The Internal Affairs and Communication Ministry announced Monday that the number of children under 15 in Japan has reached a record low of 16.93 million after the 30th straight year of decline. Children account for 13.2 percent of the population. On the other hand, seniors 65 and older account for a record high of 23.2 […]
After shooting down a proposal to adopt daylight-saving time, Tokyo decided to start Cool Biz May 1 and extend it until Oct. 31 to save energy. Cool Biz is a campaign introduced in 2005 that encouraged government and office workers to wear casual clothes rather than suits and ties during the summer months to reduce […]
A 4.02 trillion yen ($49 billion) supplementary budget is expected to be enacted Monday. The first extra budget for fiscal 2011 cleared the lower house of parliament Saturday. The budget came in response to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and will be used to finance initial reconstruction measures, such as cleaning up the massive […]
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he will launch an independent panel to investigate the causes of the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. According to Kyodo News, Kan said “the myth of the safety of nuclear energy” was prevalent among government and utility officials and that Japan needs to “humbly reflect” on such […]
Tokyo said yesterday that it will announce a plan to join the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction at the Group of Eight developed countries’ summit in late May in Deauville, France. The government is expected to instruct the justice and foreign ministries to develop necessary bills to have Japan […]
Of the 65 volunteer-staffed disaster relief operation centers in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, 56 are restricting the participation of volunteers. Some are allowing only local residents to volunteer at the centers. The restriction is due to the inability to accommodate large numbers of volunteers, as well as concerns of increased traffic due to the […]
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday that it will cancel plans to hire 1,100 new employees and cut the salaries of all its employees in the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The company said in February that it planned to hire 1,100 upcoming graduates from 6,500 applicants. The company […]
The Democratic Party of Japan fared poorly in the second round of nationwide local elections following losses in the gubernatorial and prefectural elections two weeks ago. Of the 10 municipal and ward mayoral elections in which candidates affiliated with the DPJ ran against candidates affiliated with the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, the DPJ won three […]
The Japanese government said Saturday that they may help Tokyo Electric Power Co. pay for damages caused by the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which was crippled after the March 11 quake and tsunami, in the event that the company’s survival is at stake. The amount of compensation may be limited in […]
Japan plans to beef up its strategy of “economic diplomacy” to recover from the destruction caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The economy was further damaged by the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which has resulted in rolling blackouts in Tokyo, and hurt consumer confidence. In today’s post, I […]
The Japanese government is considering raising the consumption tax from 5 percent to 8 percent to pay for reconstruction from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The government estimated the damage caused by the disaster could amount to 25 trillion yen (more than $300 billion). The Democratic Party of Japan is in favor of raising […]
Prime Minister Naoto Kan mentioned Monday a need to freeze construction of new nuclear power plants in the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Even as Kan was being heckled by lawmakers from the opposition Liberal Democratic Party (which is a bit of a misnomer, being neither liberal nor democratic), […]
Tokyo Electric Power Co. released a blueprint Monday for ending the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. TEPCO will first focus on cooling the reactors and spent fuel pools, reducing radiation leaks and decontaminating water that has become radioactive. The first step is estimated to take three months. The second step is to […]
The following article was written by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and sent to numerous English-language newspapers. “Japan’s Road to Recovery and Rebirth” By Naoto Kan On March 11, Japan was hit by one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history. We are making all-out efforts to restore livelihoods and recover from the series […]
The government said Friday that the Public Security Intelligence Agency inspected 32 facilities belonging to the Aum Shinrikyo cult last year in accordance to a law designed to curb the cult’s activities. The Aum Shinrikyo (Religion of Truth) cult is responsible for the the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which […]