HONOLULU — Prince Akishino, the second son of Japan's Emperor Akihito, and his wife, Princess Kiko, are visiting Hawaii for the first time. The Japanese royal couple is on Oahu this week as part of a yearlong celebration for the 150th anniversary of the ... ( read original story ...)
Editor at large: Taking the bullet train to food and fun in Osaka
It takes about three hours on the Shinkansen, or bullet train, to travel from Tokyo, south to Osaka. We get to take the Hikari train, which has a top speed of over 160 MPH. It’s the fastest train covered by our rail pass, but not the fastest train that ... ( read original story ...)
New Yokohama Geolandar X-MT
Coming to the United States on July 1st, 2018, is Yokohama’s newest addition to the Geolandar lineup—the Geolandar X-MT. Fardad Nikham of Yokohama tells us, “For an extreme off-road tire with tenacious grip and killer looks, the GEOLANDAR X-MT also ... ( read original story ...)
Japan’s Sharp close to deal to buy Toshiba’s PC business: sources
TOKYO (Reuters) - Sharp Corp is in talks to finalize a deal to buy Toshiba Corp’s personal computer business for around 5 billion yen ($45.7 million), as the Japanese electronics unit of Taiwan’s Foxconn seeks to re-enter the PC market, sources said. ( read original story ...)
Emirates to Launch A380 Services to Osaka, Japan
The Emirates’ Airbus A380 aircraft serving the Dubai-Osaka route will offer a total of 489 seats in a three-class configuration, with 399 spacious seats in Economy Class, 76 fully flat-bed seats in Business Class and 14 First Class Private Suites. ( read original story ...)
Dubai’s Emirates to serve Osaka with A380, offers Santiago discounts
Return journey EK316 leaves Osaka at 11;35pm and arrives in Dubai at 5:45am ... starting from Dhs5,500 ($1,497) and business class fares starting from Dhs20,000 ($5,445). Emirates Holiday packages exclusive of the airfare are being offered from Dhs2,000 ... ( read original story ...)
Japan finance minister takes pay cut, officials punished
TOKYO – Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso has taken a voluntary one-year salary cut and 20 other officials were penalized for tampering with documents related to a government property sale linked to the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife. The Finance ... ( read original story ...)
Japan looks to launch driverless car system in Tokyo by 2020
TOKYO (Reuters) - A self-driving car service could be on Tokyo’s public roads in time for the 2020 Olympics as Japan looks to drive investment in new technology to drive economic growth, according to a government strategic review announced on Monday. ( read original story ...)
Consortium buying Toshiba’s memory business promises growth
TOKYO — The buyers of Toshiba Corp.'s memory device operations ... Sugimoto said he was also eyeing mergers and acquisitions to expand the company's business. He said talks have started with Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, a government investment ... ( read original story ...)
Finance ministry set to punish 20 officials over tampering of Moritomo sale docs
OSAKA -- The Ministry of Finance is poised to punish 20 officials over the altering of documents relating to the heavily discounted sale of state land in Osaka Prefecture to nationalist school operator Moritomo Gakuen, with a report on the case expected on ... ( read original story ...)
Japanese unicorn runs astray ahead of IPO
Bookbuilding for the IPO is scheduled to end on June 8. The company is due to list its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Mothers market on June 19. Morgan Stanley and Daiwa Securities are underwriting the offering. ( read original story ...)
Nikkei rises to 1-week high on US jobs data; exporters gain on weak yen
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to a one-week high on Monday morning, tracking Friday’s Wall Street’s gains after May jobs data pointed to strength in the U.S. economy, while a weaker yen lifted shares of Japanese exporters. ( read original story ...)
Japan wants to work with the US to stop China’s ‘market-distorting’ practices
Japan called on the United States to join forces in stopping China from taking market-distorting investment practices in a bilateral finance leaders' meeting, a senior Japanese finance ministry official said on Thursday. During the meeting with his U.S ... ( read original story ...)
Japan’s demographic time bomb: can a calendar help Otari’s single men find love?
Seigo Fujiwara, a Japan Post deliveryman, from the Otari village annual calendar. Photograph: Otari village office Keito Kobayashi has swapped his usual work clothes for the uniform of his second job as a volunteer firefighter. He is, the caption in the ... ( read original story ...)
Japan’s labor market has been experiencing a phenomenon for years
The country's immigration policy is a factor in its labor market dynamics. Japan has one of the lowest unemployment rates globally. Business surveys continue to indicate significant labour shortages and the working age population is no longer growing. ( read original story ...)
Japan’s $2,700 answer to the Amazon Echo could make the country’s sex crisis even worse
Japan has a sex problem. The country's birthrate is in the negative, where deaths are outpacing births. Simply put, Japan's population is decreasing. But let's be clear: Population change is a complicated subject affected by many factors. Western media ... ( read original story ...)