News On Japan

Nikkei ends above 23,000 for first time in 13 months following Wall Street surge

Nov 05, 2019 (Japan Times) - Tokyo stocks staged a sharp rebound on Tuesday, allowing the benchmark Nikkei average to finish above 23,000 for the first time in nearly 13 months.

The 225-issue Nikkei average closed up 401.22 points, or 1.76 percent, at 23,251.99. The Nikkei last closed above the psychologically important threshold on Oct. 10 last year. On Friday, the key market gauge fell 76.27 points. The Tokyo market was closed on Monday for a national holiday.

The Topix index of all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 27.66 points, or 1.66 percent, to end at 1,694.16, after a 0.51-point drop the previous trading day.

The market shot up immediately after the opening bell as investors rushed to make purchases in view of a continued Wall Street rally to send the Dow Jones industrial average to a fresh all-time high on Monday.

Sentiment was brightened by growing optimism that the United States and China are on track to sign the so-called phase one trade deal, brokers said.

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Friday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would sign the deal in Iowa, while U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an interview on Sunday that licenses for U.S. companies to sell components to Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. would come shortly.

The market extended gains in the afternoon supported by the yen’s weakening against the dollar and bullish performance of Shanghai stocks, brokers said.

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Airports and railway stations across Japan were crowded on September 23 as travelers returned from their hometowns and holiday destinations on the final day of the five-day Silver Week holiday, with international flight arrivals reaching their peak and many afternoon Shinkansen services fully booked.

Extensive railway disruption continued across Chiba Prefecture on September 23 as JR East warned that several lines damaged by Typhoon No. 25 would remain closed beyond the Silver Week holiday, even as flights returned toward normal, all typhoon-related expressway closures were lifted and some highway bus services resumed. The storm has left widespread damage to railway tracks and embankments, with flooding, landslides and fallen trees complicating restoration work.

The death toll from Typhoon No. 25 rose to nine on September 23, with four people still missing in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures, as renewed rainfall raised fears of further landslides in communities devastated by the storm.

The road leading to Otemon Gate at Tokyo's Imperial Palace was flooded on September 22 after heavy rain from a typhoon caused water in the surrounding moat to overflow.

Japan came within two runs of producing one of international cricket's biggest upsets on September 22, pushing reigning T20 world champion India to the final ball before losing a rain-shortened match at Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi Prefecture.

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An emu that escaped from the home of a traveling zoo operator was captured after wandering through a residential neighborhood in Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture, on September 23, following a police report from a resident who mistook the bird for an ostrich.

People aged 65 and older accounted for a record 29.6% of Japan's population in 2026, the highest proportion among major countries worldwide, while the number of elderly people in employment also reached an all-time high as Japan marked Respect for the Aged Day on September 21.

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visited Ghibli Park in Aichi Prefecture on September 20, touring exhibits that recreate famous scenes from Studio Ghibli films and posing for a photograph with the character No-Face.

Police in Kanagawa Prefecture have rearrested four teenagers on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old high school student who died after being assaulted in Sagamihara in August.

Drinking parties remain a lively part of social life in Kansai even as younger generations increasingly turn away from alcohol and izakaya bankruptcies rise at a record pace, with customers describing the gatherings less as occasions to drink heavily and more as opportunities to maintain friendships, meet new people and build connections across generations.

Anonymous and fluid criminal groups known in Japan as "tokuryu" are adopting increasingly elaborate tactics, including a scheme in which elderly victims are persuaded to hide cash inside refrigerators before thieves enter their homes, as authorities struggle to combat networks whose members often have no direct contact with one another.

A luxury mansion in Bangkok described as resembling a palace was being used as a base for a specialized fraud operation targeting Japanese people, with Thai authorities detaining 14 people, including four Japanese men.

Copper roofing has been stripped from Shinano-no-miya Shrine in Oshika Village, Nagano Prefecture, leaving the wooden structure exposed in the latest of a series of similar thefts reported at shrines across the prefecture.