Latest news with #OsakaKansaiExpo
Asahi Shimbun
3 days ago
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
Without foreign staff, restaurants could not stay open, says exec
Yasuhiro Inoue, center, a vice chairman of the Osaka Restaurant Management Association (ORA), with foreign staff at the ORA Gaishoku Pavilion Utage at the Osaka Kansai Expo (Koichiro Ishida) The status of foreigners in Japanese society has emerged as a central issue in the Upper House election to be held on July 20. Yasuhiro Inoue, 60, a vice chairman of the Osaka Restaurant Management Association (ORA), has worked with non-Japanese both in the association as well as in his own company. The ORA has 560 member companies. The Asahi Shimbun interviewed Inoue for his views on foreigners in Japan. Excerpts of the interview follow: Question: You have led study sessions for close to 10 years at the ORA regarding the hiring practices of foreign workers. You also manage several restaurants. What presence do foreign nationals have in the restaurant industry as a whole? Inoue: I have been involved in the restaurant business for the past 40 years or so and now manage about a dozen restaurants, including Chinese and Japanese ones, on a franchise basis. Based on that experience, I can state that the industry is labor intensive. It can hardly be described as a popular industry since wages are lower in comparison to other sectors. It is not easy to secure adequate personnel due to the need to stay open during periods when most people have the day off. In the last few years, the restaurant industry has faced a difficult situation of not being able to remain open without foreign staff. In my company, we have many foreigners working part-time. Almost all our regular company employees are foreign nationals. There is no difference in the pay scale between Japanese and foreign employees. Q: What has been your experience with hiring foreigners? A: They provide us with ideas that Japanese would never come up with. For example, they have provided ideas regarding the use of the skin from peeled fruit based on cooking methods from their home nations. Those ideas have led to a reduction in food loss and lower company expenses. Because of differences in cultural backgrounds, there are also times when I come up with new business ideas after talking with them. Q: Can you talk about leading ORA activities since 2016 with regard to foreign workers and hiring practices? A: The catalyst was a Vietnamese woman who was the first foreigner we hired as a regular company employee. We found out she had accumulated loans of about 1 million yen ($6,700) as a fee she paid to the local broker who made the arrangements for her to come to Japan. I realized there was a lack of transparency in the system under which foreigners can work in Japan. For the next two and a half years, I backpacked around Asia about once a month to investigate local organizations that were dispatching foreign workers as well as observe local customs. During my research, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) helped out and so did part-time foreign workers at my restaurants. But I came to realize there were limits to what I could do by myself, so I asked the ORA for its help. The cooperation of foreigners will be indispensable to further growth of our restaurant sector. To accomplish that, Japan needs to develop appropriate hiring practices. We have held study sessions by asking college professors, lawyers and judicial scriveners to give talks. We have also lobbied the government to establish a better system. Q: Ahead of the Upper House election, posts have emerged on social media with baseless arguments such as foreigners are taking advantage of the social welfare system set up for Japanese. What are your thoughts on that? A: Our foreign employees naturally pay the same taxes and social insurance premiums as our Japanese employees. If there is a loophole in some specific system, it should be corrected when it is discovered. But there are likely foreigners as well as Japanese who will abuse such loopholes. It is wrong to criticize only foreigners. Q: What do you think about politicians who call for changes in policy regarding foreigners on grounds they are being given special privileges? A: While I believe it is a good thing to finally have a spotlight on policies concerning foreigners that many people had no interest in for a long time, I find the discussion to be less than refined. I want candidates to conduct discussions based on the actual circumstances that the restaurant industry faces rather than make criticisms about foreigners receiving special privileges while not giving specific examples. Q: How do your foreign employees feel about the current social atmosphere? A: Recently after a high-ranking foreign employee who is fluent in Japanese read social media posts, I was asked, 'Are foreigners hated in Japan?' They appear to have become more worried about the change in the social atmosphere. Q: Can you tell us about the use of foreigners as staff at the ORA pavilion at the Osaka Kansai Expo? A: Twenty-four foreigners are working at the ORA Gaishoku Pavilion Utage. While 18 of them are not very fluent in Japanese, we are trying to demonstrate that they can carry out their duties with the help of a small number of Japanese staff as well as foreigners who are fluent in Japanese. We have already welcomed close to 1 million visitors to our pavilion, and there have been no major problems. The staff appear to enjoy working there and I want visitors to feel the benefits and strengths of diversity.
