Society

Golden age for 50-somethings at the helm in corporate Japan

Jul 05 (Nikkei) - More than half of freshly minted presidents at major Japanese enterprises in the first six months of this year were in their 50s, according to a Nikkei Inc. survey.

A total of 628 listed and unlisted corporations changed presidents during the half. The tally was effectively unchanged from the year-earlier 624.

And 51.1% of these new leaders were in their 50s, up 0.3 percentage point to mark a second straight year in the majority and the highest share since the survey began in 2003.

Dai-ichi Life Holdings installed 53-year-old Seiji Inagaki as president in April. Life insurers continue to face a difficult business environment amid ultralow interest rates but are also seeing financial technology open up new opportunities. Inagaki's challenges include devising innovative ideas for navigating the shifting landscape.

At Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings, 53-year-old Tomoaki Kobayakawa replaced 64-year-old Naomi Hirose in June. The new president's main focuses include securing funds for reactor decommissioning at the disaster-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Masayuki Mizushima, 57, assumed the presidency of Hakuhodo DY Holdings ad agency Hakuhodo in April. He took the reins from Hirokazu Toda, 11 years his senior.

Overall, the average age of 57.18 has hardly budged on the year.

Do Bears Prefer Acorns or Berries?

Bear sightings across Japan have already climbed to nearly twice the level recorded during the same period last year, prompting entry bans in mountain areas behind Kyoto’s Ninna-ji Temple and the cancellation of hiking events in Kansai, while new research suggests that the key to reducing encounters may lie in understanding what bears eat in each region.

Copper Thieves Target Japanese Shrines

Copper roofing panels were stolen from several shrines in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, including a city-designated cultural property, in the latest case amid a nationwide surge in copper thefts targeting shrines and temples across Japan, where soaring metal prices have fueled crimes that leave historic religious buildings damaged, exposed to the elements, and facing repair costs of millions of yen.

1200-Year-Old Temple on Miyajima Reduced to Ashes

Flames broke out on the morning of May 20th on Miyajima Island in Hiroshima Prefecture, home to one of Japan's World Heritage sites, destroying Reikado Hall near the summit of Mount Misen.

From Bento Boxes to Garbage Bags, Rising Costs Hitting Daily Life Across Japan

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Tochigi Robbery-Murder Suspect’s Wife Posted Dance Videos on Social Media

A 25-year-old woman arrested as a suspected ringleader in a robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture once posted cheerful dance videos on social media and was remembered by those who knew her as an energetic and outgoing young woman.

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