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JAPAN
Mar 14, 2024

Hokuriku Shinkansen's Kanazawa-Tsuruga extension set to open Saturday

The opening of the new section is expected to contribute to reconstruction efforts in the Hokuriku region in central Japan.
NEC computers at an electronics store in Tokyo. Founded in 1899, NEC focuses on information technology and network communications, biometric recognition, the internet of things and artificial intelligence technologies, according to its website.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 14, 2024

Japan’s NEC weighing $500 million data center sale, sources say

The Tokyo-traded company is looking to hire financial advisers to help prepare a potential sale of the business.
YouTuber and former Upper House member GaaSyy after his release on bail in September
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 14, 2024

YouTuber GaaSyy given suspended prison term for defaming celebrities

GaaSyy's acts seriously threatened the victims, the presiding judge said, causing them “enormous financial damage” through online hate.
The number of elementary school children who became victims of crimes through social media totaled a record 139 last year in Japan, National Police Agency data showed Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 14, 2024

Child victims of social media-related crimes on the rise in Japan

The number of victims has grown fivefold in the past decade.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2024

Upper House Abe faction members deny involvement in slush fund scandal

Opposition lawmakers targeted the lack of clarity over the decision to continue a kickback scheme after Abe’s death in 2022.
Plaintiffs of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a ban on same-sex marriage and their supporters hold a banner calling for authorities to allow such unions in front of the Tokyo District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 14, 2024

Ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, Sapporo High Court rules

This is the first such ruling by a high court in Japan in favor of plaintiffs challenging the ban.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 14, 2024

Phone relay service helps hard of hearing government staff

The service facilitates communication for workers hard of hearing and those with speech impediments by connecting them with operators online.
U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday that United States Steel should be domestically owned, coming out against Nippon Steel's plan to acquire the company as support from labor unions is becoming more significant for his re-election bid.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2024

Nippon Steel determined to complete U.S. Steel deal

The firm has promised no layoffs or plant closures until at least September 2026.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government holds an event in Tokyo in November to increase people's awareness for fraud and 'dark' part-time jobs. Recruitment ads for such jobs formed some 90% of deletion requests made to internet service providers last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 15, 2024

Nearly 3,000 postings for 'dark' part-time jobs removed from internet in 2023

Recruitment ads for such jobs formed the bulk of deletion requests made to Japanese internet service providers last year.
Investors will be heaping ever more scrutiny on Japanese assets, with negative rates potentially relegated to history.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 15, 2024

BlackRock and Man Group reveal big Japan bets before BOJ decision

Snap up more Japanese stocks and keep buying the yen — these are some of the most popular calls from big-name money managers.
Satoshi Fujii (second from right), head of a subcommittee of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, speaks at a news conference on Thursday about the potential costs of an inland quake hitting the Tokyo region.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2024

Economic losses from massive Tokyo-area quake estimated to top ¥1 quadrillion

Engineers predict that indirect losses, including suspended production activities due to broken roads and bridges, will reach ¥954 trillion.
Residents remove snow from rooftops together with workers from a snow removal company in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, in January 2021. In fiscal 2022, 49 people in Japan died during activities related to the clearing of snow. Of these, 39 people — or roughly 80% — were age 65 or older.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 15, 2024

Land ministry goes digital to prevent snow-clearing accidents

The system is aimed at assessing the risks associated with snow removal at individual houses to avert mishaps, particularly ones involving the elderly.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2024

Japan’s labor unions win big pay raises for members

The preliminary figure for the average hike stands at a 33-year high of 5.28%, according to Japan’s largest labor organization.
People stand in front of a temporarily closed McDonald's in Tokyo's Shimbashi district on Friday as the chain experienced widespread tech issues.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2024

McDonald's suffers widespread tech outage in Japan and abroad

Many McDonald's stores in Japan stopped taking in-person and mobile customer orders because of the system disruption.
A closed McDonald's in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, amid an outage that affected stores in Japan and abroad on Friday. The chain resumed operations on Saturday at almost all of its outlets in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 16, 2024

McDonald’s Japan resumes operations after outage

The recovery comes after McDonald’s was hit by a system outage that appears to have started in the Asia-Pacific region Friday.
Call loan brokers at Tokyo Tanshi in Tokyo in November. After decades of setting its benchmark rate near zero, the Bank of Japan is poised to tighten, spurring new opportunities for veteran traders after decades of setting its benchmark rate near zero.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 17, 2024

Japan’s $4 trillion offshore funds will ignore first BOJ hike

Only 40% of 273 respondents said the BOJ's first interest-rate hike since 2007 will prompt investors to sell foreign assets and repatriate the proceeds.
Shun Otokita is the rarest of Nippon Ishin lawmakers: He was born and bred in Tokyo, where he got his start as a local politician.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2024

Can Nippon Ishin no Kai make inroads in Tokyo?

