The Japanese Bankers Association, or Zenginkyo, plans to terminate the exchanges of promissory notes and checks at its national electronic clearing system in April 2027.

Companies and financial institutions will still remain able to exchange such financial instruments among them including by mail.

However, many financial institutions will stop handling promissary notes and checks, making it difficult to continue using such instruments.

The government aims to abolish promissory notes and paper checks in 2026. Japan’s three megabank lenders including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. are set to terminate the issuance of such instruments within fiscal 2025 through March 2026.

Zenginkyo will promote a transition to online banking and electronically recorded monetary claims, which are settled automatically at due dates.
 
 

The Yomiuri Shimbun began publishing the Yomiuri Stock Index (Yomiuri 333) on Monday. The closing price on the first day was 35,507.74, a fall of 155.90 points from Friday.

The proportion of stocks that fell in price on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Market, where the majority of the 333 stocks that make up the Yomiuri 333 are listed, was nearly 70% on Monday.

This trend was due to a lingering sense of caution about the tariff policy of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Yomiuri 333 is a stock price index that indicates trends in the Japanese stock market. The index incorporates the stocks of 333 Japanese companies with equal weighting.

The index value is calculated once a day on weekdays and published in the evening on the Yomiuri Shimbun Online website and elsewhere.

The calculation is entrusted to Nomura Fiduciary Research & Consulting Co.

The stock index was shown on the day on a street display of IwaiCosmo Securities Co. in Tokyo’s Kayabacho district.
 
 

Japan on Monday launched a new command for the Self-Defense Forces to better integrate its ground, maritime and air defenses, in a major revamp aimed at ensuring smoother coordination with the U.S. military at a time when tensions are heightened over potential contingencies involving Taiwan.

The SDF Joint Operations Command was established at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo with about 240 personnel. Gen. Kenichiro Nagumo, who has deep expertise in SDF joint operations, leads the permanent body.

The move is part of Japan's ongoing efforts to significantly beef up its defense capabilities amid a deteriorating regional security environment, with China increasing its assertiveness, particularly toward self-ruled Taiwan, and North Korea continuing its nuclear and missile buildup.

"Our nation is facing the most severe and complicated security environment in the postwar era," and the launch of the new command is of "great significance," Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told a ceremony.

 

Prior to the change, the top uniformed officer in the SDF -- the chief of staff of the Joint Staff -- was responsible for joint operations in which the Ground Self-Defense Force, Maritime Self-Defense Force, and Air Self-Defense Force operated in unison.

However, the chief of staff was also tasked with offering expert advice to the defense minister on SDF operations. The 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, which also triggered a nuclear power plant accident, demonstrated that the chief of staff's workload could be unmanageable in cases of large-scale emergencies.

The new structure will allow the chief of the Joint Staff to focus on supporting the defense minister, while the new joint headquarters will centrally command GSDF, MSDF and ASDF units across Japan to improve the effectiveness of combined operations and enable prompt response and decision-making, according to the Defense Ministry.

The head of the Joint Operations Command, to use the acronym JJOC, is given broad authority at times of contingencies ranging from force allocation to leading operations, including cross-domain activities that may also involve outer space and cyberspace.

 

"We will respond to situations seamlessly, from peacetime to a contingency, to defend the lives of our citizens and their ability to live in peace as well as our nation's territory, waters and airspace," Nagumo said at the ceremonial event.

As a counterpart to the new SDF command, the United States announced last year that it will reconstitute U.S. Forces Japan into a joint force headquarters which will take on more operational responsibilities amid concerns over the limited role of the USFJ in dealing with contingencies in the region.

While the two countries seek to modernize their decades-old alliance through upgraded command and control frameworks, concerns remain in Japan that closer alignment could lead the SDF to be placed under the U.S. military command in the event of an emergency.

Taiwan is viewed as a potential military flashpoint that could draw the United States into conflict with China, an eventuality that would pose serious security challenges for Japan given the proximity of its remote southwestern islands, including the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
 
 

Japan and China became embroiled in a new spat on Monday (Mar 24) with Tokyo accusing Beijing of misrepresenting its position after high-level weekend talks also involving South Korea.

The discussions in Tokyo were billed as a chance to improve historically frosty relations against a backdrop of US trade tariffs, North Korea's missile activities and the Ukraine war.

But Japan on Monday took exception to a Chinese statement that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that he "respects the positions elaborated by the Chinese side".

Chief government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said Japan had "protested to the Chinese side ... and asked to immediately remove the inaccurate statement".

"Since this is a diplomatic exchange, I will refrain from disclosing the details, including the Chinese response. It is regrettable that an announcement different from the facts was issued," Hayashi told a regular briefing.

"Is it not a normal thing for countries to respect each other's positions in their interactions with each other?" Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Monday when asked about Japan's protest.

"As far as I know, this important and beneficial meeting and interaction between China and Japan embodied this spirit," he said.

The talks on Saturday followed a rare summit in May in Seoul and came ahead of a mooted state visit to Japan by China's President Xi Jinping.

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said he, Wang and South Korea's Cho Tae-yul "had a frank exchange of views on trilateral cooperation and regional international affairs ... and confirmed that we will promote future-orientated cooperation".

"The international situation has become increasingly severe, and it is no exaggeration to say that we are at a turning point in history," Iwaya said.

Patricia M Kim, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said that while "trilateral dialogues have been ongoing for over a decade", this round "carries heightened significance" due to the new US position.

Beijing "has been working actively to improve relations with other major and middle powers amid growing frictions with the United States", she said before the talks.
 
 

In response to the issue of medical institutions having to give up on accepting organs from braindead patients for transplants due to understaffing and lack of hospital beds, the University of Tokyo Hospital, which performs the highest number of transplant surgeries in Japan, plans to hire eight specialists in fiscal 2025, it has been learned.

The hospital hopes to train doctors to become leaders in the field of transplantation and improve the level of transplant medicine nationwide.

The hospital will employ a total of eight doctors experienced in transplant operation, including surgeons, internal medicine doctors, anesthesiologists and intensive care specialists.

They will work as a team to perform heart, lung and liver transplant operations. They will also provide guidance to other doctors from around the country who wish to gain experience in the surgeries.

The costs related to hiring the doctors will be covered by a ¥500 million donation from a 68-year-old male patient of the hospital. A course specializing in transplant operation will also be set up through the end of fiscal 2027. However, if it can secure additional funds, the hospital will consider extending the course.

In addition, the hospital plans to set up an operating room prioritizing transplants and an intensive care unit with three or so beds for patients to stay before and after transplants. The hospital also intends to hire clinical engineers and clinical laboratory technologists to assist with operations and develop a system to monitor patients’ post-op conditions.

At the hospital, transplants using organs donated by braindead patients totaled 88 for hearts, lungs and livers in 2023, and 100 in 2024. Both figures are the highest in Japan. However, as of December 2024, there were 515 patients waiting for transplants.

In the meantime, transplants are being carried out by surgeons and other staff alongside regular duties. Even with previous potential organ donations, in some cases the hospital had to pass on such offers as it was not able to supply doctors, other medical staff and hospital beds, among other issues.

In 2023, there were 36 such cases for heart, lungs and liver transplants, and a similar number of such cases were seen in 2024.

In fiscal 2023, the hospital suffered a deficit of ¥1.18 billion and has said it is unable to increase staff or hospital beds, including that for transplant medicine.

“Training doctors to engage in transplantation is a major issue,” said Prof. Masaaki Sato, a specialist in respiratory surgery, in charge of setting up the course. “We want to create a ‘University of Tokyo model’ for human resource development.”
 
 

Japanese online shopping giant Rakuten Group Inc is considering introducing autonomous mobile robots to deliver goods amid a severe labor shortage in the transportation sector, according to a senior official.

The company plans to expand the technology to its flagship Rakuten Ichiba online shopping operations, having already launched a robot delivery service in Tokyo for groceries and other items bought from local stores, Fukutaro Yamashita, a senior manager in the company's unmanned solution department, said in a recent media briefing.

"This is a business that is needed in an era of population decline," he said.
The plan comes as e-commerce firms such as Rakuten are facing a severe shortage of delivery personnel at a time when the number of packages is increasing.

Yamashita said autonomous robots will be especially useful for last-mile deliveries, the final stage when shipments reach their destinations.

He did not specify when the company plans to introduce the robots for its e-commerce service or how many it aims to deploy.

Rakuten's current service, which started in Tokyo's Harumi district and neighboring areas in November, employs robots made by U.S. start-ups to transport groceries ordered on a dedicated smartphone site from a local supermarket to designated pickup points for a fee of 100 yen.

Rakuten has also teamed up with beef bowl restaurant chain Yoshinoya Co, U.S. coffee chain Starbucks and other businesses, and is planning to expand the number of partner stores and the area covered by the service.

Japan's revised road traffic law in 2023 made it easier for unmanned delivery services to gain traction, with autonomous delivery robots now allowed to operate on public roads under certain conditions.

The Japanese operator of the Uber Eats online food ordering platform is also offering robot delivery services in the country.
 
 

On a small island in southwestern Japan with a population of only around 1,700, Australian John Widmer, reputed as the island's only foreign resident, runs a cafe hoping it will serve as a new spot to draw visitors.

Those traveling by ferry to Himeshima, an Oita Prefecture island with a 17-kilometer-long coastline, are immediately greeted by the sight of the vibrant green and yellow of the Ozi Cafe, complete with a hand-drawn caricature of the 64-year-old as its logo.

Driven by his quest for good coffee and a desire to share a familiar taste of home, Widmer decided to open the cafe on the island in May last year, with coffee brewed from roasted beans imported directly from Australia becoming popular among visitors.

"(Customers) were really surprised at how nice the coffee was. I give them a taste of the beans. Because if I'm ever buying coffee in bulk for home, I would always eat one of the beans. And if the bean tastes good, you're going to get a good coffee," Widmer said.

 

Local businesses on the island have also benefited from the cafe's growing reputation, with foreign visitors coming to enjoy the coffee after Walk Japan Ltd., a company that organizes walking tours across Japan, started including Himeshima on its itinerary, according to Widmer.

