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May 03, 2024
 

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VIEW FROM OSAKA

Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jan 18, 2020
Memories from the Great Hanshin Earthquake still resonate 25 years later
On the morning of Jan. 17, 1995, I was jolted awake in my Kyoto apartment by the largest earthquake I'd ever experienced. The glass windows shook violently, but thankfully didn't break.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Dec 15, 2019
Major issues loom as Kansai looks ahead to the new year
It was a busy 2019 for Kansai, particularly in the days leading up to the June Group of 20 leaders summit in Osaka. While the Tokyo Olympics will be the focus of much of the nation's attention in 2020, here are some major issues that will impact Kansai next year:
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Nov 16, 2019
Kepco's gift scandal casts shadow over Kansai and 2025 Expo
Earlier this fall, it was revealed that 20 Kansai Electric Power Co. officials, including the chairman and president, received nearly ¥320 million in cash and presents between 2006 and 2018 from a powerful, and now deceased, former deputy mayor and political fixer in Takahama, Fukui Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Sep 14, 2019
Sizzling summer threatens Tokyo 2020, Osaka Expo
The summer of 2019 brought record-breaking heat. Early to mid-September, until last week, felt like late July in Kansai, Tokyo, Nagoya and parts of Kyushu and Shikoku. Only in a few areas of Hokkaido, where temperatures dropped into the low teens at night, were there clear signs autumn was arriving.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Aug 17, 2019
For Kyoto, international meeting of museum directors and creators is an opportunity to learn
From Sept. 1 to 7, Kyoto will host thousands of museum directors, curators and art historians from Japan and around the world for the general assembly meeting of the Paris-based International Council of Museums (ICOM).
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jul 20, 2019
Four Kansai issues stirring up Upper House election
While the sensitive issue of constitutional revision and the looming consumption tax hike to 10 percent in October dominate media discussion of what's important in the Upper House election Sunday, there are other problems and issues, some especially acute in the Kansai region, that shouldn't be forgotten. Here are four that have been mentioned by candidates of all parties:
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jun 15, 2019
Amid U.S.-China trade war, Osaka braces for G20 summit
Ready or not Osaka, here it comes. The Group of 20 Summit, that is.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
May 18, 2019
Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito flip-flop on Osaka merger
Just over a month after local elections in which Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) surprised even itself with resounding victories, the established parties' local chapters appear to be on the ropes.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Apr 20, 2019
Osaka Ishin's success could have impact on regional politics elsewhere in Japan
History shows cities that flourish due to maritime trade have a reputation for some of the world's most colorful, complex, and corrupt local politics. That includes the port of Osaka, which was trading with China and the Korean Peninsula more than 1,000 years ago.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / View from Osaka
Mar 16, 2019
In Osaka, leaders' bid to swap seats could spell trouble as region faces global spotlight
When Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui and his sidekick, Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura, announced they would resign their positions to run for each other's seats next month, local reactions ranged from disbelief to exasperation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Feb 16, 2019
Osaka in the spotlight ahead of G20 and elections
January and early February in Kansai, and Japan as a whole, is a busy time for local leaders. New Year's greetings are exchanged by (mostly) elderly men at stuffy buffet parties in luxury hotels. Their job is to stand around holding a white paper napkin-covered drink and toast to, well, something, after interminably long mumbled speeches.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Feb 7, 2019
University in Osaka aims to hone hotel staff with omotenashi to serve Japan's foreign guests
One of the key factors driving Japan's unprecedented tourism boom is its culture of hospitality — epitomized by the concept of omotenashi, which can be roughly translated as "wholeheartedly looking after guests."
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jan 20, 2019
A Japanese city plans to ban plastic shopping bags, but can it push its larger neighbors to follow suit?
International concern over the environmental damage done by the use of plastic in various forms is now the topic of political and economic discussions across the planet. Dealing with plastic waste, especially in the ocean, is one of the long-term issues that Japan has promised to address at this year's Group of 20 summits. In the meantime, local governments, NGOs and business groups from Hokkaido to Okinawa are hosting seminars, discussions and conducting public awareness campaigns on the dangers of plastic waste like never before.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Dec 15, 2018
From G20 to 2025 Expo, many challenges lay ahead for Kansai
In the moments after Osaka was awarded the 2025 World Expo on the early morning of Nov. 24, there was jubilation, back-slapping, and wide smiles. More than a few eyes glittered at the thought of what senior business leaders hoped would be a major cash cow. You could almost hear the clicking of soroban (traditional abacus) in the air as they began mentally adding up the profits to be made.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Nov 17, 2018
Kansai business community sees future foreign worker influx with both hope and concern
The news last week that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is preparing to admit up to 345,000 foreign workers by 2023 has been met with a combination of hope they will help prop up agricultural, manufacturing and service sectors that are struggling to find workers, and concern that Abe has rushed through an immigration policy that will create massive social problems.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Oct 20, 2018
For Kyoto, a chance to lead Japan in fight against food loss
Compared with constitutional revision, the economy, celebrity gossip and pontificating (if not panicking) over geopolitical changes in East Asia and Japan's role in those changes, Japan's mainstream media and politicians had, until recently, given environmental issues less attention.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Sep 15, 2018
Does Kansai need three international airports?
Twenty-four years after Kansai airport's opening, Typhoon Jebi roared through, flooding the main runway, parts of the main terminal building and dislodging a tanker in the adjacent bay that drifted into the facility's connecting bridge.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Aug 18, 2018
Osaka leaders revel as casinos bid for attention
When the Diet passed a law governing the operation of integrated casino resorts last month, public celebrations were few. Media polls showed strong public opposition to casinos, with respondents citing worries about problem gamblers and more crime.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jul 14, 2018
Inclusive approach needed as Kansai pushes U.N. development goals
Over the past six months or so, efforts have been underway by local governments and private businesses to promote the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Numerous speeches are being made about what Kansai might do to contribute to lofty ideals like ensuring the world has access to clean water and proper sanitation, that children have access to education and that gender equality is achieved and women and girls are empowered.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jun 16, 2018
Osaka floats out-of-box thinking for ties with North
Though it remains to be seen how history will judge the June 12 summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, present Japanese and Western views across the political spectrum are generally either skeptical of North Korea's sincerity in honoring any agreement or of America's ability to sincerely negotiate an effective one.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Saudi Arabia steps up Gaza-related arrests as Israel ties edge closer
The arrests for Gaza-related posts indicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s regime will take a hard line against citizens not toeing the line when it comes to normalizing ties with Israel.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

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