Japan

[ad_1] Though you wouldn’t know it after a heavy snow storm rolled through Tokyo earlier this week, winter is almost over.In just a matter of weeks, spring will be here, and with it the usual flurry of graduation ceremonies, moves to new schools and companies and preparations for cherry blossom-viewing parties.March in sumo means the Osaka tournament. With spring traditionally marking the start of the new year in many cultures […]

[ad_1] The Japanese government plans to allow bureaucrats to work remotely in principle if they wish to do so, according to an outline of guidelines to be issued by the end of next month. Remote work has spread during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there have been no clear rules for bureaucrats. The government will release the guidelines on remote work as part of an effort to encourage more diverse ways […]

[ad_1] Japan’s demographic struggles are forcing companies and communities to open up at an unprecedented rate.Last year, the number of foreign workers hit a record 2.04 million, up 12.4% from 2022, according to labor ministry figures released late last month. That inflow is set to continue at a fast pace as Japan seeks more assembly line staff, construction workers, vegetable pickers and caregivers for the elderly."Japan is entering an era […]

[ad_1] DOHA/GAZA – U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators are preparing a diplomatic push to bridge differences between Israel and Hamas on a cease-fire plan for the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian group responded to a proposal for hostage releases and an extended pause in fighting.Hamas on Tuesday replied to a framework drawn up more than a week ago by U.S. and Israeli spy chiefs at a meeting in Paris with […]

[ad_1] The body of the man who claimed to be wanted terrorist Satoshi Kirishima was sent to a crematorium in the city of Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Wednesday, after being handed over to the city of Kamakura by the prefectural police, investigative sources said. Kirishima, 70, allegedly committed a series of bombings targeting companies in Japan between 1974 and 1975. The man, who went by the name Hiroshi Uchida, had […]

[ad_1] AL RAYYAN, Qatar – South Korea's late comebacks at the Asian Cup had earned them the tag of playing "zombie football" after the team always came back to life when they appeared dead, but it could also describe how they stumbled and eventually fell in the semifinal.The squad rode their luck when they scored goals after the 90th minute in four straight matches, with late strikes in the last […]

[ad_1] Abu Dhabi – Naomi Osaka's comeback hit another roadblock Tuesday, as she suffered a 7-5, 6-0 defeat to former world No. 7 Danielle Collins in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Open.Osaka, 26, returned last month from a 15-month absence from the tour, during which she gave birth to her first child, Shai, but has been handed some tricky draws and has lost three of her four matches […]

[ad_1] Katy, Texas – Simone Biles' superhuman skills have made her a gymnastics superstar, but as the Paris Games beckon it is her down-to-earth qualities that teammates treasure.After a two-year hiatus, Biles is poised to vault into Paris as potentially the biggest headline act of the 2024 Olympics.The 26-year-old is balancing the weight of expectations — not to mention the demands of a two-career marriage to Green Bay Packers player […]

[ad_1] Japan can retain its decade-old blueprint focusing on efforts to beat deflation even if the central bank were to phase out its massive stimulus with an end to negative interest rates, said the government's chief economist Tomoko Hayashi.Under pressure from then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to take bolder steps to beat deflation, the Bank of Japan signed a joint statement with the government in 2013 and committed itself to achieve […]