About half of around 100 regional banks in Japan will introduce a new cashless payment system developed by Mizuho Financial Group Inc. starting in late March, sources close to the matter said Saturday ... ( read original story ...)
Nissan panel to recommend outside director to chair board: Nikkei
Speculation has swirled about whether the newly appointed chairman of France’s Renault, Jean-Dominique Senard, would assume the chairmanship of the Japanese automaker. The Nikkei report comes ... ( read original story ...)
Naomi Osaka throws down gauntlet to star-studded Dubai field
Arab News picks out likely winners and glamor ties to keep an eye ... her first since her shock split with her coach Sascha Bajin. The German had helped guide Osaka to back-to-back Grand Slam triumphs ... ( read original story ...)
MUFG prepares to offer Islamic bonds in Japan
TOKYO -- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will become the first Japanese bank to market Islamic bonds domestically, starting as soon as March in partnership with Morgan Stanley. MUFG Bank's Malaysia ... ( read original story ...)
The map that shows how big a problem Japanese knotweed is in your area
A new tracking tool has been devised to tell how far the nearest infestation of Japanese knotweed is to your home. The technology has identified the number of local infestations of the plant, which ca... ( read original story ...)
Osaka in the spotlight ahead of G20 and elections
But when it comes to Osaka this year, what’s noticeable is not only what politicians and business leaders have talked about, but also what they’ve played down. 2019 is being called, locally, the “Year ... ( read original story ...)
Japan to protect water and electricity from shady telecom equipment
Nikkei has learned. The warning will appear in Japan's revised cybersecurity guidelines due out this spring, in what would be the first such mention of threats that telecommunications equipment pose. ( read original story ...)
Trump claims Japan’s PM nominated him for Nobel Peace Prize
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Friday that Japan's prime minister had nominated him for ... give out a thing called the Nobel Prize," Trump said at a White House news conference whe... ( read original story ...)
Japanese man Minoru Tanaka missing since 1978 found in North Korea
A Japanese man thought to have been kidnapped by North Korean agents decades ago but whose presence there had never been confirmed is alive and living in the North Korean capital with his family, Kyod... ( read original story ...)
Japan Sales-Tax Hike Not Yet Set in Stone, Ex-MOF Official Says
A nationwide sales-tax increase set to take effect in Japan in October may be delayed a third time if there’s a global economic downturn, according to former Ministry of Finance official Kazumasa Ogur... ( read original story ...)
Japanese man abducted to North Korea decades ago alive: Kyodo
TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese man thought to have been kidnapped by North Korean agents decades ago but whose presence there had never been confirmed is alive and living in the North Korean capital wit... ( read original story ...)
Tokyo Olympics: Cost of opening/closing ceremony up 40%
TOKYO (AP) — The price of the opening and closing ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics has risen about 40 percent according to numbers released by the organizing committee. Toshiro Muto, the chief executiv... ( read original story ...)
Half of couples in same-sex marriage lawsuits in Japan remaining anonymous
I want Japan to be a society where people can freely live as they wish," said Kawata. Another man, who filed his suit with the Nagoya District Court, told a news conference that when he and his partne... ( read original story ...)
Japan to recognise Ainu as ‘indigenous people’ for first time
"It is the first step for ensuring equality under the law," Mikiko Maruko, who represents a group of Ainu people in eastern Japan near Tokyo, told AFP news agency, commenting on the government's move. ... ( read original story ...)
Japan and South Korea lag rivals in fiber-optic speeds as 5G nears
Sweden and Denmark speeds are now around 40 Mbps, while the U.S. and U.K. have overtaken Japan in communications speeds. Nikkei extracted and analyzed data from 199 countries and regions ... ( read original story ...)
Ticket vending machines down at bullet train stations across Japan
(Japanese original by Toru Kuroo and Atsuko Ota, Nagoya News Center; Tsuyoshi Yamada, Osaka City News Department; and Kohei Chiwaki, Tokyo City News Department) ( read original story ...)