Originally from Sydney, Widmer was once a competitive swimmer and ran a swimming school in Australia for around 20 years. But with a longtime love for Japan, and his wife also from Oita Prefecture, he decided to relocate to Himeshima in May 2023.

Despite the language barrier and cultural differences, the islanders welcomed Widmer warmly, allowing him to settle easily into the community. In addition to running his cafe, he also teaches swimming to local elementary school students and participates in a volleyball club.

"We welcome new people bringing fresh ideas. I hope the island keeps getting livelier," said Shiori Matsubara, a 63-year-old employee of a nearby souvenir shop.
 
 

The land ministry has selected 26 model projects nationwide to promote a "dual habitation" lifestyle in which people divide their time between rural and urban areas, informed sources said.

Local governments and private companies will work together to support the projects, including ones to cut fares for shinkansen and flight services, the sources said Saturday.

By reducing the burden on people traveling between two regions, the projects aim to nurture human resources for new businesses and increase the number of people who support the lives of residents in regional areas.

The ministry will soon announce the 26 selected public-private projects that will be implemented in 18 prefectures.

According to the sources, the projects are designed to encourage people living in two regions to develop side businesses, and to foster intermediary support organizations that will be responsible for matching people interested in dual habitation with local governments that can support them.

The central government has set aside a total budget of ¥200 million to subsidize a portion of the projects' costs.

Kochi and Tottori prefectures, in collaboration with major airline ANA Holdings, will begin offering airfare discounts through the introduction of a flat-rate system as early as October for individuals based in multiple locations. Saga Prefecture is also expected to join the initiative.

The city of Sanjo, Niigata Prefecture, will work with East Japan Railway, or JR East, to offer shinkansen discounts for such individuals.

The ministry selected three model projects in Ishikawa Prefecture, which aims to promote reconstruction from the major earthquake in January last year.

The city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture plans to issue a "virtual" certificate of residence in place of resident registration.

The city of Tomi in Nagano Prefecture, meanwhile, will promote activities to secure successors of agricultural businesses, and the city of Yaizu in Shizuoka Prefecture will strengthen efforts to bring in business owners.
 
 

After nearly a half-century run, skirts to no longer be part of uniforms.

Though Japan celebrates the start of the new year in January, it’s really spring that’s the time for new beginnings in the country. Spring is when the school year begins, when most companies start their fiscal years, and also when the majority of new public policies go into effect.

Included in that last category for 2025 is a new dress code from Japan’s National Police Agency, and as of this spring Japanese policewoman will no longer have skirts as part of their uniforms.

This both is and isn’t a major change. The National Police Agency, which serves as the coordinating organization for Japan’s prefectural police departments, first created standardized nationwide uniform codes in 1976, which specified that female police officers were to wear a dress shirt, a jacket outside of summer, and a skirt or pants. Under the revised unfirm code, though, which goes into effect soon, skirts are being abolished entirely.

Considering that skirts have been part of Japanese policewomen’s uniforms for nearly 50 years, getting rid of them entirely is a pretty big deal. However, the 1976 uniform code specified that policewomen were required to wear a skirt or pants.

The decision between the two has been left up to individual departments to make, based on their assessment of factors including female officers’ preference.

In practice, it’s become rare for policewomen to wear skirts while in uniform, with a key factor being that the scope of female officers’ duties has expanded to include types of on-site and in-the-field questioning and law enforcement that was previously only conducted by male officers.

As skirts limit mobility in ways pants don’t, almost all policewomen now wear skirts, and the majority of Japan’s prefectural police departments, 26 out of 47, no longer even issue skirts in female officers’ uniform packets. 

So while skirts will be officially abolished from policewomen’s uniforms, this isn’t so much a top-down policy dictation by the National Police Agency as it is a reflection that most of them are already wearing pants in order to do their jobs more effectively.

Also coming as part of the uniform code revision are new summer uniforms for men and women which replace the officers’ dress shirts with poli shirts made of a fast-drying polyester.

The change follows a revision made by the Shimane Prefectural Police department last summer that, for the first time, allowed its officers to wear sunglasses while on duty, and similarly seeks to help reduce fatigue and improve operational efficiency of officers in the field during Japan’s notoriously hot and humid summer months.

The skirt abolishment goes into effect on April 1, and the new summer unforms are slated to go into use first in Saitama Prefecture in May.
 
 

Three winters from now, Japan’s snowy Myoko highlands will be home to a $1.4 billion mega-resort built by a Singaporean fund, with hotels charging some $1,350 a night.

The project by Patience Capital Group (PCG) promises to create 1,000 jobs and spur winter tourism. But for many Myoko locals, foreign interest has become a double-edged sword, threatening overdevelopment, sky-high prices and the sweeping away of traditional culture.

Even before news of PCG’s interest, many inns, ski rental shops and restaurants in Akakura — one of five major ski resort towns in the Myoko region — had been snapped up by foreigners.

But they’re only interested in the snow and once that melts, those businesses shut. The town, also once a bustling hot-spring destination, no longer has enough going on to attract many visitors during the rest of the year.

If you come to Akakura in summer, it’s pitch dark at night, said Masafumi Nakajima, owner of local inn Furuya and head of the 200-year-old town’s hot spring-inn tourism association. He estimates only 10 of about 80 inns in Akakura operate year-round.

Located roughly 2.5 hours from Tokyo by train in Niigata prefecture, Myoko, along with the more famed Japanese ski resorts of Niseko and Hakuba, is known for powder snow, dubbed “Japow.”

The resort areas are a huge part of Japan’s tourism boom, also fueled by a weak yen, which saw inbound tourist numbers jump 17% in February, hitting a record high for that month.

Nakajima said many foreign business owners in Akakura have refused to join the local tourism association. One consequence is a lot of broken rules on the part of businesses and tourists that range from not disposing of garbage properly, to overparking to late-night fireworks.

We have no idea who they are and what they’re doing. They just come in December and disappear when spring comes, he said. Nakajima recently started approaching foreign businesses to offer lectures on the town’s rules.



Priced out

Many locals fear Myoko could go the way of Niseko.
The resort on the northern island of Hokkaido has become a world-renowned winter sports destination on the back of high-end foreign developments, but the surge in property prices brought higher taxes for locals choosing not to sell.

Inflation there — from labor costs to a bowl of ramen — has gone through the roof, pricing locals and most domestic travelers out of the market.

Hakuba, in the Japanese Alps, has followed a similar path, while one township in Myoko has already seen land prices jump as much as 9% last year.

PCG’s Tokyo-born founder, Ken Chan, said he’s mindful of local fears about his project, which will span 350 hectares and two ski slopes.

To attract visitors year-round, PCG wants to promote its two planned luxury hotels for business conferences and is considering discounts during non-peak times for local residents who want to ski or snowboard, he told Reuters.

He also intends to host a meeting with residents in the coming months.
Myoko City mayor Yoji Kido said he’s cautiously optimistic about PCG’s development plans but has heard few specifics.

Kido has been fielding more enquiries from foreign investors and conscious of local concerns, the city is considering new regulations for larger projects from the 2027 fiscal year.

It’s going to be an unusually big development for our city, he said. “I can’t deny that things aren’t worry-free.”

Koji Miyashita, the owner of a half-century-old shop in Akakura that sells steamed buns filled with red bean paste, said he sometimes feels like he doesn’t live in Japan as Westerners throng the town’s streets.

Development in Myoko should sustain the region’s culture, he said, adding: “We don’t want to be another Niseko.”
 
 

A government-appointed panel in Japan has come up with measures on what to do if Mount Fuji erupts on a massive scale and spews large amounts of ash. Japan's highest peak last erupted more than 300 years ago.

The panel of volcanologists and disaster-preparedness experts released their report on Friday.

Mount Fuji's last confirmed eruption began in 1707. Experts say an eruption on a similar scale could blanket wide areas of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture and elsewhere with 10 centimeters or more of ash.

The panel says in its report that it would not be realistic for residents of densely populated Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures to flee the region at once.

It says those in areas receiving less than 30 centimeters of ash should shelter at home or in other places.

It says that if possible, residents should stock up on necessities that would sustain them for two weeks. Local authorities and businesses are asked to focus primarily on maintaining and repairing key infrastructure.

On the other hand, the panel says people in areas accumulating 30 centimeters or more need to evacuate in principle. It cites the risk of wooden houses collapsing under the weight of wet ash if it should rain.

The experts say people requiring dialysis or nursing care should also basically evacuate when the ash reaches 3 centimeters and causes prolonged power outages.

The panel says the government should establish a system to disseminate information, including volcanic ash forecasts.

They say central and local governments also need to secure evacuation routes.

University of Tokyo Professor Emeritus Fujii Toshitsugu, who heads the panel, says Japan has not experienced an eruption spreading ash over a wide area in the last 100 years. He says the country needs to start preparing now for such a disaster.
 
 

The top diplomats from Japan, China and South Korea met in Tokyo on Saturday, seeking common ground on East Asian security and economic issues amid escalating global uncertainty.

"Given the increasingly severe international situation, I believe we may truly be at a turning point in history," Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said at the start of the meeting in Tokyo with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul.

The three agreed to accelerate preparations for a trilateral summit in Japan this year that would also include talks on how Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul can tackle declining birthrates and aging populations, Iwaya said in a joint announcement after the meeting.

The first gathering of the countries' foreign ministers since 2023 comes as U.S. President Donald Trump upends decades-old alliances, potentially opening the door for China to forge closer ties to countries traditionally aligned with Washington.

"Our three nations have a combined population of nearly 1.6 billion and an economic output exceeding $24 trillion. With our vast markets and great potential, we can exert significant influence," Wang said. China, he added, wants to resume free trade talks with its neighbours and expand membership of the 15-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

However, deep divisions remain. Beijing is at odds with Tokyo and Seoul on several key issues, including its support of North Korea, its intensifying military activity around Taiwan, and its backing of Russia in its war with Ukraine.

U.S. allies Japan and South Korea, which each host thousands of U.S. troops, share Washington’s view that China - the world’s second-largest economy - poses a growing threat to regional security.

