January 19, 2023

Shaken to the Core

A Japanese court acquitted three former Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) executives, who were charged with negligence in the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant meltdowns, the first criminal prosecution related to the incident that occurred more than a decade ago, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. The three...

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January 13, 2023

The Best Offense …

Japan and the United States are planning to strengthen their defense alliance and upgrade the US military’s posture in the country, moves aimed at countering China’s influence, CNN reported Thursday. Officials from both countries announced the plan during the US-Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting on Wednesday,...

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January 03, 2023

Please, Leave

Japan introduced new monetary incentives this week to urge families to move out of Tokyo, a move aimed to address decades of demographic decline and economic migration to the capital, the Financial Times reported Monday. Officials said the government will offer families up to $7,600 per...

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September 02, 2022

A Luddite’s End

Japan will implement measures to get rid of floppy disks and other old-fashioned technology after the country’s digital affairs minister “declared war” on obsolete devices to push the government into the digital age, Sky News reported. Minister Taro Kono said that existing regulations will be updated...

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August 22, 2022

Friend or Foe?

Japanese authorities are warning beachgoers to beware of an angry dolphin that is responsible for attacking at least six swimmers at three beaches in western Japan over the past month, the Guardian reported. Victim accounts from the attacks on three beaches in the Fukui Prefecture on...

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August 16, 2022

A Ritual Silence

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent a ritual offering to a controversial World War II shrine in the capital on Monday, a monument that has drawn criticism from Japan’s wartime victims, South Korea and China, the Guardian reported. The offering was made to Tokyo’s Yasukuni shrine...

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July 11, 2022

The To-Do List

On Friday, a gunman murdered former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, a towering figure in Japan. The seismic impact of that killing will linger for years to come, a Bloomberg opinion piece noted. This is a country where violence is so rare that most people can remember...

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June 14, 2022

Sticks and Stones

Japanese lawmakers passed a bill Monday that would make online insults punishable by prison terms and steep fines, legislation considered a major step in tackling cyberbullying in the country, Kyodo News reported. The new rules come two years after the death of Hana Kimura, a 22-year-old...

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June 02, 2022

Bar All, Bar None

Japan is preparing to reopen to foreign tourists this month, even as Hollywood celebrities and South Korean entertainers have been able to enter the country amid strict border closures because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Post reported. Over the past weeks, foreign actors and K-pop...

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May 30, 2022

Paying Dues

The founder of one of the world’s most infamous terrorist groups in the 1970s walked free from a Japanese prison Saturday after serving a 20-year sentence, apologizing for the damage she and her group had inflicted on the innocent decades ago, Sky News reported. Fusako Shigenobu,...

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May 12, 2022

Plan B

Japanese lawmakers passed an economic security bill Wednesday aimed at protecting the country's supply chains and critical infrastructure from theft and cyberattacks amid growing tensions with China, Reuters reported. The legislation would allow the government to closely monitor Japanese companies working in sensitive sectors, including transport,...

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February 23, 2022

Paying Dues

A Japanese court ruled Tuesday that the government must compensate three disabled people who underwent forced sterilization under the now-defunct eugenics protection law, the first ruling in which damages have been awarded to plaintiffs, the Japanese-based Kyodo reported. The Osaka High Court said the government must pay...

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