Have you ever looked at a vending machine in Japan and had no idea what the strange, kanji-labelled drinks were? Now there’s a new interactive service that will explain everything for you! With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics fast approaching, Japan is gearing up for an influx of overseas tourists with a number of innovative projects […]
Japan is increasingly depending on foreign workers to meet a shortfall in the domestic working population, but many of the jobs are menial or ones that nobody else wants. Official figures show that a record 790,000 foreign nationals are now working in Japan, but the Japan Civil Liberties Union estimates there are more than 1 […]
Aichi Prefectural Police are investigating what is believed to be a murder-suicide case after finding two bodies inside an apartment in Nakamura Ward, reports Nippon News Network (Dec. 24). At approximately 2:0 p.m. on Thursday, officers entered the residence, located on the fourth floor of a building in the Nakajimacho area, and found the blood-stained body of a woman […]
In Japan the loneliest day to be single isn’t Valentine’s Day but Christmas Eve. And the staff at this restaurant doesn’t want to see any happy couples! If you’re feeling lonely because you don’t have a date for Christmas Eve, you could always try heading to the Philippines to see if you can catch the […]
A 27-year-old Iranian man has been identified as the victim of a predawn street assault Sunday in central Nagoya, in which he was stabbed and bashed by several Persian-speaking men before dying of blood loss in hospital six hours later, police said Wednesday. The victim, named by police as Anami Shirmard Milad, is believed to […]
Narita Airport introduced “Megahonyaku,” a combination of megaphone and honyaku (translation), on a trial basis earlier this month. Aiming to assist with the increasing number of foreign visitors and the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics scheduled for 2020, Panasonic Corp. has been developing a new megaphone system capable of translating a speaker’s voice from Japanese into […]
The government kicked off a campaign Monday to give tourists access to SIM cards and Wi-Fi routers, aiming to offer a better quality communications environment. The Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) said that while the government has been working to spread free Wi-Fi availability for international travelers, it isn’t possible to provide blanket coverage nationwide. Yet […]
McDonald’s Corp. is considering selling part of its stake in its Japanese unit, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday. The U.S. fast food chain, which owns roughly 50 percent of McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan), is apparently seeking to weaken its control over the Japanese unit, with potential buyers including investment funds, the sources added. […]
The Japanese government plans to step up measures to support households that are struggling financially to raise children. The government will submit to the Diet early next year a set of bills addressing problems involving children in poverty. A government survey done every 3 years shows that one out of 6 children in Japan lived […]
A Japanese man in his 20s has died of caffeine poisoning after routinely drinking the caffeinated beverages known as energy drinks, the forensic medicine office of Fukuoka University found Monday. The office decided the cause of the death was heavy intake of caffeine. The man in the Kyushu region, southwestern Japan, drank such beverages frequently […]
