People hoping to ascend Mount Fuji along its most popular route will be charged ¥2,000 (£10.50, $13.35, A$20.50) when the climbing season starts in the summer, as local authorities try to ease [congestion](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/02/everyone-has-the-same-dream-mount-fuji-grapples-with-rise-in-tourism) fuelled by Japan’s [tourism boom](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/03/a-free-for-all-japan-divided-as-return-of-tourists-brings-instagrammers-and-litter). The trails leading up [Japan](https://www.theguardian.com/world/japan)’s highest mountain – a Unesco world [heritage](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/heritage) site since 2013 – are becoming increasingly overcrowded, prompting concern over littering and “bullet ascents”, in which often inexperienced climbers try to scale the 3,776-metre peak without resting. Local guides say overcrowding is placing unprecedented pressure on the [mountain](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/mountains)’s limited toilet facilities. The number of tourists on the mountain is also increasing the potential for accidents among people who misjudge the effort required to get to the top. Hikers approaching the summit along the Yoshida trail in Yamanashi – one of two prefectures straddled by the mountain – will be charged from July, with daily numbers limited to 4,000 and entry banned between 4pm and 3am, according to the Kyodo news agency. Currently, climbers are asked only to make a voluntary donation of ¥1,000 to pay towards the mountain’s upkeep. “After Covid restrictions were lifted, we started seeing more people. We want them to dress appropriately for the mountain and be well prepared,” said Toshiaki Kasai, a local government official. Hikers will still be able to use three other routes – all in neighbouring Shizuoka prefecture – free of charge. Officials are confident, however, that the measures will limit overall numbers as the Yoshida trail is convenient for climbers travelling from Tokyo, with about 60% using the route. It takes an average of five to six hours to reach the summit from the fifth stage, but can take up to 10 hours depending on the conditions and the climbing ability. More than 220,000 visitors passed the eighth stage of Fuji’s 10 stages during the three-month climbing season last year, according to the environment ministry, around the same number recorded before the pandemic. The restrictions on opening hours are expected to deter people from arriving late in the day to begin their ascent from the fifth stage, with the aim of reaching the summit in time to watch the sunrise. Japanese media have reported on poorly equipped climbers who sleep on the trails instead of staying in mountain lodges. Some injure themselves or suffer from altitude sickness. “Keeping the number of climbers in check is an urgent task as we experience overcrowding,” Yamanashi’s governor, Kotaro Nagasaki, told reporters, according to Kyodo. _With Agence France-Presse_

Visitors to the [geisha](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/dec/06/japan.gender) district of Gion – one of Kyoto’s most popular sightseeing spots – will be banned from entering its picturesque alleyways as authorities in Japan attempt to tackle a [dramatic rise in tourism](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/03/a-free-for-all-japan-divided-as-return-of-tourists-brings-instagrammers-and-litter). Residents of [Japan’](https://www.theguardian.com/world/japan)s ancient capital have [struggled to reconcile](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/02/covid-robbed-kyoto-of-foreign-tourists) the financial boost from a return to pre-pandemic visitor numbers with overcrowding and incidents of bad behaviour among tourists. Gion, where geiko and maiko traditional entertainers can be spotted on their way to evening teahouse appointments, is regularly targeted by [smartphone-wielding visitors](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/05/geisha-selfies-banned-in-kyoto-as-foreign-tourism-boom-takes-toll), some of whom ignore signs requesting that they keep their distance and refrain from touching the women’s expensive kimonos. There have also been complaints about people trespassing on private property. [ Geisha life in the shadow of coronavirus - in pictures ](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2020/jul/24/geisha-life-in-the-shadow-of-coronavirus-in-pictures) In December, a council of Gion residents urged the city’s government to take action against [unruly tourists](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/15/tourism-pollution-backlash-japan-crackdown-costs-airbnb-10m-kyoto), complaining that their neighbourhood was “not a theme park”. Kyoto officials said the ban on entering Gion’s narrow private streets would go into force next month, although it is unclear how the restriction will be enforced. “We don’t want to do this, but we’re desperate,” said council member Isokazu Ota, adding that signs would be put up reminding visitors of the new measures. The area’s main thoroughfare, Hanamikoji street, will remain open to tourists. Ota complained that some visitors behave like amateur paparazzi when they spot a geisha walking along narrow streets, some of which are just two metres wide. Previous attempts to encourage tourists not to approach women, including signs and fines of up to ¥10,000 for non-consensual photography, have failed to deter visitors determined to take snaps of the women – highly skilled entertainers and conversationalists who are sometimes wrongly portrayed as sex workers. Kyoto, Japan’s capital for more than 1,000 years until 1868, is not the only Japanese destination struggling with overtourism since Covid-19 restrictions were lifted last April. This week authorities in Yamanashi prefecture said they would start charging ¥2,000 (£10.50) to [climb Mount Fuji](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/06/mount-fuji-hikers-will-be-forced-to-pay-to-climb-popular-route-to-summit), where hikers have been blamed for littering and risking their health and safety by attempting “[bullet ascents](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/02/everyone-has-the-same-dream-mount-fuji-grapples-with-rise-in-tourism)” of the 3,776-metre mountain. Daily visitor numbers will also be capped when the climbing season begins in July. The number of foreign visitors to Japan soared 79.5% in January from a year earlier to about 2.69 million, reaching levels seen in the same month in 2019, before the pandemic forced Japan’s government to impose travel restrictions. The largest number of travellers came from South Korea, followed by those from Taiwan and China, the Kyodo news agency said.

Experts warn that a rare but dangerous bacterial infection is spreading at a record rate in Japan, with officials struggling to identify the cause. The number of cases in 2024 is expected to exceed last year’s record numbers, while concern is growing that the harshest and potentially deadly form of group A streptococcal disease – streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) – will continue to spread, after the presence of highly virulent and infectious strains were confirmed in Japan. The National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) said: “There are still many unknown factors regarding the mechanisms behind fulminant (severe and sudden) forms of streptococcus, and we are not at the stage where we can explain them.” Provisional figures released by the NIID recorded 941 cases of STSS were reported last year. In the first two months of 2024, 378 cases have already been recorded, with infections identified in all but two of Japan’s 47 prefectures. [ Japan says 1.5m people are living as recluses after Covid ](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/03/japan-says-15-million-people-living-as-recluses-after-covid) While older people are considered at greater risk, the group A strain is leading to more deaths among patients under 50, according to NIID. Of the 65 people under 50 who were diagnosed with STSS between July and December in 2023, about a third, or 21, died, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported. Most cases of STSS are caused by a bacterium called streptococcus pyogenes. More commonly known as [strep A](https://www.theguardian.com/society/strep-a) – it can cause sore throats, mainly in children, and lots of people have it without knowing it and do not become ill. But the highly contagious bacteria that cause the infection can, in some cases, cause serious illnesses, health complications and death, particularly in adults over 30. About 30% of STSS cases are fatal. Older people can experience cold-like symptoms but in rare cases, the symptoms can worsen to include strep throat, tonsillitis, pneumonia and meningitis. In the most serious cases it can lead to organ failure and necrosis. Some experts believe the rapid rise in cases last year were connected to the lifting of restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic. In May 2023, the government downgraded Covid-19’s status from class two – which includes tuberculosis and [Sars](https://www.theguardian.com/world/sars) – to class five, [placing it on a legal par](https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/covid-19/kenkou-iryousoudan_00006.html#:~:text=The%20Infectious%20Diseases%20Control%20Law%20classifies%20infectious%20diseases%20into%20Class,the%20spread%20of%20infections%20differ.) with seasonal flu. The change meant local authorities were no longer able to order infected people to stay away from work or to recommend hospitalisation. The move also prompted people to lower their guard, in a country where widespread mask wearing, hand sanitising and [avoiding the “three Cs”](https://www.japan.go.jp/kizuna/2020/avoiding_the_three_cs.html) were credited with keeping [Covid-19 deaths](https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html) comparatively low. About 73,000 Covid-19 deaths were recorded compared with more than 220,000 in Britain, which has a population just over half that of Japan. Ken Kikuchi, a professor of infectious diseases at Tokyo Women’s Medical University, says he is “very concerned” about the dramatic rise this year in the number of patients with severe invasive streptococcal infections. He believes the reclassification of Covid-19 was the most important factor behind the increase in streptococcus pyogenes infections. This, he added, had led more people to abandon basic measures to prevent infections, such as regular hand disinfection. “In my opinion, over 50% Japanese people have been infected by Sars-CoV-2 \[the virus that causes Covid-19\],” Kikuchi tells the Guardian. “People’s immunological status after recovering from Covid-19 might alter their susceptibility to some microorganisms. We need to clarify the infection cycle of severe invasive streptococcal pyogenes diseases and get them under control immediately.” Streptococcal infections, like those of Covid-19, are spread through droplets and physical contact. The bacterium can also infect patients through wounds on the hands and feet. Strep A infections are treated with antibiotics, but patients with the more severe invasive group A streptococcal disease are likely to need a combination of antibiotics and other drugs, along with intensive medical attention. Japan’s health ministry recommends that people take the same basic hygiene precautions against strep A that became a part of everyday life during the coronavirus pandemic. “We want people to take preventive steps such as keeping your fingers and hands clean, and exercising cough etiquette,” the health minister, Keizo Takemi, told reporters earlier this year, according to the Japan Times.