Cho said he had asked China in the meeting to help persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons.

"I also stressed that illegal military cooperation between Russia and North Korea should stop immediately, and that North Korea should not be rewarded for its wrongdoings in the course of bringing about the end of the war in Ukraine," he added.

Iwaya met separately with his Chinese and South Korean counterparts, including the first high-level economic dialogue with Beijing in six years.

A key issue for Tokyo in the talks with Beijing is a ban on Japanese seafood imports imposed by China after the release of wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant from 2023.

Iwaya said he confirmed a commitment by China made in September to allow imports of marine products and also asked about expanding imports of Japanese agricultural products, including beef and rice.

"I emphasised that it is important to prioritise resolving those issues that can be addressed early," Iwaya told reporters after the meeting.
 
 

Cherry blossoms are forecast to come into bloom on Monday in central Tokyo, earlier than in any other region of the country, a weather forecasting company said.

The blooms are expected to appear in Hiroshima and Kochi in western Japan and Miyazaki in southwestern Japan on Tuesday, followed by Yokohama, near Tokyo, and the southwestern Japan cities of Fukuoka, Saga and Nagasaki on Wednesday, according to Weathernews Inc.

Cherry trees are expected to begin blooming in western and eastern Japan by the end of March, and then reach full bloom about seven to 10 days later.
Blossoms are forecast in northeastern Japan by mid-April and Hokkaido in late April.
 
 

Household assets in Japan totaled 2,230 trillion yen ($15 trillion) at the end of December, growing 4.0 percent from a year earlier to a new record on rising stock prices, Bank of Japan data showed Friday.

Assets were boosted by investment trusts that jumped 27.4 percent to 136 trillion yen after the revamp last year of Japan's tax-free investment program.

Stockholdings rose 9.5 percent to 298 trillion yen while cash and deposits, which accounted for half of the total, edged up 0.6 percent to 1,134 trillion yen.

Cash fell, declining 3.4 percent to 105 trillion yen amid higher prices and an increase in cashless payments.

The proportion of Japanese government bonds held by the BOJ stood at 52.05 percent, down from 52.64 percent at the end of September.

The central bank, which held 559 trillion yen worth of government bonds at the end of December, has been reducing its purchases as part of efforts to shift away from a decade of ultraeasy monetary policy.
 
 

Japan will provide up to about 13.7 billion yen ($90 million) in loans for a hydropower plant project in Bhutan as part of efforts to deepen ties with the landlocked nation sandwiched between India and China.

Japanese Ambassador to Bhutan Keiichi Ono, who doubles as the envoy to India, and his Bhutanese counterpart, Vetsop Namgyel, signed documents regarding the loan agreement in New Delhi in February, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The construction of three waterpower stations, one in the district of Samdrup Jongkhar and two in Samtse, both bordering India, is set to start in May and is scheduled to be completed in 2029, according to the government-backed Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Selling surplus hydro-energy to India during the rainy season from around June to October is one of Bhutan's major industries, accounting for approximately 40 percent of its annual exports in value terms, according to the ministry.

The small Himalayan kingdom almost exclusively relies on hydroelectricity and has difficulty in securing enough power in the dry season, with the country's energy demand expected to keep rising along with its economic growth, the ministry said.

One of the three facilities will be a "storage hydropower" plant that uses a dam to store water in a reservoir so that it can adjust the timing of electricity generation. A Japanese ministry official said it will help meet some of the demand for power during dry spells.

By helping Bhutan realize a stable energy supply and promote power exports in the wet period, Japan aims to "contribute to the country's economic and social development and decarbonization of the Southwest Asian region," the ministry said.

For Bhutan, it is the first hydraulic plant project supported by Japan, the official said. The mountainous state is heavily dependent on India economically, and has no diplomatic ties with its northern neighbor China.

Japan views Bhutan, which has a population of nearly 800,000 and is known for its emphasis on the Gross National Happiness index, as geopolitically important and has maintained amicable relations.
 
 

U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed tariff hike on vehicle imports from April will likely lead to fewer Japanese exports and reduced domestic production, the head of the country's auto industry body said Wednesday.

If the planned tariffs are imposed, "significant domestic production adjustment is expected," said Masanori Katayama, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, at a press conference in Tokyo.

Katayama, chairman and CEO of Isuzu Motors Ltd, said the association, in coordination with the Japanese government, also needs to discuss measures to support parts suppliers as they play a critical role in the industry.

Trump has said tariffs of around 25 percent on imported cars will likely be imposed on April 2, a significant increase from the current 2.5 percent.

Japan, a key security ally of the United States, sought an exemption from the new tariffs, but the United States made no promises when trade minister Yoji Muto met with officials in Washington earlier this month.

According to official Japanese trade data, about 1.37 million vehicles were shipped to the United States in 2024, accounting for 28.3 percent of its total exports to the world's largest economy in terms of value.
 
 

Thirty years on from the fatal sarin nerve gas attack in Tokyo's subway network, survivors and families who lost loved ones are still seeking justice.

Thirteen people were killed and thousands were sickened when cult members released sarin nerve gas in the capital's subway trains on March 20, 1995. The attack remains one of the most shocking atrocities in Japan, a country known for its low crime rates.

The cult, Aum Shinrikyo or Supreme Truth, has since disbanded. Its founder, Shoko Asahara, and 12 of his disciples were executed in 2018.

But 1,600 former members still operate under renamed groups and have ignored an order to pay damages to survivors and bereaved families.

Shizue Takahashi lost her husband, a deputy station master, in the attack. The couple was just starting to enjoy time to themselves after raising three children when tragedy struck.

“My life is still being ruined by Aum and its successor groups,” said Takahashi, 78. “We need to carry on and not let the memories fade.”

At 8 a.m. during the morning rush, five cult members got on separate train cars on three subway lines converging at Kasumigaseki, Japan’s government center, each dropping bags of sarin on the train floors. They punctured the bags with umbrellas, releasing the gas inside the train cars.

Within minutes, commuters poured out of the trains onto the platforms, rubbing their eyes and gasping for air. Some collapsed. Others fled onto the streets where ambulances and rescue workers in hazmat suits gave first-aid.

Kazumasa Takahashi didn’t know the puddle he was cleaning on the subway car floor was sarin. He collapsed as he removed a bag — a sacrifice some survivors say saved lives — and never woke up.

The attack sickened more than 6,000. A 14th victim died in 2020 after battling severe after-effects.

The subway gassing happened after a botched police investigation failed to link the cult to earlier crimes, says Yuji Nakamura, a lawyer for the survivors and the bereaved families. “It could have been prevented," he said.

Two days after the gassing, Tokyo police, carrying a caged canary to detect poison, raided Aum’s headquarters near Mount Fuji, where the cultists lived together, trained and produced sarin. Asahara was found in a hidden compartment.

Born Chizuo Matsumoto in 1955, Asahara founded Aum Shinrikyo in 1984. The cult combined Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and yoga, and attracted young people disillusioned with materialism. He taught that death could elevate their spirits and justified killing as a virtue.

Followers paid to drink Asahara’s bathwater and wore electrical head gear they believed synchronized their brain waves with the guru’s. He prophesized an imminent apocalypse, which only true believers would survive.

Asahara gathered doctors, lawyers and scientists from Japan’s top universities as his closest aides.

Using donations from followers and earnings from yoga classes and health food businesses, they bought land and equipment. Asahara’s scientists developed and manufactured sarin, VX and other chemical and biological weapons.

In 1989, its members killed Tsutsumi Sakamoto, a lawyer who opposed the cult, his wife and baby boy. Their criminal activities escalated after their defeat in the 1990 parliamentary elections. A 1994 sarin attack in the central Japanese city of Matsumoto killed eight and injured more than 140 others.

In all, Aum killed 27 people in more than a dozen attacks that culminated in the subway gassing. It was part of a plot by Asahara to hasten Armageddon, envisioning overthrowing the government.

Shizue Takahashi attended most of the Aum criminal trials. She has lobbied for government support, winning the enactment of a law to support crime victims and government benefits of 3 billion yen ($20 million) for more than 6,000 survivors and bereaved families of the Aum crimes.

The government has also enacted laws banning sarin production and possession, and restricted the activities of groups linked to mass killings. Police have since established nuclear, biological and chemical weapons units and beefed up training.

Aum’s main successor, Aleph, has ignored a court order to pay 1 billion yen ($6.7 million) in compensation to survivors and bereaved families. The group has allegedly hidden billions of yen of income from yoga and spiritual seminars.

Many of the subway gassing survivors still suffer health problems and trauma, according to support groups.

Takahashi and others last week called on Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki to do more to accelerate compensation by Aleph and keep them under close watch.

Survivors and their supporters say lessons have not been sufficiently shared with the public.

Shoko Egawa, a journalist and expert on Aum crimes, says attention on the group has largely focused on its crimes rather than teaching people to stay away from dangerous cults. “There is still a lot to learn from (the Aum problems), including how they attracted followers, so that we can prevent people from getting their lives ruined by cults,” Egawa said.

Takahashi recently launched a website that compiles articles and comments by survivors, lawyers and writers, including Haruki Murakami’s 2007 article about his 1997 book “Underground.”

At its peak, the cult boasted more than 10,000 followers in Japan and 30,000 in Russia and elsewhere. Aum has disbanded, but about 1,600 people belonging to Aleph and two smaller groups in Japan still practice Asahara’s teachings, said the Public Security Intelligence Agency, which monitors the groups.

Minoru Kariya, whose father was killed by Aum members in early 1995 while he was trying to get his sister to quit the cult, said authorities need to do much more to tackle the threat.

“It’s scary that they still exist and are operating as organizations and recruiting new followers,” he said.
 
 

A fashion show featuring Japanese brand Yoshiokubo was held at Asakusa Hanayashiki amusement park in Taito Ward, Tokyo.

The event, which took place after the park had closed at night, was part of the Tokyo Collection, one of the main events of Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo.

It was the first time that a full-scale fashion show had been held at the amusement part, which has a history of more than 170 years dating back to its opening at the end of the Edo period (1603-1867).

