Sales of Japanese carmakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda sink in China as they fall behind in EV race

Jul 19 (South China Morning Post) - Japan’s top carmakers suffered a huge setback in China in the first half, with sales plunging nearly 20 per cent, their biggest drop in the world’s largest car market since 2012, where the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) is accelerating.

The top six – Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Subaru – all of which assemble and sell cars through their joint ventures with Chinese partners, sold 1.71 million conventional vehicles between January and June, a 19.9 per cent decline year on year, according to industry data provider MarkLines.

“The dynamic Chinese car market requires all players to react quickly to customers’ changing tastes,” said Eric Han, a senior manager at Suolei, an advisory firm in Shanghai. “Japanese carmakers are lagging behind their Chinese rivals in developing electric cars which are now in high demand here.” ...continue reading

Why Did a Wooden Home in Tokyo Collapse?

A two-story wooden house collapsed in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward on the night of September 30th, with experts suggesting that the ground beneath the property, rather than the building itself, gave way, likely due to a cracked retaining wall.

Hokkaido Saw Record-Breaking Rainfall in Just Six Hours

Heavy rainfall battered parts of Hokkaido, with some areas receiving more than a month’s worth of precipitation in only six hours, prompting flood warnings and evacuation advisories. Meteorologists are saying the downpour was the result of a combination of unstable atmospheric conditions and moist air flowing in from the sea.

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Osaka Introduces First Nationwide Cap on ATM Transfers

Osaka Prefecture has revised its ordinance to set a cap of 100,000 yen per day on ATM transfers made with cash cards by certain elderly account holders, marking the first such restriction in Japan.

Shinjiro Koizumi Mass Resignation Scandal in Kanagawa

A bombshell report has surfaced in Kanagawa Prefecture, the political base of Shinjiro Koizumi, where as many as 826 members of the Liberal Democratic Party aligned with the Takaichi faction were treated as having resigned from the party without their consent, according to an investigation by the weekly magazine Bunshun.

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