Kumamoto: Kumamon, the black bear-like mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan, has received around 5,300 nengajo postcards for the new year, including from overseas, the prefectural government said this week. “I miss you,” and “I want to see you this year” were among the messages sent as of Monday to the beloved character, who […]
Read MoreTokyo: Japan’s traffic deaths dropped to a record low of 2,839 in 2020, falling below 3,000 for the first time since comparable data became available in 1948, the National Police Agency said Monday. The number of fatalities decreased by 376 from the previous year, partly due to strengthened traffic regulations and enhanced safety performance of […]
Read MoreIslamabad: H.E. MATSUDA Kuninori, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, has strongly condemned the brutal massacre of coal mine workers on Sunday in a terrorist attack in Machh area of Bolan district in Balochistan and expressed his sorrow over the loss of precious innocent human lives in the tragic incident. Expressing his condolences, Ambassador MATSUDA extended […]
Read MoreNoriyuki Suzuki Tokyo: The coronavirus pandemic has prompted Japan Inc to embrace more flexibility in work styles but has also changed how employees see their jobs. Working remotely from home and taking online meetings have become the main ways to reduce human contact and infection risks. The forced transition coincided with Japan’s embryonic efforts in […]
Read MoreNewswire Islamabad: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has invited Japanese investors to invest in Pakistan in various fields.Talking to Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Kuninori Matsuda in Islamabad this week, he said all possible facilities will be provided to the investors. The Minister said there were diverse opportunities to promote bilateral relations in agriculture, industry, low-cost […]
Read MoreTokyo: A Japanese company and Kyoto University have joined forces to develop what they hope will be the world’s first satellites made out of wood by 2023. Sumitomo Forestry said it has started research on tree growth and the use of wood materials in space. The partnership will begin experimenting with different types of wood […]
Read MoreNewswire Islamabad: Japan has conferred the 2020 ‘Spring Decorations’ “The Order of the Rising Sun, Silver Rays” upon Ms. ORITA Toshiko, Vice President of the Pakistan-Japan Cultural Association (PJCA), Islamabad, in recognition of her significant contribution to the promotion of long-term cultural exchanges and friendly relations between Japan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. MATSUDA […]
Read MoreNewswire Islamabad: The government of Japan is assisting Pakistan in installation of weather surveillance radars to upgrade its forecast capacity and help reduce effects of natural disasters, particularly urban flooding.With cooperation of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the weather surveillance radars have already been installed in Islamabad and Karachi, with few others planned to be […]
Read MoreConnie Sceaphierde Tokyo: Sometimes she shies away from view, and at other times you couldn’t even miss her if you tried. Whether you’ve conquered her or not, if you’ve always wanted to view Mount Fuji but you’ve never really been quite sure of where and when to see her in all of her glory, then […]
Read MoreIslamabad: Japan has extended a grant assistance of JPY 1 billion (approx. USD 9.5 million) to Pakistan for enhancing its capacity to confront COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Notes to this effect were signed and exchanged between Matsuda Kuninori, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan and Noor Ahmad, Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, in […]
Read MoreNewswire Tokyo: Japan will build two ships equipped with Aegis missile interceptors after public opposition forced the government to scrap deployment of a costly land-based system, the country’s defense minister said. Earlier this year, Japan decided to suspend unpopular plans to deploy the U.S.-developed Aegis Ashore defense system in northeastern Akita and western Yamaguchi prefectures […]
Read MoreTim Kelly Tokyo: Toyota Motor Corp put its revamped Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car, with 30% greater range, on sale in a fresh push to promote zero-emission technology amid growing demand for electric vehicles, including its own. Toyota has failed until now to win drivers over to fuel cell vehicles (FCV), which remain a niche […]
Read MoreMartin Laflamme Taipei: Tokyo was not always one of the world’s great cities. In fact, for much of Japan’s history, it was a backwater town. This perception was particularly acute from Kyoto, the seat of the imperial court for centuries and the epitome of all things civilized. In the poetry of its aristocracy, the entire […]
Read MoreRitsuko Ando Japanese music enthusiasts, loyal to CDs long after the rest of the world went online, have begun reaching for the eject button and switching to streaming services as artists cancel in-store events and fans stay home because of the pandemic. Despite a slow decline in sales in the past decade, CDs are still […]
Read MoreIain Maloney The 20th century saw a profound shift in emphasis to social history, people’s history, and latterly, the history of those pushed to the margins — women, people of color and the working class. At times this change felt like a dialectic struggle, a political choice rather than an academic one: to concentrate on […]
Read MoreTokyo: The requirement by many of Japan’s firms that job applicants indicate their gender and even provide a photo on resumes has left the country out of step with the international norm, but that may be about to change.An internet petition campaign stressing that such practices can lead to discrimination has collected over 10,000 signatures, […]
Read MoreTokyo: The Japanese government will financially support shops and restaurants that are asked to shorten their business hours in order to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said.Suga’s pledge came as Hokkaido officials agreed to ask residents of Sapporo to refrain from nonessential outings following back-to-back days of record infections […]
Read MoreKochi: On the south side of the island of Shikoku, framed by two enormous peninsulas, Kochi is one of Japan’s least-visited prefectures – at least by foreigners. It’s a popular destination for Japanese Shingon Buddhists looking to worship at the auspicious 88 Temples of Shikoku, the country’s most famous pilgrimage trail. But it’s also popular […]
Read MoreNewswire Islamabad: The Embassy of Japan, in line with the PM Imran Khan’s initiative, ’Clean-Green Pakistan’, donated 20 Jasmine trees to Japanese Park in Islamabad. Matsuda Kuninori, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, along with the State Minister for Climate Change, Zartaj Gul planted Jasmine trees at the Park during a tree plantation ceremony. Naveed Tareen […]
Read MoreIslamabad: The Government of Japan has agreed to provide grant assistance of 471 million Japanese Yen to UN-Habitat for the project of “The Improvement of Disaster Resilient Schools Infrastructure” in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, aiming to provide a safe and stable educational environment to the students as well as the teachers. Notes to this effect […]
Read MoreStaff Writer Islamabad: Japan has announced the recipients of the 2020 Autumn Imperial Decorations, which includes Zafar Mahmood of Pakistan in recognition of his significant contribution towards further promoting friendly relations and mutual understanding between Japan and Pakistan. Zafar Mahmood, Former President of MEXT Alumni Association of Pakistan, visiting Professor at the Department of Japanese […]
Read MoreRochelle Kopp Fukuoka: When Anne-Sophie Mpacko recently learned that Japan’s borders had started opening, she was excited to begin her studies at Keio University, where she had been accepted as a doctoral student in clinical psychology.Her plans to start studies on campus in the spring were derailed when the novel coronavirus began to spread around […]
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