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Known then as Masako Owada, she worked long hours and had a rising career as a trade negotiator. Much has changed for Japan’s Foreign Ministry — and, in some ways, for Japanese women more broadly — in the ensuing three decades. Since 2020, women have comprised nearly half of each entering class of diplomats, and many women continue their careers after they marry. For years, Japan has promoted women in the workplace to aid its sputtering economy. But many women still struggle to balance their careers with domestic obligations.

Persons: Masako Owada, Crown Prince —, — Naruhito, Japan’s Foreign Ministry — Organizations: Crown, Japan’s Foreign Ministry, Private Locations: Japan

Taro Akebono, a Hawaii-born sumo wrestler who became the sport’s first foreign grand champion, has died. He died of heart failure in early April while receiving care at a hospital in Tokyo, according to a statement from his family that was distributed by the United States Forces in Japan. Born Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan in Hawaii, Akebono became Japan’s 64th yokozuna, or grand champion sumo wrestler, in 1993, the first foreign-born sumo wrestler to win the sport’s highest title. He went on to win a total of 11 grand championships. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons, according to the U.S.

Persons: Taro Akebono, Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan, Akebono, Motoko Rich Organizations: United States Forces, U.S . Forces Locations: Hawaii, Tokyo, Japan

Taro Akebono, a Hawaii-born sumo wrestler who became the sport’s first foreign grand champion and helped to fuel a resurgence in the sport’s popularity in the 1990s, has died in Tokyo. When he became Japan’s 64th yokozuna, or grand champion sumo wrestler, in 1993, he was the first foreign-born wrestler to achieve the sport’s highest title in its 300-year modern history. He went on to win a total of 11 grand championships, and his success set the stage for an era during which foreign-born wrestlers dominated the top levels of Japan’s national sport. Akebono, who was 6-foot-8 and 466 pounds when he was first named yokozuna at 23, towered over his Japanese opponents. Painfully shy outside the dohyo, as the sumo ring is known, he was known for using his height and reach to keep opponents at a distance.

Persons: Taro Akebono Organizations: United States Locations: Hawaii, Tokyo, Japan

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is transforming the small Japanese farm town of Kikuyo into a key node in Asia’s chip supply chain. TSMC, as the company is known, dominates the global semiconductor business. At its home base in Taiwan, TSMC sits at the center of a web of factories, suppliers and engineering firms. In February, TSMC opened a factory, known as a chip “fab,” for fabricator, on a ridge overlooking Kikuyo. The Japanese electronics giants Sony, Denso and Toyota, major buyers of TSMC semiconductors, are investing huge sums in TSMC’s Japan subsidiary.

Persons: TSMC Organizations: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Sony, Toyota, TSMC’s Locations: Kikuyo, Taiwan, Japan, TSMC’s Japan

Shin Joon Hwan, an ecologist, walked along a road lined with cherry trees on the verge of blooming last week, examining the fine hairs around their dark red buds. The flowers in Gyeongju, South Korea, an ancient capital, belong to a common Japanese variety called the Yoshino, or Tokyo cherry. Mr. Shin’s advocacy group wants to replace those trees with a kind that it insists is native to South Korea, called the king cherry. “These are Japanese trees that are growing here, in the land of our ancestors,” said Mr. Shin, 67, a former director of South Korea’s national arboretum.

Persons: Shin Joon Hwan, ”, Shin Locations: Gyeongju, South Korea, Tokyo

☆ Racial Profiling in Japan Is Prevalent but Unseen, Some Residents Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Victoria Kim | Hisako Ueno | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

It’s not that there is anything bad about your hair, the police officer politely explained to the young Black man as commuters streamed past in Tokyo Station. It’s just that, based on his experience, people with dreadlocks were more likely to possess drugs. Alonzo Omotegawa’s video of his 2021 stop and search led to debates about racial profiling in Japan and an internal review by the police. For him, though, it was part of a perennial problem that began when he was first questioned as a 13-year-old. “In their mind, they’re just doing their job,” said Mr. Omotegawa, 28, an English teacher who is half-Japanese and half-Bahamian, born and raised in Japan.

Persons: It’s, Alonzo Omotegawa’s, they’re, ”, Omotegawa, “ Locations: Tokyo, It’s, Japan

The population continues to shrink, with births last year plunging to a nadir. The country’s politics appear frozen as one party holds a virtual lock on power no matter how scandal-tainted and unpopular it becomes. This is Japan, where all bad news is relative. There are few signs of the societal discord you might expect in a place with trend lines like Japan’s, such as accumulating garbage, potholes or picket lines. That equanimity reflects a no-need-to-rock-the-boat mind-set: “Shouganai” — “it can’t be helped” — is something of a national refrain.