“I wanted to show something that no one had ever seen before,” said designer Yoshio Kubo. “I think the show has a new style and everyone can enjoy it.”
 
 

The estimated number of visitors to Japan totaled 3.25 million in February, exceeding 3 million for the first time on record for the month, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday.

The number shot up 16.9% from a year before, boosted mainly by an increase in travelers from China during the Lunar New Year holiday period, which lasted until early February.

The number of visitors from the United States and Australia also rose amid the unabated popularity of winter sports such as skiing.

Visitors from South Korea numbered an estimated 847,300, the largest group by country or region, up 3.5%.

China came second with 722,700 visitors, up 57.3%. In addition to the impact of the Lunar New Year holiday period, an increase in passenger flights between the two countries also contributed to the rise.

Visitors from the U.S. were estimated at 191,500, up 28.8%, with those from Australia at 88,800, up 33.5%.

Visitors from the U.S., Australia and South Korea set record highs for February.
 
 

A consortium formed by representatives of industry, government and academia has set a target of using over 15% recycled plastic in the production of cars in Japan in 2031, and over 20% from 2036, it has been learned.

The goal is to encourage the domestic recycling of plastics from the perspective of economic and resource security in response to new regulations to be introduced by the European Union in 2031.

The consortium includes the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. — of which Toyota Motor Corp. is a member — the Japan ELV Recycler’s Association, the Japan Plastics Industry Federation, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, the Environment Ministry and academic experts.

An action plan, which includes the targets, has been decided at a meeting held at the Environment Ministry on Monday.

Plastic is a common material in automobile parts such as bumpers and engine covers, and the amount used in the production of vehicles in Japan can reach 1 million tons per year.

However, little progress has so far been made in utilizing recycled plastic. In the future, it will be necessary to be aware of recycling from the design stage in order to increase the proportion of plastic which can be recovered and then recycled.

Based on the action plan, the government intends to support related capital investment and demonstration tests and build a supply chain for recycled plastic among automobile manufacturers, dismantling companies and recycling organizations.

The supply of recycled plastic made from end-of-life vehicle (ELVs) parts is planned to increase to 21,000 tons per year by 2030. By focusing on the use of plastics retrieved from products other than ELVs, the overall supply will be increased to 25,000 tons by 2031 and then will be increased in stages to 157,000 tons in 2036 and 200,000 tons from 2041.

The European Parliament is debating a draft regulation that would require at least 20% of the plastic used in the production of cars to be recycled plastic, which would come into effect as early as 2031.

The recycling of plastic scraps from the manufacturing process would be included in the overall percentage. If the consortium’s action plan includes plastic scraps, it is expected to be able to comply with the new regulation.
 
 

The average sales price of Japan's 2024 rice crop to wholesalers hit a record high for the sixth straight month in February, the agriculture ministry said Wednesday.

The average price stood at 26,485 yen per 60 kilograms, up 73 pct from a year before and 2 pct from a month before. It is the average of transaction prices between rice wholesalers and buyers dealing with farmers, such as the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, or Zen-Noh.

Following a serious shortage of the country's staple food in stores in summer 2024, competition among buyers has intensified.

The ministry has decided to release some of the government stockpiled rice, but it is unclear whether this will be enough to counter soaring prices.

The ministry also released the outcome of a survey on rice acreage in 2025.
 
 

Japan’s tourism boom brings a surge of international visitors to Kyoto, while domestic tourism declines, creating a divide in the city’s cultural attractions.


Japan’s Inbound Tourism Boom and Its Impact on Kyoto

Japan is witnessing an unprecedented surge in international tourism, with a significant increase in foreign visitors to the country’s major attractions compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in Kyoto, where a growing number of international tourists are flocking to iconic sites. However, this surge in foreign arrivals has not been mirrored by an increase in domestic tourism, as Japanese visitors to many of the city’s renowned temples, shrines, and gardens have been in decline.


Surging Foreign Tourism in Kyoto

The Kyoto municipal government conducts an annual survey to track tourism patterns, and the results for 2023-2024 have revealed a marked rise in international visitors.

Famous spots such as Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), Fushimi Inari Shrine, Togetsukyo Bridge in Arashiyama, Nishiki Market, Kiyomizu Gojo, and Kitano Tenmangu Shrine all saw significant increases in the number of foreign tourists.


Growth in Foreign Visitors (2023-2024):

• Fushimi Inari Shrine: 46% increase
• Nishiki Market: 42% increase
• Kitano Tenmangu Shrine: 42% increase
• Kiyomizu Gojo: 34% increase
• Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion): 29% increase
• Togetsukyo Bridge: 24% increase

Declining Japanese Visitors to Kyoto’s Major Attractions

While foreign tourism in Kyoto has surged, the same cannot be said for Japanese visitors.

The number of domestic travelers to these key sites has decreased significantly between 2023 and 2024, indicating that the growing influx of international visitors may be deterring locals from visiting.


Decline in Japanese Visitors (2023-2024):

• Fushimi Inari Shrine: 23% decrease
• Nishiki Market: 16% decrease
• Kitano Tenmangu Shrine: 42% decrease
• Kiyomizu Gojo: 34% decrease
• Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion): 29% decrease
• Togetsukyo Bridge: 11% decrease

The contrasting trends suggest that some of Kyoto’s most famous attractions are becoming less appealing to domestic visitors as international tourist crowds grow. Nishiki Market stands as an exception, where both foreign and Japanese visitor numbers have increased, though not at the same rate.


Shifting Domestic Tourism to Kyoto’s Outskirts

Despite the decline in visits to the city’s central tourist hotspots, Japanese visitors have not completely abandoned Kyoto. Instead, many are opting for less famous areas on the city’s outskirts, where attractions are less crowded and harder to reach via public transportation.

These areas provide a more tranquil and less congested travel experience, but visiting them means missing out on Kyoto’s most culturally significant landmarks.


The Future of Japan’s Tourism Landscape

The sustainability of Japan’s tourism boom remains uncertain. The surge in foreign tourism can partly be attributed to pent-up demand from the pandemic and the favorable exchange rate of the yen, making Japan an attractive destination for international travelers.

However, internal economic factors, such as rising living costs and stagnant wages in Japan, coupled with soaring hotel rates due to increased demand from foreign visitors, are causing many Japanese citizens to stay away from tourist-heavy areas.


Conclusion: A Widening Gap Between Domestic and International Visitors

As Japan continues to experience a rise in international tourism, the gap between domestic and foreign visitors in Kyoto is likely to expand further.

While some Japanese tourists are seeking out less crowded destinations, many are avoiding popular sites altogether. Whether this shift will last in the long term remains to be seen, but for now, it seems that the divide between local and international tourism in Kyoto is only growing wider.
 
 

Key Points

• Japan’s central bank kept its key policy rate steady at 0.5% at Wednesday’s conclusion of a two-day meeting.
• The move, which was in line with market expectations, comes ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, where the central bank is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate steady.
• Analysts are of the view that the BOJ will soon raise interest rates, but are split on the timing for the next hike.

 
Japan’s central bank on Wednesday kept its key policy rate steady at 0.5% in a unanimous vote, as the export-reliant country assesses the potential impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies on its economy.

The move, which was in line with market expectations, comes ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, where the central bank is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate steady.

“Japan’s economy has recovered moderately, although some weakness has been seen in part,” BOJ policymakers said in a statement, while cautioning of “high uncertainties surrounding Japan’s economic activity and prices, including the evolving situation regarding trade ... and domestic firms’ wage -and price-setting behavior.”

The bank is seen to be referring to reciprocal tariffs and sector-specific tariffs that Trump is expected to announce on April 2., said Hiroki Shimazu, chief strategist at MCP Asset Management Japan.

Following the rate decision, the Japanese yen was little moved, trading at 149.46 against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.69%.

Analysts are of the view that the BOJ will soon raise interest rates, but are split on the timing for the next hike.

Fred Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC, said the BOJ could next raise interest rates in June.

“June looks more likely. The market is a little bit after that, probably July is sort of what the market is thinking right now. We think a little bit earlier in June,” Neumann told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Wednesday.

“It’s not just contingent on the Fed. It’s actually contingent on the BOJ getting some evidence that really wage increases are percolating through the economy,” Neumann said.

“We only just had the major unions negotiate, we don’t know what the smaller unions are doing, we don’t know what small or medium-sized enterprises are doing, so the BOJ tends to wait until June to get all the evidence on wages and then they can pull the trigger,” he added.

The BOJ raised short-term rates to 0.5% from 0.25% in January, its highest level since 2008, after ending a massive stimulus program last year. The central bank has signaled its readiness to hike rates further if the economic growth and inflation moves in line with its projections.

 
Trade Frictions

BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said at a post-meeting news conference Wednesday that “it is hard to quantify the risk,” referring to Trump’s back-and-forth comments on tariff hikes, according to Reuters translation of his remarks in Japanese.

“We will scrutinize how the U.S. trade policy unfolds, how it affects the U.S. and global economies, and how that all impacts Japan’s economic and price outlook,” he added.

Trump has slapped tariffs targeting nations including Canada and Mexico, where Japanese carmakers have major manufacturing bases. In additional to reciprocal tariffs, Trump also touted tariffs of around 25% on imported automobiles.

Japan so far has not been able to get a tariff exemption from the Trump administration despite a seemingly positive meeting between the two nations’ leaders in February.
 
‘Virtuous Cycle’

The BOJ has long reiterated that its goal is to see a “virtuous cycle” of rising prices and wages in Japan.
Japan’s largest labor union announced on Friday that it managed to secure an average 5.46% increase in wages from April — its largest increase in over three decades.

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, which has around 7 million members, said that the first tabulation of the results covering 760 unions was 0.18 percentage points higher than last year’s increase of 5.28%.

Small to medium-sized businesses saw an average rate rise of 5.09%, up 0.67 percentage points from last year and the first time since 1992 that the wage hikes for such companies crossed the 5% mark.

UA Zensen, an umbrella group representing retail, restaurant and other industry unions, reportedly said 139 of its member unions received an average increase of 5.37% in monthly wages for full-time workers, slightly less than 2024′s record figure of 5.91%.