The Kansai-based party is aiming to broaden its support across Japan — starting with Tokyo's No. 15 district election next month.
Nearly half of married couples in Japan are “sexless,” a recent survey shows.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 18, 2024

Nearly half of Japanese married couples are 'sexless,' survey finds

The most common reasons include “my partner doesn’t respond to my advances" for men, and “it’s too much hassle” for women.
Japan's core machinery orders fell 1.7% in January from the previous month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 18, 2024

Japan core machinery orders fall more than expected

Core orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as a leading indicator of capital spending in the six to nine months ahead, fell 1.7% in January.
Mamiko Tanaka (right), wife of Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani, arrives at Incheon International Airport on Friday ahead of the 2024 MLB Seoul Series baseball games.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 18, 2024

A mystery no more: What we know about Ohtani’s wife

No one in the sports world is receiving as much attention right now as baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani — that is, besides his wife, Mamiko Tanaka.
Tourists ride go-karts on a street in Tokyo's Asakusa area in October.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 19, 2024

Tokyo go-karts draw over 100 complaints in 2023

Common grievances include riders exiting karts at traffic lights for photos and disregarding red lights, according to the police.
Artisan Suzanne Ross says Japanese lacquerware is a "treasure that belongs to the world."
JAPAN / Society
Mar 20, 2024

Wajima artisan’s livelihood, four decades in the making, upended by disaster

Lacquerware artist Suzanne Ross' life was upended by a massive earthquake. Now, she's determined to keep her craft alive.
Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu holds a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Mar 20, 2024

'Frustration' to drive Japan in North Korea World Cup qualifiers

The pre-tournament favorites and four-time champions exited the Asian Cup in the quarterfinals last month after losing 2-1 to Iran.
The opposition has no means to force the six current and former Liberal Democratic Party members to testify in parliament without the agreement from the party's leadership, starting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who concurrently serves as party president.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 20, 2024

Kishida weighs demand for sworn testimonies to clear air on scandal

Opposition parties want six current and former LDP members to testify before parliament on their knowledge of party fundraising kickbacks.
A map from the Japan Meteorological Agency displays the shindo intensity of the quake that struck the Kanto region at 9:08 a.m. on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2024

Magnitude 5.3 quake jolts Saitama and Tochigi

The quake, which triggered quake alarms in Tokyo and neighboring areas, measured a low 5 on the Japanese shindo scale of intensity.
Ryuichi Kihara and Riku Miura compete during the World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 21, 2024

Canadian pair lead Japan's Miura and Kihara after short program at worlds

In the women's singles competition, Kaori Sakamoto's bid for a third straight title got off to an unsteady start in the short program.
Shizue Takahashi, a bereaved family member of the 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system, offers a prayer at Kasumigaseki Station on Wednesday, the 29th anniversary of the attack.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 20, 2024

Japan marks 29th anniversary of Tokyo subway sarin attack

The Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult's sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system killed 14 people and injured more than 6,000.
Japan’s exports grew for a third consecutive month in February on the back of robust shipments of vehicles.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 21, 2024

Japan’s exports rise for third straight month led by autos

The economy is projected to record another small expansion in the current quarter, as the weak yen is expected to continue offering support to exporters.
Significantly, JAL will also buy 11 A321neos, breaking Boeing’s exclusive hold on the airline as its sole supplier of single-aisle jets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 21, 2024

Japan Airlines to add 32 new Airbus planes to its fleet

The airline, a longtime Boeing customer, will also buy 10 jets from the U.S. planemaker as it expands its international network.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 22, 2024

Local support sought for Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant restart

A representative from an agency of the industry ministry highlighted the "severe" energy supply situation in eastern Japan.

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