‘Japan This Week’ Wraps Up January

Podcasting Japan’s top news: Bank of Japan rate hike, Kyoto tourism tax, Osaka smoking ban, and the Toyosu tuna auction – Japan This Week Podcast.

Well, it was a busy start to the year — and we put out a January news wrap-up on “Japan This Week.”

We also put the audio podcast on hiatus while we figure out what to do with it and so we can focus more on the “Japan Today Spotlight” video series.

In the episode, I share a few things that have been happening over here in Japan — some big, some weird, some just very, well… Japan.

A few highlights from the episode:

• Japan’s interest rates went up for the first time in 17 years. This might not sound exciting, but for a country that’s basically had zero interest forever, it’s a big shift.
• Kyoto is hiking hotel taxes because tourists are taking over the city. If you’ve ever tried walking through Fushimi Inari’s torii gates during peak season, you know what I mean.
• Osaka is cracking down on smoking in public ahead of Expo 2025. Japan still has a complicated relationship with smoking — smoking rooms in restaurants are still a thing — but this is a step toward change.
• Someone paid ¥207 million (about $1.4 million) for a single tuna. Yep, Japan’s New Year’s tuna auction madness continues. That’s a very, very expensive sushi dinner.
• And in case you thought Japan had normal seasons: it just officialy had its hottest year on record. Summer here is already brutal, so this isn’t great news.

Also, a little update — Japan This Week is may be taking a little break, but we’ve got some new things in the works with “Japan Today Spotlight” and the upcoming “Japan Yesterday” podcast. More on that soon!

If you’re curious, you can listen to the full episode here: https://youtu.be/rhGURPmsfVw

Anyway, just wanted to share a bit of what’s going on over here. Hope you’re all doing well — drop me a message if you want to catch up!

April 19, 2019: Micro Racism, Trump Sumo Summit, Toilet Bowl Baby, Train in Vain and Poop Museum

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In this week’s news from Japan Today: A survey of foreigners in Tokyo released this week reports that 50% of respondents have faced discrimination; Donald Trump plans to watch a sumo tournament when visiting Japan in May — and might present the winner’s trophy; a woman was arrested in Saitama Prefecture after giving birth in a 7-Eleven restroom and leaving the newborn in the toilet bowl; in punctual Japan, an elderly man in Nagoya who stopped a train from leaving the station by repeatedly preventing the doors from closing goes viral in a video and… that’s it? Plus a poop museum opens in Yokohama.

This weeks stories:

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April 12, 2019: The Defiant One, Foot-in-Mouth Disease, Like a Virgin, Fashion Police and Mango Tango.

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In this week’s news from Japan Today: Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn released a video message proclaiming his innocence via his lawyer that he recorded before he was arrested; the minister responsible for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has resigned after comments deemed insulting to people in the Tohoku area who suffered after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami; a new study released by the ministry of health finds that the number of Japanese adults in their 30s with absolutely no sexual experience is increasing;” police in Fukuoka Prefecture are using fashion shows to recruit college-age women to join the force plus a pair of mangoes has sold for $4,500 in Miyazaki Prefecture.

This weeks stories:

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April 5, 2019: Bail Fail Jail, Autocrat Era, Lost in Translation, Karoshi Cap and Velvet Buzz Cut

In this week’s news from Japan Today: Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn is back in a Tokyo jail tonight facing new financial misconduct charges; the new era name for Crown Prince Naruhito’s ascension to the throne next month has been announced — and not everyone is happy; after a recent survey, the Japan Tourism Agency wants transit and tourist information signs cleaned of “Engrish;” a new labor reform law came into force limiting overtime for workers in a bid to combat “karoshi” or “death from overwork” plus a teacher in Yamaguchi Prefecture is in hot water after forcibly shaving the head of one of his students.

This week’s stories:

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March 29, 2019: Emperors New Groove, AWOL University, No Eat’n’Go, Bathroom Cadaver and Hooters Bust

In this week’s news from Japan Today: A new era in Japan starts in May — literally — as the country’s current emperor abdicates and his son takes the throne; a university in Tokyo has lost contact with 1,400 of its foreign students; the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture is issuing a city-wide ordinance against people walking while eating; police have arrested an Osaka man for keeping the body of his dead mother in his bathroom for 10 months plus we stay abreast of the news that Hooters Japan is going — bust.

This week’s stories:

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March 22, 2019: Child Abuse Ban, Family Court Murder, Killer Robots, Election Objection and Invisible Man

In this week’s news from Japan Today: The Japanese government approved a plan to legally ban parents and guardians from physically punishing children; an American man was arrested for fatally stabbing his Japanese wife in the neck at family court; Japan plans to back a resolution in the U.N. opposing the creation of “killer robots;” a Hyogo Prefecture former mayor who quit last month over abusive language directed at another official has been re-elected plus the author of “Invisible Man,” Ralph Ellison, visited Japan in 1957 a few years after his iconic novel was published.

This weeks stories:

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March 15, 2019: Virgin Suicides, Too Far Ghosn, Smugglers Blues, Your Name? and The Flame

In this week’s news from Japan Today: Two 12-year-old girls jumped to their deaths from a building in Aichi Prefecture leaving behind letters about being bullied; automaker Nissan is asking its shareholders to oust former chairman Carlos Ghosn as director; a Canadian man has been indicted for trying to smuggle a record haul of illegal drugs into Japan; a teenager in Yamanashi Prefecture has been granted approval from the courts to change his unusual given name to a more traditional one plus Tokyo Olympic organizers say the torch relay will begin at a revamped soccer facility in Fukushima Prefecture next year.

This weeks stories:

March 8, 2019: Ghosn Free, Abuse by Pachinko, Too Cool Koike, Yokohama Rocks and Shibuya Tsunami

In this week’s news from Japan Today: Carlos Ghosn finally granted bail at ¥9 billion; another case of child abuse this time at the hands of parents who went out to play pachinko; Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike faces social backlash after… putting her hands in her pockets?; Yokohama is rated the best city in the Kanto area to live for the second year in a row plus a banner fixed to a building at Shibuya’s busy Scramble Crossing shows the height the 2011 Tohoku tsunami would have reached had it hit Shibuya.

This week’s stories:

March 1, 2019: Ace of U.S. Base, Diet Rapist, Bad Mom, Shovel It, Spaced Out and Tom Thumb

In this week’s news from Japan Today: PM Abe says he won’t scrap the relocation of a U.S. military base in Okinawa even after it was rejected by the people in a referendum; an ruling party lawmaker has resigned from the legislature amid allegations that he raped a woman; an association in Fukushima Prefecture is promoting shoveling snow as fun, good for you and will bring positive vibes from others; sadly another child abuse story this week about yet another bad mom; the Japanese space agency successfully landed a craft on an asteroid 300 million miles from earth plus a Tokyo university has delivered the world’s smallest — healthy — baby boy.

Feb. 22, 2019: Abe Bad Bromance, Kidnap Custody, Ms. Robot, Exposer, Testy Tubes and Audrey Hepburn

In this week’s news from Japan Today: President Trump claims the PM Abe nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize; Japan to revise child custody laws to enforce the handovers of children to parents — even if they are overseas; a national restaurant chain apologizes as a video surfaces showing an employee exposing himself in the kitchen; a woman killed another resident after she was transferred from one psychiatric facility to another claiming she is “a robot;” the number one annoyance for Japanese train commuters plus Audrey Hepburn — 26 years after her death the iconic film star and UNICEF spokesperson is still idolized by the Japanese as the “eternal fairy.”

This week’s stories: