Tag - life

 
 

LIFE

Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 18, 2024
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Always trying to solve the problems of modern life, the perennial candidate refuses to bow to societal expectations of age.
Asako Osaki attends the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, in New York in March.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Nov 3, 2024
How global lessons can improve prospects for women in rural Japan
Through motherhood, education and work, Asako Osaki worked to bring global standards to the front lines of gender issues.
A woman walks past campaign posters for the Lower House election in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 19, 2024
Ruling and opposition parties vow redoubled regional revitalization efforts
Both sides are offering ideas for stopping population outflow from regional communities in their campaigning for the Oct. 27 general election.
Founded in 1879, Tokio Marine was Japan's first nonlife insurance company and it has since expanded into life insurance and now has a presence in 46 countries besides Japan.
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2024
Tokio Marine pauses sale of Southeast Asia life insurance business, sources say
The delay appears to be due to the firm's dispute with a Malaysian partner.
At least 10 firms have temporarily suspended some business activities with Nomura because of its market manipulation scandal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 18, 2024
Big clients halt trades with Nomura over market manipulation scandal
At least 10 firms have temporarily suspended some business activities with Japan's biggest brokerage because of the breach.
The Bank of Japan’s historic shift this year from radical monetary easing to two interest-rate hikes has sparked volatility in the nation’s securities market as investors speculate on the BOJ’s next move.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 17, 2024
Japan Post Insurance markets chief sees Nikkei setting new records after votes
The Nikkei's all-time high, set in July, will probably be "just a passing point,” said Kenichi Kuga, head of global equity and fixed income investment.
A tea field in Makinohara, the birthplace of Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, in August. The city in Shizuoka Prefecture, which once thrived on a now-declining tea industry, exemplifies disparities between Japan's struggling rural areas and its bustling megacities.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 4, 2024
In Bank of Japan chief's birthplace, Ueda's policy puzzle is laid bare
Makinohara's mayor says the Shizuoka Prefecture surf town is not keeping pace with Japan's broader recovery.
Elderly people rest at a park in Beijing on May 22.
BUSINESS
Sep 24, 2024
China's retirement reforms not enough to fix pension headache
Lawmakers fast-tracked the policy without public consultation in September
The proportion of people aged 65 and over has risen since the 1950s and is expected to hit 34.8% by 2040, when the second baby boomers (born 1971-1974) will join that group.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 15, 2024
Japan's elderly population grows to record 36.25 million
The proportion of people aged 65 and over has been increasing since the 1950s.
Ryobi Holdings has hired Kyosuke Suzuki, a former currency trader at Societe Generale, to set up an artificial intelligence-powered hedge fund specializing in forex.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2024
Bus group Ryobi sets up forex fund to survive population fall
The move follows its previous investments in real estate, supermarkets and other areas as it tries to secure funds to maintain its bus fleet and grow.
An abandoned house in Urayama, Saitama Prefecture. Buying an <i>akiya</i>, which means empty house in Japanese, can be a rewarding experience that yields a unique space and a livable home, competitively priced. Or it could turn out to be a money pit.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2024
First lesson of Japan’s akiya gold rush: No such thing as a free house.
Renovations are usually the most expensive part of the journey and the laundry list of what needs to be done is long and tends to get longer after the process starts.
Jonah Ndeuludila (right) is studying at Tochigi Prefecture's Asian Rural Institute in order to bring skills back to his job at Namibia's Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 2, 2024
Over half a century, seeds of change grow at a Tochigi farm
Founded by Toshihiro Takami in 1973, ARI promotes organic, subsistence farming methods and the practice of servant leadership.
Bureaucrats had envisioned payments of up to ¥600,000 for women who got married and settled outside of Tokyo, according to media reports.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 30, 2024
Japan scraps idea to woo women out of city with cash
Bureaucrats had envisioned payments of up to ¥600,000 for women who got married and settled outside of Tokyo.
Participants take part in a mystery-themed matchmaking event organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government at Jindai Botanical Gardens in Tokyo in March.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 28, 2024
Japan to support women moving from Tokyo to countryside for marriage
The plan is aimed at helping those interested in relocating at a time when the population of young women in the countryside is shrinking.
A decline in COVID-19-caused deaths likely helped boost the average life expectancy for Japanese men and women to rise for the first time in three years in 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2024
Japan's average life expectancy rises for first time in three years
The rise in life expectancy may possibly be a reflection of a drop in fatality rates for COVID-19 patients.
An empty street in Fukiya, Okayama Prefecture. Japan may be both experiencing overtourism in some places and witnessing the opposite in others.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2024
Japan doesn't have too many tourists, statistics suggest. It just feels that way.
The country received 0.2 tourists per capita in 2023, compared with France's 1.5, Greece's 3.4, Portugal's 2.5 and Spain's 1.8.
Tokyo police have arrested a 27-year-old woman for posting online personal information of a professional baseball player along with violent messages.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 10, 2024
Ex-Nippon Life staffer arrested over leak of Giants player's information
The suspect, Satomi Amano, has denied the charges, claiming she doesn't remember her actions due to having made “so many posts.”
A sign warning about the frequent appearance of bears in Tono, Iwate Prefecture, in April 2021
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2024
Japan moves to permit use of rifles to hunt bears in residential areas
Under a proposed legal revision, hunters would be allowed to fire rifles if there is a risk of human injury or a bear has entered a building.
Financial groups will sell Honda Motor shares worth ¥535 billion to unwind cross-shareholdings, according to a regulatory filing.
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2024
Insurers and banks to sell Honda shares worth $3.3 billion, filing shows
The move offers a sign that the unwinding of cross-shareholdings is catching pace in Japan.
Foreign visitors learn how to make sushi in a cooking class at Sushi Making Tokyo in the Asakusa district of Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2024
Japan government paper seeks to promote rural areas to foreign visitors
Foreign tourists primarily spend their time and money in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, according to the paper.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?