French investors woke up to a nasty surprise Wednesday morning. Luxury conglomerate Kering, which owns big-name fashion labels like [Gucci, Saint Laurent, and Balenciaga](https://qz.com/282287/the-company-that-owns-gucci-balenciaga-and-saint-laurent-is-getting-into-crocodile-management), told them [not to be surprised](https://www.kering.com/en/news/preliminary-information-regarding-the-first-quarter/) if its next financial update is uglier than expected. “In a first half that Kering expected to be challenging, current trends lead the Group to estimate that its consolidated revenue in the first quarter of 2024 should decline by approximately 10% on a comparable basis, from last year’s first quarter,” the company said in a statement. The slowdown was most pronounced at Gucci, which makes up half the luxury group’s revenues. Sales for that brand are trending 20% lower year-over-year. Gucci sales in its Asia-Pacific market — meaning China primarily, since Japan is broken out elsewhere — were called out specifically, though a hard number was not provided. Kering will give a broader view into its finances next month. Kering stock dipped by as much as 15% during Wednesday trading, erasing the equivalent of [nearly $8 billion in value](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kering-shares-drop-warning-plunge-081926448.html) from the company’s market cap. Missing Chinese buyers ---------------------- In its [most recent annual report](https://www.kering.com/api/download-file/?path=Kering_2023_Financial_Document_59f8c987cb.pdf) (pdf), Kering warned that its China sales were struggling to regain their place as the fashion-world growth engine that they once were. After China ended its [so-called zero-covid policy](https://qz.com/china-has-finally-backed-down-from-its-zero-covid-polic-1849866211) that [sharply restricted movement and trade within the country](https://qz.com/china-zero-covid-2022-gdp-growth-slowdown-1849994377) in hopes of limiting covid-19 infections, economic observers had been hoping that on the other side would be a torrent of pent-up consumer demand. [That hasn’t been the case](https://qz.com/china-seeks-ways-to-revive-slowing-economy-and-salvage-1851304580). Not just domestically, but in the global financial capitals like New York, Paris, and Tokyo, where wealthy Chinese [made their presence known at various luxury boutiques](https://qz.com/147703/by-2015-chinese-tourists-could-spend-more-than-all-the-worlds-luxury-shoppers-combined). “Performance is nonetheless affected by weaker local demand and lower numbers of tourists, whose contribution stabilized due to a high base for comparison and the absence of any large-scale rebound in Chinese customers,” Kering said. “The recovery in China was also weaker than expected.

Japan has reported its exports rose 7.8% in February from a year earlier on strong shipments of cars and electrical machinery TOKYO -- Japan’s exports rose 7.8% in February from a year earlier on strong shipments of cars and electrical machinery, the government said Thursday. Exports in February totaled 8.2 trillion yen ($55 billion), marking the third straight month of growth, according to preliminary customs data. The report showed the trade deficit sank by more than half on-year to 379 billion yen ($2.5 billion), marking the second straight month of a deficit. Exports to [China](https://abcnews.go.com/alerts/Taiwan) rose just 2.5% and those to all of Asia edged 2.3% higher on-year, suggesting that demand has moderated. Exports to the United States rose 18% and exports to the EU were up almost 16%. The picture for imports was mixed, with China supplying 1.7 trillion yen ($236 billion), a nearly 17% annual increase that more than doubled [Japan](https://abcnews.go.com/alerts/Japan)'s deficit with its giant neighbor. In all, imports edged up 0.5%, totaling nearly 9 trillion yen ($60 billion), as prices for key commodities such as coal and liquefied natural gas fell. The strength in exports come as good news, coming a day after the Bank of Japan raised its key interest rate for the first time in 17 years, no longer setting it at below zero. The central bank has promised to still keep lending easy as it gauges various signs for how growth holds up. One positive recently is a solid rebound in tourism, which counts statistically as exports, with recent data showing that visitor numbers have exceeded those before the COVID-19 pandemic. Japan restricted entry into the country during the pandemic. Exports have remained relatively strong even as Japan’s economy has slowed, hitting a record high of just over 100 trillion yen ($670 billion) in 2023. B Japan is now the world's fourth largest economy, behind Germany. \_\_\_ Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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. Now that same infrastructure, backed by billions of dollars from the Japanese government, is being built about 750 miles away in the cow pastures and cabbage fields of Kikuyo in southwestern Japan. In February, TSMC opened a factory, known as a chip “fab,” for fabricator, on a ridge overlooking Kikuyo. It was its first outside Taiwan since 2018. The area around the fab is already busy with TSMC employees and suppliers. Chemical companies and equipment makers are vying for a piece of the semiconductor economy. The Japanese electronics giants Sony, Denso and Toyota, major buyers of TSMC semiconductors, are investing huge sums in TSMC’s Japan subsidiary. On roadsides and in shopping malls and hotels, signs in traditional Chinese characters offer services for recent arrivals: real estate agents, lawyers and restaurants. The town’s foreign population has doubled in the last year. The high-tech factory town in the making in Kikuyo is evidence of the upheaval in the semiconductor business. For years, the supply chain for the tiny chips inside smartphones, cars and fighter jets depended largely on just a few factories in Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory. Then, the Covid-19 pandemic, Beijing’s increasingly hostile posture toward Taiwan and a global chip shortage exposed the risks of such concentrated production. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F04%2F09%2Fbusiness%2Ftsmc-kikuyo-japan.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F04%2F09%2Fbusiness%2Ftsmc-kikuyo-japan.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F04%2F09%2Fbusiness%2Ftsmc-kikuyo-japan.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F04%2F09%2Fbusiness%2Ftsmc-kikuyo-japan.html).

The COVID-19 pandemic created massive challenges for companies, and the [luxury industry was no exception](https://qz.com/1821328/luxury-businesses-face-their-worst-year-in-modern-history). With consumers strapped for cash and only spending money on essentials, [demand for luxury goods plummeted](https://www.bain.com/about/media-center/press-releases/2020/covid_19_crisis_pushes_luxury_to_sharpest_fall_ever_but_catalyses_industrys_ability_to_transform/). Even as companies like [Gucci still try to shake off the pandemic-induced financial hit](https://qz.com/gucci-kering-china-sales-stock-price-1851353047), consumers in Asia appear to be powering the return of other luxury retailers, like Prada and Moncler. “Prada has had a positive start to the year,” said Andrea Guerra, Prada’s chief executive officer, in the retailer’s latest earnings report. Prada saw an increase in retail sales [across all of its regions](https://www.pradagroup.com/content/dam/pradagroup/documents/investors/Q1-2024/Press%20Release_Prada%20Group%20Q124.pdf), and notably in one nation: Japan. That rise is in part due to easing COVID-19 restrictions, an uptick in local shoppers, and the help of tourists, it said. (Japan officially [lifted its COVID-19 restrictions](https://www.japan.travel/en/practical-coronavirus-information/government-measures/) in April of last year, allowing travelers to visit without presenting a vaccination certificate or negative COVID-19 test result.) Sales in Japan rose by nearly 46% during the first quarter. Meanwhile, sales in the Asia Pacific region rose 16%, the company said. Moreover, shoppers are making more clothing and accessory purchases from the group’s Miu Miu brand, which saw an 89% rise in sales for the quarter. Meanwhile, Italian fashion house Moncler is also benefiting from shoppers in Asia, too. It reported a [26% jump in revenue](https://d2jb2t40p81ydg.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Moncler-Group-Press-Release-Q1-2024.pdf) across the continent — led in part by solid demand in mainland China, as well as demand from both local shoppers and tourists in Japan and Korea, the company said in its earnings report. Chinese shoppers [have long a lynchpin](https://qz.com/1853220/covid-19-will-make-luxury-retailers-even-more-dependent-on-china) in the luxury industry — and it seems its neighbors have joined its ranks. Meanwhile, Moncler’s ready-to-wear line — known by some for [its puffer coats](https://qz.com/2118817/how-the-military-puffer-jacket-became-fashion-for-everyone) — noted that its increase in revenue was in part due to its direct-to-consumer (DTC) channel. Even with its first quarter success, Moncler remains “conscious of the volatile macroeconomic environment,” according to its chief executive officer Remo Ruffini. Those normalization trends in the sector, will require Moncler “to remain prudent and reactive in light of these ongoing uncertainties,” Ruffini added.

TOKYO — Japan is proud of its “omotenashi” spirit: Its practice of wholeheartedly caring and catering for guests. But a post-covid surge in tourist numbers, coupled with a weak yen that makes Japan cheaper for many visitors, is pushing Japan’s world-famous hospitality to the brink. One town is installing a huge screen to stop tourists causing traffic jams while they take selfies in front of Mount Fuji. At least one overrun restaurant is reserving Friday nights for locals only. Even the deer of Nara, usually very proactive about coming forth for snacks, have had their fill.

174165367 story [](//science.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=japan)[](//science.slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=medicine) Posted by EditorDavid on Sunday June 16, 2024 @01:44PM from the very-bad-news dept. [Bloomberg reports](https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/flesh-eating-bacteria-that-can-kill-in-two-days-spreads-in-japan/ar-BB1ohiiA): _A disease caused by a rare "flesh-eating bacteria" that can kill people within 48 hours is spreading in Japan after the country relaxed Covid-era restrictions. Cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) reached 977 this year by June 2, higher than the record 941 cases reported for all of last year, according to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, which has been tracking incidences of the disease since 1999. Group A Streptococcus (GAS) typically causes swelling and sore throat in children known as "strep throat," but some types of the bacteria can lead to symptoms developing rapidly, including limb pain and swelling, fever, low blood pressure, that can be followed by necrosis, breathing problems, organ failure and death. People over 50 are more prone to the disease. "Most of the deaths happen within 48 hours," said Ken Kikuchi, a professor in infectious diseases at Tokyo Women's Medical University. "As soon as a patient notices swelling in foot in the morning, it can expand to the knee by noon, and they can die within 48 hours...." At the current rate of infections, the number of cases in Japan could reach 2,500 this year, with a "terrifying" mortality rate of 30%, Kikuchi said. _

