A ticket machine for foreign tourists has appeared at a Tokyo subway station. The trial machine was installed at a station near the Tokyo Metropolitan Government office on Monday. A 32 inch screen, which is more than double the size of regular machines, displays information in Japanese, English and Chinese. The user can see fares […]
Convenience store chain FamilyMart plans to install automatic foreign currency exchange machines in some of its stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area, starting Feb 1. The company said it hopes the venture, a collaboration with Travelex Japan and Nippon Express, will help foreign tourists, Sankei Shimbun reported. The company said it plans to have the […]
Kansai Electric Power Company plans to restart on Friday one reactor at the Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture along the Sea of Japan coast. The plant will be the 2nd one to resume operation since all nuclear stations in Japan went offline following the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011. The utility informed Japan’s […]
The Japanese government has approved a new plan to strengthen its cybersecurity. Members of the government’s Cybersecurity Strategic Headquarters met at the prime minister’s office on Monday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who chairs the headquarters, stressed the need to strengthen Japan’s measures against cyber-attacks ahead of the Ise-Shima G-7 summit in May and the […]
Japan’s Emperor Akihito travels to the Philippines this week to visit World War II memorials, his latest pacifist pilgrimage which appears increasingly at odds with the government’s rightward drift. Akihito, 82, has made honoring Japanese and non-Japanese who died in the conflict a touchstone of his near three-decade reign—known as Heisei, or “achieving peace”—and now […]
A recent survey by National Institute of Infectious Diseases shows that a total of 66 people suffered from an unidentified paralysis between Aug. 1 and Dec. 3 last year, Asahi Shimbun daily said on Wednesday. The survey, released on Tuesday, was conducted after a series of reports last summer that children showed symptoms of paralyses […]
Would you like chocolate fries with that? McDonald’s Japan said Tuesday that it will offer French fries with chocolate sauces as a topping, dubbed the McChoco Potato, beginning Jan. 26. The company has offered a variety of toppings for fries, including cheese sauce and bacon, but this is the first time that they provide a […]
The Liberal Democratic Party has decided not to seek passage of a bill to legalize casino operations during this Diet session because coalition partner Komeito remains cautious on gambling. The LDP appears to be eager to avoid a conflict with Komeito, backed by the Buddhist lay group Soka Gakkai, ahead of the Upper House election […]
A man in his 30s attempting to evade a groping accusation suffered severe injuries after he leaped from a train platform and was hit by a train at JR Shimbashi Station, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 20). Prior to 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, the man allegedly fondled the body of a woman in her 20s inside a car of the JR Tokaido Line. […]
The news that the Japanese pop group SMAP will stay together has been widely reported outside Japan. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency noted that the group’s possible breakup was far more than celebrity news, and it rocked Japanese society for a week. Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that SMAP has avoided splitting up, and noted […]
