Japan - The Expat Reporter

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  Opinions

  Tokyo’s Olympics need not be a flop

  Travel to the ancient Olympics was possible in almost any conditions – the Games continued throughout the Peloponnesian War – although spectators may not have relished conditions when they arrived. There was no permanent accommodation in remote Olympia, so visitors camped in tents, plagued by summer heat and flies.

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  Business

  Inflation Isn’t the Problem in Japan. It’s the Reverse

  TOKYO – In the United States, ev­eryone is talking about inflation. The country’s reopening from the coronavirus pandemic has un­leashed pent-up demand for ev­erything from raw materials like lumber to secondhand goods like used cars, pushing up prices at the fastest clip in over a decade.

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  Sport

  What the Olympic Village reveals about Japan’s readiness

  Pillow juxtaposition, souvenir condoms and a plumbingbased dig at previous host nations: by last Sunday evening, and with a month left before curtain-up, the Tokyo 2020 pre-Olympic stories were already writing themselves.

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  Society

  Japan Lifts Covid Emergency, Keeping Olympics on Track

  Japan cleared the way for holding the Summer Olympics on schedule by setting an end to its state of emergency and increasing vaccinations to about a million shots a day.

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  Business

  Japan to tighten foreign investment rules for national security

  The government is preparing to tighten regulations on foreign investment in Japanese companies that do work in areas sensitive to national security, including space development and nuclear energy, government sources said Thursday.

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  Opinions

  Interview with an American expat Eric in Japan

  Today’s interview is with Eric, American expat living in Japan.

  Can you please introduce yourself?  My name is Eric and I’m originally from Los Angeles, California. I currently live in the Shonan Beach area of Japan, one hour from southwest of Tokyo. I live near Oiso Beach, and I like to go surfing in my off time.

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  Sport

  High fives and Guinness as Japan celebrates latest rugby shock

  In the end, as ecstatic Japanese rugby fans celebrated their team’s first victory over Ireland on Saturday, it was left to a retired warrior from the losing side to offer a sense of perspective.

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  Sport

  Take a bow: Rugby World Cup teams charm Japanese hosts by copying local custom

  Japan’s rugby players have discovered they can, after all, teach the All Blacks something: how to execute a respectful post-match bow to adoring fans. Taking their cue from the Rugby World Cup hosts, New Zealand were the first visiting team to line up, face the crowd and lower their heads, after their 23-13 victory over South Africa in front of 64,000 fans in Yokohama last weekend.

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  Society

  Which is the world’s hardest-working city?

  Tokyo may be the most ‘overworked’ city – but there are ways to measure how hard a city works. Earlier this year the Japanese government introduced a law limiting legal overtime work to 45 hours a month, with an extension of up to 100 hours a month in busy periods for a maximum of six months a year. But many remain doubtful it will rein in Japan’s toxic overwork culture.

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  Business

  Japan to eliminate tariffs on U.S. wine in trade deal

  Japan has agreed to phase out tariffs on U.S. wine imports as part of a bilateral trade deal expected to be signed at the end of the month, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday. Japan will eliminate the tariffs on U.S. wine within five to seven years after the trade agreement goes into effect, the Nikkei reported without giving its sources.