Japan has reported its exports surged 13.5% in May, helped by a weak yen and strong demand in the U.S. and Asia TOKYO -- Japan's exports surged 13.5% in May, faster than expected growth helped by a weak yen and strong demand in the U.S. and Asia. Finance Ministry data reported Wednesday showed that the trade deficit totaled 1.22 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), down nearly 12% from 1.38 trillion yen a year earlier. Imports grew 9.5%, year-on-year, to nearly 9.5 trillion yen ($60 billion). Exports totaled 8.3 trillion yen ($53 billion) and grew at the fastest since November 2022. Shipments to the United States were up nearly 24% and those to the rest of Asia rose more than 13%, led by double-digit growth in shipments of vehicles, electronics and machinery. Trade with Europe mostly fell. The value of Japan’s imports tends to grow when the Japanese yen loses value against the U.S. dollar and other major currencies. The dollar is trading at nearly 158 yen, up from 140-yen levels a year ago. Japan is a resource-poor nation that imports almost all its oil, and higher imports of oil, gas and other fuels are a big factor behind the deficit in May, for the second month in a row. Fruit imports also gained in May. But a large factor behind the increases in both exports and imports was rising prices overall, which inflated their value compared with a year earlier, Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in a report. That can be seen in the muted impact of trade on the economy, which [contracted at a 1.8% pace](https://apnews.com/article/japan-gdp-economy-imports-consumption-8d7fda7eee88c8a7b7e56ee65ca73087) in the first quarter of the year. In fact, “most of the increase in trade values over the past year reflects rising prices due to the sharp weakening of the yen rather than any marked improvement in volumes,” it said. Still, trade with China, Japan's second-largest single export market after the United States, has been reviving as its economy slowly recovers from the shocks of a meltdown in its property sector and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shipments of machinery and manufacturing components as well as vehicles showed strong growth. Also, the [U.S. economy](https://apnews.com/article/economy-global-inflation-growth-china-world-bank-c7b22580a44579c418a1cb10b61c2402) has remained resilient even as the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at record levels to try to tame stubbornly high inflation. The yen's weakness is the cause for some angst among Japanese policy makers. The Bank of Japan’s meeting minutes released Wednesday showed its decision makers debating about the weak yen's impact on inflation, which has remained relatively low compared with other major economies. The larger fear for Japan is deflation, when prices keep falling. That’s a sign of a weakening economy, and the central bank has been trying to set off a gradual rise in prices. “But trade data today also highlighted that it is having a positive impact on exports,” Yeap Jun Rong, market analyst at IG, said in a commentary. \_\_\_ Yuri Kageyama is on X: [https://twitter.com/yurikageyama](https://twitter.com/yurikageyama)

Myanmar’s state-run media say the country's military government has arrested a Japanese business executive, along with dozens of local businessmen, for allegedly selling rice at prices well above the officially regulated ones BANGKOK -- Myanmar’s military government has arrested a Japanese business executive, along with dozens of local businessmen, for allegedly selling rice at prices well above the officially regulated ones, state-run media said Monday. The reports said Hiroshi Kasamatsu, a director of Aeon Orange, was detained. Aeon Orange operates several supermarkets in Myanmar and is part of Japan’s giant Aeon retail group. Japanese media reports confirmed that Kasamatsu is one of its executives. Rice is vital as Myanmar struggles to keep its [economy](https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-economy-war-poverty-f59b5c50c9def4c276509bd37ecca3c7) on an even keel as civil war disrupts efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, triggering [nonviolent protests](https://apnews.com/article/aung-san-suu-kyi-birthday-flower-protest-33fee6746ce91cf6068d8d33e4d236c7) that have evolved into armed resistance. The state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper reported Monday that the arrests for allegedly selling rice for prices ranging from 31% to 70% over official prices set by the Myanmar Rice Federation involved 62 suspects, 102 warehouses, 53 supermarkets and superstores, 25 mills and seven other shops in major cities. The violations could bring prison terms of six months to three years in 11 cases, including Kasamatsu's, and fines and tax payments for the others. A World Bank report last month said nearly a third of people in Myanmar are living in poverty and the economy is about 10% smaller than before the pandemic. The displacement of more than 3 million people from their homes by fighting has caused a major humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, the value of Myanmar’s currency, the kyat, has sunk and many businesses are struggling with the gap between the official currency exchange rate set by the central bank of 2,100 kyat to the dollar and the more widely used free market rate of about 4,500 to the dollar. Japan has historically maintained warm relations with Myanmar. It takes a softer line toward Myanmar’s current military government than many Western nations, which treat it as a pariah state for its poor human rights record and undermining of democracy and have imposed economic and political sanctions. In Tokyo, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi confirmed to reporters that a male Japanese citizen, whom he didn't name, was being investigated at a police station in Yangon. Hayashi said the Japanese government will provide necessary support for him through the embassy and “the government of Japan will call on the local authorities to release the Japanese national as soon as possible."

By [Motoko Rich](https://www.nytimes.com/by/motoko-rich) Photographs and Video by Noriko Hayashi July 15, 2024 In Japan, cultural expectations are repeatedly drilled into children at school and at home, with peer pressure playing as powerful a role as any particular authority or law. On the surface, at least, that can help Japanese society run smoothly. During the coronavirus pandemic, for example, the government [never mandated](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/02/world/asia/japan-covid.html) [masks](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/world/asia/japan-coronavirus-masks.html) or lockdowns, yet the majority of residents wore face coverings in public and refrained from going out to crowded venues. Japanese tend to stand quietly in lines, obey traffic signals and clean up after themselves during [sports](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/27/sports/soccer/japan-fans-clean-up-world-cup.html) and other events because they have been trained from kindergarten to do so. Carrying the bulky randoseru to school is “not even a rule imposed by anyone but a rule that everyone is upholding together,” said Shoko Fukushima, associate professor of education administration at the Chiba Institute of Technology. On the first day of school this spring — the Japanese school year starts in April — flocks of eager first graders and their parents arrived for an entrance ceremony at [Kitasuna](https://kitasuna-sho.koto.ed.jp/) Elementary School in the Koto neighborhood of eastern Tokyo. Seeking to capture an iconic moment mirrored across generations of Japanese family photo albums, the children, almost all of them carrying randoseru, lined up with their parents to pose for pictures in front of the school gate. Image Elementary school students packing their randoseru before going home in Tokyo. Students frequently carry textbooks and school supplies back and forth from home. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F07%2F15%2Fworld%2Fasia%2Fjapan-randoseru-backpack.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F07%2F15%2Fworld%2Fasia%2Fjapan-randoseru-backpack.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F07%2F15%2Fworld%2Fasia%2Fjapan-randoseru-backpack.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F07%2F15%2Fworld%2Fasia%2Fjapan-randoseru-backpack.html).

Jul 24, 2024 10:30 AM The latest dominant Covid variants have stronger infectiousness than their predecessors and the ability to evade vaccine-induced antibodies.  Photograph: David Mareuil/Anadolu/Getty Images _This story originally appeared on [WIRED Japan](https://wired.jp/article/covid-19-kp3-flirt-variant/) and has been translated from Japanese._ The northern hemisphere is entering yet another Covid wave—while much of the world acts as if the pandemic were over, cases are surging again. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has [recorded an uptick](https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home) in positive Covid tests, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths in recent weeks, while cases and hospital admissions in the UK [are creeping up](https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/topics/covid-19) too. But it’s in Japan where the surge is particularly visible. The country’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases has [reported](https://www.niid.go.jp/niid/images/epi/covid19/pdf/COVID-19_2024m06.pdf) that the average number of infected people per medical institution has been increasing rapidly since June. In particular, Okinawa prefecture has witnessed the highest number of newly hospitalized patients since reporting began, and it’s possible that the virus is spreading in Japan at a rate that exceeds the country’s last two big waves, in September 2023 and January 2024. The culprits behind the surge are a new set of variants: KP.3, LB.1, and KP.2.3. Descendants of the Omicron sublineage JN.1 that gained dominance over Christmas, they’ve become the driver of new infections around the world, with KP.3 seemingly gaining dominance. As of July 15, the US CDC [estimated](https://www.idsociety.org/covid-19-real-time-learning-network/diagnostics/covid-19-variant-update/#/+/0/publishedDate_na_dt/desc/) approximately 37 percent of new Covid cases in the United States were due to KP.3, with KP.2 accounting for 24 percent and LB.1 15 percent. KP.3 has been rising rapidly over the past few months: As of May 11, it accounted for an estimated 9 percent of cases in the US; a month later on June 11, its share was 25 percent. Together, these viruses are referred to as the FLiRT variants, because they all have a mutation in the spike protein that changes its 456th amino acid from phenylalanine (F) to leucine (L) and its 346th amino acid from arginine (R) to threonine (T). According to a paper by the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo, published earlier this year in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, these variants are more transmissible than earlier mainstream variants and have a high ability to evade neutralizing antibodies. Genotype to Phenotype Japan (G2P-Japan), a research consortium at the institute, [estimates](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(24)00415-8/fulltext) that the R numbers of the FLiRT variants—the average number of new cases an infected person causes, and a measure of infectivity—are higher for these new forms of the virus compared to JN.1. Furthermore, when the infectivity of these viruses was evaluated in cultured cells, KP.3 needed a lower amount of virus to cause an infection compared to LB.1 and KP.2.3, which both required roughly the same amount of virus as JN.1. These results give a clue as to why KP.3 appears to be heading toward domination. The FLiRT variants, including KP.3, also surpass the ability of earlier forms of the virus to evade immunity. When the G2P-Japan team examined past infections, breakthrough infections (those that follow being vaccinated), and responses to neutralizing antibodies induced by the updated XBB.1.5 Covid vaccine, they found that in all cases neutralizing activity against the FLiRTs was significantly weaker than that against existing epidemic variants.

