Japan

[ad_1] The health ministry has found widespread examples of overwork and work-related stress in the entertainment and health care industries, it said in its 2024 white paper on karōshi (death from overwork) prevention measures released Friday.A survey conducted between October and December 2023 in the arts and entertainment sector found that over 40% of technical staff and stage directors worked 60 hours or more in a week. Meanwhile, 60% of […]

[ad_1] The Finance Ministry is temporarily excluding Nomura Holdings from taking part in government debt auctions after the firm admitted to manipulating the bond futures market.Nomura will be suspended from "special entitlements” of Japanese government bond dealers for a month from Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement on its website on Friday.The action is another setback for Nomura after the revelations led several companies including Toyota Finance to take […]

[ad_1] Tokyo police have referred a 40-year-old male manager of a go-kart rental company in the capital to prosecutors for allegedly violating traffic laws by renting out karts to two foreign tourists without valid licenses. According to Metropolitan Police Department sources, the police requested “severe penalties,” meaning they strongly recommend that prosecutors indict the individual. The manager has admitted to the charges, claiming he was too busy at the reception […]

[ad_1] Japan’s largest opposition party just made the Oct. 27 general election more interesting with a surprise policy that could have significant implications for the race and, potentially, for the economy as a whole.　The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan issued a platform statement Monday that calls for redefining the Bank of Japan’s inflation target to “above 0%” from the current 2%.Such an adjustment in the target could result in higher […]

[ad_1] With his first foray abroad this week, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba looked to swipe away any fears of a radical departure from the diplomatic and security trail that was blazed by his predecessor.Signaling continuity with the policies set by former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of a crucial general election in Japan later this month, Ishiba on Friday wrapped up the second day of his visit to Laos for […]

[ad_1] Newly appointed Justice Minister Hideki Makihara, who has admitted to attending dozens of Unification Church events in the past, reaffirmed Friday that he has cut all ties with the religious group.The 53-year-old minister admitted Tuesday that he and his secretary had attended events related to the Unification Church a total of 37 times, but failed to report them to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s internal survey in September 2022.Makihara […]

[ad_1] Hidankyo, an atomic bomb survivors group based in Hiroshima and Nagasaki prefectures, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. "This grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as Hibakusha, is receiving the peace prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that […]

[ad_1] Han Kang’s eminence in the literary world was reaffirmed by the Swedish Academy’s announcement on Thursday that she will be conferred this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature.Though she has been publishing in her native South Korea since the early 1990s, the 53-year-old Han was virtually unknown to Western readers until the English translation of “The Vegetarian” in 2016. Her meteoric rise since attests to the outsize influence that individual […]

[ad_1] The Bank of Japan is working to communicate better with the public and investors just months after markets were gripped by turmoil blamed in part on poor monetary-policy signaling.“There is no silver bullet in better communication. Each approach comes with pros and cons, and I would say that there is no clear consensus yet among board members about which approaches to pursue,” BOJ Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino said during […]