Nipponica

“I am the last one left,” Mr. Kiyozumi said in his home, showing fading photographs of the sub and himself as a young sailor.

As the 80th anniversary of the war’s end approaches, the number of veterans still alive is rapidly dwindling. There were only 792 Japanese war veterans still collecting government pensions as of March, half the number of a year earlier.

Now in their upper 90s and 100s, they will take with them the last living memories of horrors and ordeals, but also of bravery and sacrifice — powerful accounts that hold extra meaning now, as Japan builds up its military after decades of pacifism. Here are some of their stories.

A somber article well worth a read. The last Japanese soldiers from the Second World War speak about their experiences and the inhuman brutality of the war.

The number of foreign passengers using Narita Airport, near Tokyo, rose 1% in June from a year earlier to 1,849,269, a record high for the month, the airport's operator said Thursday.

The increase was led by flights to and from China, Narita Airport said.

The total number of international passengers, including Japanese, at the airport in Chiba Prefecture, was up 2% in June, at 2,670,104.

For awhile after Haneda evolved into the primary Tokyo international airport, the future of Narita seemed dark. But it has evolved into a hub again for long haul and low cost flights, catering to its own niche markets and not in competition with its cousin across the bay.

As regular transportation to the island had been cut off due to the quake, collapsed buildings and debris remain almost untouched, and residents are waiting for full-scale restoration. The about 50 people who sailed there Wednesday included evacuated residents and local government officials. After they arrived at the island, the residents began the hard work of cleaning up their homes.

This quake was so damaging to the region and it is surprising that it is taking so long to recover from it, especially after the massive quake yesterday causing little damage.

The ¥2,000 banknotes never gained popularity, despite the promotional efforts of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan, because most ATMs and vending machines did not issue or accept them. Circulation peaked at around 510 million notes in August 2004, and then declined rapidly thereafter. Since that fiscal year, no new notes have been printed, and the number in circulation has remained just below 100 million, which is only 0.6% of all banknotes in circulation. The notes have become so rare that many people have never encountered one or wonder if they can still be used to make purchases.

However, in Okinawa the situation is quite different. The note has special significance for residents of the prefecture because it features an illustration of the Shureimon gate of Shuri Castle, which is the symbol of Okinawa. ATMs for Okinawa Bank and the Bank of the Ryūkyūs have a “¥2,000 priority button” that allows users to choose to withdraw these notes to use for their daily purchases.

I distinctly remember using an ATM in Okinawa for the first time and the 2000円 notes being spit out. Was my first time seeing them and I briefly thought I was being scammed. They are beautiful banknotes and the only remaining ones with the previous design language since they were not changed with its 1000円, 5000円, and 10000円 comrades.

U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs will create regional trading blocs and realign global supply chains, the CEO of Japanese trading house Marubeni has warned.

"There is a perception that things are getting back to normal" now that some countries have tariff agreements with the U.S., but "the protectionist tendencies will alter the movements of goods and alter supply chains in the mid to long term," Masayuki Omoto, the CEO of one of Japan's five main general trading houses, told Nikkei Asia.

"I believe economies will become more regionally focused -- or bloc-based," he said.

Globalization being buried, one tariff at a time.

Hiroyuki Goto ventured into what appeared to be a high-risk business nearly two decades ago when, at the age of 28, he started providing rent guarantees for foreign nationals living in Japan.

Goto's experience suggested that the actual risk of backing a foreign resident might not be unusually high, and he thought that renting a place should not be an obstacle for people coming to Japan. More broadly, he felt it was inevitable that the country would have to accept more foreign workers due to depopulation.

So, he started GTN.

This is one of many areas that make starting a life in Japan so difficult. GTN was the only company that would allow me to open a credit card when I first came here to work and that allowed me to build up my personal infrastructure. This guy is a saint.

A man sustained injuries after falling through the floor of a bathroom at a train station in western Japan, the railway operator said Thursday.

According to JR Shikoku, a panel in the floor covering a maintenance space gave way under the man trapping him in a 65-centimeter-deep hole.

The incident occurred at around 8:45 a.m. at Ritsurin Station on the Kotoku Line in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture.

My literal worst nightmare.