Japan bento chain's ‘no rice' April Fool's joke goes down the wrong way
Japanese bento chain apologised after its 'no more rice' April Fool's prank triggered public anger.
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Takeaway rice bowl chain Hokka Hokka Tei admitted that it 'showed a lack of consideration' by pretending it was not serving rice any more as an April Fool's joke.
'We feel that we have upset everyone who regularly enjoys our freshly cooked rice,' it said in a social media post on Tuesday.
'Although the price of rice continues to rise, Hokka Hokka Tei will keep serving freshly cooked rice made from domestic rice at all of our stores. We hope that anyone who is worried can rest assured.'
Hokka Hokka Tei's April's Fool social media post announcing it was not selling rice any more. Photo: X/Hokka Hokka Tei
The chain posted on its social media account on Tuesday midnight that it was terminating rice sales.
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Asia Times
16 hours ago
- Asia Times
How China is paving way for Bougainville independence
Bougainville, an autonomous archipelago currently part of Papua New Guinea, is determined to become the world's newest country. To support this process, it's offering foreign investors access to a long-shuttered copper and gold mine. Formerly owned by the Australian company Rio Tinto, the Panguna mine caused displacement and severe environmental damage when it operated between 1972 and 1989. It also sparked a decade-long civil war from 1988 to 1998 that killed an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 civilians and caused enduring traumas and divisions. Industry players believe 5.3 million tonnes of copper and 547 tonnes of gold remain at the site. This is attracting foreign interest, including from China. Australia views Bougainville as strategically important to 'inner security arc.' The main island is about 1,500 kilometers from Queensland's Port Douglas. Given this, the possibility of China's increasing presence in Bougainville raises concerns about shifting allegiances and the potential for Beijing to exert greater influence over the region. Bougainville is a small island group in the South Pacific with a population of about 300,000. It consists of two main islands: Buka in the north and Bougainville Island in the south. Bougainville has a long history of unwanted interference from outsiders, including missionaries, plantation owners and colonial administrations (German, British, Japanese and Australian). Two weeks before Papua New Guinea received its independence from Australia in 1975, Bougainvilleans sought to split away, unilaterally declaring their own independence. This declaration was ignored in both Canberra and Port Moresby, but Bougainville was given a certain degree of autonomy to remain within the new nation of PNG. The opening of the Panguna mine in the 1970s further fractured relations between Australia and Bougainville. Landowners opposed the environmental degradation and limited revenues they received from the mine. The influx of foreign workers from Australia, PNG and China also led to resentment. Violent resistance grew, eventually halting mining operations and expelling almost all foreigners. Under the leadership of Francis Ona, the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) fought a long civil war to restore Bougainville to Me'ekamui , or the 'Holy Land' it once was. Australia supported the PNG government's efforts to quell the uprising with military equipment, including weapons and helicopters. After the war ended, Australia helped broker the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 2001. Although aid programs have since begun to heal the rift between Australia and Bougainville, many Bougainvilleans feel Canberra continues to favor PNG's territorial integrity. Bougainville school children display a giant flag of Bougainville during the 2005 celebration of the swearing in of the new assembly for the island. Photo: Lloyd Jones / AAP via The Conversation In 2019, Bougainvilleans voted overwhelmingly for independence in a referendum. Australia's response, however, was ambiguous. Despite a slow and frustrating ratification process, Bougainvilleans remain adamant they will become independent by 2027. As Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama, a former BRA commander, told me in 2024: We are moving forward. And it's the people's vision: independence. I'm saying, no earlier than 2025, no later than 2027. My benchmark is 2026, the first of September. I will declare. No matter what happens. I will declare independence on our republican constitution. Bougainville leaders see the reopening of Panguna mine as key to financing independence. Bougainville Copper Limited, the Rio Tinto subsidiary that once operated the mine, backs this assessment. The Bougainville Autonomous Government has built its own gold refinery and hopes to create its own sovereign wealth fund to support independence. The mine would generate much-needed revenue, infrastructure and jobs for the new nation. But reopening the mine would also require addressing the ongoing environmental and social issues it has caused. These include polluted rivers and water sources, landslides, flooding, chemical waste hazards, the loss of food security, displacement, and damage to sacred