Quantcast
Channel: News On Japan
Viewing all 31453 articles
Browse latest View live

Airline moving dolphins in 'flying coffins'

0
0
Hong Kong Airlines is under pressure to stop its live dolphin cargo business, with an online petition alleging that the mammals are transported in "flying coffins". The dolphins are believed to have come from the Japanese town of Taiji, the scene of an annual dolphin slaughter. The China Daily newspaper reported about the delivery of five dolphins from Japan to Vietnam, citing a Hong Kong Airlines memo praising the delivery for earning the company more than $100,000. The report included a photo showing the dolphins lying in shallow, narrow containers inside the cargo plane. (ABC News)

Ballet popularity in Japan growing by leaps and bounds

0
0
Japan is becoming a significant presence in the world of ballet, a recent survey shows, buoyed by a large number of aspiring dancers who benefit from close attention at small schools. The talents of Japanese ballet dancers came under the global spotlight most recently when 17-year-old Madoka Sugai won the prestigious Prix de Lausanne dance competition for young dancers earlier this month. According to a survey by Showa Academia Musicae, a Kawasaki-based music university, more than 400,000 people are expected to take ballet lessons throughout the country this year. (Yomiuri)

Tesda training focuses on Japanese language

0
0
A second batch of Filipino nurses and care workers bound for Japan is undergoing language training through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda). Tesda Director Joel Villanueva said the 26 nurses and 73 care workers are taking courses on the Japanese language and the local culture from Monday to Saturday. There are 20 Japanese and nine Filipino lecturers for the program, which began on January 27 and will last until April 12. (businessmirror.com.ph)

Hitachi: Hurtling toward recovery

0
0
Shares of Japanese conglomerate Hitachi have been flatlining for a decade, as the company has ricocheted from one failed restructuring to another. In 2009, it posted one of the largest annual losses ever by a Japanese manufacturer. And it recently announced a 44% drop in earnings for fiscal third-quarter 2011, suggesting there might be more pain in store for the owners of its shares (ticker: HIT). So why are some global investors bullish? Because that same quarter was one of its most profitable. And if Hitachi keeps trimming low-margin and noncore operations, it will see cash flow, profits, and earnings increase-helped, too, by Japan's recovery from 11's earthquake. (barrons.com)

Rugby: Japanese touch team's gear stolen hours after arrival

0
0
A group of Japanese touch rugby players had nearly all their possessions stolen while they ate at a restaurant in South Auckland only hours after arriving in the country. Brazen thieves used bolt-cutters to cut the locks on the back of three trailers and smash windows of vans to take thousands of dollars of gear, including computers, iPods, phones, passports and the players' kits. The team are here to play in the national touch championship in Palmerston North but have been forced to split up with some members staying in Auckland to buy new gear and replace passports. (New Zealand Herald)

Noda says 'sorry' to Okinawa in US base row

0
0
Japan's premier Yoshihiko Noda offered a personal apology to Okinawa over his government's attitude to the moving of an unpopular US air base. In his first trip as prime minister to the subtropical island chain, Noda on Monday told governor Hirokazu Nakaima he intended to stick with a long-stalled plan to shift the air base, but was sorry for the way the issue had been handled.

"We mustn't fix the Futenma air station" at its current site, Noda told Nakaima, referring to a 2006 agreement for the base to be relocated from its crowded urban location to a sparsely populated coastal zone. But a bowing Noda added: "I apologise to the governor and people of Okinawa" for the insincere attitude the governing Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has shown towards the issue. (AFP)

Smoke hits idle reactor in Niigata

0
0
Smoke was detected in a building full of heat-exchange equipment at an idled reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant but no fire was found, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday. There were no reports of radiation leaks at the No. 5 reactor when the smoke was detected late Saturday. The reactor contains no fuel, the utility said. (Japan Times)

