News On Japan

Japan McDonald's to Start Charging for Bags

TOKYO - Starting April, some major fast-food chains, including McDonald's Japan, will begin charging for bags at select locations. McDonald's Japan has announced that starting April, 23 stores in Nagasaki Prefecture will introduce a fee of 5 yen per bag for customers who use shopping bags.

This initiative is part of the company's efforts towards decarbonization, and they are considering expanding this to all stores nationwide.

Additionally, 23 stores in Saitama Prefecture will switch from plastic to paper containers for their dessert product, the McFlurry.

McDonald's Japan has set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its stores by about half by 2030 (compared to 2018) and aims to accelerate its efforts with these new initiatives.

Source: ANN

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A tropical depression south of Japan is expected to develop into a typhoon on September 15 and could affect Okinawa during Silver Week, raising concerns over travel and tourism as Japan prepares for its first five-day Silver Week holiday in 11 years.

Climbers who get into trouble on Mount Fuji during the official closed season could be charged for rescue by disaster-prevention helicopters under new safety measures being considered by Yamanashi Prefecture.

Genta Koja, a former deputy mayor of Naha who accepts the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko in Nago, won the Okinawa gubernatorial election on September 13, defeating incumbent Governor Denny Tamaki and bringing an end to 12 years of prefectural administrations committed to blocking the project.

Roads around the Fushimi Otesuji Shopping Street in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward were flooded on the evening of September 13 after water began gushing from a nearby road, forcing authorities to close part of the street to traffic.

China will sharply raise visa fees for Japanese nationals entering the country from September 14, with the cost of a single-entry visa increasing to 16,750 yen, about 7.4 times the current level.

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