Quote of the Day
Smearing a person who has been going through a great distress after her daughter’s disappearance is beyond understanding.
Kazuhito Ozawa, a lawyer representing Tomoko Ogura, who is taking legal action to reveal the identities of people who accused her in online posts of being behind the disappearance of her seven-year-old daughter Misaki at a campsite in 2019. Ogura said she became the target of a barrage of online abuse. Read
There are increasing calls for toughening the penalty from online slander victims and others.
A Justice Ministry spokesperson. The ministry is considering reviewing the statutory penalty for insult after the suicide of professional wrestler and reality show cast member Hana Kimura, who suffered online slander. Read
For the new age, we will select astronauts based on whether they can adapt to their missions rather than whether they are science or humanities majors.
Kazuyoshi Kawasaki, a senior official for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Human Spaceflight Technology department. Japan's national space agency is looking to expand its horizons by dropping the science major requirement for potential astronauts as it launches its first recruitment drive in 13 years. Read
There has been a shift in sales from comic magazines to comic books, but there is a further shift toward digital comics at an increasing pace.
Atsushi Mizuno, a researcher at Shuppan Kagaku Kenkyujo. Combined sales of print and digital manga passed 600 billion yen in 2020 for the first time since records began in 1978, according to Shuppan Kagaku Kenkyujo (Research institute of publication science). Read
We are seeing more cases of late-stage cancers than usual, possibly due to a decline in screenings. People should go to the hospital without hesitation if they have any symptoms, and also undergo regular examinations.
Sano Takeshi, director of the Cancer Institute Hospital in Tokyo, saying the number of cancer surgeries performed at the hospital plunged last year. He attributed the fall in screenings to fears about the coronavirus pandemic. Read
I don’t need to clean the room and can concentrate on my work. I feel safe here, too, from a security perspective.
Mariko Ishii, a hospital executive who booked an extended-stay service at Keio Presso Inn Nihonbashi Kayabacho, in Tokyo. Hoteliers have been turning to unconventional business models such as long-term stays and offering other perks to cope with the impact of the coronavirus on their business. Read
Weighing options other than relocating the Futenma base to Henoko would benefit Tokyo and Washington in terms of strengthening their alliance. At the same time, the Japanese government has the responsibility to reduce the prefecture’s U.S. base burden.
Fumiaki Nozoe, an associate professor of international politics at Okinawa International University, commenting on costly land reclamation work for a new U.S. base in Okinawa. Read
We want people to prepare for possible powerful earthquakes and tsunamis regardless of whether they are aftershocks or not.
A Japan Meteorological Agency spokesperson. The agency has stopped using the term "aftershocks" for strong earthquakes occurring in areas around the focus of the March 2011 9.0-magnitude quake that devastated the country's northeast. Read
It's extremely regrettable, and I urge businesses to stop these inexcusable acts.
Labor minister Norihisa Tamura, commenting on 81 fraudulent applications for employment adjustment subsidies totaling 700 million yen since the coronavirus began. Under the subsidy program, the government covers allowances companies pay to workers put on temporary leave. Read