Asahi Shimbun
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Asahi Shimbun
Domestic firms play catch-up as Japan shifts to electric buses
Isuzu Motors Ltd.'s Erga EV electric bus model is shown at a media demonstration in Utsunomiya on May 23. (Daisuke Matsuoka) As the global car market trends toward decarbonation, Japanese automakers are now struggling to regain lost ground in their own homeland's electric bus industry. Electric vehicle (EV) buses are gradually becoming more common in Japan and seeing a rapid rise in the Asian market despite currently accounting for only a tiny fraction of buses nationwide. The country's auto giants have responded by shifting in earnest to in-house electric bus production to contend with the vehicles being frequently sourced from overseas companies. 10,000 EV BUSES BY 2030 One day in late May, J-Bus Ltd., a joint venture founded by Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Hino Motors Ltd., invited reporters to its Utsunomiya plant in Tochigi Prefecture for a demonstration ride aboard its Erga EV bus. As its name implies, J-Bus' aim is to produce vehicles such as the Erga EV on behalf of both automakers; Isuzu rolled out the Erga EV in May 2024. It has since been adopted by a range of networks spanning from Tokyo's Toei Bus service to the shuttle bus line connecting the 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo's venue with the nearest station. This particular model can reportedly travel up to 360 kilometers on a single charge. Despite the Erga EV's relatively hefty price tag of 66 million yen ($460,000), including tax, using a specialized government subsidy can reportedly cut down the cost to one comparable to its diesel counterparts. Transport service providers nationwide are steadily embracing EV buses, though Japan still lags significantly behind China and European countries in the spread of electric-powered passenger vehicles. The country had 580 electric buses as of the end of March 2024 compared to the 149 at the close of March 2022. Electric motors are an ideal match for public buses that typically run along predetermined routes as it is easier for operators to draw up detailed recharging plans in advance. Another advantage is more room. Not having to rely on a gas engine translates into EV buses having fewer parts, which allows for immensely flexible layouts that could make seating more accessible for passengers with disabilities. Data from the Automobile Inspection and Registration Information Association shows a total ownership of 210,000 buses across Japan. Electric models represent less than 1 percent of this. However, the Nihon Bus Association is looking to add 10,000 EV models nationwide by 2030. The government is expanding subsidies to encourage the widespread use of electric buses. One major competitor domestic automakers must contend with in this shift is Chinese auto firm BYD Co. Since pitching its EV bus a decade prior in 2015, the company has supplied no less than 400 electric buses to Japan alone, capturing upward of 50 percent of the market share. BYD announced in January it is releasing a new midsize model designed specifically for the Japanese market; the J7 electric bus is expected to be available by the end of the year. Another major company eyeing the Japanese market is South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co., which began selling a midsize EV bus in Japan late last year. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., a major Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer known as Foxconn, is likewise planning to put an electric bus on sale in Japan by 2027. WHY THE LAG? Japanese automakers are scrambling to turn the tide, and J-Bus is not alone. EV Motors Japan Co., a start-up headquartered in Kita-Kyushu, focuses on producing electric buses as well. Asked why Japanese companies were so slow in rolling out electric bus models, an Isuzu representative insisted that was simply due to their devoted commitment to details. 'We paid due consideration to the development processes in particular to ensure quality and safety simultaneously,' the Isuzu official said. Manabu Miura, a senior researcher at Japan Research Institute Ltd., who is knowledgeable about the commercial automobile business, provided a different perspective. 'They (Japanese enterprises) focused too much on creating gas-electric hybrid vehicles and fuel cell cars,' Miura said. 'As a result, they were late to invest in the development of EV buses.' On top of this, the modest market scale likely contributed to Japanese automakers' slow start. Unlike trucks and other business vehicles, commercial bus sales can rarely serve as a revenue pillar since they are purchased less frequently. Miura stressed that the current situation is unlikely to change dramatically anytime soon—commercial buses are usually replaced only once every 10 or more years. Daily logistics are another factor making it far more challenging for bus operators to quickly switch suppliers since running buses, training drivers and timetables are closely linked. 'It will take some time to regain ground' Miura said of domestic automakers. An Isuzu representative appears confident, however. 'Our model is superior to others in operability and reliability,' the representative said. 'We will be pushing our product from a comprehensive standpoint.'
