An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 shook northeastern Japan on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. No tsunami warning was issued. The 4:49 p.m. temblor, which originated at a depth of about 50 kilometers off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, registered lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in parts […]
Japanese retailers facing staff shortages are turning to self-checkout cash registers. A leading DVD rental chain introduced a self-checkout system at some of its outlets 2 years ago. It plans to have the system installed at nearly half its stores by March. Customers can settle their bills by placing products under a bar code reader. […]
A memorial museum in the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima has reported a record number of visitors for the fiscal year that ends next month. Officials at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum welcomed the 1,593,281st visitor of the year on Friday, breaking the previous record set 25 years ago. The 29-year-old Tokyo resident, Yuri Takahashi, received […]
Japanese men still earn more than women, but a new survey shows that the gender wage gap is narrower than ever. Labor ministry officials who ran a national survey of entities with 10 or more employees found that last year, average monthly pay excluding overtime was about 2,700 dollars. That’s unchanged from 2015 in yen […]
Many employees across Japan will be leaving work at around 3 pm on the last Friday of each month, starting this week. This is part of a new campaign called “Premium Friday,” led by government and business officials. The aim is to boost the country’s sluggish consumption. Industry groups and companies, as well as local […]
The Japanese government plans to allow more foreigners with specific skills to work in Japan as part of its special economic zone project. A government panel on the national special strategic zones met on Tuesday. The government aims to promote deregulation in these areas. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Finance Minister Taro Aso and Local Revitalization […]
Businesses leaders and government officials gathered in Tokyo on Tuesday to promote a labor initiative known as “Premium Friday.” The campaign is a government-led push for companies in Japan to let people finish work early at about 3pm on the last Friday of every month. Officials are hoping it will boost the country’s flagging consumption. […]
Crowds of men wearing nothing but loincloths joined a nighttime festival in western Japan, vying to catch wooden sticks said to bring good luck. The annual “Naked Festival” was held on Saturday on the grounds of Saidaiji Temple in the city of Okayama. The tradition dates back to the 16th century and is designated as […]
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has joined in a project to recycle used cell phones and other electronic devices to make Olympic and Paralympic medals out of metals extracted from the devices. Tokyo officials set up a recycling box inside the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building on Thursday. To protect personal information stored on phones, equipment to […]
Police officers and psychiatrists from across Japan have gathered to discuss how to rehabilitate stalkers who refuse to undergo psychiatric treatment. Some 80 officials and experts met at the National Police Agency in Tokyo on Monday. Since April last year, police began urging habitual stalkers to visit psychiatrists and undergo treatment or counselling. But the […]
