Nipponica

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.