Foxconn nears deal to supply electric buses for Mitsubishi Fuso
HIDEAKI RYUGEN
TAIPEI -- Foxconn is closing in on a deal to supply all-electric buses to Japanese commercial vehicle maker Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus, a source close to the Taiwanese manufacturing group says.
Mitsubishi Fuso looks to sell the Model T bus and Model U microbus under its own brand. The two models were developed by the Foxconn group.
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Japan Today
an hour ago
- Japan Today
Seeking out the legacy of the ¥10,000 man
By Vicki L Beyer One year ago Japan issued newly designed banknotes, with the old notes remaining legal tender while slowly being phased out. It is always difficult for authorities to choose whose faces should appear on currency. Particularly noteworthy in 2024 was the face chosen for the 10,000 yen note. It had been philosopher/reformer Yukichi Fukuzawa (1835-1901) for 40 years. The new note features the face of Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931), an industrialist widely regarded as the father of the Japan's modern economic system. Image: Shibusawa is said to have been involved in the establishment of as many as 500 companies during his lifetime. He founded Japan's first modern bank, as well as the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He was also involved in a number of social, community, and diplomatic initiatives. Physical remnants of his legacy can be seen across Tokyo. Shibusawa Memorial Museum The Shibusawa Memorial Museum sits inside Asukayama Park, just a few minutes' walk from Oji Station. Shibusawa had a long association with this area, once a village on the outskirts of Tokyo, but now inside the city limits. He founded the Oji Paper Company nearby in 1873 and later had a home on the site that has become Asukayama Park. The home was destroyed by aerial bombing during World War II, but Shibusawa's influence lives on in the Shibusawa Memorial Museum. A photo montage provides an apt illustration of Shibusawa's impact. Image: Vicki L Beyer The museum presents a bilingual timeline of Shibusawa's life and his various achievements, together with several artifacts from his life. The range and extent of his involvement in Japan's modernization/Westernization in the late nineteenth century is astounding. Two surviving structures from Shibusawa's original home complex are located near the museum and are considered part of the museum. The older of the two is Bankoro, a small cottage he had built in 1917 with a nicely-appointed Western-style meeting used by Shibusawa to meet with Japanese and international visitors. Seien Bunko is a more modern structure designed as a library and built for Shibusawa by a group of his mentees to commemorate his 85th birthday in 1925. While the building once housed his collection of books, he also used this building predominately to host meetings with visiting dignitaries. Shibusawa used Seien Bunko to host meetings with visiting dignitaries. Image: Vicki L Beyer Also located in Asukayama Park is the Paper Museum, which has some exhibits on Shibusawa's role in modern paper production in Japan. The Shibusawa Memorial Museum is open 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (last entry 4:30 pm); closed on Mondays except those which are public holidays. The museum is open on public holidays and closed on the day after any public holiday. Admission is JPY300 and includes entry to Bankoro and Seien Bunko (except that entry to Bankoro will not be permitted during August due to high heat). Bankoro is a cottage where Shibusawa often received visitors. Image: Vicki L Beyer A ticket providing entry to all three museums in Asukayama Park (ie, Shibusawa Memorial Museum, Paper Museum, and Kita Ward Asukayama Museum) is 800 yen and is valid for a three-month period. Tosho Shibusawa Museum Tosho (the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry) also contains a small museum honoring Shibusawa and his role in the chamber's establishment. It is especially interesting to learn how Shibusawa was driven by his desire to establish the credibility of Japan's business community on the international stage. The Tosho Shibusawa Museum contains various artifacts relating to Shibusawa's role as a driver of modern business practices. Image: Vicki L Beyer Located on the sixth floor of Tosho in the Marunouchi Nijubashi Building, just above Nijubashi-mae subway station, the museum is open weekdays, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; admission is free. President Grant's Trees Shibusawa was also instrumental in facilitating the 1879 visit to Japan of former U.S. President Ulysses Grant and his wife. He was especially adamant that the former president should plant trees to commemorate the occasion, a previously unknown practice in Japan. Grant planting the trees was intended to symbolize the aspirations of the United States and Japan to have a long-lasting relationship. In Tokyo, Grant planted a Himalayan Cedar tree in the courtyard to Zojoji Temple near Shiba Park, as well as a cypress tree in Ueno Park. Mrs Grant also planted a magnolia tree in Ueno Park. Even Emperor Meiji attended the event held at Ueno Park when the tree planting took place. Cedar tree planted by former U.S. president Ulysses Grant on the grounds of Zojoji Temple in Tokyo Image: Vicki L Beyer All three trees are alive today. In 1930 Shibusawa became concerned that the trees in Ueno Park were neglected and forgotten, so he arranged for their care and also had a monument erected relating the history of the trees and their connection to the U.S.-Japan relationship. The trees, and the monument, are located near the entrance to the Ueno Zoological Gardens. Former Shibusawa Home Restored Shibusawa's home from 1878 to 1888 (and subsequently occupied by his son and family), located in Fukagawa, near Shiomi Station on the Keiyo Line, has been restored to its former glory. The home was originally built by Kisuke Shimizu, founder of the company known today as Shimizu Corporation. When the Shimizu Corporation acquired the land in Fukagawa to build Novare Smart Innovation Ecosystem, it decided to restore Shibusawa's home as a central feature of the complex, commemorating both Shibusawa's life and the accomplishments of the company. Image: Tatsuya Noaki The original house was purely Japanese in design, with a Western-style wing added later. While it is possible to visit the house and view the opulent interior, opening hours are limited to certain Thursdays of the month on a lottery system. To apply, visit Bank of Japan Currency Museum Since Shibusawa's face is on Japan's largest denomination currency, a visit to the Bank of Japan Currency Museum is another must. This free museum, housed inside the Bank of Japan building in Nihonbashi, has extensive exhibits on the history of currency use in Japan, including collections of ancient coins and displays on how early coins were minted. The Currency Museum has exhibits on Japan's use of money across time. Image: Vicki L Beyer Visitors can also heft the weight of a bundle containing 100 million yen and view a bilingual video history of money in Japan. The exhibits are laid out in chronological order, concluding with the introduction of paper money and the history of bill designs over the last century and a half. The hi-tech anti-counterfeiting features of modern bills are also fascinating. