Kyodo News Digest: June 8, 2025
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan aims to enlist 10 mil. in rural support registry
TOKYO - The government plans to launch a new registration system to encourage people to keep strong connections with rural areas hit by depopulation, aiming to sign up more than 10 million users over the next decade.
The initiative is a hallmark of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's efforts to revitalize regional areas, as Japan has been unsuccessful in reversing a long-term trend of overconcentration of people in Tokyo and other major cities.
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Japan telecom giant NTT Docomo to end own emoji after 26 yrs
TOKYO - Japanese telecom giant NTT Docomo Inc. will retire its set of original emoji whose release 26 years ago helped shape the visual language of today's digital communications.
The carrier's Android smartphones and feature phones marketed from June will not come with the Docomo emoji set. Announcing the decision in late May, the firm said they had "fulfilled their role" while noting that Google's emoji had become more common globally.
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Baseball: Yamamoto throws 6 shutout frames, but Dodgers fall to Cards
ST. LOUIS, Missouri - Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw six scoreless innings, but the Los Angeles Dodgers offense was kept quiet in a 2-1 walk-off loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.
Pursuing his seventh win of the season, the Japanese right-hander left the mound with the game still scoreless after fanning nine while scattering four hits and two walks.
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Golf: Mao Saigo sinks rare albatross, moves up to 2nd at LPGA Classic
GALLOWAY, New Jersey - Japanese golfer Mao Saigo scored a rare albatross Saturday on her way to a 6-under-par 65 that will see her tee off the final round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic trailing leader Lee Il Hee of South Korea by one stroke.
The 23-year-old Saigo, a major winner at April's Chevron Championship, added to her highlight reel when she holed out with her second shot from 214 yards on the par-5 3rd hole at Seaview's Bay Course.
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Japan, EU eye launch of "competitive alliance" scheme to boost trade
BRUSSELS - Japan and the European Union are preparing to launch an "alliance" framework to beef up their companies' competitiveness by promoting trade and economic security cooperation, diplomatic sources said Saturday, facing concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and Chinese trade practices.
The creation of the "Japan-EU Competitiveness Alliance" is expected to be announced at a regular summit meeting being arranged for July, when Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is likely to host European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, they said.
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Japan opposition lawmaker says rice reserves mostly go to chickens
SAGA, Japan - A lawmaker of Japan's main opposition party said Saturday that government rice reserves recently put on sale are mostly consumed by chickens, doubling down on remarks that could be perceived as insensitive to people who have snapped up the old rice due to cheaper prices.
Kazuhiro Haraguchi of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan made the remarks at a gathering in southwestern Japan to shore up support ahead of the upper house election, even after Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of another opposition party, apologized a week ago for likening the stockpiles to "animal feed."
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Japan, U.S. yet to find common ground on tariffs but want quick deal
WASHINGTON - Japan and the United States have "yet to find common ground" on tariff issues, Tokyo's top negotiator said Friday, indicating that there remain many differences between the sides, but they still aim to clinch a win-win deal in mid-June.
After holding talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington, Ryosei Akazawa told reporters that he believes "further progress" was made.
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Over half of rice producing firms feel store rice prices "too high"
TOKYO - Over half of large-scale rice producers feel that store prices for rice are "too high," a recent survey conducted by an association of agricultural corporations showed, indicating that many of them share concerns with consumers about the elevated cost of the staple food in Japan.
As households increasingly complain about rice prices that have doubled over the past year, more than 40 percent of respondents worried that consumers may start shunning the product.
Video: Parade at Hyakumangoku Festival in Ishikawa Prefecture
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