NARA, Mar 01 (News On Japan) –
The most important rites of the Buddhist follow referred to as “Shunie,” broadly known as “Omizutori,” started on March 1st at Nigatsudo Hall of Todaiji in Nara, marking the arrival of spring within the historical capital.
The ritual has been carried out yearly since 752, when the Great Buddha was consecrated, and has turn out to be a seasonal custom that heralds the altering of the seasons in Nara.
Because it has continued with out interruption by means of epidemics and wars, the follow is named the “futai no gyobo,” which means an unbroken self-discipline, and this 12 months marks its 1,275th observance.
AICHI, Mar 01 (News On Japan) –
The Konomiya Hadaka Festival, an uncommon Shinto ritual courting again greater than 1,250 years wherein males sporting solely loincloths collide violently with each other, was held on March 1st at Konomiya Shrine in Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture, drawing round 10,000 individuals who surged towards a chosen “sacred man” believed to soak up misfortune via bodily contact.
The competition facilities on the “Shin-otoko,” or sacred man, who is chosen to shoulder the neighborhood’s dangerous luck for the yr. It is believed that touching him transfers one’s misfortune, and as he makes his means via the shrine grounds, waves of males in white fundoshi loincloths press ahead in a chaotic crush, shouting and grappling in a dramatic show of devotion.
The long-standing ceremony, formally often called a ritual to thrust back evil, is thought to be certainly one of Japan’s most intense winter festivals, combining non secular perception with uncooked bodily power as individuals search purification for the yr forward.
TOKYO, Mar 02 (News On Japan) –
Motors are embedded in numerous digital gadgets, from residence home equipment and robots to vehicles, quietly producing the ability that underpins fashionable life, and now a Japanese startup is difficult long-held assumptions by growing a next-generation motor that delivers each excessive effectivity and excessive output whereas eliminating the necessity for uncommon earth supplies.
Leading the hassle is Hirokazu Kanekiyo, chief expertise officer of Next Core Technologies, who has developed a brand new materials often called HLMET, pronounced “Helmet,” that dramatically reduces warmth technology inside motors. Conventional motors depend on magnetic pressure to provide movement, however once they function, warmth builds up and weakens magnetic energy. To compensate, producers have lengthy relied on highly effective uncommon earth magnets—supplies that Japan largely imports from China—making them important but geopolitically delicate parts.
Kanekiyo’s breakthrough lies in suppressing warmth at its supply. HLMET, an ultra-thin materials measuring simply 30 microns in thickness—similar to aluminum foil—has been integrated into the stator part of the motor. By considerably decreasing power loss as warmth, the brand new design improves total motor effectivity.
In a side-by-side comparability of motors of equivalent dimension operated for about one hour at room temperature of 23 levels Celsius, the standard motor’s temperature rose by 21 levels, whereas the HLMET-equipped motor elevated by solely 9 levels, a distinction of greater than 10 levels. Thermal imaging revealed a transparent distinction: the standard unit reached round 44 levels Celsius, whereas the brand new motor remained close to 32 levels.
Lower warmth technology straight interprets into diminished power loss and improved efficiency. The new motor not solely consumes much less electrical energy but in addition delivers output that surpasses standard fashions of the identical dimension.
Most notably, the design eliminates the necessity for uncommon earth supplies completely—an achievement that trade observers describe as nothing wanting revolutionary. Rare earth magnets have lengthy been thought-about indispensable to motor efficiency, making the prospect of “rare-earth-free” motors a dramatic shift in trade pondering.
For resource-poor Japan, which relies upon closely on imports of uncommon earths from China, the event carries implications past engineering. By decreasing reliance on important supplies topic to worldwide tensions, the expertise might contribute to the nation’s financial safety.
Kanekiyo views the innovation as a possibility to remodel an trade that has relied on uncommon earths for many years. If efficiently commercialized, the next-generation motor might reshape energy techniques throughout a variety of purposes worldwide, from industrial equipment to shopper electronics and electrical automobiles, marking a major step towards a extra energy-efficient and geopolitically resilient future.
OSAKA, Mar 02 (News On Japan) –
A 48-year-old lady who works as a lecturer at an Osaka prefectural highschool was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a person in Osaka, with the person later confirmed useless on the hospital the place he was taken.
Police mentioned the suspect, Kisako Suzurikawa, is accused of punching the person within the face and inflicting accidents together with bruising in a room at an house advanced in Osaka’s Yodogawa Ward across the center of March.
According to investigators, the sufferer, believed to be a person in his 70s who lived within the room, suffered accidents together with damaged ribs, and his dying was confirmed after he was transported to hospital.
Suzurikawa is believed to have identified the person, and informed police, “It is true that I punched his face, but the bruise to his right eye is not an injury that was caused by my blows,” disputing a part of the allegations.
Police are working to verify the person’s id and are investigating the circumstances that led to his dying.
