Tag: Japan

TOKYO - Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Tuesday called on Cairo to form a "democratic government" as several hundred thousand Egyptians massed in an eighth day of protest against President Hosni Mubarak.
"It is desirable that Egypt will undergo a transition to a democratic government in a peaceful manner by communicating fully with the people," Kan told reporters. Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said he wanted the Mubarak government to listen to the Egyptian people and make

ALMATY - Madika Natsumi won the first gold medal for Japan here Monday at the Asian Winter Games giving all she had in the final run for a comprehensive victory in the women's cross-country ski sprint. She gained an early narrow advantage ahead of her rivals and managed to hold on to it by clocking a time of three minutes 35.2 seconds over the 1.2km distance to finish four seconds ahead of Elena Kolomina of Kazakhstan.
"I'm happy to win the first gold medal for my country,"

DOHA - Tadanari Lee scored an extra-time winner as Japan edged Australia 1-0 to win a pulsating Asian Cup final and become the most successful team in the history of the competition.
The unmarked substitute sent a stunning left-foot volley past the diving Mark Schwarzer in the 109th minute to hand his country their fourth title at the continental showcase, a feat no-one else has achieved.
The win, following their successes in 1992, 2000 and 2004, carried the added bonus of

DOHA - Three-time champions Japan reached the Asian Cup final after defeating arch-rivals South Korea 3-0 in a nail-biting penalty shootout in the semi-finals on Tuesday. Centre-back Yasuyuki Konno netted the decisive penalty, placing the ball into the right-hand side of the goal, after Koo Ja-Cheol, Lee Yong-Rae and Hong Jeong-Ho had all failed from 12 yards for South Korea.
Japan led going into the final minute of extra-time but Hwang Jae-Won slammed in a sensational equaliser

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Japan signed on Friday a soft loan agreement
of $233 million out of $500 million pledged by it at the Pakistan Development Forum last year in November for early rehabilitation of the flood affectees.
Japanese Ambassador Chihiro Atsumi and Economic Affairs Division Secretary Sibtain Fazal Halim signed the agreement. Under the arrangement, $ 59 million would be for budgetary support while $ 174 million would be utilised for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Rural Road

DOHA - A dramatic last-minute goal from defender Masahiko Inoha saw 10-man Japan snatch a 3-2 win over heartbroken hosts Qatar in their Asian Cup quarter-final on Friday. Inoha struck in the 90th minute at a nearly full Al Gharafa Stadium to keep alive Japan's bid for a fourth continental title and crush Qatar's dreams of a first semi-final appearance.
Sebastian Suria's 12th-minute opener for Qatar was cancelled out by Shinji Kagawa, who drew Japan level again with 20 minutes to

TOKYO - Japan upgraded its view of the economy for the first time in seven months on Friday, citing "some movements towards a pick-up" but warned that the risk of slowing growth is still a major challenge.
"Although the economy appears to be pausing, some movement towards a pick-up can be seen" the Cabinet Office said in its January report, upgrading its view of industrial production, which rose for the first time in six months in November.
"However, the economy remains in

DOHA - Japan routed Saudi Arabia 5-0 on Monday to set up an Asian Cup quarter-final clash with hosts Qatar, while Jordan joined them in the last eight by coming from behind to defeat neighbours Syria 2-1.
A hat-trick from striker Shinji Okazaki was the centrepiece of a comfortable Japan victory that consigned traditional powerhouses Saudi Arabia to one of the most abject and humiliating defeats in their history. "I'm very satisfied with today's result. We've cleared the first

TOKYO - Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni is chasing a record fourth win at this month's Asian Cup as a crucial stepping stone in the build-up to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. A win in Qatar would guarantee the Blue Samurai a berth at the Confederations Cup, held by the World Cup host nation a year before the four-yearly showpiece and featuring the various continental champions. The tournament gives teams a crucial taste of conditions ahead of the World Cup.
"The Asian Cup is a

ISLAMABAD - Minister for Agriculture Nazar Mohammad Gondal said on Tuesday that Pakistan was focused to tap Japanese and Australian markets for its mangoes after start of exports to United States from this year. Addressing members of mango industry, who were gathered by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to brief them on the quality standards, packing and processing procedures for exports to US, the minister hoped that Pakistani mangoes will make their niche in the

TOKYO - Japan should discuss a free trade deal with China while improving diplomatic ties through ministerial exchanges, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said in an interview aired Friday.
"I believe it is important to make efforts on the governmental level so that Japan and China will discuss a free trade agreement and other things, expand economic and trade ties and build win-win relations," Maehara told NHK.
Japan's relations with China plunged to the lowest point in years

KARACHI - Pakistan is going to ask Japan for facilitating the Vapour Heat Treatment (VHT) plant, the phyto-sanitary requirement of mango, at Tokyo's port, as Islamabad lacks the facility to start mango export during next season. Without the VHT facility, Pakistan,
while ensuring the quarantine requirements for packing place in order to prevent invasion by the group of oriental fruit fly species, would not be able to export mango to Japan.
Japan, which has conditionally

TOKOYO - Japan's government approved a record $1.1 trillion draft budget for the year from next April, keeping its self-imposed cap on new debt. However, it faces a tough road ahead to fix its tattered public finances.
With new debt issuance seen topping tax revenues for the second straight year in the initial budget, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda reiterated the need to overhaul the country's tax systems. "Tax revenues are approaching levels of new bond issuance but this

TOKYO: Japan's central bank on Tuesday kept its key rate unchanged and said it would assess the impact of earlier measures to boost the faltering economy amid fears of a looming slowdown. The bank's board made the unanimous decision to keep the key rate between zero and 0.1 percent after a two-day meeting, warning that a fragile recovery from deep recession was "pausing".
"The bank will continue to carefully examine the outlook for economic activity and prices, and take policy

KARACHI: Japan would provide dredgers for Pasni Fish Harbour under its general economic development program of Balochistan. This was disclosed by assistant director economic affairs South-West Asia at Ministry of Foreign Affairs Takashi Miyata, in a meeting with diplomats and representatives of multinational companies that was held in Karachi. He said these Dredgers would be provided to the federal government of Pakistan. The Japanese government has also given its final consent to

TOKYO: Japanese business confidence has weakened for the first time in nearly two years, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday, as the economy has been hit by a soaring yen and global economic uncertainty. The closely-watched quarterly Tankan survey showed sentiment worsening, albeit not as fast as expected, as global and domestic economic woes have sapped corporate optimism, particularly among exporters. In the survey, the confidence index for large manufacturers dropped to "five" from

TOKYO: Japan will identify North Korea as a threat and call China's military activities a concern in a review of its defence policy that will include plans to beef up its ability to cope with Beijing's rise, a newspaper reported on Monday.
The update of the National Defence Programme Guideline, the first since 2004, is expected this month as Japan confronts China's military build-up and North Korea's deadly shelling of a South Korean island. The review will be the first since