Kyodo News Digest: Nov. 6, 2023

A giant float is paraded during the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage-listed Karatsu Kunchi festival in Karatsu in Saga Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Nov. 3, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.

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Support for Kishida Cabinet at record-low 28% as tax cut not hailed

TOKYO – The support rate for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet fell to a fresh low of 28.3 percent, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday, with more than 60 percent of respondents not satisfied with a tax cut recently announced as part of his economic stimulus package.

The approval rate dropped from 32.3 percent marked in October, the previous record low, while the disapproval rating rose to a record high of 56.7 percent, according to the three-day nationwide telephone survey.

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Baseball: Neuse, Aoyagi lead Tigers to 1st Japan championship in 38 years

OSAKA – Sheldon Neuse homered and drove in four runs and Koyo Aoyagi threw 4-2/3 scoreless innings as the Hanshin Tigers won their first Japan Series championship since 1985 by beating the defending champion Orix Buffaloes 7-1 in Sunday’s Game 7.

Center fielder and leadoff man Koji Chikamoto had 14 hits and was named series MVP.

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Japan, Malaysia vow to boost defense cooperation amid China’s rise

KUALA LUMPUR – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim agreed Sunday to promote bilateral defense and maritime security cooperation amid China’s increasing military assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.

During their talks near Kuala Lumpur, Kishida, who traveled to Malaysia on Saturday on the second leg of his three-day trip that also included a visit to the Philippines, said he and Anwar also affirmed cooperation over energy, including ensuring a stable supply of liquefied natural gas to Japan.

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China vows at trade fair to cut investment barriers as economy slumps

SHANGHAI – Chinese Premier Li Qiang vowed Sunday to enhance market access and attract more foreign investment, as the world’s second-largest economy has been slumping amid a property sector crisis, while its worsening business environment has dampened sentiment among many overseas companies.

Li said at the opening ceremony of a major trade fair in Shanghai that Beijing will work with all countries to “jointly build an open economy,” as the global economic recovery is lacking momentum. President Xi Jinping also sent a letter to the event and pledged that China will continue its “high-level opening up.”

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Baseball: Japanese ace Yamamoto to be posted for MLB this offseason

OSAKA – Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto will try to sign with a Major League Baseball team this winter via the posting system, the Pacific League club said Sunday.

In 2023, the 25-year-old right-hander extended his Nippon Professional Baseball record of leading a league in four major pitching categories — wins, ERA, strikeouts and winning percentage — to three seasons.

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Baseball: Tigers’ Neuse shines at critical Japan Series moment

OSAKA – After a long, hard first season in Japan, new import Sheldon Neuse helped propel the Hanshin Tigers to their first Japan pro baseball championship in 38 years with his offensive fireworks in Sunday’s Game 7 against the Orix Buffaloes.

After going 0-for-2 in Game 2 against Orix lefty Hiroya Miyagi, Neuse put the Tigers on the road to victory with a three-run fourth-inning homer and an RBI single in a three-run fifth.

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Video:  Karatsu Kunchi festival in Saga Prefecture