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Time of India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Japan says Chinese jets made dangerously close approach
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Tokyo said Thursday it had expressed "serious concerns" to Beijing after Chinese fighter jets flew dangerously close to a Japanese military patrol plane in the Pacific last incident followed the sighting of two Chinese aircraft carriers sailing in the Pacific together for the first time, including in Japan's economic said this week that the aircraft carriers' activity -- described by China as "routine training" -- showed the expanding geographic scope of Beijing's military.A Japanese defence ministry spokesman told AFP on Thursday that Chinese fighter jets had flown "unusually close" to the Japanese patrol Saturday, a Chinese J-15 fighter jet from the Shandong aircraft carrier followed a Japanese P-3C patrol plane for 40 minutes, then on Sunday two J-15 jets did the same for 80 minutes, the spokesman said."During these long periods, the jets flew unusually close to the P-3C, and they flew within 45 metres" of the patrol plane at the same altitude on both days, he Sunday, the Chinese jets cut across airspace around 900 metres in front of the Japanese patrol plane -- a distance that a P-3C can reach within a few seconds at cruising speed, the spokesman added."Such abnormal approaches can lead to an accidental collision, so we have expressed serious concerns" to the Chinese side and asked them to prevent a repetition, a defence ministry statement said no Japanese military personnel had been injured.A second defence ministry spokesman told AFP the Japanese message was delivered through diplomatic channels and between officials from the neighbours' defence ministries.A similar incident was last reported over a decade ago in May and June 2014, when Chinese Su-27 fighter jets flew within 30 metres (100 feet) of Japan's military Kawai, director of the University of Tokyo's economic security and policy innovation program, told AFP earlier this week that the timing of the aircraft carrier movements could be linked to US-China economic tensions."Beijing calculated that the United States would be less willing or able to respond militarily at this precise moment, seeing it as an opportune time to demonstrate its expanding military capabilities," he said.
Yomiuri Shimbun
27-04-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan Firm Aims to Grab Future with New Sushi Vinegar Flavors; Company's Sushi Rice Flavor Unchanged for Over 60 Years
The Yomiuri Shimbun Rice balls made with Aka Sushinoko Tamanoi Vinegar Co. has been producing Sushinoko, a powdered sushi vinegar product that allows customers to easily make sushi rice, for more than 60 years. The flavor has remained unchanged since it debuted, but last month, the company started selling Aka Sushinoko, a flavoring for onigiri rice balls, in an effort to attract younger customers. The company has a rich history. Back in the 1950s, many people made sushi rice at home. However, vinegar would be delivered in large jars, which was expensive and required a lot of effort. The company saw that making vinegar into a powdered product would allow it to be delivered to more people. Driven by the concept, the company did extensive research and became the first firm in the world to make powdered vinegar. However, when exposed to moisture, the powder would clump together. After a lot of trial and error, researchers found that adding sugar to the mixture would reduce its absorbency. In 1963, the company put the product on the market as flavored sushi vinegar . It was not popular among older homemakers, who were confident about their cooking, so the company set its sights on younger people. Tamanoi Vinegar began handing out product samples at kindergartens and ran TV commercials. As a result of these efforts, sales gradually rose. Ideas garner young fans The ratio of vinegar, sugar and salt remains the same today, and the packaging has not changed either. While retaining fans by maintaining its taste and packaging, the company also faced the challenge of trying to attract younger customers, many of whom were unaware of the product. In February 2023, Rihoko Kawai, 28, who was in charge of product planning, was trying to figure out how to make the product more popular among young people. Then, an idea came to her when she saw a post on social media. The post said, 'Potato chips taste better after adding Sushinoko into the [bag] and shaking it.' Kawai then asked the supermarkets that sold Sushinoko nationwide to place the product next to potato chips. She also asked the