JIJI English News-__________-

Economy ministers from Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed at a meeting in Manila on Sunday to begin a study on expanding the Japan-ASEAN economic partnership agreement, Japan's Ryosei Akazawa said after the meeting.

Ahead of Respect for the Aged Day in Japan on Monday, the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation warned of accidents involving nursing beds or wheelchairs and urged elderly people to review proper usage with their families and care workers.

The number of people aged 65 and older in Japan is estimated to have totaled 36.24 million as of Tuesday, up by 20,000 from a year earlier, the internal affairs ministry said Sunday, ahead of Respect for the Aged Day in Japan on Monday.

What was possibly a ballistic missile was launched from North Korea, Japanese Defense Ministry sources said Sunday.

Kumagawa Railroad Co., a public-private railway operator in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kumamoto, fully resumed service on Sunday, about six years and two months after the railway was heavily damaged in the July 2020 Kumamoto rain disaster.