sites. The newly built gold refinery in Arawa town. Photo: Anna-Karina Hermkens, Author provided via The Conversation (no reuse) Many of these issues have been exacerbated by years of small-scale alluvial mining by Bougainvilleans themselves, eroding the main road into Panguna. Some also worry reopening the mine could reignite conflict, as landowners are divided about the project. Mismanagement of royalties could also stoke social tensions. Violence related to competition over alluvial mining has already been increasing at the mine. More broadly, Bougainville is faced with widespread corruption and poor governance. The Bougainville government cannot deal with these complex issues on its own. Nor can it finance the infrastructure and development needed to reopen the mine. This is why it's seeking foreign investors. Historically, China has a strong interest in the region. According to Pacific researcher Anna Powles, Chinese efforts to build relationships with Bougainville's political elite have increased over the years. Chinese investors have offered development packages contingent on long-term mining revenues and Bougainville's independence. Bougainville is showing interest. Patrick Nisira, the minister for commerce, trade, industry and economic development, said last year the proposed Chinese infrastructure investment is 'aligning perfectly with Bougainville's nationhood aspirations.' The government has also reportedly made overtures to the United States, offering a military base in Bougainville in return for support reopening the mine. Given American demand for minerals, Bougainville could very well end up in the middle of a battle between China and the US over influence in the new nation, and thus in our region. Looking for gold on the Panguna mine tailings. Photo: Anna-Karina Hermkens via The Conversation There is support in Bougainville for a future without large-scale mining. One minister, Geraldine Paul, has been promoting the islands' booming cocoa industry and fisheries to support an independent Bougainville. The new nation will also need new laws to hold the government accountable and protect the people and culture of Bougainville. As Paul told me in 2024: […]the most important thing is we need to make sure that we invest in our foundation and that's building our family and culture. Everything starts from there. What happens in Bougainville affects Australia and the broader security dynamics in the Indo-Pacific. With September 1 2026 just around the corner, it is time for Australia to intensify its diplomatic and economic relationships with Bougainville to maintain regional stability. Anna-Karina Hermkens is senior lecturer and researcher in anthropology, Macquarie University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Asia Times
2 days ago
- Asia Times
Asia's shaky economies need a US-China trade truce, fast
As Asian governments go through the motions of negotiating with the US, Donald Trump's trade war is inflicting serious and ever-increasing damage on the region's largest economies. It remains to be seen what the US and China will ultimately agreed on in London this week. Vague talk of a preliminary strategy to ease trade tensions, with zero specifics or timelines, has so far left global markets with more questions than answers. The final readout said the two sides agreed in principle on a framework for de-escalating trade tensions, which will next be presented to Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping for approval, according to reports. In the meantime, Japan and South Korea, Asia's No 2 and No 4 economies, are officially in negative territory, both down 0.2% in the first quarter on an annualized basis. What's important to consider is that these contractions predate the worst of Trump's tariffs. As the full brunt of those import taxes hits, Japan and Korea are sure to slide deeper into the red. Those levies include 30% on China, down from 145% earlier, 25% on autos, 50% on steel and aluminum and 10% across the board globally. Things could quickly get worse from there if China's factory gate deflation deepens. In May, China's producer prices fell to the lowest level in nearly two years. Consumer prices, meanwhile, extended declines as trade headwinds collide with a prolonged housing downturn. The 3.3% year-on-year drop in the May producer price index was even steeper than the 2.7% decline in April — and the deepest contraction in 22 months. China, says economist Zhiwei Zhang at Pinpoint Asset Management, 'continues to face persistent deflationary pressure.' Given the magnitude of the headwinds, says Johns Hopkins University economist Steve Hanke, it's 'no surprise' why this is the fourth-straight month in which China's consumer price trajectory 'has been gripped with an outright deflation.' The collateral damage from Trump's trade war is rising, in part because no one knows where the tariffs are headed. On China, it's still an open question whether Trump will lower Chinese taxes to 10% or raise them to 100%. For Japan and Korea, only Trump can say whether or not reciprocal tariffs of 24% and 25%, respectively, will soon return. Risks abound as neither Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba nor new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung seems in any hurry to sign a bilateral trade pact