stores to display ads on the sales floor to promote the product. The product's weekly sales almost quadrupled compared to the previous week. The idea of selling a limited-time product, with the packaging design changed for the first time, was also due to a social media post. Kawai noticed how the similarity of the words 'Sushinoko' and 'Oshinoko,' a popular anime, had started trending on social media. In June 2024, the company and the anime collaborated to make limited-time packaging featuring a few of the characters from the show, creating a lot of buzz. Photos Courtesy of Tamanoi Vinegar Co. Left: Sushinoko, the flavor and packaging of which has not changed since 1963 Right: A limited-time product featuring a character from the popular anime 'Oshinoko' Crafting new product At around the same time, the idea of creating new flavors to 'keep up with the times' was raised. Takaya Harino, 41, who became the company's president in April 2024, participated in the discussions, and the focus became about developing a product for onigiri rice balls. Onigiri has becomes more popular, even overseas, and onigiri made with sushi rice has reportedly been a hit. The Yomiuri Shimbun Risa Kanayama, left, and Rihoko Kawai, hold packages of Aka Sushinoko in Sakai. Risa Kanayama, 26, in charge of product research, and two others formed a project team and started developing a new product. What flavor should the company try to make? Kanayama and other members of the team prepared various dashi broths and conducted taste tests using five cups of rice every day. In the process, they also added different flavors such as garlic and salted cod roe with red pepper. But none of them tasted quite right. They then went back to the drawing board and focused more on the taste of the broth. They combined soup made from dried bonito flakes and one made from dried horse mackerel flakes, adding vinegar and sake lees for aroma and richness. The rice turned reddish when the mixture was added, so the company named it Aka (red) Sushinoko and put it on sale on March 1. 'The hardest part was creating the right balance between the traditional sour flavor of Sushinoko and the new product,' Kanayama said. Kawai added, 'We want to increase the number of customers by developing various ideas.' While honoring the taste the company has maintained for so long, Tamanoi Vinegar aims to come up with new ideas in the future.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tongass timber provides good jobs, as well as products of the best quality
Viking Lumber operates in Klawock. (Photo provided by Sarah Dahlstrom-Lehnert) As a daughter and niece of sawmill owners raised in Southeast Alaska, I disagree with Hunter McIntoch's March 20 article, 'The Tongass National Forest is a national treasure worth more than timber.' Trees from the Tongass provide the music of the world. Viking Lumber in Klawock, Alaska, is the sole supplier of soundboards for the world's finest pianos: Steinway & Sons. Steinway pianos are played on stages all over the world by performers such as Lady Gaga and Billy Joel. Steinway is the preferred piano of concert pianists, with 98% choosing a Steinway. According to Ben Steiner, CEO and president of Steinway & Sons, the company uses methods that have been handed down from generation to generation since 1853, Steinway builds their pianos one at a time. To achieve such a high level of musicality, Steinway requires a soundboard made of the very best Sitka spruce, lumber supplied exclusively by Viking Lumber, the only US sawmill capable of supplying this lumber. In addition to Steinway, Viking also supplies the lumber for the soundboards for Boston and Kawai pianos, Martin and Gibson guitars, wind tunnels for NASA, blades for firefighting helicopters, U.S. national security, interior and exterior doors, garage doors, fences, window trim, staircases, decking, siding and gazebos. Wood chips and sawdust, the byproducts, are used to heat local schools, the public swimming pool and homes throughout Southeast Alaska. The multigenerational, family-owned small business has been operating for over 30 years in Klawock and is the last remaining mid-sized sawmill in Southeast Alaska. Viking Lumber employs 46 year-round Alaskans living in rural communities. Their employees receive family wages, health care, dental, vision, life insurance and a retirement plan. Viking's operations also support 90 employees of contractors in Alaska. Indirectly, the sawmill supports the 200 union workers at Steinway's Astoria, New York, factory, the 19 Steinway & Sons stores, and a network of over 60 dealer storefront locations with hundreds of employees across the United States. This is the