Washington's decision to join Japan in supporting the battered yen has prompted questions over what motivated the rare coordinated intervention.

A rare joint U.S.-Japan intervention has raised the stakes on traders betting against the yen, but analysts are doubtful speculators will be kept at bay without tighter monetary policy.

A major earthquake in Japan's southwest killed at least 13 people and left several injured or missing after a shopping center and a paper mill were heavily damaged.

By Leika Kihara TOKYO, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Japan has seen only moderate rises in consumer prices so far with the pass-through of higher costs from the Middle East conflict remaining limited, Economy Minister Minoru Kiuchi said on Tuesday,

Almost no other country in the world is rocked by such frequent and damaging earthquakes as Japan, which sits on the boundary of four tectonic plates.

The quake shook Japan's southern main island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon local time, causing damage and injuries.

The former prison also served as a filming location for the second season of Netflix's Japanese series "Alice in Borderland."