WorldcrunchStay updated with comprehensive news on Japan from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on Japanese politics, economic developments, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include Tokyo, Kyoto, and cultural events.
It’s an economic dictum that virtually anything that is rare is bound to create a valuable market: diamonds, limited edition clothing and, in Japan, obese people. In a country where the obesity rate is among the world’s lowest — only 3.6% of the population is fat, compared to 27% in Australia — a Japanese company […]
With infections surging, and only 1% of the population fully vaccinated, many say that devoting so many resources to hosting the Summer Games is a recipe for disaster.
East Asia is home to 30% of the world’s population but has recorded only 2.4% of the COVID-19 global death toll. Scientists are looking at possible immunity from past epidemics or even genetics.
In both Okinawa and Iwakuni, locals worry that American soldiers and their families are importing the virus and not doing enough to contain it.
The fate of disgraced auto chief Carlos Ghosn has revealed deep differences between the Japanese and Western systems of justice. And not only.
–Analysis– TOKYO — On May 1, Crown Prince Naruhito will succeed his father, Emperor Akihito, to become the 126th Japanese emperor. The April 1 announcement of the new imperial era’s name, Reiwa, means Japan’s history is turning a new page. Born in 1960 as the eldest son of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, Crown Prince […]
Six men, one flag: it is the defining image of the Greatest Generation. No bodies, no planes or tanks, and yet it has become one of the most recognizable images of that worldwide conflict that killed tens of millions and changed history forever. It was 74 ago, on Feb. 23, 1945, that U.S. photographer Joe Rosenthal captured image later dubbed Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. The photograph shows five U.S. Marines and a Navy corpsman planting the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in Japan. Three of the men — Sergeant Michael Strank, Corporal […]
As the Japanese government plans to accept up to about 340,000 new foreign workers over the next five years, coexistence may become an issue.
The growing alarm after UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal suffered a defeat in Parliament isn’t just unsettling for British politics. Global businesses are on edge as well. Asian companies, whose operations and investments stretch far into Britain and the European continent, have a lot at stake as they face higher tariffs and costs. Tuesday’s setback will do little to cure the anxiety. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has sought to assure business leaders that their no-deal nightmare scenario could still be avoided, but with only 10 weeks left before the UK is due to leave the European […]
-OpEd- TOKYO — The United States has turned to inward-looking politics, while the unifying force of Europe has waned due to rampant populism and confusion in Britain, Germany and France. The pillars that have sustained global stability are seemingly fading away. Given the situation, we cannot but be wary of confusion stemming from the intense […]
In the West, the era of grand, strategic pacts between nation-states seems to have come and gone. But in Asia, the trend may just be catching on.
Japan’s Senate passed a reform bill in June modifying the regulation of the workplace, and promoting new ways for employees to work. But things were already changing.
TOKYO — Seventy-three years after atomic bombs laid waste to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, remaining survivors still bear the physical and psychological scars of the horror they endured. And for many, one of the most troubling aspects of that experience is the lingering guilt they feel, for having survived while so many […]
TOKYO — Since Japan“s fiscal year starts in April each year, it is in May that the country’s major corporations announce their financial statements for 2017. Most top Japanese companies have had notably great results. The net profits of Toyota and Mitsubishi, for example, hit new all-time highs for their three and ten-year results respectively. […]
FANUC churns out 6,000 industrial robots per month, double that of its closest competitor. For a company on the cutting edge, it’s surprisingly conservative.
TOKYO — Chinese boys and girls are often referred to as “Little emperor” or “Little princess.” They grow up in surroundings with financial means where six adults are catering to their demands: they are the luckiest generation since the founding of modern China. Yet few of them realize that there is an even luckier bunch […]
Civic values are ultimately worth more than dollars and yen.
For years, Pyongyang kidnapped hundreds of people from neighboring countries, in order to train spies in foreign languages and cultures, or to steal identities. Today, their families are still looking for them.
Japan’s trade surplus with the U.S. is mostly not about protectionism or aggressive Japanese policy — it’s about macroeconomics.
The stakes and uncertainty are high as the U.S. President begins a 10-day trip to five Asian countries. To begin with, decorum is extra important in this part of the world.