Tsunami alert softened days before 3/11

0
0
Just days before the Great East Japan Earthquake, a government panel softened the wording of a report warning that a massive tsunami could strike northeastern Japan after three utilities with nuclear power plants begged it to do so, it has been learned. According to interviews and documents made available Saturday, staff from Tokyo Electric Power Co., Tohoku Electric Power Co. and Japan Atomic Power Co. asked the secretariat of the Earthquake Research Committee to alter the draft of the report at a meeting on March 3, 2011. (Japan Times)

Hospitals in disaster zone hobbled by staff shortages

0
0
Seventeen of the 45 major hospitals in coastal areas pummeled by the triple calamity last March are still unable to offer full medical services because of staffing shortages, a survey indicated Sunday. Of the 17 hospitals in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, four in Fukushima remain closed and are unlikely to reopen anytime soon, the Kyodo New survey said. Some of the hospitals have run into financial difficulties because they have lost some of their medical staff and patients. Twelve hospitals reported declines in doctors and seven said they had lost some nurses. (Japan Times)

Kipyego passes legend to win Tokyo Marathon

0
0
Kenya's Michael Kipyego upstaged former world record holder Haile Gebrselassie to win the Tokyo Marathon ahead of Arata Fujiwara in 2 hours, 7 minutes and 37 seconds on Sunday. The 38-year-old Gebrselassie, who holds the third-fastest time ever at 2:03.59, was fourth in 2:08.17, his first completed marathon in two years. Gebrselassie pulled away from last year's winner, Hailu Mekonnen, just before the 36-km mark to take the lead, but surrendered it to Kipyego at 38 km. (Japan Times)

Fiscally hobbled Japan nears multiple-currency era: Is yen's demise nigh?

0
0
Japan is actually becoming an increasingly Tokyo-centric economy. Tokyo is super rich. Osaka, the second-largest city in the country, pales visibly against Tokyo's dazzling performance. A somewhat Tea Party-like group lead by a maverick and rather alarming politician is trying to play on the frustrated sentiments of the Osaka public to make its way onto center stage in national politics. It could well be argued that even at the very height of its equal society days, it is doubtful whether Japan met the conditions to justify a single-currency area in terms of economic convergence. In the absence of economic convergence, it is of course the presence of a central income transfer mechanism that holds Japan together as a single-currency area. (Japan Times)

AIJ moved missing pension funds to Caymans, Hong Kong

0
0
About 200 billion yen in pension funds managed by AIJ Investment Advisors Co., most of which has vanished, was moved among overseas private investment trust funds and financial institutions, including those in the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong, according to Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission sources. The commission plans to unravel the complex flow of money from the Tokyo-based investment advisory firm and how the money disappeared. According to sources close to the company, AIJ used most of the 200 billion yen to buy a private investment trust in the Cayman Islands through ITM Securities Co., a Tokyo-based company with close ties to AIJ. This money had been entrusted to AIJ for investment by its client companies, which were mainly small and midsize companies. (Yomiuri)

300 pets still in Fukushima facilities

0
0
More than 300 dogs and cats rescued from around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant were still being kept at animal shelters and other facilities in Fukushima Prefecture as of Friday, according to a prefectural government-led group taking care of such animals. After the crisis began, the prefecture rescued 902 animals from around the power plant, including from within the 20-kilometer no-entry zone, that were apparently left at home by owners forced to evacuate after the March 11 disaster. About 600 dogs and cats have since been collected by their previous owners or placed with new ones, but 305 remain at the facilities. Many are still there because their owners are living in temporary housing units and other evacuation facilities. (Yomiuri)

Families to be required to report missing elderly

0
0
The health ministry intends to require family members living with elderly people who receive pension benefits to report to the Japan Pension Service if the elderly person goes missing, as part of efforts to prevent relatives from fraudulently collecting the benefits, sources said. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry plans to submit bills to revise related laws, including the National Pension Law, to the Diet in March at the earliest. Currently, the ministry obliges family members living with pensioners to report the deaths of elderly people. (Yomiuri)

Plan to scrap spouse tax deductions doomed?