Persons: ” Locations: Japan

☆ Japan’s Economy Slips Into Recession and to No. 4 in Global Ranking
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Hisako Ueno | Daisuke Wakabayashi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Japanese economy contracted at the end of last year, defying expectations for modest growth and pushing the country into a recession. Japan’s unexpectedly weak economy in the fourth quarter was the result of a slowdown in spending by businesses and consumers who are grappling with inflation at four-decade highs, a weak yen and climbing food prices. The end of the year also marked a moment that had been expected: Japan’s economy, now slightly smaller than Germany’s, fell one notch to become the world’s fourth-largest economy. On an annualized basis, gross domestic product fell 0.4 percent in October through December after a revised 3.3 percent decline in the previous three-month period. Economists had been forecasting fourth-quarter growth of around 1 percent.

A Toyota unit used software to measure horse power output that made “values appear smoother with less variation,” Toyota, the parent company, said in a statement. The vehicles “meet engine output standards,” and there is no need to stop using the engines or vehicles, the company said. The company named the affected models and engines, but did not say how many vehicles it would stop shipping. Still, Toyota decided to stop shipping the 10 models that use three diesel engines at issue. Then, it reported that Japan’s government was investigating Daihatsu, the subsidiary, for safety problems that dated back decades.

Organizations: Toyota, Daihatsu Locations: United States

A U.S. military aircraft crashed near a small island off the coast of southern Japan on Wednesday with six people onboard. Japan’s Coast Guard said that at least one of those onboard had been confirmed dead. The aircraft, a CV-22 Osprey operated by the U.S. Air Force, crashed close to 3 p.m. near Yakushima, according to a spokesman for the Japanese Coast Guard, which is conducting a rescue operation. It was initially thought that eight people were aboard the craft. The crash came just three months after three U.S. Marines died in another Osprey accident during a training exercise in Australia.

Persons: Hiroyuki Miyazawa, Hiroki Shimano Organizations: U.S, Japan’s Coast Guard, U.S . Air Force, Japanese Coast Guard, Marines, Osprey Locations: Japan, Yakushima, Australia, Kagoshima

Three weeks ago, the view from Iwo Jima showed open ocean. Now there’s a tiny new island right offshore, billowing smoke as it grows and offering a rare glimpse at how volcanic islands emerge. The new island is the product of an unnamed undersea volcano that began erupting on Oct. 21, less than a mile from Iwo Jima, the island in Japan where American and Japanese forces waged a fierce battle during World War II. No injuries or damages have been reported on Iwo Jima, hundreds of miles from Tokyo in the Pacific Ocean, since the ongoing eruption began. The eruption is offering an eye-opening real-time view of a rare geological phenomenon.

Persons: Yuji Usui Organizations: Japan Meteorological Agency Locations: Iwo Jima, Japan, Tokyo

It was the tail end of another long, hot Tokyo summer, and salarymen across the city were looking at their wardrobes with dread. Every year from May to September, Japan’s famously conservative corporate workers and government employees set aside their stiff, dark suits for more casual attire. Out go the neckties and starched shirts; in come short-sleeved polos and linen shirts, even the occasional Hawaiian. Uncomfortable though they may be, Japanese offices offer a model for how countries around the world can reduce greenhouse gas emissions that have contributed to record-breaking heat waves and extreme weather events. This August was the hottest ever recorded in Japan, according to its meteorological agency, and daily highs in Tokyo remained above 32 degrees Celsius, or 90 degrees Fahrenheit, into the latter part of September.

Persons: Japan’s Locations: Tokyo, Japan

The president of one of Japan’s most influential entertainment agencies resigned after an independent investigation confirmed the company’s founder, Johnny Kitagawa, had sexually abused young men in his care since the 1970s. His reputation as a hitmaker associated with some of Japan’s most popular boy bands protected Mr. Kitagawa from scandal, even after his death in 2019 at age 87. Under immense scrutiny, Johnny & Associates announced in May that it was forming an internal investigative panel to “prevent the recurrence” of future abuse. At a news conference on Thursday, Julie Keiko Fujishima, Mr. Kitagawa’s niece, acknowledged the results of the investigation and apologized on behalf of herself and the company. She also announced she had resigned as the company’s president on Wednesday.

Persons: Johnny Kitagawa, Kitagawa, Julie Keiko Fujishima, Kitagawa’s Organizations: Johnny & Associates Locations: Japan

Seafood is having a bad week in East Asia, which is bad news for a region where it’s a major part of the diet. Experts say Japan’s discharge into the ocean of treated radioactive wastewater from the ruined Fukushima nuclear power plant, which began on Thursday, does not and will not pose health risks to people who eat seafood. On Thursday, the Chinese government widened a ban on seafood imports to include all of Japan instead of only some regions. The wastewater release has been heavily politicized and fueled deep anxiety over seafood in both China and South Korea, leaving some wondering whether sushi, sashimi and other products were still safe. At Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul on Friday, fish vending associations had put up banners urging consumers to not give in to paranoia.

