News On Japan

Japan, Singapore to resume short-term business travel from Sept 18

Sep 14, 2020 (Japan Today) - Japan will resume short-term business travel with Singapore from Sept 18, marking the first time that Tokyo has decided to allow the entry of businesspeople without requiring a 14-day self-isolation period amid the coronavirus pandemic, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Friday.

"It will be an important step forward as Japan gradually resumes international travel," Motegi said at a press conference. "There have been great business needs for travel between Japan and Singapore, such as in areas of finance and logistics."

The business exchanges will be allowed under conditions such as pre-departure and post-arrival coronavirus testing, presentation of an itinerary of their stay, limitation of their travel to between where they are staying and the workplace and not using public transportation, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

The resumption was announced in a joint statement by Motegi and his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan, in which they said it will help "restore connectivity and support economic recovery" for the two countries.

Japan has already restarted travel for expatriates and other long-term residents with Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. But in the arrangements, they will have to stay at home or a designated location for 14 days after arrivals.

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Japan began applying a new numerical alcohol threshold for dangerous driving offenses on July 21, introducing a clearer standard for cases involving impaired driving that could lead to fatal accidents.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government approved its first annual basic economic and fiscal policy on Tuesday, pledging "responsible and proactive fiscal policy" and envisioning about 370 trillion yen in public- and private-sector investment in strategic industries through fiscal 2040.

Breathtaking 4K footage filmed from a helicopter offers a sweeping aerial view of Mount Fuji and its majestic surrounding landscape.

A covert network of shuttle tankers is carrying crude through the increasingly dangerous Strait of Hormuz as renewed fighting between the United States and Iran disrupts shipping and raises concerns over how Japan will secure the oil it needs.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has criticized moves by Japanese and Ukrainian companies to cooperate on drone technology, warning that such ties would be regarded by Moscow as a "clear hostile act."

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

A police officer fired a warning shot into the air after a 42-year-old woman approached officers while pointing a kitchen knife at them on a street in Eniwa, Hokkaido, on July 17.

A 45-year-old man was arrested early July 20 after allegedly crashing a passenger car into a convenience store in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and walking around the parking lot carrying a kitchen knife and a golf club.

A 42-year-old man was arrested after allegedly driving under the influence and intentionally ramming a motorcycle in Togitsu, Nagasaki Prefecture, leaving its rider seriously injured.

More than a dozen people were injured after a massive rope suddenly snapped during a tug-of-war at a festival in Kitami, Hokkaido, sending participants falling backward onto an asphalt road.

A public housing complex in Aichi Prefecture where about 70% of households are occupied by foreign residents is showing signs of improvement after introducing multilingual communication, foreign-led neighborhood activities and a 3,000-yen fine for residents who skip community cleaning duties.

A fire that broke out at the long-established Echigo Tsurukame sake brewery in a densely populated residential district of Niigata City on July 19 destroyed the brewery and spread to at least six nearby homes, with firefighters still unable to declare the blaze fully extinguished by noon on July 20.

Two people found dead in a collapsed home following a landslide in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, have been identified as a married couple in their 60s who lived at the property, city officials said.

Bacteria found in excrement on the uniform of a former nurse arrested on suspicion of killing a hospital patient by contaminating his intravenous drip matched bacteria detected in the victim's blood, investigators have found.