Travel Mole – January 19, 2016 – Japan is looking to remove swastikas from its maps because tourists think they are ‘Nazi symbols’. The ancient symbol, marking temples on the Japanese maps, was used to denote religious buildings long before the Nazi regime. But the country’s tourism body has announced plans to update their maps, replacing the swastika with the image of a three-tiered pagoda. The survey also found that the letter H, indicating a…

Saudi Gazette – January 18, 2016 – The Japanese Embassy invited renowned anime creator Osamu Kobayashi to Riyadh under the Japan Foundation scheme – Performing Arts, Lecture and Demonstration Programs for Presentation of Japanese Arts and Culture. The embassy held a lecture and demonstration of contemporary Japanese culture through his animation works from Jan. 12-15. Kobayashi is a versatile animator who does conceptual design, illustration and animation direction. For his accomplishments in the anime industry with…

The Malaymail Online – January 14, 2016 – A hacker group is stepping up attacks on the websites of Japanese institutions in protest against the country’s whale hunting. The global website of Nissan Motor Co went down this morning, making it the latest among scores of organisations that have come under fire from activists. Hackers who say they are affiliated with the group Anonymous have claimed responsibility for knocking out the websites of companies and…

Anime News Network. – January 12, 2016 – This year’s third issue of Kodansha‘s bi-weekly Evening magazine (issue cover pictured at right) revealed on Tuesday that Makoto Kobayashi (What’s Michael?, Judo Bu Monogatari) and Minoru Furuya(Himizu, Ping Pong Club) are launching new manga in the magazine for its 15th anniversary. Evening is celebrating its 15th anniversary by launching “If”ning (a play on the katanaka used to spell “Evening“) manga that tell “what if” stories. Kobayashi’s manga will depict what would happen if the protagonist…

THE VERGE – January 11, 2016 – The last gadget I saw at CES 2016 was also by far the biggest. MegaBots, which raised over $500,000 on Kickstarter to upgrade its MegaBot Mk. II in anticipation of taking on Suidobashi Heavy Industry’s Kuratas in a US-vs-Japan duel later this year, brought the giant robot to the Zappos headquarters in downtown Las Vegas for a public demonstration of its powers. The MegaBot was meant to be taking on some drones from…

BloombergBusiness –  January 7, 2016 – Japanese stocks fell for a fourth day, extending a global slide that’s seen shares post their worst start to a year since 2000, after China again cut the reference rate for the yuan and trading in the world’s second-biggest equity market was halted. The Topix index sank 2.1 percent to 1,457.94 in Tokyo to close at the lowest level since Oct. 2, as energy explorers led declines after the price…

NIKKEI ASIAN REVIEW – January 6, 2016 – TOKYO — Japan will support Southeast Asian nations in creating mechanisms by which governments can effectively guarantee loans, making it easier for smaller companies to round up funding for expansion into those lucrative markets. Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations broadly agreed at working-level talks in November 2015 to gradually put credit guarantee systems into place. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry looks to…

ANIMENEWSNETWORK – January 3rd, 2016 – The February issue of Shogakukan’s Ciao magazine announced on Monday that Mochi-Usagi’s Aikatsu! Go! Go! Go! manga will end in the next issue on February 3. Mochi-Usagi launched the manga on May 1, and the magazine’s February issue published the series’ ninth chapter. The story of the Aikatsu! game and anime franchise begins with Ichigo, who was just a normal middle school student until she suddenly got involved in…

TOKYO (Reuters) – December 22, 2015 – Japan’s government said on Tuesday it expects a stimulus package it approved last week to add around 0.6 percentage point to gross domestic product over the next three years due to gains in consumer spending and capital expenditure. The government also raised its economic growth forecast for next fiscal year due to expectations that domestic demand will strengthen. However, the government said it expects consumer prices to rise…

Tokyo-based UPQ burst onto the Asian startup scene last summer when it came out of stealth to reveal more than a dozen original consumer electronics products – ranging from a budget Android phone to a 4K monitor. Perhaps the most intriguing bit of UPQ’s story was that its first collection went from concept to production in just two months. Founder Yuko Nakazawa, a former cafe owner, became one of Japan’s most intriguing entrepreneurs almost overnight….