Locations: East Asia, Japan, China, South Korea, Seoul

☆ Japan Begins Releasing Treated Radioactive Water at Fukushima
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Motoko Rich | More About Motoko Rich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Within Japan, fishermen’s unions fear that public anxiety about the safety of the water could affect their livelihoods. BackgroundEver since a huge earthquake and tsunami in 2011 led to a meltdown at the Fukushima plant, Tepco, as the power company is known, has used water to cool the ruined nuclear fuel rods that remain too hot to remove. As the water passes through the reactors, it picks up nuclear materials. What’s NextThe first release of 7,800 tons of treated water is expected to last about 17 days. To compensate fishermen who lose business due to public anxiety, the Japanese government is allocating 80 billion yen ($552 million).

Persons: Yoon Suk, Miharu, Hisako Ueno Organizations: Japan, Tepco, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA Locations: China, South Korea, Japan, Tokyo

The renewed discussion hasn’t done much to revive the prospects of Japan’s own Communist Party, however. Mr. Saito is not a fan of the group, which he sees as well-meaning but stale. And even in rich nations, he does not call for people to give up their creature comforts. He recently moved into a three-story home in an upscale neighborhood on the outskirts of Tokyo and drives a compact Toyota. Achieving degrowth communism, he believes, is less about personal choices and more about changing overarching political and economic structures.

Persons: Saito, Mahbub ul Haq Organizations: Communist Party, Chinese Communist Party, Toyota, United Nations Locations: Soviet Union, Tokyo, G.D.P

For Japan, it is as much a political problem as it is an engineering or environmental one. Despite the determination by the international agency that it was safe to release the water, opponents at home and in neighboring countries have questioned both the government and the agency’s motives. When Japan’s cabinet approved the treated-water plan in 2021, it described the controlled ocean release as the best available disposal option. Although it has been a dozen years since the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl forced tens of thousands of people to flee the area around the ruined Fukushima plant, the cleanup is still in an early phase. The government says the water release is likely to take place over a period of 30 years.

Organizations: Communist Party, ”, Tokyo Locations: Japan, China, South Korea, Fukushima

To Americans eager for signs of life in an ailing cinema culture, the simultaneous box office success of the “Barbie” movie and the biopic “Oppenheimer” has been cause for celebration, with filmgoers embracing the jarring juxtaposition of the two very different blockbusters. In Japan, however, this jubilant fusion, including “Barbenheimer” double features and online mash-ups of Barbie’s pink fantasia with images of Oppenheimer-era nuclear explosions, have been met with a very different response: anger. For days, Twitter users in Japan, where nuclear bombings by the U.S. military during World War II killed hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been spreading the hash tag #NoBarbenheimer. And on Monday, the backlash ignited a rare display of internal Hollywood corporate discord, as the Japanese subsidiary of Warner Bros. criticized its headquarters’ handling of social media for the “Barbie” movie.

Persons: Barbie, “ Oppenheimer ”, Barbenheimer, Oppenheimer Organizations: U.S, Warner Bros Locations: Japan, Hiroshima, Nagasaki

Heavy rains in southwestern Japan have washed away homes, flooded hospitals, disrupted mobile phone services and cut off power and water for hundreds of households, officials said on Tuesday. The unusually high level of rainfall in Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island, on Monday has left at least six people dead and three missing, Japan’s top government spokesman, Hirokazu Matsuno, said at a news conference. Another official, Satoshi Sugimoto, the top forecaster at the Japan Meteorological Agency, on Monday called it “the heaviest rain ever experienced” in northern Kyushu.

Persons: Hirokazu Matsuno, Satoshi Sugimoto Organizations: Japan Meteorological Agency Locations: Japan, Kyushu

☆ Japan Is Unmasking, and Its Smile Coach Is Busy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Hisako Ueno | Mike Ives | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

About six years ago, Keiko Kawano, a radio host, found that when she stopped doing voice-articulation exercises, her smile began to fade. At a certain point, she struggled to lift the corners of her mouth. So Ms. Kawano, then 43, decided to learn how facial muscles work. After using the knowledge to reanimate her smile, she started helping others do the same under the motto, “More smile, more happiness.”And as many people in Japan unmask after three years and find their facial expressions a bit rusty, she is adapting her work to the post-Covid era. “People have not been raising their cheeks under a mask or trying to smile much,” Ms. Kawano said last week, a few days after Japan downgraded Covid-19 to the same status as common illnesses.

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