with the US that might disadvantage their populations. That risks enraging a Trump White House desperate for any deal at all. Declarations by Trump trade Peter Navarro and Howard Lutnick have aged terribly. Trade advisor Navarro earlier assured that Trump would seal 90 deals in 90 days. Commerce Secretary Lutnick's late April statement that Trump already had 200 agreements nailed down is now a punchline. As Trump becomes more desperate for a win, real or imagined, the odds of him making tariffs great again increase. Especially since Chinese leader Xi Jinping hasn't rolled out lots of concessions, as Trump hoped. Optimism that Xi's government might increase the flow of now-restricted rare-earth minerals hasn't come to fruition. On Sunday, Kevin Hassett, Trump's National Economic Council head, told CBS News: 'We want the rare earths, the magnets that are crucial for cell phones and everything else to flow just as they did before the beginning of April, and we don't want any technical details slowing that down. And that's clear to them.' Yet what Xi has in common with Ishiba and Lee is a belief that time is on his side. The longer Trump's tariffs fan US inflation and cause economic disruption at home, the more he needs big splashy trade deals to justify the pain households are enduring in the name of making America great again. It follows, then, that Trump will become more willing to sign trade deals in name only to save face. That's the strategy China and Japan employed during the Trump 1.0 era to great effect. And it might well work again under Trump 2.0. The best hope for the global economy and financial system is Trump throttling back on tariffs in the months ahead. 'If this problem goes away, I think that the second half of this year will actually be one of growth,' says Indermit Gill, the World Bank's chief economist. The World Bank has a rather bleak view of the rest of 2025. It expects the slowest growth in 17 years, outside of recessionary periods. It sees global growth weakening to 2.3% this year, 0.4 percentage points less than it expected a few months back. Trouble in bigger economies is sure to spill over into smaller, less developed ones, given today's 'tight trade and investment linkages' with the US, Europe and China, the World Bank said in a report. The good news is that 'capital flows to emerging markets stabilized in May, breaking a two-month pattern of volatility and retrenchment,' says Jonathan Fortun, an economist at the Institute of International Finance. Non-resident flows rose to US$19.2 billion, marking a decisive shift from the $3.7 billion net outflow recorded in April. 'The rebound,' Fortun says, 'was broad-based, with both equity and debt components contributing positively. However, the recovery masks significant asymmetries across regions and asset classes, and the underlying investor tone remains cautious in light of ongoing global uncertainty.' Fortun adds that emerging Asia was the main beneficiary in May, attracting $11.4 billion across asset classes. 'The bulk of the inflows came through local debt and equity channels, as investors responded to stabilizing inflation prints and more predictable policy stances,' he says. In contrast, Fortun adds, Latin America recorded a modest 1.1 billion in net inflows, with strong equity demand partially offset by a sharp decline in debt flows. Emerging Europe attracted $5.1 billion, 'supported by resilient demand for domestic bonds in countries with improved fiscal outlooks,' he notes. In Japan's case, says economist Takeshi Yamaguchi at Morgan Stanley MUFG, markets are waiting with bated breath for the Bank of Japan's views on downside risks. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda, after all, is grappling with the impact of Trump's 25% automobile tariff by the US on small and midsize enterprises and spring wage negotiations amid prolonged US-Japan trade discussions. Yamaguchi says BOJ officials are also watching the impact of China's rare-earth export regulations on manufacturing activity, including automobile production. Other factors include the impact of US lawmakers giving Trump latitude to tax foreign investors, including potentially for punitive purposes on US Treasury holders. 'All underlying inflation measures of the BOJ have risen further' in the central bank's latest update, Yamaguchi says. Stefan Angrick, head of Japan at Moody's Analytics, notes that 'tariffs and tariff threats are damaging [Japan's] exports and industrial production. Household spending is weak as inflation outpaces wage growth, and pay gains may slow further if tariff pain derails the economy.' At the same time, Angrick says, slowing inflation will 'help home-made demand find better traction, but reduced government support for energy bills and a surge in food prices mean inflation will decelerate very gradually.' This will push real pay gains further into the distance, raising the stakes ahead of the upper house election in July, Angrick adds. Opposition parties have called for consumption tax cuts to ease the cost-of-living crisis. 