Duco Telgenkamp came to the Paris Olympics with his strategy clear in his mind. The keys, he knew, were to be decisive and clear and, above all, to go early. “You have to get your move in first,” he said. “You have to give people a sign it will be a fist bump.” The assertiveness is necessary. Like all athletes and staff members in the Netherlands’ Olympic delegation, Telgenkamp, a member of his country’s field hockey team, was told before arriving in Paris that handshakes, high-fives and hugs were forbidden. Official team policy held that the fist bump was the only permissible physical greeting. The Dutch approach is, of course, a legacy of the one word that nobody involved with the Paris Games likes to mention: coronavirus. Pandemic-era restrictions hollowed out the last two editions of the Games, in Tokyo in 2021 and Beijing a year later. Paris styled itself as the moment the Olympic flame could at last be — safely — reignited. For fans, that has meant packed stands and a carnival-like atmosphere. For athletes, it has meant a completely different experience from the ones in Japan and China, where bubbles were imposed to allow the events to take place. During the Games in Tokyo, athletes often competed in empty stadiums. Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times After qualifying for those Games, athletes had to successfully navigate a bureaucratic Covid maze. They needed multiple negative tests from specific clinics, an endless stack of paperwork, a health-tracking app on their phones and a flurry of QR codes to present to officials upon arrival. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F08%2F08%2Fworld%2Folympics%2Fparis-olympics-covid-19.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F08%2F08%2Fworld%2Folympics%2Fparis-olympics-covid-19.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F08%2F08%2Fworld%2Folympics%2Fparis-olympics-covid-19.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F08%2F08%2Fworld%2Folympics%2Fparis-olympics-covid-19.html).

Aug 9, 2024 6:20 PM Dozens of Olympic athletes competed with Covid as society increasingly treats it like the flu or the common cold. Public health experts warn that it's anything but.  Noah Lyles rests at the Men's 200m final at Stade de France.Photograph: Simon Bruty; Getty Images Covid cases have spiked [every summer since 2020](https://www.wired.com/story/covids-summer-wave-is-rising-again/), and [this season is no exception](https://www.wired.com/story/flirt-variants-covid-wave-surge-coronavirus-japan-usa/). A Covid wave is once again sweeping through much of the world and has reached the 2024 [Paris Olympics](https://www.wired.com/tag/olympics/). But the Games have gone on without interruption, despite at least 40 athletes testing positive for the virus, according to the World Health Organization. One of those, US track star Noah Lyles, ran the men’s 200-meter race on August 8 despite getting a positive result on a Covid test just two days before. After earning a bronze medal in the race, he received medical attention and was taken off the track in a wheelchair. Lyles, who also [has](https://www.self.com/story/noah-lyles-asthma) a history of asthma, said he was short of breath and experienced chest pain after the race and that Covid “definitely” affected his performance. The laissez-faire approach to Covid at the biggest and most prestigious sporting event in the world is far removed from the tight restrictions seen at the past few Olympics—and it raises questions about how society should manage the virus both at large, public events and in everyday life moving forward. “Covid-19 is still very much with us,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist with the WHO, at a [news briefing](https://www.unognewsroom.org/story/en/2284/covid-19-situation-update-who-06aug2024) on August 6. Data from the organization’s surveillance system across 84 countries shows that the percent of positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 has been rising for several weeks. There are no specific Covid-19 rules at the 2024 Paris Olympics, a stark contrast to the two Olympic Games held during the throes of the pandemic. Masking, testing, and isolating were required during the Tokyo Games in 2021 and the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022. Public spectators were banned entirely during the Tokyo Games, which were rescheduled from 2020, and were limited in Beijing. In Paris, organizers are allowing athletes and teams to decide on their own how to proceed in the event of positive cases. In other words, they’re seemingly treating Covid like influenza and the common cold. That equivalence has some public health experts concerned. “Covid-19 is still very different from other seasonal or circulating respiratory illnesses,” says Mark Cameron, associate professor of population and quantitative health sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “The ever-evolving SARS-CoV-2 virus is still spawning variants that impact public health beyond the norm.” Specifically, a [new set of variants known as FLiRT](https://www.wired.com/story/flirt-variants-covid-wave-surge-coronavirus-japan-usa/) has been dominating in recent months and is driving the current surge. While these variants aren’t likely to cause more severe illness than previous strains, they do seem to be more transmissible. Brian Labus, an epidemiologist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, says we should be taking Covid more seriously than the flu and common cold. “It has higher death rates,” he says. “The disease can be a lot more severe, and there’s the additional problem of long Covid.” As of the end of June, [about 5.3 percent of US adults](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/long-covid.htm) reported that they are experiencing long Covid—that is, Covid symptoms lasting three months or longer. Plus, Covid can increase the risk of inflammation in the heart, which can sometimes be life-threatening, Labus says. Athletes are already more prone to heart problems due to intense exercise. Still, Labus says he’s not sure whether Olympics organizers should be preventing athletes who test positive for the virus from competition. “It's a tough balance of making somebody sit out because of the public health risk and letting them compete at this level,” he says. Wth the lack of Covid precautions and lots of circulating virus, it’s no surprise that cases among athletes mounted throughout the Olympic games, says Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. “This is not influenza. It’s not a winter season disease. It occurs in all seasons, and you can anticipate it when you have a situation where you have new variants and waning immunity,” Osterholm says. Covid immunity lasts for about six months after vaccination or infection. While Lyles’ competitors were [reportedly not fazed by his Covid infection](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2024/08/09/noah-lyles-covid-paris-olympics/), Osterholm says the athlete still put spectators and others at the event at an unnecessary risk. The attitude toward the virus at the Olympics reflects a new normal around Covid precautions and the perceived severity of the virus. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has relaxed Covid recommendations and in March [released new guidance](https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/guidance/) that applies to Covid, flu, and other respiratory viruses. The agency now says it’s OK to return to normal activities when you haven’t had symptoms or a fever in at least 24 hours. When resuming normal activities, the agency recommends taking added precaution over the next five days, such as ventilating inside air or gathering outside, masking, physical distancing, or testing. Yet, as much as its symptoms may mimic a cold or flu, SARS-CoV-2 is still a unique virus, and it will continue to change as long as humans give it opportunities to do so. “We have to learn how to live with this virus,” Osterholm says. “We don't know how to do that yet.”

A Japanese business executive who had been detained in Myanmar for more than a month has been released TOKYO -- A Japanese business executive who was detained in Myanmar for more than a month has been released after being convicted of violating rice pricing rules, officials said Tuesday. Hiroshi Kasamatsu, a director of the Myanmar supermarket Aeon Orange, was in custody in Myanmar since his [June 30 arrest for selling rice at prices above the official regulations](https://apnews.com/article/japan-myanmar-rice-economy-aeon-arrest-9aa630b7157e7afc8140c03e0e21a322). Japan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday that the Japanese national was convicted of violating law related to daily necessities and service. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 500,000 kyat (about $150). Kasamatsu was freed Monday afternoon, said Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson for the Myanmar’s ruling military council. The Japanese Foreign Ministry said it was unclear if Kasamatsu would stay in Myanmar or return to Japan. He was released from custody and is in good health, it said, but declined to give further details. Rice is vital in Myanmar, a country [struggling to stabilize its economy](https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-economy-war-poverty-f59b5c50c9def4c276509bd37ecca3c7) as civil war disrupts efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, triggering [nonviolent protests that have evolved into armed resistance](https://apnews.com/article/aung-san-suu-kyi-birthday-flower-protest-33fee6746ce91cf6068d8d33e4d236c7). Aeon Orange is a part of Japan’s retail giant Aeon group, and operates several supermarkets in Myanmar. Aeon said it had no immediate comment. Kasamatsu was among a number of foreign executives arrested on similar allegations in Myanmar. The state-run Myanmar Alin newspaper reported in early July that the arrests for allegedly overpricing rice — from 31% to 70% over official prices set by the Myanmar Rice Federation — involved 62 suspects, 102 warehouses, 53 supermarkets and superstores, 25 mills and seven other shops in major cities. Japan has historically maintained friendly ties with Myanmar. Compared with many Western nations, it took a softer [approach toward Myanmar’s military government](https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-human-rights-iran-sanctions-israel-gaza-8385bb0e154498294fb059fa365bbd33) over its poor human rights record and undermining of democracy. Tokyo has not imposed economic sanctions though it does not acknowledge the legitimacy of the current government and urges restoration of democracy, and limits Japanese aid to humanitarian purposes. \_\_\_ Associated Press writer Grant Peck contributed from Bangkok.

Aug 22, 2024 2:37 PM The updated vaccines target the currently circulating KP.2 variant.  Photograph: Alexander Spatari/ Getty Images Amid a summer surge of [Covid-19](https://www.wired.com/tag/covid-19/) infections, the US Food and Drug Administration just approved updated mRNA vaccines that more closely target the [currently circulating variants](https://www.wired.com/story/flirt-variants-covid-wave-surge-coronavirus-japan-usa/) of the coronavirus. The updated vaccines, from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, target a variant of Omicron called KP.2, one of the several so-called FLiRT variants that [collectively are responsible for the current Covid wave](https://www.wired.com/story/flirt-variants-covid-wave-surge-coronavirus-japan-usa/). The new vaccines will likely take a few weeks to reach pharmacies and doctors offices. “Given waning immunity of the population from previous exposure to the virus and from prior vaccination, we strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated Covid-19 vaccine,” said Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a statement on Thursday. The new 2024–25 formula is meant to boost protection against hospitalization and death due to Covid. In 2023, more than 916,300 people were hospitalized due to Covid-19, and more than 75,500 people died from the virus in the US. Vaccination can also protect against long Covid, a chronic condition that lasts at least three months after an infection. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the new vaccine for [everyone 6 months of age and older](https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s-t0627-vaccine-recommendations.html), whether or not they have ever previously gotten a Covid-19 vaccine. Like the influenza virus, SARS-CoV-2 is constantly changing. And similar to how flu vaccines are updated every year to adapt to the virus’s changing structure, the Covid vaccines are also being updated. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious disease at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, says SARS-CoV-2 is changing faster than the flu virus, making it tricky to predict which variants will be dominant by the time the vaccine comes out. “It’s spinning through variants more quickly than what we're seeing with flu,” she says. The FDA green light comes after an advisory committee in June unanimously recommended that manufacturers develop updated Covid vaccines for this fall. Based on the evidence at the time, FDA advisers initially recommended that the new vaccines target a lineage called JN.1, an Omicron offshoot. But the agency [updated its guidance](https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/updated-covid-19-vaccines-use-united-states-beginning-fall-2024), asking vaccine makers to instead target the KP.2 strain, a descendant of the JN.1 variant, to more closely match circulating variants. The previous version of the Covid vaccine was greenlit by the FDA on September 11, 2023. That formula targeted the XBB.1.5 variant, the predominant one circulating in the US during the first half of 2023. The virus has mutated substantially since then, and the currently circulating FLiRT variants are thought to be more transmissible and evade the immune system more effectively than prior versions of the virus. If you’ve had a Covid-19 infection recently, the CDC says you can consider [delaying your vaccine dose by three months](https://www.cdc.gov/covid/vaccines/getting-your-covid-19-vaccine.html). “Most of the time, we recommend getting both the Covid and the flu vaccines more toward late September, October, to try to carry people through the winter months,” says Rosha McCoy, a pediatrician and senior director of health care affairs at the Association of American Medical Colleges. “Certainly, if somebody is high-risk or is going to be in a high-risk situation, they may want to get it sooner.” Typically, the largest surge of respiratory viruses occurs in the winter. But Covid tends to peak in both winter and summer, and the current summertime surge is likely due to the emergence of new variants and waning protection of the previous vaccine. “Any natural immunity or vaccine immunity from 2023 has reached a nadir,” Hudson says. “This is sort of a perfect storm for a more infectious form of Covid.”