impact that Viking makes on just one of the companies they supply. Viking has a nation of customers and their employees that depend on a continuous supply of lumber. It's nearly impossible to find a state that doesn't have a product that originated from Viking Lumber and the Tongass National Forest. Whether it's your front door, the gazebo your family gathers under on Sunday afternoon or the instrument your child learns to play, Viking provides the lumber that brings people together. These long-life treasures are made possible by the Tongass National Forest. The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the country and Viking harvests only 0.0016% of the forest annually. However, the U.S. Forest Service has offered less than a quarter of Viking's historic needs over the past four years. The sawmill has survived on the Alaska Mental Health Trust lands timber sale since 2016, which will be completed this year. Who is really at risk? An out-of-state seasonal company or the year-round Southeast Alaskan families working in the timber industry. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tokyo Electron Plans Expansion Despite AI Spending Doubts
(Bloomberg) -- Tokyo Electron Ltd. reaffirmed its annual outlook and outlined plans to build a ¥104 billion ($681 million) plant, suggesting it expects sustained AI spending. Citadel to Leave Namesake Chicago Tower as Employees Relocate State Farm Seeks Emergency California Rate Hike After Fires Transportation Memos Favor Places With Higher Birth and Marriage Rates San Francisco Wants Wealthy Donors to Help Fix Fentanyl Crisis NY Transit Advocate Says Billions in Tax Hikes Would Fix MTA The company, one of a handful of key chip gear makers globally, revealed that expansion after posting better-than-expected earnings. The Japanese supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. brought in operating profit of ¥199.6 billion in the December quarter from sales of machines used to prepare, etch and clean silicon wafers that are ultimately cut into memory or logic chips. That was up 51% from the previous year and compares with the average of analyst estimates of ¥174 billion. Closely watched as an indicator of future spending on chips used for artificial intelligence development, Tokyo Electron did not hike its outlook, as compatriot Advantest Corp. did a week earlier. Indications from supply chain players have been mixed, as Dutch lithography supplier ASML Holding NV reported a surprisingly high number of orders while Arm Holdings Plc and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. gave cautious forecasts that added to doubts about the sustainability of the free-spending trend in the market. Tokyo Electron's move to expand capacity with a plant in Miyagi prefecture, northeast Japan, reflects demand from customers such as Samsung, TSMC and SK Hynix Inc., which have indicated they'll continue elevated spending on tools used to process wafers into semiconductors. Much of the investment in 2025 will come from cutting-edge logic makers and high-bandwidth memory makers hurrying to meet AI server demand, Tokyo Electron Chief Executive Officer Toshiki Kawai said on an earnings call. That's while the company expects a lull in chip gear purchases by Chinese customers, especially among new entrants to chipmaking, he said. China is expected to comprise a percentage in the mid-thirties of Tokyo Electron's sales in the business year starting April, down from more than 40% in the current fiscal year, he said. 'We can't deny that we've been affected' by US restrictions on exports of chip-related technologies and other geopolitical factors, Kawai said. Chinese startup DeepSeek's low-cost and open-source AI model is raising concern that the tech sector will face far more price competition and less revenue for the likes of Nvidia Corp. than previously predicted. Still, AI industry leaders have argued that cheaper AI models would mean more new entrants that would further support demand for AI infrastructure over the long term. Tokyo Electron is still evaluating DeepSeek and its impact, Finance Division Officer Hiroshi Kawamoto said during an earnings call. If lower-cost AI leads to an expansion of the market, it's a positive, he said. 'It's too soon for us to say.' (Updates with executive comments from the fourth paragraph.) Orange Juice Makers Are Desperate for a Comeback Believing in Aliens Derailed This Internet Pioneer's Career. Now He's Facing Prison Inside Elon Musk's Attack on the US Government Amazon and SpaceX Want In on India's Satellite Internet Market Elon Musk Inside the Treasury Department Payment System ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
