Japan Herald news

North Korea envoy hands over China's Xi a note of peace

BEIJING - A senior North Korean envoy delivered a letter from his leader Kim Jong-un to Chinese President Xi Jinping and told him that Pyongyang was ready to take "positive action" to re-join stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks. The letter was handed over by envoy, Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae. Choe told Xi that North Korea is willing to take positive actions to solve problems ...
Japan PMs residence not haunted Government

The Japanese government has denied rumours which said the prime minister's official residence was haunted. The denial came after a query by an opposition lawmaker, who wanted to know if Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had not yet moved into his official residence, five months after coming to power, because of rumours that the building was haunted by the ghosts of young military officers who died ...
Japanese man becomes oldest person to climb Everest at 80

A former extreme skier became the oldest person to climb Mount Everest on Thursday at the age of 80. Japanese Yuichiro Miura also conquered the 29,028ft peak at 70 and 75, the Mirror reported. But his record may not last, his old rival Min Bahadur Sherchan, 81, is hot on his heels. Miura said that he never imagined he could make it to the top of Mount Everest at age 80. He first broke the ...
Japanese politician Toru Hashimoto apologizes for comfort women comments

A Japanese politician on Friday apologised to women forcibly drafted into military brothels during World War II after his comments about them being a military necessity sparked outrage. Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto issued the apology hours after he was due to meet two former "comfort women", but the elderly South Korean women cancelled over fears of becoming political pawns in a ...
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe reluctant to move into haunted official residence report

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Photo: EPA Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been in office for five months and reporters who follow him every day still have one question: why hasn’t he moved into the Prime Minister’s Official Residence? Despite his extremely tight schedule, a security detail-escorted limousine takes Abe to the prime minister’s office every morning, a ...

Movie Review

The Graduate [DVD]

As is true with many great films that are irrevocably connected to their time and place, certain elements of Mike Nichol's The Graduate have not aged terribly well. Simon & Garfunkel's folksy soundtrack has a certain datedness, particularly in the way N ... ...

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Okinawans angry with Hashimoto say sex services dont curb crime

Citing the failure of similar attempts decades earlier, Okinawan residents have criticized Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's recent suggestion that U.S. military members use legal sex services to curb sexual ...
BIZ BRIEF Mitsubishi Motors to reduce capital to write off accumulated loss

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said May 24 it will reduce its capital and capital reserves by 924.85 billion yen ($9.08 billion) to write off its accumulated loss and create an environment for an early resumption of dividend ...
S. Korean women cancel meeting with Osaka mayor

South Korean women shout slogans during a demonstration on Wednesday in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, calling for the resolution of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Issue. Provided to China ...
Anthony Hilton Britain’s malaise will last for a while but at least it’s better than Japan

I remember a conversation with Paul Fisher in his office deep in the bowels of the Bank of England one day last summer when he said Japan was still struggling after 20 years to get back on its feet following its financial crash so we should not expect too much too soon from the United ...
Cannes Sony Classics Nabs Jim Jarmuschs Only Lovers Left Alive

). "It would take a stake through the heart to keep Barker, Bernard and Leiner away from a good movie," said Jeremy Thomas about Sony Pictures Classics' ...

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The Boy Scouts of America National Council has resolved to accept gay members. Do you agree with this policy?

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North Korea envoy hands over China's Xi a note of peace

BEIJING - A senior North Korean envoy delivered a letter from his leader Kim Jong-un to Chinese President Xi Jinping and told him that Pyongyang was ready to take "positive action" to re-join stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.

The letter was handed over by envoy, Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae.

Choe told Xi that North Korea is willing to take positive actions to solve problems through dialogue.

He has been quoted as saying that dialogue included the long-stalled six-party talks aimed at Pyongyang's denuclearisation, which are chaired by China, and also bring together North Korea, South Korea, the United States, Russia and Japan.

Choe also said North Korea needs to create a peaceful regional environment as well as develop its economy and improve its people's livelihoods.

Choe is director of the Korean People's Army's General Political Bureau and is said to be a close confidant of Kim, who has led North Korea for more than a year since the death of his father Kim Jong-Il in late 2011.

China is North Korea's key economic benefactor and diplomatic protector. Analysts had said they were watching to see who in the Chinese hierarchy Choe would get to meet.

Chinese state television's main evening news broadcast showed footage of the meeting in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, with Choe wearing a dark, high-collared North Korean-style suit, in contrast to other meetings in which he appeared in military uniform. ...