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April 06, 2025
 

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Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2018
Okinawa governor expresses anger after third U.S. military helicopter makes precautionary landing in the prefecture
“The U.S. military is out of control. They can't exercise any oversight, there are no signs they will reform,” said Okinawa's governor after another American helicopter made an emergency landing.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2018
Osaka watching closely as Paris moves closer to withdrawing World Expo bid
Osaka reacted with cautious optimism as Paris moved closer to officially withdrawing its bid to host the 2025 World Expo, leaving only Osaka, Azerbaijan's Baku and Russia's Ekaterinburg in a three-way race to be decided in November by the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2018
Osaka cautiously optimistic after French media report say Paris will pull 2025 Expo bid
Supporters of the Osaka 2025 World Expo bid have long seen Paris as their main rival.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jan 21, 2018
Japan's Kansai region abuzz over chance to host G-20 and climate gatherings in 2019
2018 has just begun, but Osaka and Kyoto are already looking ahead to 2019, when the prospect of hosting two major international conferences has the local political and business circles excited.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2018
Fukui weighs new wave of reactors to protect status as Japan's 'nuclear capital'
With 13 commercial nuclear reactors — more than any other prefecture — Fukui has long been Japan's nuclear power capital. Prior to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and triple core meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, Fukui's plants provided up to half of Kansai's electricity.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2018
Residents and expats in Kansai mark Trump inauguration anniversary with protest march
One year after the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, nearly 70 Kansai residents, mostly Americans and Japanese, staged a protest march over the weekend against a leader whose policies, statements and treatment of women and minorities has been internationally condemned as racist and sexist....
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jan 20, 2018
Journalism tied to those in power must be checked
"If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking."
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2018
Nippon Ishin no Kai leader and Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui files suit against Niigata Gov. Ryuichi Yoneyama over Twitter comments
Matsui demanded an explanation after Yoneyama made a reference on Twitter to a Nippon Ishin leader who attacks party members voicing different opinions, forcing them to be obedient.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2018
Pew survey gauges Japanese confidence in media coverage at 65%
A survey by a U.S. think tank finds the majority of Japanese think the domestic media are doing at least “somewhat well” on accuracy.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2018
Kansai Electric denies it plans to ship nuclear waste from Fukui plants to Aomori site
Kansai Electric Power Co. has denied reports earlier this week that it was planning to ship nuclear waste from its Fukui Prefecture plants to the town of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, after the idea was opposed by Mutsu Mayor Soichiro Miyashita.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2018
World Expo 2025: Kansai Economic Federation will open Paris office to directly promote hosting bid
The Kansai Economic Federation will open an office in Paris to directly lobby representatives who will decide the host of the World Expo 2025.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2018
Many of Japan's thousands of isles await buyers, as depopulation presents challenges around defending the nation's territory
After a slew of recent news reports about North Korean fishing vessels washing up on uninhabited islands, as well as ongoing disputes with China over the Senkaku Islands and intrusions by Chinese vessels into Japanese waters, public and media attention on Japan's uninhabited isles is growing.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2017
Local governments in Japan look to clamp down on private lodging services with stricter regulations
With the explosion of overseas tourism, local governments are looking to curb the number of illegal outlets that have sprung up in recent years.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2017
Coast guard's Maizuru base stands on the front line of Japan's poaching and nuclear concerns
Located less than 900 kilometers from North Korea and beside Fukui Prefecture's nuclear power reactors, Japan Coast Guard's 8th Regional Headquarters in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, finds some of the nation's challenges close at hand.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Dec 24, 2017
Expo, casinos and shinkansen at top of Kansai's 2018 agenda
For Kansai, many of 2017's events will remain newsworthy in 2018. Here are some of the bigger topics expected to be closely followed in the region.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Dec 24, 2017
Kyoto to mark 150th anniversary of Meiji Restoration with series of events
Kyoto's long history is one of great prosperity (the Heian Period of a millennium ago, when the arts flourished) and great tragedy (the 1467-1477 Onin War devastated the city). But in more modern times, 1868 was something of an annus horribilis.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2017
Kansai Electric decides to scrap two Oi reactors over safety concerns
Kansai Electric Power Co. formally notified the Fukui Prefectural Government on Friday that it will decommission the Oi No. 1 and No. 2 reactors.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2017
Kansai Electric to decommission Nos. 1 and 2 reactors at Oi plant in Fukui Prefecture
The decision, expected to be officially endorsed Friday, will bring to 14 the number of reactors earmarked to be scrapped since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Dec 16, 2017
20 years on, the Kyoto Protocol initiated awareness
In the midst of serious news about North Korean missiles and constitutional revision, as well as a steady diet of BLT (bright, light and trite) stories and corporate propaganda that clog our intellectual arteries, it's easy to lose track of what developments are critical to life itself.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2017
Osaka city assembly urges central government to pressure San Francisco to remove 'comfort women' memorial
The Osaka city assembly has called on the central government to pressure San Francisco to remove a statue to wartime "comfort women" — a euphemism used to refer to the women and girls who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels before and during World War II.
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
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