0
0
Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada has hinted the Democratic Party of Japan may withdraw its plan to scrap tax deductions for spouses because of opposition within the party. In a lecture in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, on Saturday, Okada said: "Although the abolition of tax deductions for spouses was included in our manifesto [for the House of Representatives election in 2009], opinions are split within our party. Discussion on the issue has reached an impasse. We'd like to discuss how to include it in our next manifesto." In its manifesto for the 2009 lower house election, the DPJ pledged it would abolish the tax deductions for spouses--designed to reduce the tax burden of households with a full-time housewife--so the money could be used for a monthly child-rearing allowance. (Yomiuri)

Japan's last DRAM maker files for bankruptcy

0
0
One of Japan's last-standing memory-chip makers could soon be a distant memory if it doesn't turn around fast. As Dow Jones Newswires reports Monday, Elpida Memory Inc., which is struggling under a heavy debt load and losses, said it has filed for bankruptcy protection, and that its debts stood at 448 billion yen (US$5.6 billion) as of March 31, 2011. The company was unable to finance upcoming debt repayments due in March and April, and has posted operating losses for five consecutive quarters. This would be the biggest bankruptcy among manufacturers in post-war Japan. But Elpida probably won't be the last dynamic random access memory, or DRAM firm, to go under - or at least to go through some really tumultuous times ahead. (Wall Street Journal)

Japan's economy going into trauma: Expert

0
0
The Japanese economy is headed for a major trauma given its high government debt, ongoing deflation and aging population, says Russell Jones, Global Head of Fixed Income Strategy at Australia's Westpac Institutional Bank. "Japan has had an incredibly slow car crash, it's been going on for 20 years. There is a sense that perhaps it`s economic problems may accelerate a bit," Jones told CNBC on Monday. He adds that because of a rapidly aging population the Japanese economy is not growing and as a result deflation has persisted for over 15 years. "There's just the possibility that when an economy like that also has a very, very high level of government debt, about 220% of GDP, all the considerations are coming together for some sort of trauma, some sort of crisis," Jones said. He also warns that Australia, which has strong trading ties with Japan, could feel the heat if Japan`s economic crisis deepens. (moneycontrol.com)

Now Japanese universities woo Indian students

0
0
Many Indians have heard of Japanese companies such as Suzuki and Toyota but any takers for the University of Tokyo? Very, very few. Now 13 core Japanese universities are keen to attract more Indian students by raising their profile in this country by showcasing the benefits of higher education in the world's second most innovative nation. The University of Tokyo, ranked the world's seventh top-most varsity, today announced the opening of its India office here to serve as a liaison office for all 13 universities seeking to enhance awareness on higher education opportunities, and providing information and assistance for students. (zeenews)

Across Japan with just a smartphone for money

0
0
Over 70 million people in Japan own tap-and-go phones, and their use is on the rise. The country's rulers and other vested interests have pushed the new technology hard so a robust network is now in place. However, despite the availability of this technology, this is still a country that loves cash - and plastic cards, particularly the dreaded foreign visa/debit card, can be looked on askance. So where better to set a challenge to test this new payments set-up? Could I get from one side of Japan to the other and survive, if not thrive, while packing no plastic or cash, just my trusty keitai mobile? The first test is a taxi to the railway station. This was easy, as most of Japan's cabbies carry an e-wallet reader and require no tip. Ditto the station, where an Oyster-like system has been operating for years on all Tokyo trains. I just swiftly pass my glossy, AU smartphone over the gate as I go. (telegraph.co.uk)

Michelin crowns three-star French restaurant as Japan leads

0
0
Michelin today awarded a third star to one more restaurant in France, taking the total to 26 in the home of the guide, which drops further behind Japan for top- rated establishments. The new accolade goes to Flocons de Sel, housed in a chalet in the mountains of Megeve, in the Rhone-Alpes region of southeastern France. Chef Emmanuel Renaut is known for modern seasonal dishes such as a mille-feuille made with vegetables. Ten more restaurants were awarded a second star, taking the total to 83, and 58 gained their first, making 485. The 26 three-star total compares with 32 in Japan: 17 in the Tokyo region and 15 in the west of that country. Japan took the lead last year, when it had 26 three stars, versus 25 in France. (BusinessWeek)
Viewing all 31453 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images