Dec 18 (CNA) - The Bank of Japan is starting to pare back some of its pandemic-related support, but will extend a programme to help small and medium-sized companies by six months.
It is also keeping its ultra-low interest rates unchanged. The short-term interest rate will stay at -0.1%. The BOJ is holding the yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond at zero.
Emperor Naruhito met with former U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time in six years at the Imperial Palace on October 27th. The two exchanged greetings in English, with the Emperor saying, "I’m pleased to see you again," as he welcomed Trump to the Imperial residence around 6:30 p.m.
An elderly woman was found dead in a roadside ditch in Akita City on October 27th, with police investigating the possibility that she was attacked by a bear. A local resident discovered the woman lying face down in a drainage channel around 11 a.m. and called emergency services.
The Defense Ministry is considering deploying the Self-Defense Forces to Akita Prefecture following a series of bear attacks that have injured residents in recent weeks.
The Nikkei Stock Average closed at 50,512 yen on October 27th, surpassing the 50,000 mark for the first time in history and setting a new all-time high. The benchmark index rose 1,212 yen from the previous trading day, driven by strong gains across sectors.
McDonald's Japan announced it will phase out the use of paper straws and introduce new lids that allow customers to drink directly from the cup without a straw starting on November 19th.
A 43-year-old former employee of Tsuda University has been re-arrested by Tokyo Metropolitan Police on suspicion of vandalism for spraying his bodily fluid on female students’ clothing on campus.
A 38-year-old man was arrested near the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo’s Minato Ward on October 24th after attacking a riot police officer with a knife, injuring the officer’s right leg.
A group in Sapporo achieved a Guinness World Record on October 25th for creating the world’s largest sentence made entirely from plastic bottle caps. The artwork, composed of around 80,000 caps, was officially recognized under the category “Largest Sentence Made from Bottle Caps.”
A Tokyo District Court has ruled that addressing a colleague using the 'chan' suffix constitutes sexual harassment, ordering a male employee to pay 220,000 yen in damages.
A 47-year-old man accused of possessing cannabis in Nagoya has been acquitted after the Nagoya High Court ruled that the procedures used to seize the evidence were illegal. The decision, handed down on October 9th, became final after prosecutors decided not to appeal.
A 38-year-old man was killed on October 24th in the village of Higashinaruse, Akita Prefecture, after attempting to rescue a couple in their seventies who were being attacked by a bear.
A memorial service marking 80 years since the end of World War II was held in Shari, a town in Hokkaido’s Shiretoko region, on October 22nd to honor those who perished in the Northern Territories and other areas.
Police in Osaka arrested a 48-year-old man on October 22nd after a tense 14-hour standoff in which he allegedly held a woman at knifepoint inside an apartment. A special tactical unit forced entry into the residence late at night, ending the standoff without injuries.