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (last entry 4 p.m.), as well as Mondays that are public holidays. Expect to have bags checked before entry to the museum will be permitted. The museum has a small gift shop with interesting novelty items such as hand towels containing images of currency (in case you want to wipe your face with Shibusawa's face) and chocolates shaped like ancient coins. Visits to these various places associated with Eiichi Shibusawa give visitors a greater appreciation of Japan's rapid modernization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and the role Shibusawa, and other great men of his generation, played in that development. Vicki L. Beyer, a regular Japan Today contributor, is a freelance travel writer who also blogs about experiencing Japan. Follow her blog at © Japan Today
Japan Today
2 hours ago
- Japan Today
Ishiba, LDP may review cash handout plan to accommodate opposition
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a speech during a welcome reception of the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) in Yokohama on Wednesday. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government and his ruling party may revise plans to deliver cash handouts of 20,000 yen to every resident of Japan, senior officials said Thursday, as they must win opposition support after an election defeat. An option has emerged within the government and the Liberal Democratic Party to limit recipients to those most in need, such as children and low-income households, rather than distributing them across the board, according to the officials. The modification of the LDP's pledge for the July 20 House of Councillors election highlights the challenges the ruling coalition faces in advancing its policy agenda, as it now holds minorities in both chambers of parliament. Ishiba's grip on power has weakened significantly, with his party expected to decide in the coming weeks whether to hold a leadership race amid calls for him to resign following the dismal upper house election result. The government and the ruling bloc are likely to draw up a supplementary budget to fund the cash handout program during a parliamentary session this fall, through negotiations with opposition parties, the officials said. Inflation-relief measures were among the priority items for voters in the upper house election. The LDP focused on the cash handout plan, creating a sharp contrast with opposition forces that promised to either reduce or abolish the consumption tax. The LDP's current plan is to distribute 20,000 yen per person. On top of that, children and adults in low-income households exempt from resident tax would get an extra 20,000 yen, bringing their total to 40,000 yen each. Ishiba and the ruling coalition have been cornered into reconsidering their plan after the election, which some opposition lawmakers -- who are pushing to have their demands accepted -- say amounted to a "no" vote on the cash handout program. Yoshihiko Noda, who leads the main opposition force, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said cash handouts and tax cuts should come "as a package." The Japan Innovation Party has been gaining attention as the opposition force is seen working more closely with the ruling camp. But its chief, Hirofumi Yoshimura, has said the party will vote against an extra budget plan if it only delivers 20,000 yen in cash. Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, said a review of the cash handout plan is only "natural," given that many voters favor tax cuts. © KYODO
Japan Today
2 hours ago
- Japan Today
Africa could become 'renewable superpower,' says U.N. chief Guterres
Angolan President Joao Lourenco (L) greets U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (R) during the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama. Africa has everything it takes to become a "renewable superpower," U.N. head Antonio Guterres said Thursday, as he called for greater investment in green energy across the resource-rich continent. Guterres spoke at a three-day development conference in Japan attended by African leaders, where Tokyo is offering itself as an alternative to China as African nations reel from a debt crisis exacerbated by Western aid cuts, conflict and climate change. "We must mobilize finance and technology, so that Africa's natural wealth benefits African people, we must build a thriving renewables and manufacturing base across the continent," Guterres said at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). "Green power in Africa lowers energy costs, diversifies supply chains and accelerates decarbonization for everyone." China has invested heavily in Africa over the past decade, with its companies there signing deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars to finance shipping ports, railways, roads and other projects under Beijing's Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative. But new lending is drying up, and developing countries are grappling with a "tidal wave" of debt to both China and international private creditors, the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, said in May. African countries have also seen Western aid slashed, in particular due to President Donald Trump's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Guterres warned in his speech in the Japanese port city of Yokohama that "debt must not drown development" and that Africa needed increased concessional finance and greater lending capacity from multilateral development banks. He also urged greater investment in climate solutions. "Africa has everything it takes to become a renewable superpower, from solar and wind to the critical minerals that power new technology," he said. Attendees at TICAD included Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenyan President William Ruto. Ruto said on social media platform X that Kenya was in talks with Japanese automaker Toyota for the provision of 5,000 "e-mobility vehicles" as part of the country's "commitment to clean energy." In his opening address at the forum on Wednesday, Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced a plan to train 30,000 people in artificial intelligence in Africa over three years and to study the idea of a Japan-Africa Economic Partnership. Before the meeting kicked off, Ishiba also announced a vision for a distribution network that links African and Indian Ocean nations. Both Tinubu and Ramaphosa, speaking on X, said they wanted a shift from aid to investment partnerships. © 2025 AFP
