' group calls for world free of nukes on its 70th anniversary
NAGASAKI - Nihon Hidankyo, Japan's leading group of atomic bomb survivors, renewed its pledge Monday to continue its efforts toward realizing a world free of nuclear weapons as it marked the 70th anniversary of its founding.
"It is each citizen of world who will build a human society without nuclear weapons and wars. We will keep calling for it as long as we are alive," the group, formally known as the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, said in a statement.
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Pearl Harbor attack witness, atomic bomb survivor reunite in Nagasaki
NAGASAKI - A living witness to Japan's 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and a survivor of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki reunited in the southwestern Japanese city on Sunday, sharing a message that world peace starts with the kindness of one individual to another.
Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson, 90, was seen hugging Chiyoko Motomura, 87, at a public event. The two last met last year on Dec. 7, the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, when Motomura visited the United States.
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Quake-hit Suntory beer factory to resume operations in 3 to 4 months
TOKYO - Japan's leading beverage manufacturer Suntory Holdings Ltd. said Monday it expects it will take about three to four months to restore its plant in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, after it was damaged by the magnitude-7.1 earthquake on July 28.
The firm, which sells various beverages ranging from alcoholic drinks to mineral water, confirmed that output equipment and buildings had sustained damage, saying it aims to resume production before the end of the year.
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Cancellation of 3-city simultaneous fireworks in Japan causes confusion
OTSU, Japan - The abrupt cancellation of what was touted as a simultaneous fireworks festival in three cities facing Lake Biwa in western Japan has left both advance ticket purchasers and local municipalities baffled.
All three city governments have said they have nothing to do with the festival, which was, according to its unidentified organizer, due to feature over 10,000 fireworks on Aug. 22.
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Japan bankruptcies in July top 1,000 for 2nd straight month
TOKYO - Corporate bankruptcies in Japan rose 6.9 percent from a year earlier to 1,028 in July, topping 1,000 for the second straight month as labor shortages and rising prices continued to squeeze smaller businesses, a credit research company said Monday.
Total liabilities jumped 41.4 percent to 236.3 billion yen ($1.5 billion), largely due to the bankruptcy of Osaka-based credit-card transaction system provider Zentoshin, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
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U.S. forces airlift drinking water to quake-hit Kumamoto
TOKYO - The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said Monday that U.S. Forces Japan had airlifted drinking water to quake-hit Kumamoto Prefecture the previous day, with its ambassador saying the country responded to a request from "our closest friend and ally."
"In times of crisis or calamity, the United States and Japan have always come to each other's assistance," U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass was quoted as saying in a statement put out by the embassy.
