Tag - japanese

 
 

JAPANESE

Consumer spending in Japan has been on a downtrend for months.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 10, 2025
Japan’s household spending falls, weighing on BOJ rate hike path
Outlays adjusted for inflation fell 0.4% in November from a year earlier, led by household durable goods and clothing.
NHK’s latest taiga period drama, “Unbound,” centers on Tsutaya Juzaburo (Ryusei Yokohama), a commoner who becomes a successful bookseller and publisher.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 10, 2025
‘Unbound’ breaks NHK period drama tradition with a hero of the common folk
Public broadcaster NHK marks its 100th anniversary by flipping the script on its long-running period drama series.
Prices continue to outpace wage increases in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 9, 2025
Real wages fall for a fourth month, squeezing Japanese households further
Inflation-adjusted real wages dropped 0.3% from a year earlier in November as some food prices and utility rates increased.
Masanori Hirabaru, 43, is escorted out of a police station in Kitakyushu on Dec. 20 to be brought to prosecutors in relation to a double stabbing at a McDonald's outlet in Fukuoka Prefecture. He was rearrested Thursday on a charge of murder.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 9, 2025
Police rearrest suspect in McDonald's attack on murder charge
Authorities have rearrested Masanori Hirabaru, 43, over the double stabbing in Fukuoka Prefecture in December that left one of two teenage victims dead.
Copper cables stolen from a solar power facility and cable cutters used for the theft
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 9, 2025
Japan eyeing mandatory ID check for scrap metal trading
Stolen copper wires are often brought to buyers as scrap metal, but there is no law requiring identity verification, making it easier to cash in stolen items.
Firms in Japan are becoming more proactive to fend off global rivals and activist investors showing renewed interest in the country after decades of stagnant growth.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2025
Japan’s ¥36.4 trillion M&A boom expected to grow as activist investors circle
Firms are becoming more proactive to fend off global rivals and activist investors showing renewed interest in the country after decades of stagnant growth.
Former Bank of Japan board member Makoto Sakurai sees the likelihood of a hike in March as high as 70%, as the central bank may be better off waiting out at least the first couple of months of the new administration of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 9, 2025
Former BOJ board member sees rising chance of March rate hike
Makoto Sakurai says the central bank may wait out at least the first couple of months of the new administration of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to NHK's budget for fiscal 2025, the public broadcaster will post a deficit of ¥40 billion in the year from April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2025
NHK to be in the red for third straight year after viewing fee cut
The public broadcaster is set to post a deficit of ¥40 billion in the year from April.
The film version of “The Solitary Gourmet” is a directorial debut for Yutaka Matsushige, long known for his leading role as salaryman and gourmand Goro Inogashira.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 9, 2025
‘The Solitary Gourmet’: Palatable movie adaptation may leave you wanting more
Lead actor Yutaka Matsushige’s film directing debut offers ambient pleasure for fans of the long-running TV series.
Hisao Kurozumi (left) and Kazuki Nagaya (the film’s director) play brothers with a strained relationship in “Mending Cracks.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 9, 2025
‘Mending Cracks’: A muddled drama about brotherly discord
Kazuki Nagaya’s directorial debut has its charms, but doesn’t offer enough substance to engage the audience.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2025
U.S. Marine suspected of sexual assault in Okinawa
The U.S. Marine is suspected of sexually assaulting and injuring a woman indoors on Okinawa's main island last November.
Masahiro Nakai in Tokyo in October 2017
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2025
TV networks drop Japan boy band star over sex allegations
Reports say that Masahiro Nakai, a former member of SMAP, paid a woman a lump sum of ¥90 million.
Economy minister Yoji Muto during a meeting on Wednesday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 8, 2025
Economy minister calls for continued wage increases
"Now is the time to step on the accelerator on wages and investment in order to transition to a growth-oriented economy," said Yoji Muto.
Manabu Sasaki, a 39-year-old CEO of a painting company, have been rearrested on suspicion of assaulting his former employee, 56-year-old Osamu Takano, before allegedly orchestrating his death in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward in December 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 8, 2025
Trio who allegedly orchestrated coworker's death rearrested in Tokyo
Police investigating the events leading to the death of 56-year-old Osamu Takano uncovered new evidence of his abuse at the hands of his colleagues.
Tokyo led the country's 47 prefectures with 146 traffic-related fatalities in 2024, followed by Aichi with 141 and Chiba with 131.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2025
Japan's traffic death toll falls to third-lowest in 2024
There were 2,663 traffic-related deaths in 2024. The government has a goal of lowering the annual toll below 2,000 by 2025.
"Shogun" actors (from left) Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai, Hiroyuki Sanada and Tadanobu Asano pose in the press room with the award for best drama television series during the 82nd annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 6, 2025
'Shogun,' 'Hacks' win top TV honors at Golden Globes
FX's historical epic won four awards in total, including best actor and actress for Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, respectively, and best supporting male actor for Tadanobu Asano.
Dai-ichi Life Insurance sold about ¥500 billion of Japanese government notes, mainly 20- to 40-year bonds, in the fiscal first half that ended in September.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 6, 2025
Dai-ichi Life takes ¥140 billion loss selling off long bonds
The insurer sold about ¥500 billion of Japanese government notes, mainly 20- to 40-year bonds, in the fiscal first half ended September.
Analysts believe the strength of the Japanese economy will help to push up domestic stocks, despite pressure from likely interest rate hikes from the Bank of Japan and uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s presidency in the U.S.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 6, 2025
Japan stocks look set for new highs in 2025 on earnings and reforms
Analysts see better corporate earnings as the country transitions to a growth economy from a deflationary one.
At the new L'Abysse Osaka, Yannick Alleno both pays homage to and casts aside the tradition around Japan's national dish.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 5, 2025
Now in Osaka, Yannick Alleno wants ‘flavors people have never experienced’
Opened in late October, Sushi L'Abysse Osaka is the Michelin-starred chef’s first outpost in Asia.
Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 4, 2025
Meiji Yasuda girds to be more daring in global M&A hunt
The firm’s ambitions reflect bold moves also being made by many of its local rivals, all hunting for growth outside of the country.

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Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.