JAPAN: When volunteer Mr Tatsumi Okabe, 78, meets Mr and Mrs Yagi for lunch once every month, he provides valuable companionship – particularly for Mrs Yagi, a usually-withdrawn and quiet 75-year-old with dementia, who brightens up whenever he comes by. ( read original story ...)
Saudi Arabia plans economic zones to court Japan Inc.
Japan's JX Holdings energy group and engineering company JGC will work with Saudi Aramco to develop petroleum and gas technologies. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. -- Japan's megabanks -- will share ... ( read original story ...)
Why women rule banking in Thailand
Japan is at the bottom of the list ... chief executive officer at the Thai Institute of Directors and a former deputy governor of the Bank of Thailand. Norway and Sweden, like other countries in Europe and elsewhere, have enacted laws requiring companies ... ( read original story ...)
Inflation returns to Japan
TOKYO—Japan’s consumer prices rose for the first time in more than a year in January as rising global oil prices gave Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Bank of Japan a helping hand in their campaign to overcome deflation. The fractional increase in ... ( read original story ...)
Schools still empty, homes abandoned 6 years after Fukushima disaster
The town of Namie in Japan's Fukushima district still sits empty, six years after a powerful 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami destroyed the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Japanese authorities plan to lift evacuation ... ( read original story ...)
Third win in a row for Kirwa and fast debut for Ando in Nagoya
Italy’s 2013 world silver medallist Valeria Straneo did not start the race, while both Monica Jepoech and Reia Iwade dropped out of the race after 15km. This year’s Nagoya Women’s Marathon had 137 elite runners and 21,564 non-elite runners. ( read original story ...)
22 incredible candid photos show life in Tokyo's 'golden 60s' and 70s
Between the end of World War II and the end of the Cold War, Japan underwent what has been coined an 'economic miracle'. By the end of the 'golden 60s', Japan was the second-largest economy in the world. Writing for Forbes, Jean-Pierre Lehmann says "It is ... ( read original story ...)
Tokyo’s Haneda airport sees record 80 million passengers in 2016
Tokyo’s Haneda airport saw a record 80.1 million passengers last year, aided by a rise in the number of foreign tourists and launches of new routes connecting Japan and U.S. cities, the airport operator said Friday. The number of passengers using the ... ( read original story ...)
10 stunning side-by-side photos show just how destructive Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami were
March 2017 marks the six-year anniversary of Japan's Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, a series of hydrogen explosions that were the worst since Chernobyl. Though the nuclear disaster itself killed no ... ( read original story ...)
Tokyo tries to regain status as global financial player
TOKYO -- A Tokyo Metropolitan Government panel is discussing steps aimed at reclaiming the Japanese capital's status as Asia's top financial center, including making the tax system more hospitable to foreign financial institutions. The effort is being ... ( read original story ...)
Kirwa targeting three-peat at Nagoya Women’s Marathon
Ohara was originally entered, but pulled out recently due to a stress fracture in her left foot. But it’s Kirwa, a two-time Nagoya winner, who will start as the prohibitive favorite. If she wins Kirwa will be the first three-time winner of this event ... ( read original story ...)
Six years after Japan tsunami, trauma to lives, economy persists
TOKYO -- Six years ago, more than 18,000 people died or went missing as a tsunami triggered by a massive quake engulfed coastal areas of northeastern Japan. Tens of thousands more people's lives were unraveled when they lost family members, friends ... ( read original story ...)
Japan says no barriers to auto imports after U.S. fires trade salvo
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan on Friday rejected U.S. demands for more access to Japan's auto market, saying the government has already taken steps to eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers. The rebuff by the government's top spokesman came in reply to a ... ( read original story ...)
Osaka could reject planned Nippon Kaigi school over shady land deal
reports TBS News (Mar. 7). The controversy surrounds the sale of land in Osaka’s Toyonaka City at a price far below market value to educational body Moritomo Gakuen, the operator of the private elementary school Mizuho no Kuni Kinen Shogakuin. ( read original story ...)
Japan's environment minister sees business risk in building new coal-fired plant
TOKYO Chugoku Electric Power Co and JFE Steel may need to rethink ... coal-fired power plant, flagged a business risk and suggested the companies should consider all options including scrapping the plan. JFE Steel is a unit of JFE Holdings Inc. "It is ... ( read original story ...)
Adorable Japanese couple wear matching outfits every day; give us #relationshipgoals
By Marilisa Racco National Online Journalist, Smart Living Global News Never has #OOTD looked this enviable. Bon and Pon, a 60-something couple from Japan, is taking Instagram by storm with their matchy-matchy outfits that prove style is ageless. ( read original story ...)