Nipponica

A volcanic eruption on the west side of Iwo Jima, known in Japan as Iwo To, began Sept. 1 and continued more than a week, according to public broadcaster NHK and the Japan Meteorological Agency. The crater spewed white smoke and pyrophores — material that ignites when it contacts air, according to the agency.

As long as that activity continues, “there is a possibility of an eruption that could affect the area around the crater,” according to a meteorological agency bulletin Sept. 8.

When you constantly bomb an innocent island, you can’t be surprised when it gets mad and lashes out.

PayPay Corp., a SoftBank Group Corp. firm, said it chose South Korea in its outward debut as the neighboring country was the most popular overseas destination among Japanese travelers and cashless payment is prevalent there, making it easier to gain cooperation from local merchants.

"We hope to further expand PayPay use abroad in places popular with Japanese tourists," such as Taiwan, Hawaii and China, said Masayoshi Yanase, head of the finance business strategy division of PayPay, which now has over 70 million users.

Rather than this being a service for Koreans, they are taking the Chinese strategy of forcing national payment systems on other country’s infrastructure. Not a fan of this approach to exporting black boxes offshore.

Kyushu is where Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's top contract chipmaker, opened its first Japanese plant. The island sees Taiwan's Hsinchu Science Park, which brings together TSMC and other companies and universities in the semiconductor sector, as a model for building a cluster for technology research, development and manufacturing.

The vision is for Kyushu to not only manufacture semiconductor devices, but also use them to create new industries.

Yet finding a single site the size of Hsinchu Science Park's 1,471 hectares is not realistic for Kyushu. Instead, the Kyushu Economic Federation is promoting the idea of a network of science parks with locations across the region.

This is the ongoing problem for a mountainous island nation but one that major urban areas are attempting to solve with land reclamation. The question is whether they can create land fast enough to sate the appetite of industry.

"They deleted all necessary data upon leaving" or "sent a farewell email filled with sarcasm" are some of the troubling situations experienced by about 10% of workers in Japan when their bosses or colleagues have left their jobs, according to a survey conducted by the Tokyo-based management consulting firm Scholar Consult Co.

This retaliatory behavior when leaving a job is known as "revenge quitting." With job switching becoming less of a hurdle than before, what is happening in workplaces today?

Sarcasm: the nuclear option in Japanese communication.

CDP President Yoshihiko Noda unveiled the new lineup of his party’s leadership at a general meeting of its lawmakers held at the party headquarters, where the plan was approved.

With the leadership reshuffle, Noda intends to strengthen party unity at a time when some members are showing frustration over the party’s failure to increase its presence in the July 20 election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament.

Something, something, deck chairs, Titanic.

The Japanese government said Wednesday that it plans to close all of its six economic centers in Russia because of strained relations between the two countries following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine..

“Amid major changes in the situation around Japan-Russia relations, the Japan Centers have fulfilled their historic roles,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a press conference.

Kinda surprised it took this long. The return of the Northern Territories becoming more of a dream each day.

The major Japanese air carrier has in recent years faced multiple similar drinking incidents involving its pilots, and it comes after a previous warning given to JAL in December by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The ministry said JAL employees lacked due consideration for safety, urging the company to compile measures by the end of the month to prevent a repeat.

“We take this issue very seriously and deeply apologise for causing trouble and worries,” JAL president Mitsuko Tottori told a press conference, adding that her company will fire the pilot.

The fact that this pilot stayed employed this long is outrageous. This guy should have been fired on the spot for putting himself and hundreds of passengers and crew in danger.

Japan's JR East looks to roll out an autonomous train-operating system by 2035 on its Yamanote line, which loops around the heart of Tokyo, with plans to bring similar systems to shinkansen bullet trains around the same time.

The company, officially called East Japan Railway, seeks to fight growing labor shortages by enhancing operational efficiency and optimizing staffing under a business plan unveiled Tuesday.

"Driving jobs will be eliminated, but tasks that need to be performed by humans will only increase," President Yoichi Kise told a news conference the same day.

Now this has a great chance of success. Rail has less variables to deal with compared to free range vehicles (but still a complicated problem). Once Yamanote is perfected, this can be debuted anywhere.

Can they do it? Sure. Will it be successful? I have my doubts. 7-Eleven has an image problem in the States and overcoming that is going to be the biggest issue to face.

Over the next five years, Seven & i is considering investing more than $13 billion to expand overseas. In the United States, this means initiatives like refreshing existing sites, adding more than 1,000 in-store restaurants and building a network of companies to provide more of its 7-Eleven brand prepared foods.

“And we’re launching the egg sandwiches,” Mr. Dacus said. They are, he noted, the top item purchased by the millions of American visitors descending on Japan each year and visiting 7-Eleven stores.

Seven-Eleven Japan Co. on Tuesday introduced worker robots to one of its convenience stores in Tokyo, with the trial part of an automation push necessitated by Japan's worker shortage.

One robot will take over tasks such as stocking bottled drinks and canned alcohol, while others will clean the store's floors and windows.

One way of dealing with a shortage of workers. Might work in low traffic stores but packed ones in tourist heavy areas would probably not allow for enough maneuvering space for a robot. But who knows, Japanese robot innovation has surprised me before.

