Nipponica

Seven & I Holdings said it will open 1,300 new international stores, mainly in the United States, in an update to its midterm plan after Circle-K operator Alimentation Couche-Tard dropped its ¥6.77 trillion ($44.9 billion) takeover proposal.

The company said it will also add 1,000 net new outlets in Japan as part of its growth strategy. The goal is to "satisfy changing customer needs with new formats and accelerate openings,” the operator of 7-Eleven stores said in a presentation Wednesday.

This article summarizes the Couche-Tard drama from the past year well. Ultimately, 7 along with its rivals Lawsons & FamilyMart are too vital to the functioning of Japanese society to be run by a foreign operator. I was very happy to see the Canadians surrender. Au revoir!

Megumi Fukushima, 44, has been sharing information on social media while clearly identifying herself as an assembly member in Tsurugashima. The assembly said the deluge of opinions and protests directed at the municipal government in response to her posts had disrupted city operations. Fukushima has criticized the resolution, saying it "infringes on her freedom of speech."

In her posts, Fukushima expressed opposition to discrimination against Kurdish residents, many of whom live in the city of Kawaguchi and other parts of Saitama Prefecture. The city reportedly received a high volume of inquiries and complaints about her posts between May and July, which put a burden on responding staff.

This is all kinds of fucked up. She is standing up for people that are being demonized by society and is being muzzled for doing so because it is too burdensome for city hall. Deal with it and understand that is the sole purpose of your job as civil servants.

“(Trump) is not a normal person. He’s someone who changes the rules,” Ishiba said in response to demands in parliament by opposition parties that the government draft a formal document to put in writing the recent trade deal Japan sealed with the U.S. that lowers onerous tariffs.

Credit where credit is due: this needs to be said out loud in more parliaments around the world.

The population of Japanese nationals in 2024 fell by around 908,000 from a year earlier to 120,653,227, declining for the 16th straight year and the largest drop since the current survey began in 1968, government data showed Wednesday.

The latest figures come as policymakers continue to struggle to reverse falling birthrates and regional depopulation, and while anxiety over record foreign resident numbers spurs some voters to turn to opposition parties touting slogans such as "Japanese First."

Nothing too groundbreaking in this article but interesting to hear that Hokkaido has the largest foreign resident growth in the whole country. These people have good taste.

Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya met with Tino Chrupalla, coleader of the hard-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, at the Diet on Tuesday to exchange views on policies toward foreign nationals and other issues.

During the talks, Kamiya explained his policy of “imposing restrictions” on the entry of foreigners. Chrupalla reportedly responded, “I want you to see the German cities where the number of immigrants has increased too much.”

We already knew this is the kind of society these people in Sanseito wanted but might as well scream it from the rooftops with this AfD meeting.

Seiji Maehara, the opposition Japan Innovation Party's co-leader, said Tuesday he will step down to take responsibility for the party's poor national showing in July's House of Councillors election.

The party campaigned to reduce the social security burden in greying Japan, but failed to expand its support beyond its heartlands in the country's western Kansai region. A vote for Maehara's replacement will be held Friday, the party said.

A leader steps down over a poor result. Imagine that.

As Wednesday marks the 80th anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, streetcars exposed to the attack continue to provide transportation and opportunities for peace education in the city.

The affected streetcars have become a symbol of the city's reconstruction, as they resumed operations soon after the blast.

A key transport link in the city and a treasure. The city and the Hiroshima Electric Railway should be celebrated for keeping this link to the past operating throughout and past the darkest days of humanity.

"Despite the current turmoil at the nation-state level, we, the people, must never give up," Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said in the Peace Declaration read during the annual memorial ceremony, which took place after Japan's leading group of atomic bomb survivors was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

"Our youth, the leaders of future generations, must recognize that misguided policies regarding military spending, national security, and nuclear weapons could bring utterly inhumane consequences," he said. "We urge them to step forward with this understanding and lead civil society toward consensus."

We can only hope that we collectively learn from the past.

The Red Star is set to debut in February 2027 to coincide with the drift ice season along the Sea of Okhotsk. The round-trip service will span two days between JR Sapporo and Abashiri stations.

The Blue Star will be in service from June to September, mainly during the lavender blooming season, between JR Asahikawa and Biei stations, and JR Furano Station.

The more trains the better even if some of them are mini Snowpiercer expresses for the rich. Train travel is already normalized for much of the world, but if we lure some people with big wallets on these experiences then maybe they will fund similar things in the unenlightened world.

The NocoMart store opened on the island of Nokonoshima, which has a circumference of about 12 kilometers and a population of around 600. Residents expressed delight that they can now easily buy food and drinks on the island thanks to the store's opening.

The revolution continues.