Kyodo news summary -5-

(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, Jan. 30 -- (Kyodo) _ ---------- Over 70% of Tokyo residents support 2020 Olympics bid TOKYO - Seventy-three percent of Tokyo residents support the capital's bid to host the Olympic Games in a poll by the Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee, rising above the 70 percent mark for the first time since the poll began in July 2012, the committee said Wednesday.

The telephone survey was conducted on a total of 400 Tokyo residents 18 years or older between Jan. 10 and 20. The latest result showed respondents in favor of hosting the 2020 summer Olympics rose 7 percentage points from 66 percent in November, while those against the bid fell 2 points to 12 percent.

---------- 1 Japanese dies of new viral infection TOKYO - Japan recorded its first death from a new viral infection last autumn, the health ministry said Wednesday.

The adult victim, a resident of Yamaguchi Prefecture in western Japan, had no recent record of overseas travel or any trace of a mite bite, even though the new viral infection, called severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, is usually transmitted by such a bite.

---------- Japan needs to woo more budget tourists from Asia-Pacific SINGAPORE - Japan needs to make itself more affordable as a holiday destination to capture an explosion of tourists from emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region, a report on travel trends in the region released this week notes.

"With traveler numbers outbound from Japan likely to remain static or even fall over the next two decades, travel providers in Japan will need to increasingly shift focus from outbound to inbound markets," Amadeus, a technology solutions provider for the travel industry, said of its findings of research on future travel trends in the Asia-Pacific.

---------- Canon expects 13.6% rise in FY 2013 group net profit on yen's fall TOKYO - Canon Inc. said Wednesday it projects its group net profit for the current business year ending in December to climb 13.6 percent from the previous year to 255 billion yen, due to a weakening yen and an expected recovery of the global economy from the latter half of this year.

The maker of printers, photocopiers and cameras said it expects to post a group operating profit of 410 billion yen in fiscal 2013, up 26.6 percent from the previous year, on consolidated sales of 3.81 trillion yen, up 9.5 percent.

---------- FEATURE: Male beauty therapists, nail artists on increase TOKYO - Once the exclusive preserve of female employees, beauty parlors, nail salons and cosmetics retailers across Japan are seeing an uptick in the number of male workers.

Kei Kishimoto, 28, has been working as a beauty consultant for Shiseido Co. at a drug store in Osaka for over a year. He speaks calmly to customers and his soft touch in applying their makeup appears even more gentle than that of female consultants.

---------- Euro at fresh 14-month high against dollar on eurozone optimism TOKYO - The euro rose to a 14-month high against the dollar and a 21-month high against the yen in Tokyo on Wednesday on optimism about the eurozone economy, while the dollar maintained its earlier gains against the Japanese currency on remarks by Finance Minister Taro Aso welcoming a weaker yen.

At 5 p.m., the euro was quoted at $1.3512-3514 and 123.02-06 yen, against $1.3487-3497 and 122.35-45 yen in New York and $1.3438-3439 and 121.82-86 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

---------- Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group's net profit up 33.9% in April-Dec.

TOKYO - Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said Wednesday its group net profit in the April to December period rose 33.9 percent from a year before to 550.41 billion yen, backed by a year-end rally in Tokyo stocks that boosted the value of its asset holdings.

In its consolidated earnings report for the first three quarters of the current 2012 business year, the holding company said its pretax profit went up 9.0 percent to 829.69 billion yen on an 8.5 percent increase in operating revenue to 3.18 trillion yen.

---------- S. Korea launches rocket carrying satellite SEOUL - South Korea on Wednesday successfully launched a rocket carrying a satellite in its third such attempt, following failed launches in 2009 and 2010.

"Analyzing various data, (the satellite) has been successfully put into orbit," Education, Science and Technology Minister Lee Ju Ho told reporters.

---------- 3 Chinese vessels enter territorial waters around Senkakus NAHA, Japan - Three Chinese maritime surveillance vessels on Wednesday entered Japan's territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea for the first time in nine days, the Japan Coast Guard said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference in Tokyo it is "extremely regrettable" that the ships intruded into Japanese waters and vowed "all-out efforts on warning and surveillance activities." ---------- Mazda to build automatic transmission plant in Thailand TOKYO - Mazda Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will build a plant to manufacture automatic transmissions in the Thai province of Chonburi, with production starting in the first half of fiscal 2015.

The plant, to be built with 26 billion yen in investment, will turn out 400,000 transmissions a year for the automaker's vehicles employing its fuel-efficient technology dubbed Skyactiv and supply them to AutoAlliance (Thailand) Co., Mazda's joint venture with Ford Motor Co., and other Mazda factories around the world, it said.

---------- 3 U.S. researchers given Japan Prize for scientific contributions TOKYO - The Japan Prize Foundation said Wednesday the 2013 Japan Prize will be awarded to three U.S. researchers for their scientific contributions in the fields of semiconductor manufacturing and ecology.

The joint winners in the field of materials and production are C. Grant Willson, chemistry professor of the University of Texas at Austin, and Jean M. J. Frechet, vice president for research at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, for developing materials that contributed to an innovative semiconductor manufacturing process.

---------- Nintendo slashes FY 2012 outlook, expects 20 bil. yen operating loss OSAKA - Game console maker Nintendo Co. on Wednesday revised downward its operating profit outlook for fiscal 2012 ending March and is now forecasting a 20 billion yen group operating loss after seeing sluggish year-end sales.

The company previously expected a consolidated operating profit of 20 billion yen. The expected full-year earnings in red would mark the second consecutive year of operating loss for the company.

---------- War journalists to return to Cambodia for Sihanouk's funeral PHNOM PENH - At least 30 war correspondents and photographers will come to Cambodia this week for the funeral of former King Norodom Sihanouk, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said Wednesday.

The funeral and cremation ceremonies from Friday through Monday will be the biggest of their kind to be held in Cambodia in half-a-century and are expected to be attended by at least 1 million Cambodians. Sihanouk died at 89 in Beijing last October.

(c) 2013 Kyodo News International, Inc.

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