Kyodo News Digest: May 23, 2025
KYODO NEWS - 1 hour ago - 10:07 | All, Japan, World
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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G7 finance chiefs present unity despite woes over Trump's tariffs
BANFF, Canada - The finance chiefs of the Group of Seven major democratic powers on Thursday showcased their unity in dealing with challenges ranging from global imbalances to the future of Ukraine, despite tensions across the world over U.S. President Donald Trump's hefty tariffs.
About a month away from hosting the G7 leaders' summit, Canada, the country perhaps most irked by Trump's confrontational approach to trade policy, tried its best to prevent a weakening of the group's decades-old cooperation.
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Services resume on Tokyo loop line after power connector checks
TOKYO - Train services on the busy Yamanote Line in downtown Tokyo resumed Friday morning after operations were suspended following problems with some pantographs detected the previous night, JR East said.
Both the inner and outer loops of the JR Yamanote Line, which encircles central Tokyo, were suspended from the first scheduled services, causing widespread disruption to commuters. After the resumption, the line was operating with considerably reduced services, JR East said.
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Japan's core consumer prices in April rise 3.5% on year
TOKYO - Japan's core consumer prices in April rose 3.5 percent from a year earlier, government data showed Friday.
The increase in the nationwide core consumer price index, excluding volatile fresh food, followed a 3.2 percent rise in March. The inflation rate has remained at or above the Bank of Japan's 2 percent target since April 2022.
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Taiwan seeks collective deterrence with Japan, U.S. against China
TAIPEI - Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo underscored the importance of developing a collective deterrence with Japan, the United States and the Philippines in the Pacific to prevent an invasion of the self-ruled island by mainland China, in a recent interview with Kyodo News and two American newspapers.
In his first interview with overseas media on Wednesday, Koo pointed out that the so-called first island chain -- a strategic line of islands stretching from southern Japan through Taiwan to the Philippines -- is "an important line of defense" against China's military expansion into the Western Pacific. He called for stronger cooperation with the three countries.
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ANA plane wrongly enters closed area at Hiroshima Airport
HIROSHIMA - An All Nippon Airways plane wrongly entered a closed area at Hiroshima Airport after landing there late Thursday, resulting in passengers having to disembark on mobile boarding stairs.
The incident occurred past 9 p.m., when a Boeing 737-800 from Sapporo crossed an off-limits line while taxiing to the arrival gate, according to the transport ministry.
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Items from Japan's retired "Doctor Yellow" bullet train to go on sale
NAGOYA - A dozen items ranging from nameplates to chairs from a recently retired "Doctor Yellow" diagnostic bullet train will be auctioned off next week, according to operator Central Japan Railway Co.
The yellow shinkansen trains, which examine tracks and overhead cables on Japan's bullet train lines, have been popular with the public, who consider it lucky to spot one due to their elusiveness.
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Korean resident of Japan sues hotel over unrequired passport check
KOBE - A third-generation ethnic Korean resident of Japan on Thursday sued a Tokyo hotel for refusing her a room after she declined to present a passport or residence card at check-in -- identification she was not legally obligated to show.
In the lawsuit, the woman in her 40s, who lives in Kobe, western Japan, is seeking 2.2 million yen ($15,000) in damages from the hotel operator, alleging she suffered emotional distress from the incident last year.
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Remains at SDF jet crash site identified as 2 missing crew members
TOKYO - The Air Self-Defense Force said Thursday human remains recovered from a large reservoir in central Japan were identified as those of two missing crew members of an ASDF training jet that crashed last week.
The T-4 jet crashed into the reservoir in Aichi Prefecture north of Nagoya on the afternoon of May 14 with Capt. Takuji Ioka, 31, and 1st Lt. Shota Amitani, 29, onboard.
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BYD price cuts spark plunge in global rubber futures
TOKYO -- International prices for natural rubber are plummeting as price cuts by major Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD triggered concern that a possible price war in the country's auto sector will weigh on tire prices. Benchmark rubber futures on the Osaka Exchange fell 4% on June 3 to 280 yen ($2) per kilogram, the lowest price since February 2024. Though futures prices had tumbled after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his sweeping tariffs in early April, they rebounded later as tariff tensions between Washington and Beijing eased.
