General foods, including fresh and processed foods, will be subject to the reduced tax rate. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito have agreed to make general foods, with the exception of eating out and alcoholic beverages, subject to a reduced tax rate that will be introduced when the consumption tax […]
Sliced ham? Sliced cheese? Sorry, but sliced chocolate is about to make everything else you can put on bread seem like chopped liver in comparison. Despite its alcoholic-sounding name, Japanese company Bourbon actually specializes inchocolate. Still, its latest product seems like the kind of so-crazy-it’s-brilliant idea born out of a flash of heavily inebriated inspiration. […]
The number of bags of waste from decontamination efforts around the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant reached a little under 9.16 million as of the end of September according to Fukushima Prefecture and the Environment Ministry. The 1-cubic-meter bags are found at some 114,700 interim storage or decontamination sites across the prefecture. In the […]
Mazda Motor Corp’s all-new Mazda Roadster (known as MX-5 outside Japan) has been named the 2015-2016 Car of the Year in Japan. The all-new Roadster is the sixth model in Mazda’s new-generation lineup of vehicles that feature the full range of Skyactiv technology and KODO-Soul of Motion design. This lightweight open-top two-seater front-engine rear-wheel drive […]
“Onigirazu,” an innovative take on the traditional “onigiri” rice ball, was chosen as 2015’s dish of the year on Monday after the sandwich-like rice dish became a sensation, more than 20 years after it was first introduced in a manga series. Gurunavi Research Institute said onigirazu, loosely translated as “not gripping,” as opposed to “gripping” […]
Japan’s government has launched 2 bodies to counter international terrorism in the wake of last month’s Paris attacks. A ceremony was held at the prime minister’s office on Tuesday to open an intelligence unit in the Foreign Ministry and an inter-ministerial liaison body in the Cabinet secretariat. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said strengthening intelligence […]
Visitor arrivals in Japan by cruise ship have hit a record high this year of more than 1 million. The figure was reached after a cruise liner with 3,500 Chinese tourists aboard docked at Hakata port in western Japan on Tuesday. The number of cruise passengers to Japan has been surging in recent years, with […]
A 24-year-old man is under arrest for allegedly killing his girlfriend’s baby by feeding him a fatal dose of a kakuseizai stimulant drug in a hotel in the city of Kumamoto, police officials said. The Kumamoto Prefectural Police arrested Tensho Yoshimura on Sunday on suspicion of murder and violation of the Stimulants Control Law, investigative […]
Japan’s top business leader has asked the government to accept more foreign workers to fill labor shortages as the nation’s population ages and shrinks. The chairman of the Japan Business Federation Sadayuki Sakakibara met cabinet minister Katsunobu Kato on Monday. Kato is in charge of promoting the active engagement of all citizens in society. Sakakibara […]
A group of foreigners aspiring to become qualified nursing-care professionals in Japan have shared their experiences. Ten foreigners who are working in the Japanese nursing-care industry took part in a speech contest in Tokyo on Saturday. The event was organized by a body that offers Japanese lessons to foreigners wanting to become nurses and professional […]