TOKYO -- One by one, the students, lawyers and others filed into a classroom in a central Tokyo university for a lecture by a Chinese journalist on [Taiwan and democracy](https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-president-lai-ipac-china-dae61d475fc49c18895c7e1e1514cfe8) — taboo topics that can't be discussed publicly back home in China. “Taiwan’s modern-day democracy took struggle and bloodshed, there’s no question about that,” said Jia Jia, a columnist and guest lecturer at the University of Tokyo who was briefly detained in China eight years ago on suspicion of penning a call for China's top leader to resign. He is one of tens of thousands of intellectuals, investors and other Chinese who have relocated to Japan in recent years, part of a [larger exodus of people from China.](https://apnews.com/article/us-china-migration-takeaways-049ee646dc457f3499c989dda20fae1c) Their backgrounds vary widely, and they're leaving for all sorts of reasons. Some are very poor, others are very rich. Some leave for economic reasons, as opportunities dry up with the [end of China’s boom](https://apnews.com/article/china-economy-property-adb-791934f7f9b83de455e8f8aa7178b628). Some flee for personal reasons, as even limited freedoms are eroded. —— EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is part of the [China's New Migrants package](https://apnews.com/projects/china-migration-thailand-mexico-japan-map/), a look by The Associated Press at the lives of the latest wave of Chinese emigrants to settle overseas. —— Chinese migrants are flowing to all corners of the world, from workers seeking to [start businesses of their own in Mexico](https://apnews.com/article/chinese-immigration-mexico-jobs-freedom-a69db5fc43fb380a4472b03b469fdcea) to [burned-out students heading to Thailand](https://apnews.com/article/chinese-immigration-thailand-schools-chiang-mai-9d1953344e8b35327020408b8f677264). Those choosing Japan tend to be well-off or highly educated, drawn to the country's ease of living, rich culture and immigration policies that favor highly skilled professionals, with less of the sharp anti-immigrant backlash sometimes seen in Western countries. Jia initially intended to move to the U.S., not Japan. But after experiencing the coronavirus outbreak in China, he was anxious to leave and his American visa application was stuck in processing. So he chose Japan instead. “In the United States, illegal immigration is particularly controversial. When I went to Japan, I was a little surprised. I found that their immigration policy is actually more relaxed than I thought,” Jia told The Associated Press. “I found that Japan is better than the U.S." It's tough to enter the U.S. these days. [Tens of thousands of Chinese](https://apnews.com/article/chinese-emigration-us-mexico-border-darien-381c215ff30f0f2349c2ea118aa280c6) were arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border over the past year, and [Chinese students have been grilled at customs](https://apnews.com/article/china-us-university-students-deported-interrogation-40012461bd45306e527946a7403f8b1a) as trade frictions fan suspicions of possible industrial espionage. Some U.S. states [passed legislation](https://apnews.com/article/florida-chinese-citizen-court-desantis-land-agriculture-9c977ca05db001224e2017ad7577c467) that [restricts Chinese citizens from owning property](https://apnews.com/article/chinese-land-sales-ban-agent-8fe63e09fa4afb89d029a741d9141ecd). “The U.S. is shutting out those Chinese that are friendliest to them, that most share its values,” said Li Jinxing, a Christian human rights lawyer who moved to Japan in 2022. Li sees parallels to about a century ago, when Chinese intellectuals such as Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of modern China, moved to Japan to study how the country modernized so quickly. “On one hand, we hope to find inspiration and direction in history,” Li said of himself and like-minded Chinese in Japan. “On the other hand, we also want to observe what a democratic country with rule of law is like. We’re studying Japan. How does its economy work, its government work?" Over the past decade, Tokyo has softened its once-rigid stance against immigration, driven by low birthrates and an aging population. Foreigners now make up about 2% of its population of 125 million. That's expected to jump to 12% by 2070, according to the Tokyo-based National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. Chinese are the most numerous newcomers, at 822,000 last year among more than 3 million foreigners living in Japan, according to government data. That's up from 762,000 a year ago and 649,000 a decade ago. In 2022, the lockdowns under China’s “zero COVID” policies led many of the country's youth or most affluent citizens to hit the exits. There’s even a buzzword for that: “runxue,” using the English word “run” to evoke “running away” to places seen as safer and more prosperous. For intellectuals like Li and Jia, Japan offers greater freedoms than under Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s increasingly repressive rule. But for others, such as wealthy investors and business people, Japan offers something else: property protections. A report by investment migration firm Henley & Partners says nearly 14,000 millionaires left China last year, the most of any country in the world, with Japan a popular destination. A major driver is worries about the security of their wealth in China or Hong Kong, said Q. Edward Wang, a professor of Asian studies at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. “Protection of private property, which is the cornerstone of a capitalist society, that piece is missing in China,” Wang said. The weakening yen makes buying property and other local assets in Japan a bargain. And while the Japanese economy has stagnated, [China’s once-sizzling economy is also in a rut](https://apnews.com/article/china-property-economy-rates-pboc-4fadac1744961f47a1c10db74c9fd30d), with [the property sector in crisis](https://apnews.com/article/china-economy-congress-property-investment-f124530162c579d2808428c7fff3e0ff) and stock prices stuck at the level they were in the late 2000s. “If you are just going to Japan to preserve your money,” Wang said, “then definitely you will enjoy your time in Japan.” Dot.com entrepreneurs are among those leaving China after Communist Party crackdowns on the technology industry, including billionaire [Jack Ma, a founder of e-commerce giant](https://apnews.com/article/alibaba-japan-jack-ma-tokyo-f15138101e721cea73aff342cd04f960) Alibaba, who took a professorship at Tokyo College, part of the prestigious University of Tokyo. So many wealthy Chinese have bought apartments in Tokyo's luxury high-rises that some areas have been dubbed “Chinatowns,” or “Digital Chinatowns” — a nod to the many owners' work in high-tech industries. “Life in Japan is good,” said Guo Yu, an engineer who retired early after working at ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. Guo doesn't concern himself with politics. He's keen on Japan's powdery snow in the winter and is a “superfan” of its beautiful hot springs. He owns homes in Tokyo, as well as near a ski resort and a hot spring. He owns several cars, including a Porsche, a Mercedes, a Tesla and a Toyota. Guo keeps busy with a new social media startup in Tokyo and a travel agency specializing in “onsen,” Japan's hot springs. Most of his employees are Chinese, he said. Like Guo, many Chinese moving to Japan are wealthy and educated. That's for good reason: [Japan remains unwelcoming to refugees](https://apnews.com/article/japan-refugee-law-revision-immigration-31026d371328511af420512ecdaddbce) and many other types of foreigners. The government has been strategic about who it allows to stay, [generally focusing on people to fill labor shortages](https://apnews.com/article/japan-population-foreign-labor-training-ec23720835ac853a5331846395c932ea) for factories, construction and elder care. “It is crucial that Japan becomes an attractive country for foreign talent so they will choose to work here,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said earlier this year, announcing efforts to relax Japan's stringent immigration restrictions. That kind of opportunity is exactly what Chinese ballet dancer Du Hai said he has found. Leading a class of a dozen Japanese students in a suburban Tokyo studio one recent weekend, Du demonstrated positions and spins to the women dressed in leotards and toe shoes. Du was drawn to Japan's huge ballet scene, filled with professional troupes and talented dancers, he said, but worried about warnings he got about unfriendly Japanese. That turned out to be false, he said with a laugh. Now, Du is considering getting Japanese citizenship. “Of course, I enjoy living in Japan very much now,” he said. \_\_\_ Kang reported from Beijing. \_\_\_ Yuri Kageyama is on X: [https://twitter.com/yurikageyama](https://twitter.com/yurikageyama)

