Politics
Ida Torres on Jun 20 2013
A source from the Japanese government says that the talks on a nuclear development pact between
Brazil and Japan will most likely resume next week after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on a summit meeting in Tokyo. The two will be meeting to enhance bilateral ties between the two countries and the
nuclear pact will be foremost on their minds.
Eleven members of the
Kita Izoku Renraku Kai, a group that is seeking to retrieve the ashes of relatives who died in North Korea by the end of
World War II, are paying a visit to Chongjin, a port city in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. They have not been here in 68 years but it seems like nothing much has changed.
Three former managers of the Agura farm in Tochigi Prefecture that was selling a “wagyu beef ownership system” were arrested on suspicion of misleading consumers, in what might turn out to be one of the biggest consumer
fraud cases in recent history. The managers promised annual returns of up to 8% for investors, when in reality, the number of cows "sold" and the actual cows themselves were not equal.
When the
new safety standards issued by the Nuclear Regulation Authority kick in by next month, the power companies are hoping for prompt safety screenings for their
nuclear plants, as they are eager to get the reactors online to mitigate rising utility costs. Four utilities - Hokkaido Electric Power Co., Kansai Electric Power Co., Shikoku Electric Power Co. and Kyushu Electric Power Co. - are expected to immediately apply for safety screenings of 12 reactors at six plants.
The revised version of the anti-
bullying bill drafted by the Liberal Democratic Party last January has been approved by delegates from Japan's main parties and is expected to be passed in the current Diet session. The bill establishes a zero-tolerance approach to all kinds of bullying.
An initial plan to move its academic year to autumn has been nixed by the
University of Tokyo. Instead, they will be implementing four terms of two months each for the academic year starting March 2015, instead of the current two semesters per year. This is a way for students from foreign universities to easily transfer to the Japanese university.
In truly heartbreaking fashion, Japan let go of an early two goal lead and succumbed to Italy, 4-3 in their
Confederations Cup match, therefore ensuring that the Azzuri move on to the seminfinals while the Samurai Blue are all but eliminated from the
football competition. While the Japanese dominated the opening exchanges, it was the Italians who were able to withstand the pressure and make the comeback to secure their place in the next round.
He may have been a few weeks late to make his stand, but he timed it perfectly as the campaign for the Upper House elections is about to begin. Japan Restoration Party co-head
Shintaro Ishihara criticized the party's other leader,
Toru Hashimoto, over his controversial remarks about "comfort women". He called the statement a "great nuisance", and says Osaka's mayor should take responsibility if the party does not do well during the elections.
Japan's Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe said that a yet unnamed Japanese firm will be announcing new job opportunities in Northern Ireland in the next few weeks. He made the announcement as he became the first Japanese premier to visit Belfast and meet with some of the country's top officials.
Softbank's bid to acquire US wireless provider
Sprint was boosted even more as its rival Dish Network declined to match their revised offer. If the deal is finally sealed, this will be the biggest overseas acquisition by a Japanese company in history and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son's dream to finally break into the US market.
