Fresh & Hot from Japan, 11 to 15 July 2016

Please enjoy fresh & hot news from Japan with comments by Europe-Japan Dynamics.

11 Jul.  Over “the Two-thirds” of the Upper House seats taken by those supporting revision of the Constitution, after the national election yesterday

The seats of the 24th Upper House election was settled in the morning on 11th. In the whole seats of the House which includes a non-reelection member, the number of the seats taken by those supporting revision of the Constitution exceeded  two-thirds, that is needed to amend the Constitution. These are members of the four parties promoting the amendment, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the New Komeito, the Osaka Restoration Party and the Party for Japanese Kokoro, as well as those member of the Diet who are not re-elected and do not belong to any party. The Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (President of the LDP) who assumes revision of the Constitution is likely to accelerate the Constitution debate in the Diet.

Comments: The draft Constitution proposed by the LDP contains a number of sensitive words that place the basic human rights under the Government control. Is it what the Japanese voters want?

12 Jul. First order from Europe of 120 MRJ, “A strong foothold of market development” said the president

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, announced that the company received an order of small jetliner MRJ under development from a European company for the first time. Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation and Rockton AB, a regional aircraft leasing company based in Sweden, agreed on twenty (20) orders. Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation takes this success as the first foothold in a prosperous European market and wishes to leverage it for further business development.

Comments: The Japanese aerospace was one of the best in the world before the end of the WWII. Let’s see how the industry will evolve.

13 Jul. Pokémon GO, to be released in Japan by the end of this week? Nintendo, stock prices  rising sharply

A smartphone game, “Pokémon GO” by Nintendo has become explosively popular. The game was downloaded more than 7,500,000 times in the United States after its release ahead of Japan.  Pokémon GO will be released in Japan soon and a hit is anticipated. The share price of Nintendo rose, as its business recovery is expected.

Comments: The game is a kind of virtual reality. The world is moving ahead to VR.

Pokemon GO

13 Jul. Japanese Emperor Akihito ‘wishes to abdicate’, advised to the Empress and the Crown Prince

We have learned from a source in the Imperial Household Agency that His Majesty the Emperor showed intention to hand over the status of Emperor to Crown Prince during the lifetime, which is unusual for the Japanese imperial family, for which the death has been the only reason of abdication in the past 200 years. The Emperor has been repeating the intention since several years. The Imperial House Act does not have a clause that states rules and procedures of  abdication while alive.

Comments: The Emperor is 82 years old. He should be allowed to retire from a heavy job as the Emperor.

15 Jul. LINE went public at the first share price of 4,900 yen in Tokyo Stock Exchange,  with the aggregated market value of 1 trillion yen

LINE  which provided an application of phone-talk went public in the First Section of Tokyo Stock Exchange. The first share price was 4,900 yen, that exceeded  a public price (3,300 yen) by approximately 48%. The aggregate market value of the company calculated by the first price amounted to approximately 1 trillion yen, which was the largest value for a company newly went public this year.

Comments: LINE also went public in NYSE on 14 Jul. Communication continues being personalised.

  • All the news items are picked up from “Asahi Digital”, and summarized and translated by Europe-Japan Dynamics. The articles are not an official translation by the Asahi Newspaper.

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