OSAKA, Mar 02 (News On Japan) –
As the variety of overseas guests to Japan continues to rise, two uniquely Japanese cultural phenomena — meals replicas and capsule toys, often called gacha — are drawing rising consideration as sudden vacationer sights and potential new memento staples.
At “Gachagacha no Mori” in Umeda, round 2,400 capsule toy machines line the shop, making a dense forest of colourful plastic spheres. Roughly 70% of consumers are ladies, primarily of their 20s to 40s, although the attraction now extends to a variety of generations, together with guests of their 70s. The machines are virtually consistently crowded.
While anime-related merchandise as soon as dominated the market, food-themed capsule toys have not too long ago surged in recognition. One sushi-themed sequence — now in its fourth version — options hyper-realistic items of tuna and different toppings, some with a miniature sniper hidden contained in the sushi. The mix of meticulous element and playful absurdity has confirmed irresistible. Many overseas guests could be seen strolling by the aisles clutching images on their smartphones, trying to find particular objects they found on social media.
Among essentially the most sought-after objects is the “Machibouke” sequence, small collectible figurines designed to sit down on the entrance of a house or in entrance of a tv, usually formed like bread with tiny legs and arms. A customer from Taiwan mentioned she had toured a number of capsule toy outlets looking for a selected piece after recognizing it on-line. Store employees observe that prospects incessantly current screenshots with explanations in English or Chinese, underscoring how extensively these merchandise are circulating abroad through SNS.
Originally fueled by Japan’s anime increase, capsule toys have since diversified into key holders, magnets and sensible equipment utilized in each day life. According to a Nikkei report, the capsule toy trade is now in its fifth increase, with market dimension doubling over the previous decade. Earlier waves date again greater than 40 years, together with the period of Kinnikuman erasers often called “Kinkeshi.” What started as kids’s leisure in grocery store toy sections has developed right into a full-fledged cultural market occupying prime retail places in main cities.
Meanwhile, genuine meals replicas — lengthy utilized by eating places to show menu objects — are additionally gaining traction amongst overseas guests. At a specialty store in Osaka’s Doguyasuji procuring avenue, cabinets are crammed with remarkably lifelike samples of sushi, ramen and desserts. Store employees say most prospects are from abroad.
“It’s so cute. We saw it last night on our walk and came back today,” mentioned one customer from the United States. “In California, they don’t have this.”
The store additionally gives hands-on workshops the place members create their very own meals replicas. The hottest choice is a takoyaki coloring expertise, becoming for Osaka. Participants paint sensible scorch marks onto the octopus balls utilizing a sponge earlier than including sauce and aonori seaweed. The completed product could be made right into a magnet or holder.
The session lasts about 40 minutes and prices from 2,980 yen, making it an accessible exercise for vacationers. Although no overseas members have been current in the course of the interview, employees say a number of teams be a part of with out reservations every day, notably Americans.
Participants usually develop into deeply targeted on perfecting the browning impact. Interestingly, employees observe that abroad guests typically apply darker coloring throughout the complete floor, revealing refined variations in aesthetic desire. After drying for a day, the initially chocolate-colored floor transforms into a sensible golden-brown end.
The convergence of SNS publicity and surging inbound tourism seems to be accelerating world recognition of Japan’s meals duplicate tradition. What was as soon as a distinct segment home passion has grown right into a broader cultural export. With specialty shops opening in prime city places, capsule toys and meals samples might quickly set up themselves not simply as a passing increase, however as enduring symbols of up to date Japanese popular culture — and maybe a brand new commonplace memento for guests returning house.
HYOGO, Mar 02 (News On Japan) –
The admission payment for the World Heritage-listed Himeji Castle in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, was revised on March 1st for the primary time in 11 years, introducing a twin pricing system that considerably raises prices for guests from outdoors the town.
Under the brand new pricing construction, adults aged 18 and over visiting from outdoors Himeji will now pay 2,500 yen, a 2.5-fold improve from the earlier 1,000 yen. Meanwhile, admission charges for Himeji residents stay unchanged, and all guests beneath the age of 18 can enter freed from cost no matter the place they reside.
Himeji City, which manages the citadel, expects the revision to generate an extra 1 billion yen in annual income. The funds can be used for upkeep and preservation efforts, together with seismic reinforcement work on the citadel’s stone partitions.
Visitors provided blended reactions to the worth hike. One mentioned, “It’s not that I can’t afford it, especially since it’s a special occasion.” Another commented, “Honestly, it does feel a bit expensive, but considering the cost of maintaining facilities like this, perhaps it can’t be helped.”
Attention is now turning as to if the upper admission payment will have an effect on customer numbers at certainly one of Japan’s most iconic historic landmarks.