TOKYO -- One by one, the students, lawyers and others filed into a classroom in a central Tokyo university for a lecture by a Chinese journalist on [Taiwan and democracy](https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-president-lai-ipac-china-dae61d475fc49c18895c7e1e1514cfe8) — taboo topics that can't be discussed publicly back home in China. “Taiwan’s modern-day democracy took struggle and bloodshed, there’s no question about that,” said Jia Jia, a columnist and guest lecturer at the University of Tokyo who was briefly detained in China eight years ago on suspicion of penning a call for China's top leader to resign. He is one of tens of thousands of intellectuals, investors and other Chinese who have relocated to Japan in recent years, part of a [larger exodus of people from China.](https://apnews.com/article/us-china-migration-takeaways-049ee646dc457f3499c989dda20fae1c) Their backgrounds vary widely, and they're leaving for all sorts of reasons. Some are very poor, others are very rich. Some leave for economic reasons, as opportunities dry up with the [end of China’s boom](https://apnews.com/article/china-economy-property-adb-791934f7f9b83de455e8f8aa7178b628). Some flee for personal reasons, as even limited freedoms are eroded. —— EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is part of the [China's New Migrants package](https://apnews.com/projects/china-migration-thailand-mexico-japan-map/), a look by The Associated Press at the lives of the latest wave of Chinese emigrants to settle overseas. —— Chinese migrants are flowing to all corners of the world, from workers seeking to [start businesses of their own in Mexico](https://apnews.com/article/chinese-immigration-mexico-jobs-freedom-a69db5fc43fb380a4472b03b469fdcea) to [burned-out students heading to Thailand](https://apnews.com/article/chinese-immigration-thailand-schools-chiang-mai-9d1953344e8b35327020408b8f677264). Those choosing Japan tend to be well-off or highly educated, drawn to the country's ease of living, rich culture and immigration policies that favor highly skilled professionals, with less of the sharp anti-immigrant backlash sometimes seen in Western countries. Jia initially intended to move to the U.S., not Japan. But after experiencing the coronavirus outbreak in China, he was anxious to leave and his American visa application was stuck in processing. So he chose Japan instead. “In the United States, illegal immigration is particularly controversial. When I went to Japan, I was a little surprised. I found that their immigration policy is actually more relaxed than I thought,” Jia told The Associated Press. “I found that Japan is better than the U.S." It's tough to enter the U.S. these days. [Tens of thousands of Chinese](https://apnews.com/article/chinese-emigration-us-mexico-border-darien-381c215ff30f0f2349c2ea118aa280c6) were arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border over the past year, and [Chinese students have been grilled at customs](https://apnews.com/article/china-us-university-students-deported-interrogation-40012461bd45306e527946a7403f8b1a) as trade frictions fan suspicions of possible industrial espionage. Some U.S. states [passed legislation](https://apnews.com/article/florida-chinese-citizen-court-desantis-land-agriculture-9c977ca05db001224e2017ad7577c467) that [restricts Chinese citizens from owning property](https://apnews.com/article/chinese-land-sales-ban-agent-8fe63e09fa4afb89d029a741d9141ecd). “The U.S. is shutting out those Chinese that are friendliest to them, that most share its values,” said Li Jinxing, a Christian human rights lawyer who moved to Japan in 2022. Li sees parallels to about a century ago, when Chinese intellectuals such as Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of modern China, moved to Japan to study how the country modernized so quickly. “On one hand, we hope to find inspiration and direction in history,” Li said of himself and like-minded Chinese in Japan. “On the other hand, we also want to observe what a democratic country with rule of law is like. We’re studying Japan. How does its economy work, its government work?" Over the past decade, Tokyo has softened its once-rigid stance against immigration, driven by low birthrates and an aging population. Foreigners now make up about 2% of its population of 125 million. That's expected to jump to 12% by 2070, according to the Tokyo-based National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. Chinese are the most numerous newcomers, at 822,000 last year among more than 3 million foreigners living in Japan, according to government data. That's up from 762,000 a year ago and 649,000 a decade ago. In 2022, the lockdowns under China’s “zero COVID” policies led many of the country's youth or most affluent citizens to hit the exits. There’s even a buzzword for that: “runxue,” using the English word “run” to evoke “running away” to places seen as safer and more prosperous. For intellectuals like Li and Jia, Japan offers greater freedoms than under Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s increasingly repressive rule. But for others, such as wealthy investors and business people, Japan offers something else: property protections. A report by investment migration firm Henley & Partners says nearly 14,000 millionaires left China last year, the most of any country in the world, with Japan a popular destination. A major driver is worries about the security of their wealth in China or Hong Kong, said Q. Edward Wang, a professor of Asian studies at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. “Protection of private property, which is the cornerstone of a capitalist society, that piece is missing in China,” Wang said. The weakening yen makes buying property and other local assets in Japan a bargain. And while the Japanese economy has stagnated, [China’s once-sizzling economy is also in a rut](https://apnews.com/article/china-property-economy-rates-pboc-4fadac1744961f47a1c10db74c9fd30d), with [the property sector in crisis](https://apnews.com/article/china-economy-congress-property-investment-f124530162c579d2808428c7fff3e0ff) and stock prices stuck at the level they were in the late 2000s. “If you are just going to Japan to preserve your money,” Wang said, “then definitely you will enjoy your time in Japan.” Dot.com entrepreneurs are among those leaving China after Communist Party crackdowns on the technology industry, including billionaire [Jack Ma, a founder of e-commerce giant](https://apnews.com/article/alibaba-japan-jack-ma-tokyo-f15138101e721cea73aff342cd04f960) Alibaba, who took a professorship at Tokyo College, part of the prestigious University of Tokyo. So many wealthy Chinese have bought apartments in Tokyo's luxury high-rises that some areas have been dubbed “Chinatowns,” or “Digital Chinatowns” — a nod to the many owners' work in high-tech industries. “Life in Japan is good,” said Guo Yu, an engineer who retired early after working at ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. Guo doesn't concern himself with politics. He's keen on Japan's powdery snow in the winter and is a “superfan” of its beautiful hot springs. He owns homes in Tokyo, as well as near a ski resort and a hot spring. He owns several cars, including a Porsche, a Mercedes, a Tesla and a Toyota. Guo keeps busy with a new social media startup in Tokyo and a travel agency specializing in “onsen,” Japan's hot springs. Most of his employees are Chinese, he said. Like Guo, many Chinese moving to Japan are wealthy and educated. That's for good reason: [Japan remains unwelcoming to refugees](https://apnews.com/article/japan-refugee-law-revision-immigration-31026d371328511af420512ecdaddbce) and many other types of foreigners. The government has been strategic about who it allows to stay, [generally focusing on people to fill labor shortages](https://apnews.com/article/japan-population-foreign-labor-training-ec23720835ac853a5331846395c932ea) for factories, construction and elder care. “It is crucial that Japan becomes an attractive country for foreign talent so they will choose to work here,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said earlier this year, announcing efforts to relax Japan's stringent immigration restrictions. That kind of opportunity is exactly what Chinese ballet dancer Du Hai said he has found. Leading a class of a dozen Japanese students in a suburban Tokyo studio one recent weekend, Du demonstrated positions and spins to the women dressed in leotards and toe shoes. Du was drawn to Japan's huge ballet scene, filled with professional troupes and talented dancers, he said, but worried about warnings he got about unfriendly Japanese. That turned out to be false, he said with a laugh. Now, Du is considering getting Japanese citizenship. “Of course, I enjoy living in Japan very much now,” he said. \_\_\_ Kang reported from Beijing. \_\_\_ Yuri Kageyama is on X: [https://twitter.com/yurikageyama](https://twitter.com/yurikageyama)

Just one in five of boys at senior high school in Japan have had their first kiss, according to the [Japanese Association for Sex Education](https://www.jase.faje.or.jp/) – the lowest figure since the organisation conducted its first survey of sexual behaviour among [young people](https://www.theguardian.com/society/youngpeople) in 1974. In its latest poll, which covers the 2023 academic year, the association found that girls in the same age group were similarly cautious, with 27.5% saying they had experienced their first kiss, compared with 22.8% among boys – down 13.6 percentage points and 11.1 points since 2017. The proportion of senior high school students – aged 15-18 – who had kissed for the first time has been declining since its 2005 peak, when one in two said they had locked lips. The latest survey, the association’s ninth in half a century, showed a lower percentage of affirmative answers to the kissing question than in the 2017 poll across all the surveyed age groups, which also sought responses from junior high school and university students, according to the Mainichi Shimbun. The association, which surveyed more than 12,500 students, said 12% of junior and senior high school students said they had had sexual intercourse, as did 14.8% of girls – down 3.5 percentage points and 5.3 points, respectively. But a different trend emerged when the subject turned to solitary sexual habits, with rising proportions of students in all three groups saying they masturbated. The association partly attributed the downward trend in kissing and intercourse to the [Covid-19 pandemic](https://www.theguardian.com/world/coronavirus-outbreak), which triggered school closures and official advice to avoid the “[three Cs](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/02/japans-covid-safe-catchcry-sanmitsu-named-buzzword-of-2020)”: confined spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings. “Limited contact with others during the coronavirus outbreak may have lowered the rate of sexual activity among junior and senior high school students,” it said. Yusuke Hayashi, a sociology professor at Musashi University who analysed the results, said the combination of school closures and restrictions on face-to-face contact during the pandemic came “at a sensitive time, when junior and senior high school students are beginning to become interested in their [sexuality](https://www.theguardian.com/society/sexuality)”. Hayashi told the Mainichi that the greater prevalence of masturbation “may be due to increased exposure to \[sexual imagery\] in manga and other media, rather than as a substitute for interpersonal sexual behaviour”. Tamaki Kawasaki, a columnist and sociology lecturer, said the survey’s findings suggested that young Japanese were “uniformly disengaging” from sex post-pandemic. “It shows that the trend is for people to move away from real, physical sexual activity, even at a time when it’s natural for them to be sexually active,” Kawasaki wrote in the online edition of President magazine. “Instead, there is a stronger tendency for them to stay home and watch sexual content alone. If teens, who represent the country’s future, continue like this then it is hard to see any improvement in the declining birthrate.”

