With water privatization, Japan faces crossroads in battling its aging pipes
Japanese water is clean and readily available, as evidenced by drinkable tap water and a nearly 100 percent penetration rate. But perhaps less known is the dire decay that has slowly chipped away at its infrastructure, casting doubt on its sustainability. To address this, the Diet ...
Japan hesitantly moves toward a cashless society
Taking out a wallet loaded with cash, receipts and loyalty cards and searching for coins in front of a cashier is a familiar scene at stores in Japan. But the country wants more consumers to kick that habit and engage in cashless transactions using credit ...
To what extent will Japan's 2014 downturn repeat with the new tax hike?
The wallets of Japanese residents may get a little lighter next year, as the prices of most goods and services are set to rise under a new consumption tax system starting in October 2019. Under this new system, consumers may have at least some reprieve, ...
Can Tokyo's new Toyosu market live up to the Tsukiji brand?
The Toyosu wholesale market opened its doors for the first time earlier this month after relocating from Tsukiji, where it was famed for being one of the largest seafood and fish markets in the world and for catering to the finest restaurants in Tokyo. The ...
Japan continues to rely on coal-fired plants despite global criticism
Japan may be feeling the effects of global warming more than ever with the series of natural disasters that hit the archipelago this summer, but this resource-poor country is sticking with coal-fired energy production that emits more than double the carbon dioxide generated by ...
Wild boar carcasses found in Gifu dull prospects for declaring containment of swine fever
An outbreak of swine fever on a farm in Gifu Prefecture earlier this month seemed to come to an end after the culling of hundreds of pigs and the disinfection of all related facilities. But the prospects of officially declaring next month the containment of ...
Yusaku Maezawa: Japan's corporate enfant terrible with the world's first ticket to the moon
Call it a flashy billionaire's whimsy or a stroke of PR genius. When Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk hinted on Twitter last week that a Japanese person could be the first tourist to go around the moon on board Space X's Big Falcon Rocket, social ...
U.S. base relocation top issue in Okinawa gubernatorial election
Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga's death last month at age 67 from pancreatic cancer came just over three months before the originally scheduled gubernatorial election and just days after he announced the prefectural government would take steps toward retracting permission for landfill work related to ...
The man standing between Abe and his ambitions: Who is Shigeru Ishiba?
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba is back in the spotlight. Ishiba and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are likely to face off in the Sept. 20 vote to select the next leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which will also determine who is the nation's ...
Olympic heat wave fears: What steps can Tokyo take?
Japan has become well-known for its omotenashi (hospitality), with the concept being part of Tokyo's pitch when it bid to host the 2020 Olympics. But this year's record heat wave, which has so far killed more than 100 people and led to tens of thousands ...
Japan embraces esports after lagging global peers but seeks a star to put it on the map
Esports is quickly establishing itself as a way for video game lovers around the world to make a name for themselves — and a living — from their favorite pastime. Japan, despite being a major maker and player of video games, is belatedly jumping on ...
Q&A: How to survive this year's scorching summer in Japan
This year's heat wave is again lethal, having already killed over 30 people and sent more than 10,000 to hospitals since July 9 due to heat exhaustion and heatstroke. The extreme weather continued to scorch Japan this week, with many cities seeing their highest-ever recorded ...