In January, Japan saw a 2-year high inflation rate of 4%, as well as household spending massively beating expectations in December, with a 2.7% rise year on year.

The December figure was the fastest that household spending had climbed since August 2022, and the first year-on-year rise since July 2024. Household spending subsequently slowed in January to a 0.8% rise.

“Inflation expectations have risen moderately,” the BOJ said in the Wednesday statement, adding that “rice prices are likely to be at high levels and the effects of the government’s measures pushing down inflation will dissipate” through fiscal year of 2025.

Revised fourth-quarter GDP figures released last week showed Japan’s economy grew 2.2% on an annualized basis, a slower pace than initially reported. The revised data also came in lower than economists’ median forecast.
 
 

The Nikkei 225 stock average retook 38,000 at one point in Tokyo trading on Tuesday morning, helped by overnight gains in U.S. stocks.

The key Japanese index finished the morning session at 37,943.23, up 546.71 points, or 1.46 pct, from Monday, after crossing the 38,000 threshold for the first time since Feb. 27 on an intraday basis.

A weaker yen against the dollar also spurred stock buying. At noon, the dollar stood at ¥149.67-67 , up from ¥148.84-86 at 5 p.m. Monday.

Major trading houses were particularly buoyant after it was revealed that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had raised its stakes in them.
 
 

The legal procedures related to Nippon Steel Corp and United States Steel Corp's lawsuit to nullify the U.S. government's decision to block their merger may be extended, with the companies consenting to pushing oral arguments back to May 12 from April 24, a filing released Monday showed.

According to a U.S. Steel filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, the Justice Department asked the court for the extension in a motion submitted the same day.

The government seeks more time to complete its ongoing discussions about the merger with the two steelmakers, with the goal of removing the need for resolution of the litigation on the merits.

The document noted that both Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel had consented to the government's motion, though at the time of filing the court had yet to rule on the matter.

The government is also seeking to extend by 21 days the briefing deadlines in the lawsuit that the two firms lodged against former President Joe Biden and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a panel of U.S. federal agencies involved in screening the proposed merger.

In early January, Biden issued an order to block the $14.1 billion takeover of U.S. Steel by the Japanese company, citing national security grounds, following a recommendation by the panel also known as CFIUS.

Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, which announced their merger plan in December 2023, filed the lawsuit after Biden's decision, claiming that CFIUS's screening process and recommendation were influenced by the former president.

In the months leading up to the Nov 5 presidential election, Biden had aligned with the leadership of the powerful United Steelworkers union to voice opposition to the sale of U.S. Steel, headquartered in Pennsylvania, which was a key battleground state in the race to the White House.

President Donald Trump, who won the election, was also against the sale. He has since said that Nippon Steel acquiring a minority stake in U.S. Steel would not cause any issues, but a foreign company owning the iconic producer would not be good psychologically.
 
 

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday instructed his government to develop a system to operate so-called hospital ships by January 2026.

on the same day, the government adopted a program for the introduction of hospital ships, which provide medical care at sea in the event of large-scale disasters and infectious disease outbreaks.

To prepare for possible megaquakes in the Nankai Trough off the country's Pacific coast and beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area, a law on the promotion of medical care using ships was put into effect last June.

The introduction program calls for using existing private-sector ships for the time being for transporting patients from disaster-affected areas and providing medical care near affected areas.

The government plans to conclude agreements with ship and transport operators, coordinate with medical organizations, and conduct related drills.
 
 

Chubu Electric Power Co has begun dismantling a nuclear reactor in Shizuoka Prefecture, making it the country's first commercial reactor to undergo the process, the utility said.

The company started the disassembly work on Monday by removing the top lid of the pressure vessel of the Hamaoka plant's No. 2 unit in Omaezaki. Dismantling is considered the third of the four phases in decommissioning nuclear installations.

The lid, with a diameter of about 6 meters, about 3 meters in height and about 80 centimeters in thickness, was removed by a crane.

Since a disposal site for burying radioactive waste generated in the dismantling process has yet to be selected, Chubu Electric said it will store the waste inside a reactor building.

In December, the Nuclear Regulation Authority gave approval to the utility to enter into the third phase of decommissioning the Hamaoka Nos. 1 and 2 reactors. Chubu Electric began preparation for dismantling the No. 2 unit first as it secured a site to temporarily store its radioactive waste before doing so for the No. 1 unit.

Chubu Electric plans to begin the fourth phase -- tearing down the reactor building -- in fiscal 2036 and complete the decommissioning work in fiscal 2042.

The No. 2 reactor went online in 1978 but ceased operating in 2009.
While Chubu Electric initially planned to begin the dismantling process in fiscal 2023, it postponed the start of work for a year to study measures against radiation exposure. It also extended last year the duration of dismantling work from six to 12 years.
 
 

The average land price rose for the first time in 33 years in more than half of surveyed rural areas in Japan, government data showed Tuesday, as the nation's economic recovery extends to asset values.

Across Japan, land prices in all categories as well as prices for residential land and commercial land as of Jan. 1 increased for the fourth straight year on booming inbound tourism and firm housing demand sustained by low interest rates.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the average overall land prices nationwide climbed 2.7 percent from a year earlier.

"The upward trend is continuing as the economy moderately recovers," a ministry official said. "Investment demand for accommodation for foreigners and houses is also rising in tourist areas."

Land prices in more than half of the locations, excluding the metropolises of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and their surrounding areas, last rose in 1992, shortly after the period of the country's asset bubble. At that time, prices increased in 5,183 locations, or 63.5 percent of those surveyed, according to the data.

In the latest survey, the prices rose at 6,706 locations, or about 50 percent of the 13,405 assessed. Prices in all categories were up 1.3 percent, while those for residential land grew 1.0 percent and for commercial land were up 1.6 percent.

As for residential-use land, average prices nationwide, including Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, increased 2.1 percent, while they rose 3.9 percent for commercial-use land.

The upward trend has continued since 2022. Before that, prices were depressed by the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008, the 2011 earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster in northeastern Japan, and the COVID-19 pandemic which started in 2019.

In the three metropolitan areas, the average land price in all categories surged 4.3 percent, while it grew 3.3 percent for residential land and 7.1 percent for commercial land, surpassing the rate of increase from the previous year.

Prices for commercial land rose in 34 of the country's 47 prefectures, likely due to the impact of foreign tourists, the data showed.

Furano, a popular tourist destination in Hokkaido where foreigners buy vacation homes, recorded the steepest residential land price increase at 31.3 percent.

Another area in Hokkaido, Chitose, which has a booming semiconductor industry, saw the largest increase in commercial land prices at 48.8 percent.
Ishikawa Prefecture, meanwhile, suffered the sharpest fall due to the impact of a powerful earthquake that rattled the Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day in 2024.

By location, the main store of Yamano Music Co. in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district recorded the highest land price among the surveyed locations nationwide for the 19th straight year at 60.5 million yen ($407,000) per square meter, up 8.6 percent from a year earlier.
 
 

In fiscal 2024, rice import applications submitted to the government covered a record high 991 tons as of the end of January.

Private imports of overseas rice have been increasing rapidly due to shortages in the domestic market. In fiscal 2024, rice import applications submitted to the government covered a record high 991 tons as of the end of January.

Currently, companies are able to profit from such imported rice, even though they have to pay a high tariff. Kanematsu Corp., a major trading company based in Tokyo, has decided to import an unprecedented 10,000 tons of rice in 2025.

There are two types of rice importation. Rice is either imported by the government, which is obliged to purchase a certain amount from foreign countries under the rules of the World Trade Organization, or is privately imported by trading and other companies, which pay a tariff to the government.

Up to 100,000 tons of government-imported rice for staple food use is available for the market. Records of privately imported rice are available for fiscal 2019 onward, with 426 tons imported in fiscal 2020.

The amount had since been between 200 tons and 400 tons each year, but in fiscal 2024 it reached 468 tons by the end of December. Then by the end of January, the amount had more than doubled to 991 tons.

Kanematsu last month announced it would import 10,000 tons of rice due to the high demand from those in the restaurant industry, such as gyudon beef rice bowl chains.

According to sources close to the distribution industry, the purchase price for Calrose medium grain rice produced in the United States is about 150 yen per kilogram, including transportation and other costs. After the tariff is added, the total price is about 500 yen per kilogram.

Given that domestic rice is currently sold at around 900 yen per kilogram in stores, companies can sufficiently profit from imports, the sources said.

The Yokohama-based supermarket chain OK has been selling Calrose rice at 10 of its outlets since March 7 at 3,335 yen for five kilograms, including tax.

The company will make such decisions as whether to sell the rice at other outlets depending on the sales of the rice at the 10 stores.

The system under which the government buys foreign rice is called the minimum access system. Following the 1993 Uruguay Round multilateral trade talks, the system was implemented in fiscal 1995.

Of the current rice import quota of 770,000 tons, the import of general-purpose rice for staple food use is limited to 100,000 tons. The government-imported rice sold out in fiscal 2024 for the first time in seven years due to a poor domestic rice harvest.
 
 

One of Japan's largest cold storage warehouses has been built in Kobe, a major international port and key distribution hub in the west, amid growing demand for frozen food, a logistics business operator said Monday.

GLP Japan Inc. unveiled a five-story facility with about 46,000 square meters of floor space, built with a 15 billion yen ($101 million) investment, as rising construction costs make it increasingly difficult for companies to build their own storage sites.

The warehouse, with temperatures ranging from minus 25 C to 10 C, is already fully occupied by three tenants, including a transport firm, according to GLP Japan.

Yoshiyuki Chosa, president of GLP Japan, said the company plans to invest an additional 200 billion yen over the next three to five years to further develop the facility, as establishing such warehouses near consumers has become increasingly important.
 
 

Croatian electrical equipment manufacturer Koncar [ZSE:KOEI] said on Monday that its generators and motors unit GIM has built a compact generator for the Chidori small hydropower plant in Japan.

The generator is designed with a rated power of 2,800 kVA, a nominal voltage of 6,600 V, and an operating speed of 428.57 rpm, Koncar said in its monthly newsletter.