TOKYO, Mar 02 (News On Japan) –
The Tokyo Marathon was held on March 1st alongside a course working from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to Tokyo Station, with Suguru Osako, who holds the Japanese nationwide report and competes for Li-Ning, ending twelfth in 2 hours, 5 minutes and 59 seconds to put up one of the best consequence amongst Japanese runners within the males’s race.
Kengo Suzuki of the Yokohama City Athletics Association, a former Japanese report holder, adopted in thirteenth place, 10 seconds behind Osako, and secured a berth within the Grand Championship (MGC) scheduled for October 2027, which is able to function the choice race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Osako has already certified for the occasion.
Tadese Takele of Ethiopia captured his second consecutive title with a profitable time of two hours, 3 minutes and 37 seconds.
TOKYO, Mar 01 (News On Japan) –
As worth hikes unfold from quick meals to day by day requirements and households grapple with rising residing prices, the regular depreciation of the yen has emerged as a central driver of inflation, with a number of indicators exhibiting that the forex’s buying energy has fallen to roughly one-third of its mid-Nineties peak, underscoring how three many years of financial stagnation, extended financial easing and renewed fiscal enlargement have left Japan much more weak to imported inflation than different main economies.
Big Mac at 500 yen Still Cheap by Global Standards
As worth hikes proceed throughout Japan, McDonald’s raised costs once more on February twenty fifth, lifting its flagship Big Mac from 480 yen to 500 yen. Even so, Japan’s Big Mac stays comparatively cheap by worldwide requirements.
The Big Mac is bought worldwide with practically an identical components and dimension, suggesting it ought to carry the identical worth in all places. In actuality, variations in forex values imply costs differ extensively.
This disparity is measured by the “Big Mac Index,” compiled yearly since 1986 by the British financial journal The Economist, utilizing U.S. costs because the benchmark.
Before the most recent improve, a Big Mac in Japan value 480 yen, whereas within the United States it was priced at 6.12 {dollars}, or about 970 yen primarily based on an alternate price of 1 dollar = 158.54 yen in January 2026.
In impact, the yen’s worth towards the dollar is roughly half.
According to the most recent Big Mac Index in January 2026, Japan ranks forty eighth out of 54 international locations surveyed. Even on the new worth of 500 yen, the rating stays unchanged, underscoring the yen’s weak spot.
Yen Strength Down to One-Third Over 30 Years
Other indicators spotlight the forex’s decline.
The Bank for International Settlements publishes the true efficient alternate price, which measures buying energy — in different phrases, the “strength” of the yen. In January 2026, the index fell to its lowest degree since Japan adopted the floating alternate price system in 1973.
Compared with its peak in 1995, the yen’s power has dropped to roughly one-third.
The Big Mac Index tells an analogous story. In 1995, Japan’s Big Mac value about twice as a lot as within the United States, implying that the yen was price roughly double the dollar on the time — the reverse of at this time’s scenario.
Currency Depreciation Drives Prices Higher in Resource-Dependent Japan
What lies behind what some name “cheap Japan”?
The asset-inflated bubble financial system that started round 1986 collapsed in 1991, ushering in many years of low development and deflation typically described because the “lost 30 years.”
In 2013, Abenomics sought to interrupt this cycle. Through “unprecedented monetary easing” and the introduction of destructive rates of interest, the coverage helped right what had been seen as extreme yen power on the time. However, the pendulum later swung towards sustained depreciation.
After Takaichi assumed the premiership, advocating “responsible proactive fiscal policy” modeled partially on Abenomics, the yen’s decline accelerated additional.
Takaichi has expressed admiration for former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Yet Thatcher’s strategy was rooted not in expansionary fiscal coverage however in austerity.
Britain within the Seventies was mired in extended stagnation, also known as the “British disease,” and required tight financial coverage to stabilize the forex and rebuild the pound. Thatcher, referred to as the “Iron Lady,” went on to guide a long-lasting administration.
While a weaker forex can profit export industries, Japan’s heavy reliance on imported assets means depreciation straight feeds into increased costs.
Bill Emmott, former editor-in-chief of The Economist, wrote in a commentary that the highest precedence for the Takaichi administration must be curbing inflation and selling yen appreciation.
He added that if the yen stays as undervalued in a single or two years as it’s now, it will counsel that Japan’s personal “Iron Lady” — a reference to Takaichi — has turn out to be severely rusted.
(260301) — SEOUL, March 1, 2026 (Xinhua) — People attend an occasion marking the anniversary of the 1919 March 1 Independence Movement that befell throughout the 1910-45 Japanese colonization of the Korean Peninsula, in Seoul, South Korea, March 1, 2026. (Photo by Jun Hyosang/Xinhua)
(260301) — TOKYO, March 1, 2026 (Xinhua) — Feng Peiyou of China competes within the males’s elite race of the Tokyo Marathon in Tokyo, Japan, March 1, 2026. (Xinhua/Jia Haocheng)
