3 h. ago Japan Post stops forcing delivery staff to ride bicycles as punishment

Japan Post has scrapped a controversial practice of forcing delivery workers involved in minor accidents to complete their rounds by bicycle – even in extreme heat – after admitting the measure “could be perceived” as workplace harassment. The decision followed an internal investigation into an incident involving a delivery worker who was instructed to continue his rounds by bicycle for two weeks during a summer heatwave, despite daytime temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees...

Politics

12 h. ago Why China Is Worried About Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s New Prime Minister

Why China Is Worried About Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s New Prime Minister  Forbes

Politics

17 h. ago ‘Stealth husband’: Japan PM Takaichi’s spouse shuns the spotlight

Taku Yamamoto, husband of Japan’s first female Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, said he hopes to support his wife as a “stealth husband”, adding, “Unlike in the West, it is better for the partner to stay out of the spotlight here.” A former fellow Liberal Democratic Party member in the House of Representatives, Yamamoto said he was initially “drawn to the contrast” between Takaichi’s tough exterior and her femininity. The couple, who married in 2004, divorced in 2017 over political differences but...

Events

22 h. ago 4 smugglers arrested for bringing gold into Japan from Hong Kong in underwear

Four people have been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle about 8kg of gold worth around 98.7 million yen (US$650,000) from Hong Kong to Japan by concealing gold powder in underwear, sources familiar with the matter revealed on Tuesday. Masamori Nishimura, 34, is believed to have orchestrated the smuggling attempt by instructing three women in their 20s and 30s to wear underwear with concealed gold powder on a flight in July last year, the sources said. The four admitted to the charges,...

Events

24 h. ago Takaichi becomes Japan’s first female PM, ending political crisis

Japan’s parliament elected ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi as the country’s first female prime minister on Tuesday after her governing party secured a crucial coalition partner. Takaichi, 64, replaced Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tuesday’s parliamentary vote, ending Japan’s three-month political vacuum and wrangling since the coalition’s loss in the July parliamentary election. The moderate centrist Komeito party had split from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after a 26-year-long...

Politics

27 h. ago Is Japan making tourism more expensive to deter unruly visitors?

Japan’s proposed increase in visa fees and departure tax is an attempt to balance between dealing with overtourism and deterring misbehaving visitors at “the bottom of the pyramid”, according to industry observers. The government believes the present fees for visas and departure taxes are low in comparison with international standards, with the Asahi newspaper reporting that the additional funds would be used on improving tourism infrastructure and the education sector. If implemented, the...

Politics

48 h. ago Asia stocks rise: Japan surges on Takaichi bets, China buoyed by positive GDP

Asia stocks rise: Japan surges on Takaichi bets, China buoyed by positive GDP  Investing.com

Politics

3 d. ago Takaichi clears path to be Japan’s first female PM after new coalition deal

Japan’s ruling party and main opposition are set to form a coalition to enable Sanae Takaichi to become the country’s first female premier, local media reported on Sunday. Takaichi became leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party earlier this month, but her bid to become premier was derailed by the collapse of her ruling coalition. Since then, the LDP has been working to cobble together a different alliance, putting her chances back on track. Takaichi and her counterpart Hirofumi Yoshimura...

Politics

3 d. ago Is it time for property investors to end their love affair with Japan?

As Japan enters a new era with the likely election of Sanae Takaichi as the first female prime minister of Asia’s second-largest economy, is it time for property investors to end their enduring love affair with Japanese real estate? The 64-year-old Takaichi emerged last week as the leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, paving the way for her to seek the premiership, although uncertainties remain following the collapse of a coalition with the party’s allies. Under an anticipated...

Society

4 d. ago Japan arrests man in first AI porn case involving deepfakes of celebrities

Tokyo police have arrested a man accused of using artificial intelligence to create and sell explicit fake images of female celebrities, in what local media have called Japan’s first criminal case involving AI-generated pornography depicting public figures. The 31-year-old suspect, Hiroya Yokoi from the northeastern Japanese city of Akita, admitted he began making the deepfakes to earn pocket money and repay a student loan, authorities said on Thursday. Between last October and September this...