Japanese airlines including All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) are finding ways to collaborate to reduce costs and boost efficiency despite fierce competition, as their domestic businesses effectively operate in the red amid a sharp decline in business passengers.

ANA and JAL have installed shared ticket-checking systems at gates in 75 Japanese airports, or 80% of the country's total. Each airline previously had its own equipment, requiring separate personnel for gate system management. This led to inefficiencies like passengers being unable to use gates operated by other airlines, leading to a standardization push.

It was always very strange to have dedicated ticket scanning machine for each airline. This not only makes sense financially but also just for common sense. Not everything needs to be a custom solution.

The LDP vote is expected in early October, with the winner almost certain to become prime minister.

No one has announced their intention to run, but there are three names that have emerged as possible contenders.

They are: Shinjiro Koizumi, the agricultural minister and son of a popular former prime minister; Yoshimasa Hayashi, the chief cabinet secretary; and Sanae Takaichi, who would be Japan's first female prime minister if she won.

A good summary of the next candidates for LDP leadership. Personally hoping for a dark horse to rise from the south and have Kumamon take the reigns and steer society towards the light.

The Japan Coast Guard's large patrol vessels will start using Space X's Starlink satellite service to enhance their communications capability, Nikkei has learned.

The plan is to have 66 large patrol ships adopt the service in fiscal 2025, which ends March 31, and another 16 vessels the following year. Those ships patrol waters near the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, which China claims as the Diaoyu.

Going forward, all four hydrographic survey vessels that conduct seafloor topography surveys will also adopt the service.

Filing this in my ‘Security Self-Owns’ folder. The owner of this company has made several attempts to manipulate nations that use his communications network. Hoping this is only a stopgap until Japan can build its own infrastructure.

When meeting Jon Heese for the first time, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve run into Bill Clinton. He often jokes that his resemblance to the former U.S. president is what won him his first election in Japan. However, Heese hails from farther north: the vast plains of Saskatchewan, Canada.

“I grew up in a small village where I could see the horizon 50 kilometers away,” he says. “Saskatchewan residents joke that they can see their dog running away for three days.”

Ibaraki is lush by comparison. Heese, 62, gushes about its flowers in spring, plus locally grown fresh fruit and vegetables all year round. “Tsukuba is especially beautiful with more than 400 parks as well as majestic Mount Tsukuba guarding our city.”

He might be biased, considering he was elected as a Tsukuba municipal assemblyman for four terms, from 2008 to 2014 and again from 2016 until 2022, when he was elected to the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly on his second attempt, after coming close in 2014. This makes Heese one of the very few foreign-born politicians in Japan.

As a former Tsukuba resident, I met Jon once and he is a good model on how a foreign-born person can make an impact in Japanese politics.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Sunday has decided to step down amid a growing push within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to hold a leadership election, Nikkei learned, concluding that he has no chance of reelection.

The thing everyone knew was going to happen is going to happen. Happy Sunday everyone.

After a string of operational incidents attributed to pilot error, the transport ministry issued a stern warning to ANA Wings Co., an ANA Group member, on Friday. The ministry has ordered the airline to submit a report on preventive measures by Sept. 19.

Genuinely don’t know how integrated the Wings pilot training is with ANA proper. If they have the same training program, shouldn’t this warning go to the parent company and have all training reviewed?

The government will begin considering whether to set a cap on the number of foreign nationals accepted into Japan, Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said on Friday. A project team was established within the Immigration Services Agency that day to start full-fledged discussions on the matter.

According to a list of issues presented by Suzuki on Friday, Japan has traditionally lacked a consistent policy on accepting foreign nationals. “The time has come to begin detailed discussions on how to address the impact and challenges that foreigners will have on society in the medium to long term,” Suzuki said.

It was only a matter of time until something like this would happen but I have serious doubts that any substantial change will come of it or any reform of the immigration system. This is only to play to the base. Japan can’t survive without immigration.

The city assembly of Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Monday unanimously passed a no-confidence motion against Mayor Maki Takubo, 55, who is alleged to have falsified her academic record.

The mayor had claimed to have graduated from Toyo University, but in July, she admitted that she had, in fact, been expelled from the university.

The fact she stayed on as long as she did is kinda crazy but happy to see a legislature taking on a chief executive and winning.

The platform, to be launched in fall next year, will be developed mainly by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, as well as the Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA), which is under METI's jurisdiction. It will consolidate personal information, such as digital technology qualifications, education level and place of residence. The government aims to have 1 million registrants in the first fiscal year of operation.

The platform is also expected to provide educational courses for registered users. Material will be available for a wide range of applied skills, including programming, web design and artificial intelligence.

An interesting take on upskilling done at the national level. As long as personal information is secure and people are in charge of their data, I can see this as a great tool in education and job hunting.

Japan Post Bank will in fiscal 2026 issue to depositors a digital currency that can be used for quick trading of blockchain-based financial products.

By marrying 120 million accounts with cutting-edge technology, the bank will create an environment where money in savings accounts can be easily tapped for trading of digital assets online.

Looking forward to the 100% paper-based crypto transactions for YuchoCoin.