Getty Images Pandemic restrictions have likely affected how teenagers in Japan express themselves sexually, say experts In many countries it's a teenage right of passage: a first kiss. But a new survey of Japanese high school students has revealed that four out of five 15-18-year-old boys have yet to reach the milestone. And things aren't looking much different for the girls, with just over one in four female high schoolers having had their first kiss. These are the lowest figures recorded since Japan first began asking teenagers about their sexual habits back in 1974 - and are likely to be a worry in a country with one of the world's lowest birth rates. The study by the Japan Association for Sex Education (Jase) quizzed 12,562 students across junior high schools, high schools and university - asking them about everything from kisses to sexual intercourse. The survey takes place every six years, and has been recording a fall in first kisses since 2005 - when the figure was closer to one in two. But this year's report found kissing was not the only area which had seen a fall in numbers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it also revealed a drop in the numbers of Japanese youth having sexual intercourse. According to the study, the ratio of high school boys who say they have had sexual intercourse fell 3.5 points from 2017 to 12%. For high school girls, it declined 5.3 points to 14.8%. Experts have pointed to the impact of the Covid pandemic as one possible reason for the drop. School closures and restrictions on physical contact during the Covid pandemic had likely impacted many of these students, as it happened "at a sensitive time when \[they were\] beginning to become interested in sexuality", according to Yusuke Hayashi, a sociology professor at Musashi University [quoted in the Mainichi newspaper](https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20241104/p2a/00m/0na/016000c). However, the survey did find one area of increase: the number of teenagers admitting to masturbation across all demographics was at record high levels. The results come after a separate survey earlier this year found that [nearly half of marriages in Japan are sexless](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/03/18/japan/society/japan-sexless-survey/). The results of the surveys come as Japan struggles to arrest its falling birth rate, and provide further cause for concern. In 2023, the then-prime minister warned that [the country's low birth rate was pushing it to the brink of being able to function](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-64373950). Some researchers have suggested the population - currently at 125 million people - could fall to less than 53 million by the end of the century. A range of other contributing factors have been marked out as possible contributing factors - including rising living costs, more women in education and work, as well as greater access to contraception, leading to women choosing to have fewer children Japan already has the world's oldest population, measured by the UN as the proportion of people aged 65 or older. In late 2023, Japan said that for the first time [one in 10 people in the country are aged 80 or older.](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66850943) In March, diaper-maker Oji Holdings announced it would [stop making baby nappies](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68672186) to focus on making adult diapers.

Six decades after the [bullet train](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/29/japans-magic-bullet-60-years-of-the-train-that-helped-rebuild-the-idea-of-a-country) first whisked passengers between Tokyo and Osaka, authorities in Japan are planning to do the same for cargo, with the construction of a “conveyor belt road”. The automated cargo transport corridor, which will connect the capital with Osaka, 320 miles (515km) away, is seen as part of the solution to soaring demand for delivery services in the world’s fourth-biggest economy. Planners also hope the road will ease pressure on delivery drivers amid a [chronic labour shortage](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/30/how-can-such-a-tiny-woman-drive-a-big-truck-japans-labour-shortage-forces-it-to-rethink-gender-stereotypes) that is affecting everything from catering and retail to haulage and public transport. The road will also help cut [carbon emissions](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/carbon-emissions), according to Yuri Endo, a senior official at the transport ministry who is overseeing the project. “We need to be innovative with the way we approach roads,” Endo told the Associated Press. “The key concept of the auto flow-road is to create dedicated spaces within the road network for logistics, utilising a 24-hour automated and unmanned transportation system.” A computer-graphic [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0v0zAxu5Wo) released by the government last month shows large containers on pallets – each capable of supporting up to a ton of produce – moving three abreast along an “auto flow road” in the middle of a motorway, with vehicles traveling in opposite directions on either side. Automated forklifts will load items into the containers as part of a network that links airports, railways and ports. Test runs are due to begin in 2027 or early 2028, with the road going into full operation in the middle of the next decade. While no official estimates have been released, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said a road linking Tokyo and Osaka could cost up to ¥3.7tn \[£18.6bn\] given the large number of tunnels that would be needed. If the project is successful, it could be expanded to include other parts of [Japan](https://www.theguardian.com/world/japan). But humans will not be out of the picture altogether – they will still have to make door-to-door deliveries until the possible introduction of driverless vehicles. The ministry estimates logistics motorways could do the work of 25,000 truck drivers per day, the Yomiuri said. The shortage of truck drivers, who carry about 90% of Japan’s cargo, is expected to accelerate after the introduction this year of a law limiting their overtime in an attempt to address overwork and reduce the number of accidents. While some have welcomed the change in a sector notorious for its long hours and difficult working conditions, the “2024 problem” will leave a gaping hole in the logistics workforce. If the trend continues the country’s transport capacity will plunge by 34% by the end of the decade, according to government estimates. Demand for deliveries soared in Japan during the [Covid-19](https://www.theguardian.com/world/coronavirus-outbreak) pandemic, with government data showing users rising from about 40% of households to 60%.

China is going to expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy BEIJING -- China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive [a sluggish economy](https://apnews.com/article/china-gdp-economy-property-jinping-d98f4fcc041a8749618d53e26376ac2e). Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been [eliminated during the COVID-19](https://apnews.com/article/china-visa-tourists-covid-60c93acbbae4510d2ddd52a43c61762d) pandemic. The addition of Japan appears to reflect a recent willingness on China's part to improve ties, which have soured in part over more strident talk from Tokyo on the Taiwan issue. The two countries [reached a deal in September](https://apnews.com/article/china-japan-nuclear-power-plant-fukushima-water-19600195a57db01cad0ef8b619ca13e5) in their dispute over the release into the sea of treated but still radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant. Japan was one of the three countries with visa-free entry before the pandemic, and the government had repeatedly requested an early resumption, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We hope the visa exemption measure announced by the Chinese side will contribute to further smooth our [exchanges between Japan and China](https://apnews.com/article/japan-ishiba-us-south-korea-australia-china-73a66e7b2fce8c3847622acf314357e1),” he said. The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been [pushing people-to-people exchange](https://apnews.com/article/china-american-students-universities-f5f6e53cd5d3bc686590f2f961165281) between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries. China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then [expanded visa-free entry](https://apnews.com/article/china-visa-free-france-germany-malaysia-italy-573a24ef6bde18b7d28933c355857fdb) to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year. The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, [notably Thailand](https://apnews.com/article/tourism-visa-beijing-pandemic-economy-a3c5bdd19ae7ea0e2995ce3e1fb3f284), which wants to bring back Chinese tourists. For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.

A quarterly survey by Japan's central bank shows business sentiment among manufacturers has improved slightly, especially in major heavy industries such as automaking, fossil fuels and machinery BANGKOK -- A quarterly survey by Japan’s central bank shows business sentiment has improved slightly, especially in major heavy industries such as automaking, fossil fuels and machinery, while services industries were less upbeat. The survey released Friday by the Bank of Japan, called the tankan, might influence the central bank's decision on whether to raise its benchmark interest rate next week. It shows the difference between companies saying they are optimistic about business conditions and those that are pessimistic. The latest survey's outcome undermined expectations for a rate hike, and the Japanese yen weakened, with the U.S. dollar trading at 152.90 yen on Friday, near its highest level in two weeks. Meanwhile, the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index fell more than 1%. “Expectations are for the BOJ to maintain its short-term interest rate at 0.25% next week, marking the fourth consecutive meeting with no change,” IG said in a commentary. Japan’s economy grew at a revised 1.2% annual pace in the last quarter, helped by sustained consumer spending. But the outlook ahead is uncertain, IG economists noted, given U.S. President-elect [Donald Trump's](https://apnews.com/article/china-xi-trump-inauguration-d654da01f90bf3bec071bb9890ffbd29) vows to impose higher tariffs on imports from many countries, which could jolt both the regional and the global economy. “The mediocre increase in business conditions across all firm sizes in the latest tankan suggests that activity is unlikely to rebound meaningfully this quarter, following a slowdown in (the last quarter),” Toh Au Yu of Capital Economics said in a commentary. One of the biggest obstacles for Japanese firms is a severe labor shortage as the work force shrinks along with the overall population, Toh said. The tankan showed a negative 36 sentiment for employment, unchanged from the previous quarter. Still, overall business sentiment for both manufacturers and non-manufacturers edged up to 15 from 14 in the previous survey. The sentiment index for large manufacturers rose to 14 in December from 13 in September, partly due to automakers [resuming production](https://apnews.com/article/toyota-earnings-japan-automaker-6e88247feaba1d1ee8e9de06a0f58d56) following certification scandals in the industry. Construction and real estate also improved. But while automakers and other big industries gained ground, sentiment among retailers and other service industries deteriorated, falling to 33 from 34, though it remained in positive territory. The index for retailers dropped sharply, to 13 from 28. The [Bank of Japan](https://apnews.com/article/japan-economy-rates-boj-yen-e00919b053412fabf7a800ed78a9ad7a) began earlier this year to shift away from a negative interest rate policy aimed at keeping credit super cheap to support the economy as the country's population shrinks, sapping demand. The ultra-lax monetary policy was kept in place for years to counter a long spell of deflation, when demand was so slack that prices fell. But global price increases following the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with a weakening of the Japanese yen against other currencies, has pushed prices above the BOJ's target of about 2% inflation, enabling it to begin shifting to a more conventional stance. Japan racked up a trade deficit in October for the fourth month in a row, as the weak yen and rising energy prices kept import costs high. Prime Minister [Shigeru Ishiba](https://apnews.com/ef6894f3dc08948deeb7135c1b316b56) has proposed raising Japan's basic tax-free income allowance, increasing take-home wages and paying subsidies to low-income families to help boost consumer spending. But his minority government is likely to struggle to gain support from the opposition on budgets and other legislation, raising the risk of political deadlocks that could stymie economic initiatives.

