News On Japan

Japan aims to draw 100 tril. yen foreign investment, digital nomads

Apr 26, 2023 (Kyodo) - Japan will aim to attract 100 trillion yen ($750 billion) worth of foreign direct investment by 2030, and more foreign talent and remote workers known as "digital nomads," as part of its drive to boost economic growth and global competitiveness, the government said Wednesday.

Under the plan, Japan will use funds and other resources to attract investment in strategic areas such as semiconductors, digitalization, green technology and health care. It will seek to develop necessary human resources via tripartite cooperation among the government, firms and academia.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a fresh look at work styles, the government will consider ways to enlist digital nomads who travel while working remotely for companies, including those located overseas. ...continue reading

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Typhoon No. 18 brought destructive winds to the Amami region and areas around Okinawa's main island, with a maximum instantaneous wind speed of 54.5 meters per second recorded on Tokunoshima in Kagoshima Prefecture and homes damaged and power outages reported as the storm passed through the region.

A series of mysterious illegal dumping incidents involving about 39 kilograms of sliced bread has been reported around Mount Daisen and other parts of Tottori Prefecture in August, with officials investigating whether the food may have been deliberately placed to attract wild animals.

An 85-year-old couple have donated a combined 400 million yen to Osaka City with a request that the money be used to create a giant Myaku-Myaku statue about 20 meters tall at the former site of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, envisioning a landmark that could become a lasting symbol of the event and of renewed prosperity for Kansai and Japan.

Lawson plans to cut prices on its main line of onigiri rice balls by 10 yen from September 29 as falling rice prices begin to feed through to retail costs.

Police have established a temporary police post in the whaling town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, ahead of the September 1 opening of the annual drive hunt for whales and dolphins.

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Tokyo stocks fell on August 25, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 64,980.53, down 0.8%, as investors sold semiconductor and electronics shares ahead of Nvidia’s earnings while a weak yen, elevated bond yields and renewed U.S. pressure on Iran kept risk appetite subdued.

Japan's traditional neighborhood public baths are struggling with rising fuel, labor and operating costs, but unlike most businesses they cannot freely raise prices because admission fees remain regulated under a postwar price-control law introduced in 1946.

Tokyo stocks fell on August 24, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 65,528.09, down 488.27 points, or 0.74%, as global bond-yield pressure and caution ahead of Nvidia’s earnings triggered selling in artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related shares, even as the broader TOPIX edged higher.

Suzuki has unveiled a prototype of its first kei-class electric vehicle, the e SKY, which is scheduled to go on sale during the current fiscal year with a driving range of 310 kilometers, among the longest offered by a domestically produced kei EV.

Following the fare revision, a labor union representing taxi drivers in the prefecture and other groups held a news conference calling for the proportion of operating revenue paid to drivers to be raised from its current level to at least 60%.

China's exports of rare-earth magnets to Japan fell by more than half in July from a year earlier, while shipments of tungsten carbide remained at zero for a sixth consecutive month, according to trade data released by Chinese customs authorities.

Japan's nationwide core consumer price index rose 1.8% in July from a year earlier, with the pace of inflation accelerating for a second consecutive month as higher food prices and a rebound in energy costs outweighed a sharp decline in rice prices.

Mitsubishi Electric said on August 20 that it will acquire U.S.-based PCI Energy Solutions, a developer of software used to manage electricity trading and other energy operations, in a deal worth about 220 billion yen, the largest acquisition in the Japanese company's history.