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JAPAN / Society
Mar 8, 2024

More Japanese universities adding female admission quotas for STEM fields

The trend comes amid concerns over the nation's low level of female participation in fields related to science, technology, engineering and math.
A man looks at electronic boards displaying stock prices of companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on Monday. The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei average has surged at an unexpected pace of about 20% this year
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Mar 8, 2024

A stock rally but sluggish growth: What’s the deal with Japan’s economy?

The Nikkei is benefiting from companies' strong earnings, but wider economic indicators are much less positive.
Goldman Sachs is exiting transaction banking in Japan, less than a year after announcing plans to enter the business
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 8, 2024

Goldman Sachs exits Japan transaction banking in sudden reversal

The bank will remain focused on growing its transaction banking operations in the U.S., U.K. and European Union, according to a spokesperson for the firm.
Actress Yumi Ishikawa speaks during an interview on Monday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 8, 2024

'KuToo' campaign leader wants to bring attention to sexual abuse

Ishikawa believes that behind the issue of sexual abuse is the unspoken assumption within Japanese society that there is no such thing as discrimination.
Kazuo Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan, speaks at a fintech summit in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2024

Bank of Japan leaning toward exiting negative rates in March

Many BOJ policymakers are closely watching the outcome of big firms' annual wage negotiations with unions on March 13.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2024

Reservations open for subsidized trips to areas hit by Noto quake

Tours to Niigata, Toyama and Fukui prefectures sold out on a host of websites soon after the start Friday, displaying robust demand for the campaign.
Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori speaks during an interview on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 9, 2024

Fukushima governor urges state to clarify soil policy

Fukushima will host interim storage facilities for the soil on the premise that the soil is stored at final disposal sites outside the prefecture.
Residents of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, participate in a nuclear disaster drill at an evacuation facility in Kurihara on Jan. 20.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 9, 2024

Nuclear plant restart raises evacuation concerns in Miyagi

Residents near the Onagawa nuclear plant on Miyagi's Oshika Peninsula are concerned about whether they could evacuate swiftly if disaster strikes.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Mar 9, 2024

Wild Knights beat Brave Lupus in blockbuster League One clash

A 4-3 try-scoring advantage and four penalties from playmaker Rikiya Matsuda helped the Wild Knights hand the first loss of the campaign to Brave Lupus.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2024

Tepco profit goal remains elusive, 13 years after triple meltdown

The total costs related to the nuclear crisis are estimated at ¥23.4 trillion, including ¥8 trillion for decommissioning the Fukushima No. 1 plant.
Keiichi Ishii, secretary-general of Komeito, has suggested that a snap election for the Lower House is possible this autumn.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 10, 2024

Japan Lower House breakup possible in autumn, Komeito exec says

Komeito's secretary-general said public support could be high for the LDP president chosen in the party's leadership election to be held in September.
Two of the country’s four major makers of alcoholic beverages are reportedly going to stop releasing new products with alcohol content of 8% or more, citing health concerns.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 10, 2024

Japan asks when a stiff drink is a bit too stiff

Two of the country’s four major makers have taken the unusual step of retreating from a lucrative and growing market: strong premixed drinks.
Japan revised economic data higher, reversing a quarterly contraction in October-December 2023 into positive growth and avoiding a technical recession.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 11, 2024

Japan’s economy avoids recession one week before BOJ meeting

The government made an upward revision to capital investment figures to reflect 2% growth, which in turn sent the country's GDP into positive territory.
Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida said he has no lingering physical complications after his hospital stay.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

SDF chief of staff returns to work

Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida was diagnosed as overworked in mid-February, when he sought medical attention over a fever and illness.
Dai Karasawa, president of SSE Pacifico K.K., a joint venture of U.K. energy group SSE and Japan's Pacifico Energy, speaks about their plan to develop offshore wind farms in Japan during an interview in Tokyo, last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 11, 2024

SSE's Japan unit aims to develop 6GW offshore wind farms

Japan is aiming to become a major offshore wind power producer, with the government targeting 10 GW by 2030 and up to 45 GW by 2040.
A backdrop of a broadly soaring stock market and signs of long-awaited wage and price growth is drawing bets that the BOJ might back away from its ultraeasy policy settings as soon as its next meeting in a week's time.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 11, 2024