The top bidder at a Tokyo fish market has paid $1.3m for a tuna, the second highest price ever paid at an annual prestigious new year auction. Michelin-starred sushi restaurateurs the Onodera Group said they had paid 207 million yen on Sunday for the 276 kilogram (608 pound) bluefin tuna, roughly the size and weight of a motorbike. It is the second highest price paid at the opening auction of the year in Tokyo’s main fish market since comparable data started being collected in 1999. The powerful buyers have now paid the top price for five years straight – winning bragging rights and a lucrative frenzy of media attention in [Japan](https://www.theguardian.com/world/japan). “The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune,” Onodera official Shinji Nagao told reporters after the auction. “Our wish is that people will eat this and have a wonderful year.” The Onodera Group paid 114 million yen for the top tuna last year. But the highest ever auction price was 333.6 million yen [for a 278 kilogram bluefin in 2019](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/05/sushi-king-pays-record-31m-for-endangered-bluefin-tuna-in-japan), as the fish market was moved from its traditional Tsukiji area to a modern facility in nearby Toyosu. The record bid was made by self-proclaimed “Tuna King” Kiyoshi Kimura, who operates the Sushi Zanmai national restaurant chain. During the Covid-19 pandemic the new year tunas commanded only a fraction of their usual top prices, as the public were discouraged from dining out and restaurants had limited operations.

A 608-pound bluefin tuna sold for $1.3 million (207 million yen) at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market on Sunday, making it the second-most expensive tuna sold at Japan’s premiere wholesale fish markets since record-keeping began in 1999. The Onodera Group, which owns the Michelin-starred Sushi Ginza Onodera chain, purchased the motorcycle-sized fish – which is thought to carry auspicious omens for the new year. “The year’s first tuna brings good luck. We want to make people smile with food,” Sushi Onodera president Shinji Nagao told the Japanese outlet [Kyodo News](https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2025/01/0c1964dd89ea-tuna-fetching-13-mil-in-new-year-auction-fuels-japan-economy-hopes.html). This is the fifth consecutive year that Onodera purchased the most expensive fish. “Our hope is that by eating this tuna everyone will have a good year.” Sushi Ginza Onodera operates 20 restaurants across Japan, the United States, and China, according to their [website](https://www.sushionodera.com/locations). The group’s restaurants have been honored with 15 Michelin stars. The priciest New Year’s catch ever sold at the Tokyo market was a bluefin tuna that went for $3.1 million (333.6 million yen) in 2019, shortly after the market moved from its original location in Tsukiji. In the ensuing years, however, prices dropped off in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, the Onodera group paid $720,000 (114.2 million yen) for the first fish of the year, according to [CNN](https://edition.cnn.com/travel/japan-bluefin-tuna-auction-intl-hnk/index.html). Fisherman Masahiro Takeuchi also celebrated his whopping catch, which he said was “as fat as a cow.” Takeuchi reeled in the fish off the coast of Oma, a small town in northeastern Japan. “It’s like a dream,” the 73-year old told Japanese reporters. “I’m always worried about how many more years I can do this job, but I’m incredibly happy.”

In the bowels of a commercial building in Tokyo’s Shinbashi neighbourhood there is little to suggest that office workers seeing in the year of the snake have lost their appetite for shared plates of Japanese food and jockeys of draught beer. They tuck into plates of charcoal-grilled chicken, bowls of edamame and flasks of hot sake. Calls of _“__irasshaimase!”_ welcome each new group of diners. It was not that long ago that [curfews and alcohol bans](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/19/tokyo-alcohol-ban-covid-lockdown-izakayas-shimbashi) introduced to limit the spread of Covid-19 forced _izakaya_ – informal, boozy salons that range in size from cosy joints serving _yakitori_ (chicken skewers) to cavernous spaces with seemingly endless menus – to call last orders at what would have normally been the busiest time of the evening. The pandemic has passed, but Japan’s thousands of _[izakaya](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/27/going-crazy-for-izakayas-yakatori-japanese-food-megan-carnegie-brown)_ are battling new threats on two fronts: [soaring costs](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/20/cost-of-living-crisis-fuels-global-appetite-for-instant-ramen) and declining demand. [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/18/japan-legendary-izakaya-closing-costs-declining-demand#img-2) Changing customer behaviour is challenging Japan’s traditional bars. Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/Alamy Often described – a little misleadingly given the quantity of food they offer – as Japanese-style pubs, _izakaya_ are going out of business at a faster rate than in 2020, the year the coronavirus became a global pandemic. Between January and November last year, 203 _izakaya_ operators declared bankruptcy, exceeding the 189 recorded in the whole of 2020, according to Teikoku Databank, which offers financial and research support services. While many people celebrated the end of pandemic restrictions by resuming regular nights out with colleagues and friends, a significant proportion continue to socially distance preferring cheaper nights at home. Economic factors have also dealt a blow to the _izakaya_ sector. Cash-strapped consumers are ordering fewer items, while restaurateurs wrestle with higher costs for materials, energy and labour. After decades of stagnation, Japan’s inflation rate has risen in recent years, reaching its highest for a decade in 2023. Currently hovering about 2%, it is lower than in many comparable economies, but across-the-board price rises are forcing households hit by a decline in real wages to tighten their belts. About 40% of _izakaya_ were losing money in the 12 months to April last year, according to Teikoku, with more attempting to stay afloat by reinventing themselves as cafes and fast-food outlets. But there is little they can do about consumer behaviour. Put simply, young Japanese – like their peers in other parts of the world – no longer equate a good night out with copious quantities of beer, [sake](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/13/woman-japan-male-world-sake-brewing-miho-imada) and _[shochu](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2006/jul/01/foodanddrink.features1)_. Japan’s [demographics](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/26/japan-population-how-many-people-drops-first-time-births-deaths) are the greatest challenge facing _izakaya_, said Robbie Swinnerton, a veteran [restaurant critic](http://www.tokyofoodfile.com/) for the Japan Times. “The _izakaya_ is a holdover from earlier times, when the postwar baby boomer generation ruled the roost,” he said. “These days, there are fewer younger people, and they don’t drink as much. And they don’t want to drink in the same places as their parents and grandparents. It’s the same with food. Unless they’re really good, old-school Japanese dishes aren’t necessarily what young people want to eat.” [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/18/japan-legendary-izakaya-closing-costs-declining-demand#img-3) Ramen is considered Japan’s comfort food. Photograph: Robert Gilhooly/Alamy The rot has spread to other parts of Japan’s culinary landscape that were once thought impregnable. Shops serving [ramen](https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/oct/31/17-ways-with-instant-noodles-ramen) – the country’s undisputed comfort food – went out of business in record numbers last year, as soaring costs challenged the dish’s reputation for value for money. According to Teikoku, almost 34% of 350 ramen businesses it surveyed said they had been operating at a loss throughout 2023. While a bowl of ramen still costs, on average, less than 700 yen (£3.70 or $4.50), price rises are noticeable enough to make some diners choke on their _[tonkotsu](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/feb/22/the-rise-and-rise-of-ramen-noodle-soup)_ broth. The main ingredients – flour noodles, pork and vegetables – cost an average of 10% more than in 2020. Takatoyo Sato, the manager of a noodle shop in Shinbashi, was forced to put up his prices last year and saw a drop in custom. His most popular menu item, ramen in a soy-based soup, has risen in price from 780 yen in 2021 to 950 yen, perilously close to the 1,000 yen not even ramen addicts are willing to pay for what began life as hidden-market sustenance during the postwar years of austerity. “I couldn’t avoid raising prices,” Sato told the Kyodo news agency. “We’d have been in the red otherwise.” [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/18/japan-legendary-izakaya-closing-costs-declining-demand#img-4) Customers enjoy soup noodles prepared at a ramen bar in Fukuoka. Photograph: Robert Gilhooly/Alamy Sato’s dilemma is familiar to Shingo Shimomura, who runs a budget _izakaya_ in the Fukushima district of Osaka – a food-obsessed city that encourages visitors to “[eat yourself bankrupt](https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/sep/30/osaka-japan-foodie-tour-local-cafes-bars-street-food)”. “Everything we use a lot of – rice, octopus, tuna, eggs, cooking oil – has gone up in price,” said Shimomura, who is reluctant to pass on rising costs to his customers and still offers set lunches for just [500](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/16/japan-salarymen-ultra-cheap-lunches-food-prices-rise) yen. “If I raise prices, my customers will stop coming,” he added. “We’re busy, but I’m not making any money.” The 52-year-old, who has been in the _izakaya_ business for almost three decades, has noticed a declining appetite for alcohol. “Even salarymen spend less than they used to, and young people barely drink.” Japan’s drinking culture is traditionally centred on work, with _izakaya_ the venue of choice for junior staff to mix with senior colleagues during after-hours nomunication – a portmanteau of the Japanese verb to drink \[nomu\] and communication. The pandemic, though, reminded younger people that their social lives need not revolve around work. “I think that the traditional _izakaya’s_ days are coming to an end,” said Shimomura. “Young people [don’t want to drink with their bosses](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/01/utter-torment-japans-party-season-loses-lustre-as-workers-dread-drinking-with-the-boss) any more.” The decline began before Covid, as _izakaya_ fell victim to population decline, the rise of a “[sober curious](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/28/i-know-my-limit-how-gen-z-became-britains-sober-curious-generation)” gen Z, and competition from an array of more “sophisticated” places to eat and drink. “Times have changed and so has Japan,” said Swinnerton, an _izakaya_ fan since he arrived in Japan in the 1980s. “An _izakaya_ used to be the place to go to relax, eat and drink, and chat. They were places to decompress from the pressures of work, family and society in general. They still have that role, especially at a time when there is a lot more fragmentation and compartmentalisation in life, but these days there are so many alternative places to eat, drink, and relax with friends and colleagues.” But Sachiko Inamura, the secretary general of the [Japan Izakaya Association](http://nihonizakaya.org/), said the charms of a traditional Japanese-style pub would endure, despite a tough labour market and rising costs. “The idea of serving delicious dishes from different regions along with local alcohol might be unique to Japan,” Inamura said. “And with smaller _izakaya_, the menu changes from one place to the next, so diners never get bored. “Going to an _izakaya_ is not just about eating and drinking … people go for the unique atmosphere. They are a wonderful part of Japanese culture, and the good ones really know how to connect with their customers.”