Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Sep 27, 2013
Maglev veteran keeps looking toward the future
The route for the Linear Chuo Shinkansen between Tokyo and Nagoya has been announced, and the country’s first magnetically levitated train is moving toward the start of operations in 2027. Junji Fujie, a former chief engineer on the project team at the Railway Technical ...
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Sep 20, 2013
Animal shelters strive to reduce euthanasia
The Welfare and Management of Animals Law was revised Sept. 1 in an attempt to reduce the number of abandoned dogs and cats. Unless they are adopted by new owners, abandoned pets are usually destroyed in animal shelters after a certain number of days ...
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Sep 13, 2013
Home of Zero fighter drawing Miyazaki fans
“Kaze Tachinu” (“The Wind Rises”) was director Hayao Miyazaki’s last feature-length anime before he retired this month. Because of the film’s success, more people are visiting a plant in Aichi Prefecture where a restored fighter plane featured in the movie is being exhibited. Mitsubishi ...
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Sep 6, 2013
Nagoya volunteer group goes the distance to help 3/11 disaster victims
In the 2½ years since the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Nagoya-based Aichi Volunteer Center has continued its activities in disaster-stricken areas of Tohoku, earning the gratitude of local residents for its unwavering efforts. By constantly visiting those zones, the group has kept itself ...
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Aug 30, 2013
Aichi city gambles on female cyclists
The Toyohashi Velodrome in Aichi Prefecture has started a program to train professional female cyclists to drum up interest in the dying sport. The city hopes the women will base their activities in Toyohashi and increase the popularity of cycling to attract more spectators ...
History | CHUBU CONNECTION Aug 23, 2013
Was Fellers friend of Japan or master manipulator?
A Nagoya University professor is working on a book about the life of the late U.S. Brig. Gen. Bonner Fellers, who played a major role in absolving Emperor Hirohito (known posthumously as Emperor Showa) of responsibility for Japan’s wartime aggression across Asia. The movie ...
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Aug 16, 2013
Deadly postwar bomb blast almost forgotten
On Sept. 5, 1945, weeks after World War II had ended, an unexploded bomb went off on the coast of the Otani district in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, killing seven children. This tragic incident, occurring in a small village in the chaotic days just after ...
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Aug 9, 2013
Nagoya landlord-envoy keeps Pacific island state in public eye
Passengers on the Tokaido Shinkansen can see the office sign for the state of Ngeremlengui in the Republic of Palau as the train rolls through Nagoya. The office is officially recognized by Ngeremlengui, a small state that has a population of barely more than ...
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Aug 2, 2013
Salesman sets out to prevent inheritance fights
As an insurance salesman in Tsushima, Aichi Prefecture, Hisao Ito, 55, has seen times when family members and relatives fight over inheritances. To reduce such disputes, Ito established the Japanese Inheritance Association, bringing together lawyers, tax accountants and judicial scriveners to study past cases. ...
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Jul 26, 2013
Nagoya commuters get their cycle on
Nagoya is seeing a growing number of “tsukinists,” a term coined for those who commute to work by bicycle, pointing to the public’s higher awareness of environmental and personal health issues. The city has also shown its support for tsukinists — the word is ...
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Jul 12, 2013
Students dealt real-life problems to broaden outlook
The School of Foreign Studies at Aichi Prefectural University in the city of Nagakute invited Tatsuo Hirase, the head of the business promotion office at the Chubu branch of Mitsui & Co., to hold a special two-day marketing session in June. This latest business-academia ...
National | CHUBU CONNECTION Jul 5, 2013
Hard-charging foreigners inspire Nagoya University sumo team
With the 2013 July Grand Sumo Tournament in Nagoya set to kick off Sunday, Osunaarashi of Egypt is grabbing the media spotlight as the first pro sumo wrestler from Africa. But sumo fever is also spreading at Nagoya University, where the sumo club took ...