"The Chidori project builds on our strong partnership with an Austrian turbine manufacturer, further solidifying Koncar’s position as a trusted provider of innovative and high-performance solutions for sustainable energy," the company added without disclosing the name of the Austrian partner.

The company has secured a new contract to deliver another compact generator - 3,250 kVA, 6,600 V, 500 rpm - for the Shimashimadani small hydropower plant, ordered by the same Japanese customer, Koncar explained.

Koncar’s shares traded 1.70% higher at 478 euro ($478) on the Zagreb bourse on Monday morning.
 
 

Nearly 30% of Japan’s 124 million people are over 65, rising to 40% by 2050. With low birth rates, shrinking pensions, and labor shortages, millions work into their 70s as governments struggle to respond.

“Please move forward… Would you like a plastic bag? … That’ll be 3,000 yen… How will you be paying? … Cash is fine… Here’s your receipt… Thank you, come again.”

Hiroto, a cashier at a discount grocery store in Tokyo’s embassy district, repeats these lines daily. With salt-and-pepper hair and a slightly stooped posture, he takes pride in speaking English to foreign customers. It took months to earn his trust.

“I’ve been working here every day for eight years,” he said one evening, catching a bus home to Shibuya, where no one waits for him. Two weeks later, still at his register, he opened up about his past.

“I’m 73,” he murmured, making sure his younger Nepali and Burmese colleagues couldn’t hear. “I worked in real estate for 40 years, but the company went bankrupt, and I lost a lot of money. I have no choice—I have to work to survive.”

Hiroto’s story is far from unique. In Japan, one of the world’s oldest societies, seniors are everywhere—from public transport to TV screens.


Aging in the public eye

A third of bus seats are reserved for the elderly and are occupied all day. Walkers, canes, and folding stools clog the aisles. Subway stations have elevators and train cars have dedicated seating. Public restrooms cater to aging commuters.

On TV, daytime programming revolves around senior health, nutrition, and social life. Advertisements for adult diapers, anti-aging creams, and reading glasses dominate the airwaves. The elderly are portrayed as vibrant and fulfilled.

But this polished image hides a grimmer reality. “These ads only reflect a wealthy minority,” said Asuka, a social worker in Tokyo. “They don’t show what old age really looks like for most people in Japan.”

According to sociologist Shinya Ouchi of Kobe University, 10 million of Japan’s 36 million seniors are still working—often in difficult conditions.

The official statistics don’t even account for undocumented employment. Many take low-wage jobs simply to make ends meet, as pensions are often too meager to cover living costs.


'I’ll retire when I die'

“I still have 14 years left on my taxi loan,” said Kaito, 61. “I’ll retire when I die—I don’t have a choice.”

It’s a common story. Seniors in Japan work as traffic controllers, janitors, warehouse staff, garbage collectors, and bus drivers. Endo, 72, spent nearly four decades as a metalworker but barely receives $860 a month in pension benefits.

“Payouts have shrunk due to Japan’s aging population and declining birth rate,” he said. He now washes dishes in a restaurant for the equivalent of $9 an hour.

Japan’s pension system is notoriously complex, with benefits distributed between ages 60 and 70. “I officially retired at 60,” said Masayo, a 61-year-old accountant, “but like millions of others, my employer allows me to stay until 65—for half my original salary.” For many, staying employed is less about financial stability and more about maintaining a sense of purpose.

 
'I work, therefore I am'

Toshikazu Shiba, 71, retired from carpentry six years ago but quickly grew restless. “A few months later, I was bored and depressed,” he said. “Work is more fun!” He now has a job at a furniture store.

“After a long day, dinner and a cold beer taste so much better,” he laughed.
Despite stereotypes that Japanese people “love to work,” the reality is far more practical. Many simply have no alternative.

The postwar generation, which rebuilt Japan into an economic powerhouse, devoted their lives to their careers. “Here, work isn’t seen as a punishment,” said Ayumi, a former business consultant.

“In France, people say, ‘I think, therefore I am.’ In Japan, it’s more like, ‘I work, therefore I am.’ Retirement isn’t something to look forward to—it means losing one’s social identity.”


Aging in place

For many, retirement is isolating. Japan’s National Population Bureau reports that 8 million seniors live alone, and only half have daily conversations with another person.

To combat this, cities like Akashi—600 kilometers south of Tokyo—have implemented social programs for the elderly, who make up 40% of some neighborhoods. At the city’s six-story community center, seniors attend cooking classes, board game nights, and origami workshops—free of charge.

“We want to fight isolation,” said Matsuura, a local social services coordinator.

Mayor Satoko Marutani has championed free transportation, in-home care, and subsidized housing for seniors. Volunteers deliver hot meals in Neimai Danchi, where 44% of residents are over 65.

“It’s more than just food,” said Orikawa, who makes deliveries. “I listen to them, check-in, and arrange doctor visits if needed.”

Even the delivery drivers are often seniors supplementing their own meager pensions.

Japan’s 11,000 nursing homes are facing severe staffing shortages, with government-run facilities—costing at least $2,700 a month—unable to meet demand. Waitlists are growing. Private nursing homes charge over $10,800 monthly, pricing out all but the wealthy.

Despite calls to recruit more foreign caregivers from China, the Philippines, and Indonesia, Japan has been slow to open its doors. “Without a strong immigration policy, the country won’t survive,” said Kansai University sociologist Toshihiro Menju.


The numbers don’t lie

The future looks bleak for younger generations. By 2100, Japan’s population will shrink to 63 million—nearly half its current size. “Demographics don’t lie,” said sociologist Brad Glosserman. “Japan will have to manage its transition into a smaller, older nation.”

• Population over 65: 30% (36 million people), projected to surpass 40 million by 2040
• Life expectancy: 87.6 years for women, 81.5 years for men
• Birth rate: 1.15 children per woman (0.99 in Tokyo), one of the lowest in the world
• Working-age population: 74 million today, expected to drop to 60 million by 2040
• Immigration: Japan has over 3 million foreign residents, mostly from Vietnam, China, the Philippines, and Nepal—a historic high

Japan’s aging crisis isn’t just about numbers. It’s about a generation redefining what it means to grow old—and what it takes to survive.
 
 

Japan is considering deploying long-range missiles on the southwestern island of Kyushu as part of the country's efforts to acquire "counterstrike capabilities" to hit enemy targets in the event of an emergency, government sources said Saturday.

The deployment, expected to commence at the end of the next fiscal year in March 2026, is aimed at bolstering the security of the country's southwestern Nansei island chain, strategically important for its proximity to Taiwan, amid growing fears the self-ruled democratic island may be invaded by China.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that must be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Authorities are assessing possible deployment sites, with local residents concerned they could be targeted in enemy attacks, the sources said.

The missiles may be deployed at the Ground-Self Defense Force's surface-to-ship missile regiment garrisons in Yufu in Oita Prefecture and the city of Kumamoto, according to the sources.

The southern island prefecture of Okinawa, which lies closer to mainland China, is unlikely to be a deployment site amid concern it could heighten tensions with Beijing, the sources said.

The missiles to be deployed are an upgraded version of the GSDF's Type-12 land-to-ship guided missile, with an extended range of 1,000 kilometers. Deployment in Kyushu would put North Korea and China's coastal areas within range.
 
 

Takuya Onishi, 49, and three other astronauts arrived at the International Space Station on a Crew Dragon spacecraft Sunday, marking the start of their long-term stay.

About 90 minutes after the SpaceX spacecraft docked with the station, the connecting hatch was opened. Onishi was the first to enter the ISS. He hugged the waiting crew who rejoiced at their arrival.

"I was able to return to the ISS with lots of energy," Onishi said in Japanese at a ceremony held later. "From tomorrow, I'll work hard on various tasks, including science at the (Japanese experiment module) Kibo."

Onishi completed his second flight to space, after his first in 2016. The SpaceX Crew-10 mission was launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the U.S. state of Florida on Friday afternoon local time.

He is set to become ISS commander in the second half of his six-month stay, taking charge of the overall ISS operations and the safety of the crew members. Onishi will be the third Japanese ISS commander, after Koichi Wakata, 61, and Akihiko Hoshide, 56.

Ahead of the launch, Onishi said: "I believe this will be my last trip to the ISS. It will be a culmination of the experience, insights and knowledge I have gained so far."

The ISS is set to end its service life in 2030.
 
 

Around a quarter of victims who responded to a survey about posttraumatic stress linked to their experience of the Aum Shinrikyo nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway 30 years ago are likely still suffering the disorder, a nonprofit support group said.

The findings by the Recovery Support Center are based on an annual survey and free medical checks conducted on hundreds of victims since 2000 following the sarin attack on March 20, 1995, that killed 14 people and injured over 6,000. It is still considered Japan's worst terrorist attack.

In the survey, respondents were asked to answer 22 questions such as whether the scene of the attack suddenly comes to mind, and if they try not to think about the incident on a five-point scale. The respondents' total score determines whether they are considered to be suffering PTSD.

The latest research conducted in 2023 on around 200 people showed 24.1 percent of both male and female respondents likely suffer PTSD, according to analysis by Yoshiro Okubo, professor emeritus at Nippon Medical School.

The ratios compare with 26.7 percent of males and 38.8 percent of females in the 2000 survey and 20.3 percent of males and 45.5 percent of females in 2010.

When asked about physical aftereffects in 2023, 56 percent said they have difficulties in focusing their vision, 44 percent said they get tired easily, 26 percent noted numbness in hands and legs, 24 percent headaches and 22 percent suffered dizziness.

With 2025 marking 30 years since the attack, the center has decided to end its activities in support of victims due to the aging of its members and a decrease in the number of victims seeking health examinations, it said.

"As the central government and public offices were slow in offering support to the victims, I had the feeling that somebody had to do it," said Shinsuke Kimura, an 80-year-old lawyer who heads the center.

Noting that victims still suffer from aftereffects, Kimura said, "I hope to set up a framework by this summer so victims can continue to interact and bond."

In the Aum Shinrikyo attack, the nerve agent was scattered in five subway train cars during the morning rush hour at the instruction of cult founder Shoko Asahara.