Bank of Japan skips ETF buying, stoking policy speculation

It was not clear why it did not buy the listed funds even as the Topix index slid 2% — a mark that generally draws a response.
The men's soccer teams of North Korea and Japan clash in the East Asian Football Championship in Tokyo in December 2017.
SOCCER
Mar 12, 2024

Japan-North Korea World Cup game to stay in Pyongyang, says JFA

The JFA said it had been informed that the game on March 26 would be played at the 50,000-capacity Kim Il Sung Stadium.
Chojuro Kawarasaki plays Kuranosuke Ooishi in Kenji Mizoguchi’s 1941 film “Genroku Chushingura” (The 47 Ronin). The story, sometimes told with 46 retainers, has fascinated Japanese audiences since first being performed as a puppet play in 1748. 
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Mar 15, 2024

Edo samurai spirit: From the battlefield to the stage

Life under the Tokugawa shogunate wasn't exactly freedom but neither was it constant war. The Japanese instead sated their bloodlust with theater.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 12, 2024

Japan firms across sectors offer pay hikes of up to 12% in spring talks

Early wage deals with unions reflect a recovery in earnings from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a sense of crisis over labor shortages.
Mitsuya Kishida, incoming CEO of Nidec (left), and Shigenobu Nagamori, chairman and CEO, during a news conference at the company's headquarters in Kyoto on Feb. 14.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 12, 2024

Japan's Nidec, U.S. private equity firm KPS vie for Siemens’ motors unit

The Innomotics unit makes heavy-duty electric motors used in ships and mining equipment, and could fetch about ¥483.6 billion in a sale.
Shi Pong Hsu, 75, makes coffee in a Singapore coffee shop. The city-state's government projects that almost a quarter of its population will be 65 or over by 2030.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2024

Singapore is bracing for a super-aging society

Japan and South Korea may be the poster children for low birthrates, but Singapore is confronting its own decline. Its solution? Bonuses for nurses.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 12, 2024

Death sentence overturned for Kudokai gang boss

The criminal mastermind remained expressionless and stared directly at the judge as it was announced that the death sentence had been overturned.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 12, 2024

Health ministry urges caution after measles outbreak

Eight cases have been confirmed among passengers of a flight from the United Arab Emirates that landed at Kansai International Airport in late February.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 12, 2024

Three members of Abe faction to attend Upper House ethics hearing

But other lawmakers embroiled in the LDP slush fund scandal have largely indicated that they don't intend to testify.
A Costco store in Illinois
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 13, 2024

Costco’s Japan unit warned by FTC after cutting subcontractor payments

Bakery and food suppliers saw their compensation reduced by ¥33.5 million from 2021 to 2023, the agency has said.
Japan aims to have 10 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power projects by 2030 and up to 45 GW by 2040, to replace fossil fuels including coal and liquefied natural gas in its energy mix — for which floating offshore wind is essential.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 13, 2024

Japan to expand offshore wind development to exclusive economic zones

Global energy companies have been urging Japan to make investments more attractive, amid soaring costs and growing competition between suppliers.
Children play around the giant Squid King statue in the town of Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Feb. 27.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 13, 2024

Noto symbol 'Squid King' stands resolute amid quake devastation

Once criticized as "wasteful," the statue's steadfast presence has become a source of solace for local residents as they strive toward recovery.
Aichi police assert that the duo also received approximately ¥5.9 million in kickbacks for the fraudulent practice from the company that it placed orders with.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 13, 2024

Two former Toyota employees arrested on fraud charges

The employees allegedly defrauded the company out of ¥11.5 million ($78,000) by inflating expenses and placing questionable orders.
Japan rugby head coach Eddie Jones attends a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Mar 13, 2024

Eddie Jones aims to make Japan a top four side and find rugby's Ohtani

Jones takes over Japan for a second spell after a calamitous, short-lived stint with Australia.
The Biden administration has regularly sent warnings about Nippon Steel's proposed purchase of U.S. Steel and has steadfastly sided with the United Steelworkers over the sale of a once-iconic firm based in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 14, 2024

Biden to express concern over Nippon Steel's deal for U.S. Steel, source says

U.S. officials and lawyers have drafted a statement of concern and the White House has privately informed Tokyo of Biden's move, according to reports.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years