Toyako, Japan - Several thousand protesters demonstrated in northern Japan Saturday against the upcoming Group of Eight (G8) summit.

Tokyo - Japanese immigration authorities have denied entry to 19 members of an international farmers' group who flew in from South Korea, sources associated with an NGO said Friday.

The farmers' group members arrived in Japan on Thursday and had planned to attend a forum in Hokkaido ahead of the Group of Eight (G8) summit meeting, which is scheduled July 7-9 in Toyako, Japan.

An immigration official said the group members' purpose for coming was "not clear," after they were asked whether they had participated in demonstrations in the past.

The members were to attend a forum on climate change and its impact on food supplies.

Tokyo - The Japanese government plans to provide an additional 50 million dollars worth of food aid by October to help ease the food crisis in developing nations, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura

Tokyo - Another smokers' paradise in Asia is disappearing as Japanese smokers face ever more restrictions in the nation's effort to join the global anti-smoking campaign. 

Tokyo - Tokyo stock

Tokyo - Honda has started production of its FCX hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle, hailing it as the start of "a new era of cleaner motoring."

A new fuel-cell vehicle assembly line has been established at the Honda Automobile New Model Centre near Tokyo, which includes processes unique to a fuel-cell vehicle, such as the installation of the fuel-cell stack and hydrogen tank, the company said.

The new plant enabled mass production of fuel cells, moving closer to the goal of more widespread use of fuel-cell vehicles, Honda said.

Lease sales of the FCX Clarity are scheduled to start in the United States in July and later this year in Japan.