Asahara, whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto, was executed at age 63 with 12 other former senior members of the cult in July 2018.
 
 

Hot spring resorts across Japan are facing water shortages as the influx of foreign tourists drives up usage, forcing some onsen to shut down due to inadequate supplies, local authorities said Saturday.

Municipalities have restricted new drilling and called for water conservation, though no long-term solution has emerged as the tourism boom, which has propped up the country's economy, shows no signs of abating, officials added.

"Water levels are falling, but hot springs remain operational," Daisuke Murakami, mayor of Ureshino in Saga Prefecture on the southwestern island of Kyushu, said at an emergency press conference in late January.

Murakami added that city officials are taking the situation seriously, with the average water level at the source of the Ureshino hot spring resort, one of the key tourist spots in the prefecture, dropping to a record low of 40.8 meters last year.

The prefecture links the decline to rising demand after Shinkansen bullet train services to the area began, bringing more visitors. It has urged onsen to limit daily extraction and some hotels to regulate late-night in-room baths to allow water levels to recover gradually.

 

Hot springs in other prefectures are encountering similar challenges. Local governments have capped new drilling and encouraged water saving, but fears linger that such steps may not be enough to ensure supplies are sustained, especially with the continued influx of overseas tourists.

Excessive extraction is the main cause of the falling water levels, experts warn.

A senior researcher at the Hot Spring Research Center, Japan, emphasized the necessity for a scientific approach to management, saying, "Monitoring water levels using data to cut waste is critical."

The number of foreign visitors to Japan topped 36 million in 2024, reaching a new all-time high, boosted by the yen's depreciation and the resumption of flight routes following the COVID-19 pandemic, central government data showed earlier this year.
 
 

The Immigration Services Agency has said in a report that it recognized 1,661 people as "quasi-refugees" in 2024, with Ukrainians accounting for more than 90% of them.

On top of the 1,618 Ukrainians, 17 people from Syria, 13 from Myanmar, 11 from Sudan, and one each from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan were given protection by Japan under the quasi-refugee system, which the country launched in December 2023 to shelter conflict-displaced people other than refugees, the agency said Friday.

Meanwhile, the agency said it ordered 17 foreign nationals to leave the country under a rule enacted in June last year that enables forced deportations of those who had applied for refugee status three times or more.

Previously, applicants for refugee status had not been repatriated without exception.

According to the report, the number of refugee status applicants stood at 12,373, down 10% from 2023. Among them, 2,455 were from Sri Lanka, 2,128 from Thailand and 1,223 from Turkey.

The number of those who gained the status fell 40% to 190, including 102 from Afghanistan, 36 from Myanmar and 18 from Yemen.

As of the end of 2024, the number of foreign residents was 3,768,977, up 10.5% from a year earlier, setting a new record for the third consecutive year. Of the total, 873,286 were from China, 634,361 from Vietnam, 409,238 from South Korea, and 341,518 from the Philippines.
 
 

Takuya Onishi and three fellow crew members embarked Friday on a mission to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX rocket launched from Florida.

Onishi, traveling in SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule with American and Russian colleagues, is making his second trip to the ISS as part of NASA's mission, having last participated in 2016. This time, he is scheduled to orbit the Earth for around six months.

"Thank you to everyone in Japan for your support. I'm savoring the feeling of weightlessness for the first time in nine years. I hope to keep enjoying my space journey," Onishi said aboard the spacecraft.

The crew will conduct experiments on carbon dioxide removal technology necessary for Gateway, a space station that will orbit the moon as a centerpiece of the U.S.-led Artemis moon exploration program.

The 49-year-old former All Nippon Airways pilot will assume the post of ISS commander, making him the third Japanese astronaut to lead a mission. Koichi Wakata led the ISS in 2014 and Akihiko Hoshide in 2021.

It was the second launch attempt by the spacecraft after its initially scheduled departure Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida was aborted due to a ground system malfunction.

Two astronauts from the United States who arrived aboard a new spacecraft in June 2024 under former President Joe Biden's administration have been stranded on the ISS for about nine months because of a defect in the vehicle.

President Donald Trump instructed Elon Musk, head of SpaceX, to return the two astronauts as soon as possible, meaning Onishi's departure, originally planned for late March, was brought forward. The two are set to return to Earth after a few days of handover.
 
 

Japan is on the verge of formally dissolving the Unification Church, stripping it of legal recognition and tax-exempt status following accusations of financial exploitation and child neglect.

The controversial sect, founded in South Korea and widely known as the “Moonies,” has been under scrutiny since the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Authorities blame the church for pressuring followers into massive donations, with some estimates suggesting Japanese members have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars over the decades.

Nearly 200 former members seek 5.7 billion yen ($38.5 million) in damages.

 

The church’s looming dissolution would mark just the third time Japan has taken such action against a religious group, following the disbandment of the Aum Shinrikyo cult responsible for the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.

However, legal appeals could delay the process for up to a year. Critics fear the church may transfer assets overseas, complicating efforts to compensate victims.

Despite the loss of its official status, the Unification Church could still operate, though experts believe its influence and membership will decline significantly.
 
 

For the first time in the country, 3D printer technology will be used to construct a new building for an unmanned railway station, according to a Tuesday announcement by West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) and others.

The new Hatsushima Station along the Kisei Line in Arita, Wakayama Prefecture, will be a one-story concrete building. The structure will be 2.6 meters tall, 6.3 meters wide and 2.1 meters deep.

The project aims to efficiently construct a station if renovating an aging station poses problems.

The building parts will be produced at Serendix Inc., a homebuilder using 3D printers in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, and assembled at the station site. The assembly is scheduled to take place after the last train on March 25. The work is expected to require about six hours.

JR West chose Hatsushima Station for the project because it is close to the sea and makes it easier for the company to check matters such as the building’s durability as it is exposed to salty air.

“We will closely examine the cost for construction, maintenance and management, and hopefully bring the project to other stations, too,” said a JR West official.
 
 

Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc, the operator of Circle K convenience stores, said Thursday that its discussions with Seven & i Holdings Co to acquire the Japanese rival have been "friendly" and that it is not considering a hostile takeover.

At a press conference, the first held in Japan by the company since the buyout talks surfaced last year, Couche-Tard founder and Chairman Alain Bouchard said the two companies' operations combined would create strong synergy.

"Japanese operations are truly world class. For a long time, we have a belief there is a unique strategic fit" between the two retailer's convenience store brands, he said.

But he also said he was "disappointed" that Seven & i has only been focusing on regulatory issues in the United States related to antitrust concerns generated by the potential deal.

The Canadian company sees "a clear path" to regulatory approval given that it has completed many acquisitions in the world's biggest economy, CEO Alex Miller said at the press conference, while Bouchard said the company will continue to pursue the deal even if it takes time.

Amid growing concerns among 7-Eleven store owners in Japan about the potential change of hands, the company said it will invest in the country and create jobs and has no plan to close stores or fire employees.

"We deeply respect the role Seven & i plays in the nation," Bouchard said, referring to how the convenience store operator has grown to be part of the social infrastructure.

The comments came as the companies remain embroiled in an increasingly acrimonious dispute, following Couche-Tard's takeover proposal for the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores.

Seven & i said Monday it had called on the Canadian company to sell all of its stores in the United States to address antitrust concerns.

Earlier this month, the Japanese company appointed a new CEO and unveiled a series of measures, including a massive share buyback and the sale of its supermarket subsidiary to U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital, as it seeks to enhance its corporate value and fend off the proposed acquisition.

The Japanese company's founding family sought to take the firm private but recently gave up on the plan after facing difficulty in securing funding.
The envisaged deal, costing around 9 trillion yen, would have been the biggest management buyout in Japan, according to Recof Data.

Seven & i said in August last year that it had received a takeover proposal from Couche-Tard, estimated at over 7 trillion yen.

Seven & i operates more than 80,000 convenience stores around the world. The Canadian company, which also runs the Couche-Tard brand convenience store chain, has about 17,000 stores in over 30 countries and regions.
 
 

Japan's cabinet has approved an amended bill requiring companies to adopt protective measures against overbearing or abusive behavior from business clients or the public.

The bill mandates that firms establish clear rules against abuse and set up a system for victims to file complaints. The move follows a rise in workers quitting or suffering from mental illness due to kasuhara, a Japanese slang term for customer harassment.

The legislation will also task companies with establishing policies against the sexual harassment of students interviewing for graduate jobs and broaden the scope of firms required to disclose gender pay disparities.

The central government will offer guidance or advice if a company fails to respond adequately and will publicly disclose its name if it does not comply with recommendations.

Under the amendment, customer harassment is defined as behavior by a guest, business partner or facility user that goes beyond socially accepted norms, harming the working environment. Municipalities will also need to take steps to address the issue.

The government also plans to revise the country's gender equality legislation to, for the first time, include a statement in its basic principle on the need to address challenges related to female health.
 
 

Many of Japan's biggest companies from tech conglomerates to Toyota have met union demands for substantial wage hikes for a third consecutive year, seeking to help workers cope with inflation and retain staff amid labour shortages.

As annual "shunto" or "spring labour offensive" negotiations at top firms concluded on Wednesday, electronics conglomerate Hitachi said it had agreed to a record 6.2% increase in monthly wages in line with union demands.

Major Toyota auto parts supplier Denso also plans record pay hikes while Toyota said the combined increase in pay for manufacturing staff would match that of last year, which was the highest since 1999.

Policymakers have pushed for robust pay hikes given sharply higher prices for food and record corporate profits on the back of a weak yen. But it's unclear whether the hikes will be strong enough to spur consumer spending and encourage the Bank of Japan to increase its policy rate, still at a low 0.5%, more aggressively.

Economists expect Japan Inc's average pay hike for 2025 to be similar to last year's 5.1% rise, which marked the sharpest increase in 33 years and enabled the central bank to exit its decade-long super-loose monetary policy.

Rengo, Japan's largest labour union umbrella group with 7 million members, will release a preliminary report on agreed terms on March 14. Its unions were seeking an average hike of 6.09%, up from 5.85% last year.

