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Osaka to promote food delivery services amid virus epidemic

Apr 10 (Japan Times) - Osaka Prefecture will launch an initiative aimed at promoting food delivery services as residents are urged to stay at home amid the coronavirus epidemic, Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said Thursday.

Under the scheme, which will begin as early as next week, Osaka residents who use cashless payment methods when using such delivery services will be rewarded with points. The program will run through May 6.

Users will earn points worth ¥500 for every transaction of ¥1,000 or more for food delivery services. The reward points will be paid for by the prefecture and by delivery service operators.

The prefectural government will set aside some ¥150 million in costs related to the program in its supplementary budget.

The application period for delivery service operators wishing to participate in the program will run through Monday.

Aspiring operators must have 2,000 or more affiliated stores, including independent businesses, for whom they will deliver food. They must also be compatible with cashless payment methods and have sufficient measures to prevent delivery personnel from becoming infected with the coronavirus.

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An Idemitsu Kosan crude oil tanker has safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz, becoming the first vessel bound for Japan to do so since attacks on Iran heightened tensions in the region and effectively disrupted maritime traffic.

Japan’s Golden Week holiday period got fully underway on April 29, drawing large crowds to major tourist destinations and airports, where long lines formed as overseas travel surged.

A series of sightings involving unusually large brown bears in Hokkaido has heightened concerns among local residents, with one 330-kilogram animal captured in Tomamae and another 280-kilogram bear attacking a hunter in Shimamaki.

Full-scale Golden Week travel began on April 29, with Chubu Centrair International Airport experiencing its busiest outbound travel day of the holiday period. The airport was crowded from the morning with vacationers heading overseas.

Electricity and gas bills for usage in May will rise slightly in Japan, with the impact of tensions involving Iran expected to appear in utility charges from June onward. Larger increases could follow in subsequent months.

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