Category Archives: Japan

Tokyo mayoral win a ‘huge surprise’ for candidate living in Belgium

Posted on by

Japanese national Satoko Kishimoto won ward of 500,000 people 5,800 miles away with online campaigning

A Japanese woman living in Belgium has been elected as mayor of a district in Tokyo after coming to prominence through her online campaigning during the Covid pandemic.

Satoko Kishimoto, 47, who has lived in the Belgian city of Leuven with her husband and children for a decade, is now mayor of Suginami city, a ward of 500,000 people, more than 5,800 miles away from her home.

Continue reading...

Don’t swipe, write: Japanese city encourages daters to send love letters

Posted on by

Matchmaking initiative in Miyazaki has brought together 17 couples, as Japan battles falling birthrate

Japan’s faltering campaign to raise its birthrate has gone analogue, with authorities in a southwestern city encouraging potential suitors to put pen to paper and wait patiently for a reply rather than simply swiping right.

The city of Miyazaki says hundreds of men and women have dabbled in old-fashioned letter writing since the matchmaking scheme was launched two years ago. While there have been no wedding bells, the programme has spawned 32 face-to-face meetings and brought together 17 couples.

Continue reading...

Owner of UK chip designer Arm may float some of firm’s shares in London

Posted on by

Japan’s SoftBank still likely to conduct IPO in New York but could secure secondary listing

The Japanese owner of the British chip designer Arm is reportedly planning to float some of the company’s shares in London, in a sign the government’s efforts to lobby for a UK listing of the Cambridge-based company may have succeeded.

SoftBank, which bought the chip company for $32bn in 2016, is said to be reconsidering earlier plans to only list shares on the US market.

Continue reading...

US warns of ‘stark’ stakes in Taiwan Strait if status quo unilaterally altered

Posted on by

Defence secretary says US does not support Taiwan independence, which China says would prompt it to take island back

The US has warned of “especially stark” stakes in the Taiwan Strait if the status quo is unilaterally altered, as China reiterated its resolve to take the island back if it declares independence.

Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington does not support Taiwanese independence, and the Joe Biden administration “categorically” opposes any change of the status quo.

Continue reading...

Scientists make ‘slightly sweaty’ robot finger with living skin

Posted on by

Japanese innovation thought to have potential to ‘build a new relationship between humans and robots’

Japanese scientists have developed a “slightly sweaty” robotic finger covered in living skin in an advance they say brings truly human-like robots a step closer.

The finger, which was shown to be able to heal itself, is seen as an impressive technical feat that blurs the line between living flesh and machine. But scientists were divided on whether people would warm to its lifelike anatomy or find it creepy.

Continue reading...

Japan to let in foreign tourists, but only if masked and accompanied by chaperone

Posted on by

Visitors from select countries will be allowed to return to Japan from Friday but will only be allowed to travel under strict conditions

Foreign tourists visiting Japan will be required to wear masks and spend their entire stay chaperoned by local guides, as the country prepares to open up to international travellers after two years of Covid-19 border restrictions.

People who have waited patiently for the chance to visit Japan, which imposed some of the toughest travel restrictions during the pandemic, will also have to take out private medical insurance in case they contract the virus, the government said this week.

Continue reading...

Flood alerts issued as more torrential rain forecast to hit China

Posted on by

At least 15 people were killed last week and new low pressure system across region will bring more disruption

Record-breaking rains that have battered parts of China and east Asia in the last week are expected to worsen, with authorities warning of an increased risk of floods.

In the first week of China’s flood season, extreme rainfalls have caused floods and landslides, destroyed roads and infrastructure, and led to the deaths of at least 15 people. Floods, landslides and disruptions to water and electricity were reported in Shaoguan, in northern Guangdong province, and more than 800,000 people in Jiangxi were reportedly affected by torrential rains that have so far hit 80 of the province’s counties and damaged more than 76,000 hectares (188,000 acres) of cropland.

Continue reading...

Japanese man, 83, becomes oldest person to sail solo non-stop across Pacific

Posted on by

Yachtsman Kenichi Horie repeats trick after becoming first person to successfully take on feat in 1962

Before he set off, Kenichi Horie said his only fear about sailing solo non-stop across the Pacific Ocean was his age. But on Saturday, the 83-year-old – known as “Japan’s most famous yachtsman” – proved it was not an obstacle after all as he became the world’s oldest person to complete the challenge.

After more than two months at sea, the record-breaking octogenarian, who in 1962 also became the first person to successfully take on the feat, arrived in the waters off the Kii peninsula in western Japan at 2.39am local time.

Continue reading...

14th-century samurai sword found in car at Swiss border

Posted on by

Officers say 700-year-old artefact worth €650,000 was transported from Stuttgart on behalf of driver’s employer

Swiss customs authorities have discovered an antique Japanese samurai sword made nearly 700 years ago, after it was smuggled into the country.

The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security said the katana sword, dated to 1353 and valued at €650,000 (£550,000), was found in a car with Swiss plates during a routine search near Zurich. Several other objects were also found in the car, including an antique book, a contract and the sales invoice.

Continue reading...

Japan to approve abortion pill – but partner’s consent will be required

Posted on by

Delay in approving pill, and the possible $780 cost, reflect priorities of male-dominated parliament, say critics

Women in Japan could be forced to seek their partner’s consent before being prescribed the abortion pill, which will reportedly be approved late this year – three decades after it was made available to women in the UK.

Under Japan’s 1948 Maternal Protection Law, consent is already required for surgical abortions – with very few exceptions – a policy that campaigners say tramples over women’s reproductive rights.

Continue reading...