'We're not convinced that's the best way forward,' Angrick says. But Prime Minister Shigeru's blanket rejection of all forms of fiscal support was already looking shaky before the trade war ramped up. All told, the outlook for 2025 looks extremely challenging.' In Seoul, the arrival of President Lee's new administration 'will reduce political tensions and improve the country's economic outlook,' following the six-month vacuum caused by Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, says Jeremy Chan, a Eurasia Group analyst. 'Lee will immediately confront two major challenges: reviving economic growth and striking a trade deal with the US to reduce crippling US tariffs on Korean exports,' Chan says. China's trajectory is complicated by a serious property crisis that's helping to drive deflation. The danger is that the trade war precipitates 'a race deeper into deflation,' says Tom Orlik, chief economist for Bloomberg Economics. Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics, adds that 'we still think persistent overcapacity will keep China in deflation both this year and next.' There's still hope Trump might pivot away from tariffs. Headlines about several trillions of dollars of stock market losses, talk of a 'Trumpcession' and chatter that the so-called 'bond vigilantes' were displeased had Trump backing off. The same with China's stance going into the weekend trade talks in Geneva in mid-May, where Team Xi demanded a goodwill gesture on tariffs; Trump ultimately obliged by throttling back on import taxes from 145% to 30%. Asian 'economies now face the secondary shock of an influx of cheap Chinese imports, as China exports excess capacity amid subdued domestic demand and elevated trade tensions with the US and other developed markets,' says Alex Wolf, head of Asia investment strategy at JP Morgan Private Bank. 'This phenomenon is already negatively impacting local emerging market manufacturing and employment.' Wolf adds that 'as the Trump administration targets not just China but almost every trading partner with trade imbalances – whether due to trade deficits or tariff rate differentials – many EM [emerging market] economies could end up in the crosshairs. With both the direct impact of US tariffs and the indirect impact of a slowing China and weaker global trade, EM economies may face tougher challenges ahead.' Yet the detour in Trump's phraseology thickens the plot. Around 'Liberation Day' on April 2, Trump World argued the US is being 'looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far.' Since then, Trump's White House has also talked of the 'importance of a sustainable, long-term and mutually beneficial economic and trade relationship.' All officials in Tokyo and Seoul can do is hope real progress was made behind closed doors in London this week. In the interim, though, Asia's 2025 is turning out monumentally different from what Asia expected. Follow William Pesek on X at @WilliamPesek
RTHK
2 days ago
- RTHK
Nintendo sells record 3.5m Switch 2 consoles in 4 days
Nintendo sells record 3.5m Switch 2 consoles in 4 days A man buys a Nintendo Switch 2 gaming device as Nintendo starts selling the new consoles globally, at an electronics store in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Reuters Nintendo said on Wednesday it had sold a record 3.5 million Switch 2 units worldwide in the first four days after the console was launched. "This is the highest global sales level for any Nintendo hardware within the first four days," the Japanese video game giant said in a statement. Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to Nintendo's blockbuster Switch console. It was released last Thursday to a global swell of fan excitement that included sold-out pre-orders and midnight store openings. Since its 2017 launch, the original Switch, which enjoyed a popularity boost during the pandemic with hit games such as "Animal Crossing", has sold 152 million units. That makes it the third best-selling console of all time. Analysts predicted last week that Nintendo could score record early sales with the Switch 2, but it remains to be seen if it can match the performance of its predecessor. Challenges for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether it can convince enough people to pay the high price for its new device. The Switch 2 costs US$449.99 in the United States, compared to a launch price of US$299.99 for the original Switch. Both are hybrid consoles which can connect to a TV or be played on the go. New games such as "Donkey Kong Bananza" and "Mario Kart World", which allow players to go exploring off-grid, are also more expensive than existing Switch titles. Nintendo forecasts it will sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles in the current financial year, roughly equal to the original in the same period after its release. The Switch 2 "is priced relatively high" compared to its predecessor, so it "will not be easy" to keep initial momentum going, the company's president Shuntaro Furukawa said at a financial results briefing in May. The Switch 2 has eight times the memory of the first Switch, and its controllers, which attach with magnets, can also be used like a desktop computer mouse. New functions allowing users to chat as they play online and temporarily share games with friends could also be a big draw for young audiences used to watching game streamers. Success is crucial for Nintendo: while the "Super Mario" maker is diversifying into theme parks and hit movies, around 90 percent of its revenue still comes from the Switch business, analysts say. (AFP)