Events

5 d. ago Turbulent Japanese politics could slow progress with China, South Korea: analysts

Japan’s unstable political landscape is expected to cast doubt over its diplomatic commitments and could hinder progress in its trilateral summit with China and South Korea, analysts have observed. Uncertainties are mounting as the path to the Japanese premiership for recently elected Liberal Democratic Party leader Sanae Takaichi has been complicated by the abrupt exit of the LDP’s junior coalition partner, Komeito. Takaichi, aiming to be Japan’s first female prime minister, remains short of...

Politics

6 d. ago After India, US tells Japan to stop importing Russian energy

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that he told Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato that the Trump administration expects Japan to stop importing Russian energy. “Minister Kato and I also discussed important issues pertaining to the US-Japan economic relationship and the Administration’s expectation that Japan stop importing Russian energy,” Bessent said on social media after the two met on Wednesday. Bessent and Kato met on the sidelines of the annual International...

Politics

7 d. ago Nuclear ‘bribery’ backlash in Japan over restart plan for world’s largest plant

Japan’s largest power company is reportedly dangling a 100 billion yen (US$654 million) payout for locals to restart its long-dormant Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in a move critics have called “bribery”. The unprecedented financial support package, originally reported by the Nikkei business newspaper, reflects Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (Tepco) mounting desperation to revive the world’s largest nuclear site more than a decade after the Fukushima disaster, according to analysts. A...

Events

8 d. ago How sex tourists from Japan, China and beyond are stealing Lao girls’ future

In a quiet corner of the Lao capital Vientiane, an unremarkable compound conceals a dark and exploitative operation. Behind one door, a room resembling a junior school classroom is filled with girls, some perhaps as young as 10 years old. An investigation has found that foreign men, including Japanese nationals, are among those who frequent such places for sex. The child sex trade has become a pressing concern in Laos, where underground compounds operate discreetly but openly enough to be found...

Events

9 d. ago Are lurid stories in Japan of crimes in Europe tilting more voters to the right?

The decline of Japan’s traditional media and the insatiable appetite of its people for online content have contributed to lurid headlines about crimes committed by foreigners in other countries, according to academics and journalists. Unsurprisingly, they add, the sensationalist stories by Japan’s tabloids and right-wing media posted on their websites and social media have coincided with the electorate’s stance on issues shifting to the right and the rising popularity of anti-immigrant parties,...

Politics

1 week ago Summers in Japan longer by 3 weeks over 42 years, researchers say

Japanese summers have lengthened by about three weeks over the 42 years from 1982 to 2023, a university research group said on Saturday. The Mie University group said that due to climate change, the number of days classified as summer has increased each year, while the length of winter has remained relatively unchanged, and the average durations of spring and autumn have shortened. The group cited “the rise in sea surface temperatures due to global warming” as the main factor, warning that “the...

Politics

1 week ago Why Japan is investing in an arsenal of inflatable dummy weapons

Inspired by the success that Ukraine has had in fooling Russian forces on the battlefield, Japan is reportedly buying more inflatable dummy weapons systems, a move observers say is also embedded in Tokyo’s fighting history. Vehicle News reported on Friday that Japan’s Defence Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency announced last month a public tender for “balloon decoys” that would have to be delivered to an aircraft factory operated by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Gifu Prefecture,...

Events

1 week ago Japan’s Komeito exits ruling coalition in blow to new PM Takaichi

Japan’s ruling coalition collapsed on Friday as junior partner Komeito quit the alliance, putting in peril Sanae Takaichi’s bid to become the country’s first woman prime minister. Takaichi became head of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) less than a week ago and had been expected to be approved by parliament as premier this month. But Komeito’s decision to end the alliance that has governed Japan almost uninterrupted for 25 years sank Japan into a new political crisis. The yen dropped against...

Politics

1 week ago Japan’s Komeito exits coalition, threatening Takaichi’s PM bid

Japan’s ruling coalition collapsed on Friday as junior partner Komeito quit the alliance, putting in peril Sanae Takaichi’s bid to become the country’s first woman prime minister. Takaichi became head of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) less than a week ago, and had been expected to be approved by parliament as premier this month. But Komeito’s decision to end the alliance that has governed Japan almost uninterrupted for 25 years has plunged Japan into a new political crisis. The yen dropped...

Events

1 week ago Japan, China markets dent Asia as economic, political uncertainty drag

Japan, China markets dent Asia as economic, political uncertainty drag  Reuters

Economics