Tokyo  - Japan and the United States Friday pledged to provide 1 billion dollars each to Pakistan.

"Pakistan plays an extremely important role in the international fight against terrorism and extremism," Prime Minister Taro Aso said at a ministerial-level meeting of the Friends of Pakistan group in Tokyo.

At the opening of the meeting, Aso officially announced Japan's contribution of 1 billion dollars to Pakistan. The United States vowed to donate the same amount.

Tokyo  - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Thursday told visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari that stability in Pakistan is important for stability in south-western Asia.

"The stable development of Pakistan will directly lead to the stability of the entire region," the Kyoto News Agency quoted Aso as telling Zardari during a meeting at the premier's office in Tokyo.

Tokyo-Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso pledged his government's full support for Tokyo's bid to host the 2016 Games as a delegation from the International Olympics Committee began an inspection Thursday.

"It is my earnest desire to invite young Olympians from around the world to Tokyo to experience what I felt and learned as a young athlete," Aso told the 13-member IOC evaluation team.

Tokyo - China-related shares led the Japanese market to rise more almost 3 per cent in Thursday morning trading.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 253.43 points, or 2.9 per cent, to 8,996.39.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 16.67 points, or 2 per cent, at 851.92.

Investors were attracted to mainly China-related titles Thursday on hopes of the nation's economic growth.

Tokyo  - Japan's semiconductor industry is to experience a major shake-up, as electronics companies Renesas Technology and NEC Electronics are considering to merge, a news report said Thursday.

The two companies were in talks and a deal is expected by the end of the month, the Nikkei, a business daily, reported. A merger, which is expected to go ahead by April 2010, would create Japan's largest chipmaker.

The move was to to ensure the companies' survival during the global downturn.

Tokyo - Japan's whaling fleet failed to achieve its target but still returned to port with the meat of 680 whales on board.

The fleet's mothership, the Nishin Maru, returned Tuesday to its home port of Shimonoseki in south-western Japan after the close of the Antarctic hunting season, media reports said Wednesday.

The fleet had aimed to kill 900 minke and other whales, but Japan's Fisheries Agency said the militant, US-based environmental group Sea Shepherd hampered the hunt.