Having experienced its economic collapse a generation earlier than the 2008 crisis, Japan has become a laboratory for making the most out of meek growth.
A recent series of documentaries unveil untold chapters of ugly Japanese history.
Many are up in arms after UNESCO granted a small Japanese island World Heritage Site status in June. On face value, Okinoshima Island, home to a 17th-century Shinto shrine, is a worthy World Heritage Site. But it’s not what the island has that has caused controversy — rather, what it lacks: There are no women […]
In spite of the thousands of miles and cultural distances between Colombia and Japan, Gabriel García Márquez’s masterpiece has become a national treasure among Japanese readers and artists.
TOKYO — The popular Chinese imagination of Japan has followed along with Japan’s evolution over the past four decades. In the late 1970s, when China started to reform and to open up to the rest of the world, Japan was Asia’s economic power. Then, following the arrival of Japanese animé to China, Japan was the […]
Congratulations to all those 2017 graduates out there. It couldn’t have been easy! Elsewhere, we have gathered some examples of the wackiest college courses from around the world. If you could go back to school, which one would you pick? [dailymotion //www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x5oefjq expand=1] Take 5 – Wacky College Courses by Worldcrunch
CHIBA — Researchers are collecting 3D data of Buddhist statues and other cultural assets at a university here on the eastern outskirts of Tokyo in order to store the stereoscopic information in case of the objects’ deterioration or theft. The graduate school research laboratory at Chiba University is recording the 3D data, which is also […]
-Editorial- TOKYO — It is a situation in which automobile trade issues could develop into new friction between Japan and the United States. Japan must counter the United States appropriately without giving in to baseless criticism. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Toyota President Akio Toyoda held a meeting. Their talks were apparently intended to coordinate […]
-OpEd- TOKYO — On Dec. 2, Japan’s lawmakers voted for a bill that permits casinos. The aim of the legislation was to boost tourism and revitalize the economy. Gambling has been strictly prohibited in Japan ever since Empress Jito in the Seventh Century banned playing games for money. Japanese envoys learned gambling from China. They […]
FUKUSHIMA — In 1970, electronics company Panasonic inaugurated a factory in the Japanese city of Fukushima to assemble radio sets. In the 1980s, when Japanese electronics were at their peak, the site expanded to produce video material and CD players. In 2011, the earthquake that destroyed the Daiichi nuclear power plant left the Panasonic factory […]
A stressful Japanese work culture is deeply ingrained in the country’s mindset, with historical roots and very modern health risks.
Hiroshima-born designer Issey Miyake has spent his career creating garments that challenge sizing conventions and are both practical and beautiful. A French reporter ponders his influence.
-Analysis- TOKYO — High-tech toilet seats, diapers, cold medicine, rice cookers: These are some of the hottest items for a Chinese tourist on a shopping spree in Japan. The Japanese call this Bakugai or “explosive buying,” and associate it with the Chinese travelers’ impressive purchasing power. Bakugai even became 2015’s Japanese Word of the Year. […]
In Japan, the yakuza traditionally controlled vice businesses and demanded shakedowns. But as their dwindling numbers are hunted down by the authorities, the mobsters are trying to reinvent themselves to survive.
With a low birth rate and grappling with how to maintain a work force and economic development, Japanese officials believe they have a solution in AI.
TOKYO — Cats are all the rage in Japan these days. Bookstores are lined with dozens of photo books featuring cute little felines, and they’re popular online too. They also seem on track to surpass dogs as the pet of choice. So why are they stealing so many hearts? There are about 100 titles on […]
Five years since the devastating Japan earthquake prompted a tsunami that washed tons of refuse into the Pacific Ocean, ocean creatures in and around that underwater wreckage is burgeoning.
Thirty years after the Chernobyl catastrophe and five years after Fukushima, scientists have had a chance to quantify their impact.
The earthquake and subequent nuclear diaster in Fukushima were no doubt devastating, but Japan still struggles to quantify the number of deaths linked to them.
TOKYO — A growing number of Japanese are climbing the emergency staircases of high-rise buildings and towers recreationally, both for the views they can enjoy from the lofty structures and for the heart-pumping exercise. Climbing events held at such structures offer access to stairways that are normally closed to the public. On Nov. 14, at […]