Nipponica

Unless the current situation in which Okinawa is forced to make sacrifices on the grounds of security is changed, the rift between the central and prefectural governments will only deepen. The national government must amend its stance of forcing decisions on Okinawa and engage in sincere dialogue.

This is a good explainer about the burden placed on Okinawa Prefecture by the central government and how the local people are basically powerless to stop it.

"An increasing number of people (within the LDP) are feeling a sense of crisis that if this situation continues, there will be a change of government," Suga, still a prominent figure in the LDP, said in an online program broadcast Sunday.

When Suga returns from the dead to shit on you, you know the game is up.

Japan stands ready to take appropriate steps against volatile yen moves at "any time," a senior finance ministry official said Monday in a fresh warning, as the currency neared levels at which authorities have previously intervened to slow the yen's decline.

“In classical music, you play what’s written on the music sheet. Onigiri is the same,” he says. “You don’t try to do something new.”

A delightful read on one of Japan's core food staples.

Only 10.4 percent of the Japanese public want Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to win the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership race slated for September and continue serving as premier, the latest Kyodo News poll showed Sunday.

At this point, he should see if the number could go any lower just for the sport of it.

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, a sprawling 4.2-million square meter complex by the sea, was once the crown jewel in Japan’s strategy to boost atomic power to 50% of the country’s energy mix by 2030. Inside, a framed certificate from Guinness World Records acknowledges the facility’s potential output of 8.2 gigawatts as the most globally.

Right now that output — which would be enough to power more than 13 million households — is zero. The seven reactors at KK, as the facility is known, were shuttered after the 2011 tsunami and meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 plant in the Tohoku region that prompted the government to rethink its dependence on nuclear energy.

Fascinating article about this one plant in Niigata but also the general pulse of the population on nuclear energy, the total fecklessness of Tepco, and government officials avoiding being the one in charge of allowing power generation to resume.

"It is inadequate...that Japan has not established domestic laws to punish war crimes or crimes against humanity," ICC President Tomoko Akane said at a recent press conference in Tokyo. She is the first Japanese to lead the independent judicial body, which is based in The Hague.

Did not realize Japan was not a party to this treaty until I saw this article. Very surprising, curious, and troubling considering the nation's brutal treatment of Chinese during the Sino-Japanese Wars.

Residents of the Noto Peninsula in central Japan have been witnessing a curious surge in tourists, a mere five months after the region was severely damaged by a major earthquake.

While some see the boost in tourism as a positive -- a way for people to grasp the reality of the situation in the region amid growing concerns of a drop in visitors following the New Year's Day temblor -- others argue the trend of people traveling to the remote peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture is a form of "dark tourism."

There are people that are bringing supplies or other aid, as cited in the article. But the “dark tourism” is very real and a similar phenomenon to the proliferation of true crime stories and podcasts that flooded the market since the Serialification of the medium.

A memorial service, attended by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, was held at the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, the site of the final stage of the battle, where the names of 181 people were added to the list of the war dead inscribed on monuments, bringing the total to 242,225.

Attended by PM Kishida who stated that he was working on easing the burden of the presence of US military for the Okinawa people.

For generations, “nommunication” – or drinking with colleagues after work – has been credited with fostering corporate spirit in Japanese firms, releasing office tensions and building close professional relationships.

Now, a new study suggests that despite the well-documented risks to health, smoking performs a similar function in the Japanese workplace.

Having lived in Japan before and after the 2020 indoor smoking ban, izakayas are much much MUCH more tolerable to be in for long periods of time. Smoking will go out of style as the older generations leave the workplace. So, let's say, by the year 2100?