Kyodo News Digest: June 20, 2025

Kyodo News

4 hours ago

KYODO NEWS - 15 hours ago - 23:00 | All, Japan, World
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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87 Japanese nationals, family members evacuated from Iran, Israel
TOKYO - A total of 87 Japanese nationals and their family members have evacuated from Iran and Israel amid conflict in the Middle East, the Japanese government said Friday.
The evacuees arrived in Azerbaijan's capital Baku and Jordan's capital Amman by bus as local airports remained closed and none of them had health issues, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said.
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Japan to cut super-long-term bond issuances amid rising yields
TOKYO - The Japanese government said Friday it plans to reduce issuances of super-long-term bonds from July in a rare review of its original program in the middle of a fiscal year amid concern over a recent surge in yields.
But the total amount of bonds scheduled for issuance in the current fiscal year through March 2026 is projected to remain unchanged from the initial plan at 176.9 trillion yen ($1.2 trillion), as the Finance Ministry seeks to increase sales of short-term bonds.
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Ex-leader of Japan's junior ruling coalition partner to exit politics
TOKYO - The longtime former head of junior coalition partner Komeito, Natsuo Yamaguchi, will retire from politics after deciding not to run in the upcoming House of Councillors election, current leader Tetsuo Saito said Friday.
Yamaguchi, 72, led the party -- backed by Japan's largest lay Buddhist organization, Soka Gakkai -- for 15 years from 2009, becoming its longest-serving chief since Komeito joined hands with the Liberal Democratic Party in 1999.
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New Zealand PM Luxon talks trade, security with Chinese President Xi
SYDNEY - New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday for talks spanning trade, people-to-people ties, and peace and security in the Indo-Pacific, the New Zealand government said in a statement.
On his first visit to China since taking office in November 2023, Luxon discussed "the necessity of a stable region and reduced tensions in the Indo-Pacific" with Xi, emphasizing the importance of open, direct dialogue at the leader level to navigate challenging regional and global developments, according to the statement.
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Police, prosecutors apologize to 2 men over illicit probe
TOKYO - Tokyo police and prosecutors on Friday apologized in person to two men over their wrongful arrest and indictment in 2020 in a case involving the suspected unauthorized export of sensitive equipment.
The apology comes after the finalization last week of a Tokyo High Court ruling that ordered the metropolitan government and state to compensate Masaaki Okawara, president of Ohkawara Kakohki Co., and Junji Shimada, one of the company's former directors.
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Tokio pop group member removed from TV show over past misconduct
TOKYO - A member of Japanese all-male pop group Tokio has been removed from a popular TV program due to past conduct that breached compliance rules on multiple occasions, a TV network said Friday.
Taichi Kokubun, 50, was removed from "The Tetsuwan Dash," a variety program aired by Nippon Television Network Corp. and fronted by the members of Tokio. Neither Kokubun, his company nor the TV network has elaborated on what the breaches entailed.
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Figure skating: 3-time world champ Kaori Sakamoto to retire after Olympics
TOKYO - Japanese figure skater Kaori Sakamoto, winner of three consecutive world championships through 2024, said Friday she will retire from competition after next year's Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
The 25-year-old, who claimed women's singles bronze at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, finished second at the world championships in Boston in March.
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Japan imperial couple to embark on historic visit to Mongolia in July
TOKYO - Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako are scheduled to make a state visit to Mongolia from July 6 to 13 in what will be the first such trip by a Japanese emperor, according to a plan approved by the government on Friday.
During the trip, the emperor and empress will lay flowers at a memorial on July 8 to commemorate Japanese nationals who died while in internment camps there after World War II.
Video: "Phantom bridge" begins to sink beneath the waters of Lake Nukabira in Hokkaido