Naoki Hattori, a senior economist at Mizuho Research and Technologies, said that an average pay hike of 5% to 5.5% would support expectations that the Bank of Japan will continue with its practice of raising rates once every six months or so, with the next one seen in June.

"But if we get an average pay hike that is closer to 6% then that changes the complexion of things a bit," he said. "An increase in wages could lift prices, particularly in services. I don't know that we'd see a rate hike as soon as March but we could see one in May," he added.

For the central bank to increase its pace of interest rate hikes, economists say it will need to see wage growth spur consumer spending.

Kazutaka Maeda, an economist at Meiji Yasuda Research Institute, is not optimistic that will happen, saying that an average pay raise of 5-5.5% across corporate Japan this year would "just offset inflation and not drive consumer spending."

In January, the consumer inflation rate used to calculate real wages, which includes fresh food items but not rent costs, rose to 4.7% year-on-year - the highest reading in two years.

How the average pay hike turns out will also depend on whether there will also be strong pay gains at small and medium-sized firms, which employ around 70% of Japan's workforce.

Toyota has said it plans to pay more for domestic components to help suppliers fund pay rises.

"I've heard from smaller firms that they need more support to help them pass on the higher cost of wages to their customers and to increase productivity. The government will work on policy measures to help," Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a meeting with union and business lobby leaders on Wednesday.

Among major companies, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries electronics conglomerate NEC also responded to union demands in full. Nippon Steel and Panasonic hiked pay but not to levels sought by unions.

Japan's economy long struggled with deflation and before 2023, annual pay increases for two decades were between 1-2%. That left its wage levels well behind the average for the OECD grouping of rich countries.

"This is an important year to ensure that momentum behind wage hikes is established so that Japan's economy can fully escape from deflation," Susumu Takimoto, Hitachi's deputy chief human resources officer, told a press conference.
 
 

The government is said to have set its first targets to boost spending on Japanese cuisine by visitors to the country and in overseas nations.

Sources say the goal is to boost tourist spending on food and beverages to 4.5 trillion yen, or 30 billion dollars, by 2030. That's triple the figure for 2023.

The government is also planning events in other countries to promote Japan's food culture.

It has set a goal to boost revenue from Japanese food-related businesses overseas to 3 trillion yen by 2030. That's nearly twice the figure for 2022.

The targets are expected to be included in the government's five-year plan on agricultural policy.
 

 

The Japanese government plans to increase the country's rice exports by nearly eight-fold to 350,000 tons, worth 92.2 billion yen ($623 million), in 2030 from 2024, according to a policy presented to a ruling party meeting Wednesday.

The plan to boost exports through improved production is also seen as a way to secure sufficient domestic supply of the Japanese staple to avoid shortages.

In its draft for a medium- to long-term basic plan for agriculture, the government kept intact its goal of raising the country's food self-sufficiency rate to 45 percent on a caloric intake basis by 2030 from 38 percent in fiscal 2022.

The figure refers to the ratio of domestically consumed food supplied by producers in the country.

The draft of the basic plan, revised roughly every five years, highlighted the need to enhance productivity in addition to expanding exports, noting that geopolitical risks and a decline in domestic farmers have destabilized food production and supply in the country.

The government aims to increase the total value of agricultural and food exports from 1.5 trillion yen in 2024 to 5 trillion yen in 2030, while boosting food-related spending by inbound tourists from 1.6 trillion yen to 4.5 trillion yen.

For rice production, the plan presented to the Liberal Democratic Party gathering aims to increase the number of farmers managing fields of 15 hectares or larger and reduce production costs from 11,350 yen to 9,500 yen per 60 kilograms to compete with cheaper imports.

Japan consumes approximately 6.6 million tons of rice a year, meaning the 350,000-ton export target would be equivalent to around half a month's domestic consumption.

While there is currently a domestic rice shortage, long-term demand is expected to decline due to Japan's shrinking population, making expanding exports a key focus.

Previous basic plans have used the food self-sufficiency rate as a key numerical target, but the latest one will feature several goals following the amendment to a related law last May. The government will seek Cabinet approval by the end of the month.
 
 

Japan’s gross domestic product in October-December last year increased 0.6 pct from the previous quarter in price-adjusted real terms, or 2.2 pct at an annual rate, the Cabinet Office said in a revised report Tuesday.

The figures marked a downward revision from the preliminary rises of 0.7 pct and 2.8 pct, respectively, announced last month.

In nominal terms, the country’s GDP rose 1.1 pct for an annualized increase of 4.6 pct, against the preliminary growth of 1.3 pct and 5.1 pct.
 
 

Japan on Tuesday marked 14 years since a devastating earthquake and tsunami rocked the country's northeast and triggered a nuclear crisis, with residents in one of the hardest-hit areas again reeling from the impact of a natural disaster.

The commemoration came at a particularly hard time for residents of Ofunato in Iwate Prefecture who have evacuated due to a massive wildfire that broke out in late February. The blaze has been contained, with all evacuation orders lifted by Monday.

When the triple disasters struck 14 years ago, scores of people were forced from their homes. The disaster-prone nation has since taken steps to be better prepared for natural calamities, including the handling of evacuations, and rebuild the affected areas.

People across Japan will observe a moment of silence and prayer for the victims at 2:46 p.m., when the magnitude-9.0 temblor struck off the Pacific coast, leading to the deaths of over 22,000.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is scheduled to attend a memorial service hosted by Fukushima Prefecture, where the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex is located.

 

Residents of the three hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima gathered from early morning to mourn the victims.

At the site of the former disaster prevention office in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, where 43 people, including town officials, died, Masayuki Nitanai, an official of the town's general affairs division, offered prayers.

"Even though people remember the tragedy, I feel that disaster awareness is fading. I want to keep passing on the importance of disaster prevention to protect this town," the 59-year-old said.

At Usuiso beach in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, Reiko Endo, 59, remembered a friend she lost to the tsunami as she faced the gentle waves.
"After 14 years, I can finally look at the sea with a sense of calm," Endo said. "I don't usually talk about the disaster much, but on this day, I reflect on those who passed away and feel gratitude for my own life."

Meanwhile, 19-year-old university student Kazutomo Tamashiro observed a moment of silence at the Takatamatsubara Memorial Park in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, where the "miracle pine" that survived the devastating tsunami still stands.

Having experienced a large earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan in 2016, he said, "I am visiting disaster-hit areas to learn about recovery. I want to think about what I can do for my hometown and the Tohoku region."

While recovery is progressing in the three prefectures, about 28,000 people remain displaced across the nation, and areas in seven municipalities in Fukushima are still designated as off-limits due to radiation, according to the Reconstruction Agency.

In Chojahara, a district in the Fukushima town of Okuma where entry remains prohibited, a stone monument bearing the names of 44 residents who died while evacuated was completed last month.

Mitsuyoshi Yamaguchi, 80, the local district chief who led the project, visited the site alone on Tuesday and planted cherry blossoms.
"They cannot be laid to rest in their hometown graves. At the very least, I wanted to leave their names here," he said.

Cleanup efforts at the Fukushima complex continue amid controversy over the release into the sea of treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled plant, with decommissioning expected to last for several decades.

Drawing on lessons from the worst nuclear crisis since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, a Kyodo News survey found that 72 of 116 municipalities located within 30 kilometers of reactors across Japan feel the need to review their evacuation plans for nuclear accidents.

In the survey, 28 municipalities said they had not included the possibility of severed roads in their current evacuation plans.
 

 

The Japanese government adopted Tuesday its basic policy for operating a new skill development program for foreign workers that will replace the existing technical intern scheme.

The policy seeks to specify sectors that accept foreign workers based on staffing needs. It also calls for avoiding concentration of foreign workers to metropolitan areas to secure staff in rural areas.

The government will design sector-by-sector details by the end of the year to start the new program in fiscal 2027.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba underscored the significance of the basic policy at a meeting of his ministers.

"The basic policy is important guidelines for providing an attractive working environment for foreigners at a time when Japan is facing a serious labor shortage while international competition to attract foreign talent is intensifying," he said.
 


 

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The Japanese government began a rare auction on Monday of its emergency rice stockpiles in a bid to help drive down the surging price of the national staple.

Rice shortages driven by factors from poor harvests caused by hot weather to panic-buying over a "megaquake" warning last summer have caused prices to nearly double over a year.

Exacerbating the problem, some businesses are also thought to be keeping their inventories and waiting for the most opportune time to sell. Japan stores about a million tons of rice for emergencies.

The country has previously tapped into these reserves during disasters, but this is the first time since the stockpile was built in 1995 that supply chain problems are behind the move.

The agriculture ministry is expected to select successful bidders for 150,000 tons of rice by Wednesday -- with the auctioned grain expected to hit store shelves by the end of March.

The ministry says it plans to release another 60,000 tons if necessary. "This is a highly irregular situation," agriculture minister Taku Eto told parliament on Monday. "By sorting out the clogged parts of the distribution network, we hope to relieve the hardship experienced by consumers."

Experts say several factors have contributed to the crisis. Among them is a tourism boom and shortages caused by record heatwaves in recent years, as Japan, like other countries, experiences the effects of human-driven climate change.

In August last year, shelves in some stores emptied after the government warned of a possible "megaquake", along with one of the fiercest typhoons in decades and the annual Obon holiday.




 
 

Japan's National Museum of Territory and Sovereignty is set to reopen in mid-April after renovation.

The government will update the museum's displays for the Northern Territories, or the four Russian-controlled northeastern Pacific islands, and the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea to experience-based types using advanced visual technologies, with an aim to encourage young people, many of whom are believed to be indifferent to territorial issues, to take an interest in them.

The Russian-held islands, located off Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, have long been claimed by Japan, while China claims sovereignty over the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan. The museum in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward is designed to publicize Japan's position on disputed territories.

The government opened the museum in 2018 to promote public understanding of these disputed islands as an inherent part of Japan's territory. The museum has mainly used panels to showcase the histories and natural environment of the islands.

Some 10,000 people visit the museum each year, with many being middle-aged and older individuals interested in territorial issues. Attracting younger generations to the museum has been a challenge for the government.