G7 countries to stop funding fossil fuel development overseas

Posted on by

Ministers from world’s biggest economies reach agreement that could shift estimated $33bn a year to clean energy sources

The world’s biggest economies are to stop funding any overseas fossil fuel development from the end of this year, in a move likely to choke off some of the investment in “carbon bombs” that are imperilling efforts to meet the world’s climate targets.

The agreement could shift about $33bn (£26bn) a year from fossil fuels to clean energy sources, according to analysts’ estimates.

Continue reading...

‘China in mind’: Japan mulls beefing up military as Ukraine war rings alarm

Posted on by

Country could double spending and acquire ‘first-strike’ capability in shift away from defensive postwar posture

Weeks after he became Japan’s prime minister last year, Fumio Kishida pulled on a dark green bomber jacket, the hinomaru flag emblazoned on his sleeve, and climbed into a tank.

Official photos show him displaying an awkward smile for his audience at Camp Asaka – the men and women of the the country’s Self-Defence Forces – an indication, perhaps, that postwar Japanese leaders and military hardware have not always been easy bedfellows.

Continue reading...

‘Empress of terror’: Japanese Red Army founder released from prison

Posted on by

Fusako Shigenobu, who served 20 years for French embassy siege, believed to have masterminded deadly Tel Aviv attack

The founder of one of the most feared terrorist organisations of the 1970s has walked free from a Japanese prison after completing a 20-year sentence for the siege of the French embassy in the Netherlands.

Once described as “the empress of terror”, Fusako Shigenobu founded the Japanese Red Army, a radical leftist group that carried out armed attacks worldwide in support of the Palestinian cause.

Continue reading...

Japan to reopen to foreign tourists after two-year pandemic closure

Posted on by

Government to allow in tourists from 98 countries and regions next month – but only as part of tour groups

Japan has announced it will end a two-year pandemic closure and reopen to tourists from 98 countries and regions next month, but travellers will only be allowed in as part of tour groups.

The decision comes after the government last week said it would test allowing small group tours with visitors from the US, Australia, Thailand and Singapore from this month.

Continue reading...

Albanese insists ‘we will determine our values’ after Chinese premier reaches out to new PM

Posted on by

Prime minister in Tokyo says no ‘serious person’ had believed Coalition line that a Labor government would adopt a softer approach towards Beijing

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says his government will not bend to demands from China to reset the strained relationship despite overtures from Beijing in the wake of Labor’s election win.

Speaking after a meeting of the quadrilateral security dialogue (Quad) in Tokyo on Tuesday, Albanese confirmed the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, had sent a congratulatory letter to him following Saturday’s election win. The letter was first reported by Chinese state media Xinhua on Monday.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden: invasion of Ukraine shows need for free and open Indo-Pacific

Posted on by

Leaders of US, India, Japan and Australia meet in Tokyo for Quad summit Beijing claims is an attempt to contain China

The turmoil caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has underlined the need for a free Indo-Pacific region, Joe Biden has said at a meeting with regional partners that Beijing has condemned as part of a US-led attempt to contain China.

Biden and the leaders of a loose alliance known as the Quad – India, Japan and Australia – reaffirmed their commitment to a “free and open” Indo-Pacific during talks in Tokyo on Tuesday. The comments came one day after the US president said Washington would be ready to intervene militarily to defend Taiwan, prompting China to accuse him of “playing with fire”.

Continue reading...

PM says ‘no change’ on Taiwan – as it happened

Posted on by

Prime minister confirms Australia to host Quad summit in 2023 after Tokyo meeting; 68 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

Marles is also asked about petrol prices, which are rising again:

It is difficult. We’re facing a cost of living crisis. As a government, we’re willing to say that in a way the former government was not. What ultimately underpins is it we’ve had the longest period of wage stagnation since records were kept.

What underpins that is a decade of lost productivity. What that’s we need to change. It doesn’t happen overnight. We’ve been clear about that. But the job does start overnight and we’re on the pathway right now to making sure that we revitalise Australian industry, we give people the skills they need so they can get the good jobs out there.

I think China is going to continue to be a difficult relationship for us. From an Australian point of view, we understand the complexity of the relationship.

It is our largest trading partner, but China is seeking to shape the world around it in ways we have not seen before, in places like the South China sea. But [also] in increased strategic competition in our region, in the Pacific, and we’ve seen the agreement they have signed with the Solomon Islands.

Continue reading...

US would defend Taiwan if attacked by China, says Joe Biden

Posted on by

President says US’s responsibility to protect island is ‘even stronger’ after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Joe Biden has said the US would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan if it came under attack from China, in an unusually forceful presidential statement in support of self-governing that drew a defiant response from Beijing.

Speaking in Tokyo on the second day of his visit to Japan, and against the backdrop of growing concern over Chinese military activity in the region, Biden said the US’s responsibility to protect the self-ruled island – which China considers a renegade province – was “even stronger” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Biden security agents sent home from Seoul after reported drunken assault

Posted on by

Unnamed team member reportedly got into dispute with South Korean citizen outside hotel where Biden is expected to stay

Joe Biden’s visit to South Korea and Japan has got off to a bad start with two Secret Service agents set to be sent home after one was accused of drunkenly assaulting a South Korean the day before the president arrived in Seoul, officials said.

Earlier reports said a member of his advance security detail was arrested for allegedly assaulting a South Korean citizen in Seoul.

Continue reading...

Japanese university told to compensate 13 women after exam discrimination

Posted on by

Juntendo University medical school made it harder for females to pass entrance exams

A medical school in Tokyo that made it harder for female students to pass entrance exams has been ordered to pay compensation to 13 women for gender discrimination.

Juntendo University said in 2018 that it had raised the bar for women in the exams to “narrow the gap with male students”, as a scandal over medical school admissions uncovered improper practices at several institutions.

Continue reading...