Kyodo News Digest: June 8, 2025

KYODO NEWS - 4 hours ago - 15:00 | All, Japan, World
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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Japanese restaurants, food companies switching to noodles from rice

KYODO NEWS - 2 minutes ago - 11:18 | All, Japan As cost-sensitive consumers are steering clear of rice after a price surge to record highs, restaurant chains and food companies are turning to noodles. Antworks Co., operator of Densetsu no Sutadonya eateries offering pork rice bowls, opened its first ramen noodle restaurant in Tokyo in May and plans another three by next February to diversify its operations. "We have touted our (pork bowl) business as a large portion of our business portfolio but rice prices are now more than three times higher than those several years ago," a spokesperson at the Tokyo-based restaurant chain operator said. A pork rice bowl set meal with miso soup and raw egg is now priced at 890 yen ($6), compared with 630 yen in 2021. The spokesperson said consumers would likely stay away if the price were raised to over 1,000 yen. "The outlook for our business would be more severe if we were just focusing on (pork) bowls," the official said, adding that the cost of a ramen noodle dish is 100 yen to 150 yen cheaper than a pork bowl. Yoshinoya Holdings Co., the parent of major beef bowl restaurant operator Yoshinoya Co., is also strengthening its ramen noodle business, as it views the beef bowl restaurant market in Japan as saturated. Yoshinoya Holdings Executive Vice President Norihiro Ozawa says its ramen noodle business allows the company to "balance" ingredient costs with offerings aside from rice and meat. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, rice prices have doubled from a year earlier and remain around a spike initially triggered by a poor harvest. The average price stood at 4,176 yen per 5 kilograms in the week through June 8, despite releases from the government's rice stockpiles. At supermarkets, consumers are looking for alternatives to rice. According to TableMark Co., sales of its frozen udon noodles grew around 10 percent in value terms in April and May from a year earlier, while sales of Kikkoman Corp.'s packaged udon noodle soup and ingredients rose 10 percent in the three months through May from the same period last year. Meiji Holdings Co. said sales of its mainstay Meiji Bulgaria Yogurt products have maintained around 10 percent growth each month since April last year. "Western-style breakfast foods such as bread and cereal have become more popular" amid the increase in rice prices, a Meji Holdings official said. Related coverage: Japan's core consumer prices in May rise 3.7% on surging rice costs Football: Locally produced rice funds Yokohama FC player development