Kyodo News Digest: July 2, 2025

Kyodo News

13 hours ago

TOKYO - The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Trump floats idea of imposing 30% or 35% tariffs on Japan
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday floated the idea of further increasing tariffs on imports from Japan, envisioning a level as high as 30 percent or 35 percent in his latest salvo against Washington's key ally amid stalled bilateral trade negotiations.
"I'm not sure we're going to make a deal. I doubt it," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, calling Japan "very tough" and "very spoiled."
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Japan, U.S., Australia, India to bolster critical mineral cooperation
WASHINGTON - The top diplomats of Japan, the United States, Australia and India on Tuesday agreed to launch an initiative aimed at bolstering cooperation on critical minerals, at a time when China is the dominant player in the global supply of rare earth elements vital for modern technologies.
Following a meeting of the so-called Quad grouping in Washington, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters that officials of the four countries will put flesh on the bones of the new project in the coming months.
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Another strong quake jolts southwestern Japan islands
TOKYO - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 hit the Tokara Islands in southwestern Japan on Wednesday, an area that has been rocked by strong temblors for nearly two weeks, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries, the weather agency said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the 4:32 a.m. quake measured lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 on Akuseki Island, Kagoshima Prefecture. No tsunami warning was issued.
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U.N. expert on N. Korea expresses empathy for Japanese abductees' kin
TOKYO - Families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago shared their pain on Tuesday with a U.N. special rapporteur on North Korean human rights, who expressed empathy as they sought support to help resolve the issue, according to one of the relatives.
Takuya Yokota, the younger brother of iconic abductee Megumi Yokota, was among the group of victims' families who met with U.N. human rights expert Elizabeth Salmon in Tokyo. Following her trip to Japan, Salmon plans to present her findings and recommendations in a report to the U.N. General Assembly in October.
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Japan updates plan to cut estimated Nankai quake deaths by 80%
TOKYO - The Japanese government said Tuesday it has updated its disaster risk plan in the hope of reducing the estimated death toll from a potential megaquake occurring in the Nankai Trough by around 80 percent from the current estimate of up to 298,000.
The original quake disaster preparedness plan, produced in 2014, also aimed to reduce by 80 percent the number of projected deaths from a massive quake around the trough, which stretches from western to central Japan. But the government has said actions taken since then would only reduce the toll by about 20 percent.
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Man fatally stabbed at Tokyo law firm, coworker arrested
TOKYO - A male employee of a law firm was fatally stabbed at his office in Tokyo's busy Ikebukuro area on Tuesday, and a coworker was arrested after turning himself in shortly afterward, police said.
The stabbing occurred just before noon at the Adire law firm, located on the 31st floor of a high-rise building that is a well-known landmark in Ikebukuro. The victim, 36-year-old Daiki Yoshino, was taken to the hospital with no vital signs and was later pronounced dead.
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Ex-trading house exec Masu joins BOJ Policy Board
TOKYO - Kazuyuki Masu, a former executive at trading house Mitsubishi Corp., joined the Bank of Japan's Policy Board on Tuesday, replacing a member also from the business community who had been seen as the most dovish among the nine policymakers.
Masu, 66, will serve a five-year term, succeeding Toyoaki Nakamura, a 72-year-old former Hitachi Ltd. executive whose term ended Monday, as the central bank steers its monetary policy amid elevated prices and growing uncertainties from higher U.S. tariffs.
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Thai court suspends PM Paetongtarn over call with ex-PM of Cambodia
BANGKOK - Thailand's Constitutional Court on Tuesday suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from duty over a leaked phone conversation in which she appeared to appease former Cambodian leader Hun Sen following a border clash between the two nations in late May.
The powerful court made the decision after 36 senators filed a petition saying she had violated ethical provisions of the Constitution when she talked with Hun Sen over the phone earlier this month about the May 28 confrontation, in which one Cambodian soldier died.
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Video: Ama divers in quake-hit Wajima resume mozuku harvesting after hiatus