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April 06, 2025
 

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Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 17, 2020
Osaka referendum: Merger gets second chance, but are voters on board?
Five years after voters in the city of Osaka narrowly voted down a referendum on consolidating its 24 wards into five with more autonomy and eliminating the municipal assembly and mayor, another referendum is set for later this year.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Feb 15, 2020
COVID-19 tests Osaka's ability to reach East Asia
Since Kansai International Airport opened in 1994, business and political leaders in Osaka have touted the region as the gateway to Asia. Often showing little interest in other parts of the world, they would tell each other in conference rooms, cocktail parties, symposiums and seminars that China and...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 3, 2020
The Kawai scandal and the race to succeed Shinzo Abe
Hiroshima-based Liberal Democratic Party Diet member Anri Kawai admitted in January to receiving ¥150 million from LDP headquarters prior to the July 2019 Upper House election. Kawai, a novice in national politics, is also the wife of disgraced former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai, who was forced...
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2020
Could growing tourism troubles unseat Kyoto's long-time mayor?
Kyoto voters head to the polls Sunday to cast their ballots in a mayoral election that will have an impact on the city's future policies for domestic and international tourism, at a time when voter concerns about the problems of too many tourists are paramount.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2020
Ghosn's escape exposes business jet industry's security loopholes
Beside the prominent entrance to Kansai International Airport's Terminal 2, which serves several budget airlines, is a nondescript door to which a sign saying Premium Gate Tamayura has been affixed.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 24, 2020
How lessons learned from SARS could apply to the coronavirus outbreak
With the arrival of the Lunar New Year, Japan and other international destinations are bracing for an annual influx of tourists.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 19, 2020
Casino bribes scandal threatens to upend Diet debate as public opposition climbs
Just a month ago, the Diet session opening Monday was expected to hotly debate but ultimately approve more specific measures on how Japan will operate what will eventually be its first casino resorts.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jan 18, 2020
Memories from the Great Hanshin Earthquake still resonate 25 years later
On the morning of Jan. 17, 1995, I was jolted awake in my Kyoto apartment by the largest earthquake I'd ever experienced. The glass windows shook violently, but thankfully didn't break.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2020
Kobe marks quarter century since Great Hanshin Earthquake killed thousands
Kobe and the surrounding area on Friday morning marked a quarter century since the Great Hanshin Earthquake devastated the region, killing 6,434 people in what was then Japan's worst postwar natural disaster.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2020
25 years after Kobe quake, SDF respected and volunteerism still strong
As Kobe commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that took the lives of more than 6,400 people, the city and region are working to remind younger generations of the past devastation — and the importance of disaster-preparedness — even as they face tough questions about their...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2020
Awareness of issue of plastic garbage in Japan slowly gaining steam
At a mid-December meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organization and UNESCO, Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa spoke with pride about his city's successes in the area of sustainable, environmentally friendly tourism.
JAPAN / Outlook 2020
Jan 2, 2020
Japan's pressing regional affairs to unfold quietly in shadow of Olympics
This year, all attention will turn to the 2020 Olympics, with politicians, business leaders and the media talking about how to ensure its success, what it means for Japan domestically and internationally and how to avert a post-Olympic economic slump.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 22, 2019
SDF tests public support with next mission in Middle East
The Cabinet is expected to approve a Self-Defense Forces mission to the Middle East that will comprise a destroyer, patrol planes and 250 personnel as part of an intelligence-gathering operation.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 15, 2019
Could merger talks finally produce a credible opposition force in Japan?
With the close of the extraordinary Diet session on Dec. 9, some of the largest opposition parties once again entered talks about merging before year's end, with an eye toward increasing their seats in the next general election. Here's a look at the talks and what they might mean for Japan's political...
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Dec 15, 2019
Major issues loom as Kansai looks ahead to the new year
It was a busy 2019 for Kansai, particularly in the days leading up to the June Group of 20 leaders summit in Osaka. While the Tokyo Olympics will be the focus of much of the nation's attention in 2020, here are some major issues that will impact Kansai next year:
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2019
Tourism's effect on historic cities and sites in focus as global conference kicks off in Kyoto
Rising concerns worldwide about what an increase in tourism is doing to historic cities, cultural sites and the environment loomed over the start Thursday of a two-day gathering in Kyoto on tourism and culture organized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization and UNESCO.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 12, 2019
At Madrid climate talks, Japan's Shinjiro Koizumi confronts critics over coal
Koizumi defended the government's policy by saying the country was not getting enough credit for its efforts to move to more environmentally friendly energy sources.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 9, 2019
Tohoku reactor restart: What is the state of Japan's nuclear policy?
In late November, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) gave the green light for restarting the No. 2 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture, which had been damaged in the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami. The announcement once again put the spotlight on the...
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2019
'Coal Japan' threatens to displace 'Cool Japan' as U.N. climate conference set to kick off in Madrid
A key United Nations climate change conference is due to begin in Madrid but Japan finds itself facing global ire over its reliance on fossil fuels.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2019
Hokkaido officially pulls out of casino resort bidding over environmental concerns
Gov. Naomichi Suzuki said there wasn't enough time to draft protective measures, leaving at least four other areas in the running for Japan's first three resorts.
3D printer used to construct train station building in Japan
A train station building (front) is assembled from parts printed using 3D printer technology, in Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Nissan says it will not take new U.S. orders for Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs
A Nissan manufacturing complex in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Nissan says it will not take new orders from the United States for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs following new auto tariffs levied by the U.S.
Japan digs deep to address 'national crisis' caused by Trump tariffs
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on April 1. He has said that Japan is facing a "national crisis" following the introduction of new tariffs by the United States.
Tokyo’s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway’s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital’s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Tottori takes a bold leap forward in the arts
The city of Kurayoshi in Tottori Prefecture celebrated the opening of its public art museum with festivities such as a parade that drew 1,000 revelers.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

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