A Japanese court has issued an injunction to suspend operations of 2 nuclear reactors at the Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan. It’s the first such injunction for reactors currently in operation.Twenty-nine residents of neighboring Shiga Prefecture sought an injunction last November demanding that the plant’s operator, Kansai Electric Power Company, keep the No.3 […]
Executives at a major Japanese food manufacturer have offered staff a cut in working hours for the same basic pay.Managers and union officials at Ajinomoto are likely to shake hands on the proposal, which aims to improve the work-life balance of employees. Union leaders told NHK that management offered to shorten the working day by […]
Japan’s cabinet has approved a bill to revise a century-old civil code provision that prohibited women from remarrying for 6 months after a divorce.The legislation, approved on Tuesday, shortens women’s waiting period for remarriage to 100 days in principle.This is in line with a Supreme Court ruling last December that a period of more than […]
With 45 percent of senior management positions held by women, Russia has once again topped a ranking of countries with the highest percentage of women in senior business roles, followed by the Philippines and Lithuania, a report published on Tuesday said. Japan, where only 7 percent of senior leadership roles are held by women, remained […]
The National Police Agency on Monday announced the establishment of a special unit to combat brewing hostilities between two Hyogo Prefecture-based organized crime groups, reports NHK (Mar. 7). Since February 23, police have responded to 19 incidents, including shootings and assaults, involving members of the Yamaguchi-gumi and its rival, the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, in 14 administrative districts across the nation. The NPA now acknowledges a “state of […]
Shizuoka Prefectural Police on Monday arrested an American male for exposing himself to women in two incidents in Kikugawa City, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Mar. 7). On February 15 and 25, Mathew Wood, a 33-year-old teacher at a private high school in the Tomoda area, revealed the lower half of his body to female pedestrians from inside a parked […]
A Japanese submarine will visit the Philippines for the first time in 15 years, along with two warships that will then sail on to Vietnam, in a show of support for nations opposed to Beijing’s ambitions in the South China Sea, a person familiar with the matter said. The Japanese submarine, which is used for […]
The suspect in the 2014 murder of a 6-year-old Kobe girl said Monday that he had no intention to molest the girl. The defendant, Yasuhiro Kimino, 49, was testifying on the opening day of his trial at the Kobe District Court, Fuji TV reported. He is charged with the murder of Mirei Ikuta, 6, sometime […]
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has unveiled a government plan to open the Kyoto State Guest House to the public throughout the year in a bid to further promote tourism in Japan. During his visit to the guest house in Kyoto on Sunday, Suga also clarified that the government will examine the idea of expanding […]
Japanese skiers and snowboarders took part in an unusual downhill race at a ski resort north of Tokyo that included their pet dogs.About 70 parents and children, along with 48 dogs, took part in the race in Nasushiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture, on Sunday. The participants on skis or snowboards raced down a slalom course marked […]
