Steep tariffs, challenging geography and government subsidies come to mind when we think about the barriers to international trade. But there are lots of different languages in the world, and translation problems can slow things down, too.
The European Union and Japan signed a monumental trade deal in, July 2018, eliminating nearly all tariffs between the entities in one of the world’s largest free-trade deals. The pact, signed in Tokyo, covers a third of the global economy.
The agreement is in stark contrast to President Donald Trump’s trade war and alignment with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Although the leaders didn’t mention him by name, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and EU leaders Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker distanced themselves from Trump’s tactics in a press conference following the deal.
Princess Ayako, the third daughter of Princess Hisako and the late Prince Takamado, Emperor Akihito’s cousin, married a 32-year-old worker at shipping firm NYK Line in October 2018. The husband of the 27-year-old princess is Kei Moriya, a commoner and graduate of Keio University in Tokyo. Their wedding ceremony was planned for Oct. 29 at Meiji Jingu Shrine in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo.
Blockchain technology is still in its infancy but is growing at a rapid pace. It is hard to be an expert in the field, but you should at least know the basics.
At the core, Blockchain uses a shared ledger managed by multiple computers that are networked. This is much different from current systems that rely on one central system with a database.
Your next smartphone might just throw you a curve.
Picture this: You pull your phone out of your pocket and unfold it like a napkin into a tablet. You press your finger on the screen, and it unlocks. You switch to the camera app, and a spider-like array of lenses shoot simultaneously to capture one giant photo.
Coffee is among the most commonly consumed beverages worldwide. Because of its popularity, it has attracted a great deal of research over the years.
Scientists have now stacked up a fair amount of evidence proving that coffee can protect against certain diseases and may even extend lifespan. Studies have shown that moderate coffee consumption might protect against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease, to name but three.
With the rise of A.I. and an endless sea of personal data available, some start to question, "How free are we?" Yes, it is true that A.I. will free us from many of the meaningless tasks that we are saddled with on a daily basis. However, there are serious concerns as to how our data is used for both positive and negative reasons.
New Zealand hasn't been walking the talk on climate risk, finds a sweeping new analysis of hundreds of annual reports and statements.
The Japanese government wants women to work more and have more children, but it lacks concrete plans of how to do so. To begin with, there is a drastic need to increase government-funded care for children of all ages. In Japanese elementary schools, a lot of the activities and meetings fall in the middle of a weekday, and while public afterschool care does exist, in many places it is only for children up through third grade.
In the summer of 2019, French swimmer and anti-plastic campaigner Ben Lecomte swam through the giant floating rubbish mass known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The exact size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is impossible to determine, but estimates put it anywhere from 700,000 to 15,000,000 km² (or the size of Texas to the size of Russia). The patch is caused by the North Pacific gyre—a circle of currents that keep plastic, waste and other pollution trapped. According to scientists, the Patch has been growing “exponentially” in recent years.
Hit by its worst weather catastrophe in decades, Japan watched in horror in the summer of 2018 as torrential rains caused more than 200 deaths and 600 landslides, with whole villages swallowed by floods. The rains, which prompted millions to flee their homes and left 250,000 houses without water or electricity, were the worst weather-related crisis for 35 years.
In most American families led by couples, both parents are in the workforce. At the same time, nearly 1 in 4 U.S. children are being raised by single moms. Yet child care is generally unaffordable and paid leave is not available to most U.S. parents.
The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act in the U.S. did mandate 12 weeks of unpaid job protected leave for some American workers. Yet most families can’t forgo the income that moms bring home.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Paralympian Atsushi Yamamoto has returned to the athletics track after competing in snowboarding at the Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics in March 2018.
Every day, we use products that are built using “rare earths”—a group of 17 elements that are, as the name suggests, very rare. They’re used to make everyday items such as rechargeable batteries, LED lights and display panels, as well as larger products such as wind turbines.
Now, it turns out, Japan has an estimated 16 million tons of the stuff on its turf. Researchers claim the trove might be enough to supply the world with metals such as yttrium and europium on a “semi-infinite basis.”
The start-up scene in Japan has historically lagged behind the Silicon Valley and China, but several investors told CNBC that things are changing.
Workers have traditionally seen starting a company as "kind of a Plan B," according to James Riney, head of 500 Startups Japan. Finding entrepreneurial talent in the country used to be difficult because of an aversion to risk among Japanese workers. Many wanted the stability of corporate or public-sector jobs.
Japan has the lowest rate of gun deaths in the industrialized world. Why is that? Watch the video and discuss it with your teacher, or write about it using the discussion questions below.
Fasten your seatbelts for a flight departing to Paris—and never leave the ground.
That’s exactly what 12 passengers did at First Airlines in central Tokyo this week, where they relaxed in first and business-class seats and were served four-course dinners, before immersing themselves in 360-degree virtual reality (VR) tours of the City of Light’s sights.
Hours before a rare snowstorm hit the Hague in the Netherlands last month, Sergeant Erik Smit got a call from dispatch: A Jack Russell was locked out on a third-story balcony.
Neighbors heard it barking and knew that the owner, who had left for work at 7:30 A.M., would not be back until the end of the day, when the terrace would be covered by several inches of snow.
Sergeant Smit of the national police force rang a few doorbells and yelled some questions to residents, but no one could help. He then radioed for a 22-ton fire truck with a crane and platform.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, became the world's richest man, defeating Bill Gates, co-founder Microsoft.
The recent surge in Amazon stock has pushed Bezos' fortune to over $90 billion, vaulting him past Bill Gates. Bezos has been chasing Gates for the number one spot for a few years now and finally succeeded in superseding him. But this dream run was short-lived. On Thursday, Bill Gates was crowned again as the world's richest man as Amazon stocks went down by 1%.