Asahi Shimbun
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Asahi Shimbun
Ukraine pavilion at expo shares peace message, grim realities
Inna Ilyna, director of the Ukrainian pavilion at the Osaka Kansai Expo, on June 16 in Osaka's Konohana Ward (Takuya Tanabe) OSAKA--'Not for Sale,' the theme of the Ukrainian pavilion at the Osaka Kansai Expo, is sending a message to visitors from around the world. Ukraine will continue striving for world peace but will do whatever it takes to protect its priceless values from Russian aggression. These values are represented in 18 statues on display at the pavilion, a particularly popular facility among both VIPs and ordinary folk at the expo. More than three years since Russian troops started the invasion of Ukraine, fighting continues in the European nation. The pavilion's director, Inna Ilyna, 45, said she checks the constant stream of news about war damage in her homeland on her smartphone. 'Every time I hear that many children have been killed, my heart truly aches,' she said. One of the statues is M-shaped to denote 'metro.' Visitors who scan a barcode on the statue can watch a video of children and students studying inside a subway station to evade air raids. The statue represents how Russia is threatening the right to education in Ukraine. Ilyna, a mother of two, described another sculpture that resembles a toy horse as 'too painful to face squarely.' The showpiece displays an image of a blood-stained toy horse owned by a victim of a cluster bomb attack. The statue not only symbolizes Moscow's use of 'inhumane' weapons, but it also represents a condemnation of Russia's abduction and indoctrination of Ukrainian children. FROM CULTURE TO WAR Born in Kyiv in 1979, Ilyna majored in Japanese at a national university in the Ukrainian capital. From 2019, Ilyna pursued a career as a diplomat at the Ukrainian Embassy in Japan for five and a half years. Initially responsible for promoting Ukrainian culture, she planned and organized lecture sessions at Japanese high schools and music events to build a bridge between her home country and Japan. However, her duties dramatically changed after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The Ukrainian Embassy was flooded with relief supplies and donations from across Japan every day. Ilyna was tasked with securing temporary storage locations for the contributed goods and eventually delivering them to Ukraine. 'I wanted to do everything I could for my nation's sake at the time,' she said. Ilyna downloaded an air raid warning app on her smartphone to stay updated on the situation in Ukraine. The alarm often went off at night, leaving her unable to sleep for days due to fears about her family's safety. Ilyna said she still receives notifications of incoming missiles on her smartphone on a daily basis. CALLS FOR PEACE, GLORY Some leaders and VIPs from the 158 countries and regions taking part in the Osaka Kansai Expo have visited the Ukrainian pavilion, including Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo. Ilyna makes a point of providing special guests with thoughtful explanations of Ukraine's plight. In early June, Ilyna guided Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide around the pavilion. Following the session, Eide emphasized to reporters that Norway's persistent support for Ukraine will contribute to the security of both countries and the rule of law worldwide. Visitors to the pavilion are placing origami cranes and Ukrainian flags featuring messages, such as 'peace for Ukraine' and 'glory to Ukraine.' One individual has repeatedly visited the pavilion since the international fair's opening in April, expressing 'sympathy for your prolonged difficult time' while offering words of support. The five staff members of the pavilion said such words and deeds dramatically lift their spirits and make them feel, 'We, Ukrainians, are not alone.' Ilyna was asked about other conflicts around the world, including the recent hostilities between Israel and Iran. 'It is sad and scary that the warfare has broken out,' lamented Ilyna, before the Israel-Iran ceasefire was reached. 'People worldwide should focus on creating happy lives rather than destroying things.' With the Osaka Kansai Expo nearing its halfway point, Ilyna said she is increasingly determined to convey her message of peace through the pavilion. 'My hope is that people will eventually become aware that peace and democracy should not be taken for granted but must be protected,' she said. Working with pavilions of nations showing solidarity with Ukraine, Ilyna is planning a collaborative event themed on 'war and peace' for Ukrainian national day on Aug. 5.
Yomiuri Shimbun
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
China Strikes Friendly Pose Ahead of Upper House Poll,But Provocative Actions at Sea Undermine Message
As Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is reported to be in a difficult situation heading into the House of Councillors election on July 20, moves to support the Ishiba administration are noticeable from the administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping. On June 29, just before the July 3 announcement of the upper house election, the Chinese government announced that it would resume imports of Japanese seafood products to China. Seafood products from 10 prefectures, including Fukushima, will remain subject to the embargo, but seafood products from the other 37 prefectures will now be able to be imported. Imports are expected to resume around August or sooner. The Japanese and Chinese governments agreed on procedures for resuming imports in late May, and this can be said to be the result of smooth progress in their talks, but the timing of the announcement just before the election also reveals China's political intentions. A source familiar with the inner workings of the Chinese government said, 'This is indirect support for the Ishiba administration.' China sent Vice Premier He Lifeng, a close aide to Xi, to China's National Day at the Osaka Kansai Expo on July 11. He discussed the progress of Japan-China cooperation with LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama and other Japanese officials. China has viewed the Ishiba administration, which was inaugurated in October last year, as a very easy partner to work with. Sanae Takaichi, the former minister for economic security who competed with Ishiba for the post of LDP president last year, has a strong conservative tone, visiting Yasukuni Shrine every year, and China judged that there would be no room for progress in Japan-China relations if Takaichi were to lead a new administration. In particular, China was impressed with Ishiba's views on history, such as his intention to review the Pacific War in light of the upcoming 80th anniversary of the end of the war. According to a Japanese government official, the Chinese side had repeatedly urged the Japanese side at the ambassadorial level to 'issue a statement on the 80th anniversary of the end of the war.' There may have been some expectation that the 80th anniversary statement would be more palatable for China than the 70th anniversary statement issued by the conservative administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Chinese side has not been consistently impressed with the Ishiba administration. When Ishiba visited the United States in February this year and met with President Donald Trump shortly after he took office, Ishiba warned China in a bolder manner than usual, joining Trump in saying that he was 'opposed to any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion' regarding the situation in Taiwan. China strongly opposed Japan's decision to draft a joint statement by the Japanese and U.S. leaders in a way that was unfavorable to China on the Taiwan issue, the topic on which China is the most sensitive. Another Japanese government official said at the time, 'Japan-China relations suddenly cooled, perhaps because China was displeased by the idea that Japan could cause unpredictable Trump to do something unexpected on the Taiwan issue.' However, when the Trump administration imposed radical tariff measures in April, Japan-China relations changed again. China was confronted with heavy trade pressure from the United States again, and in a situation where its domestic economy could be seriously affected, China decided that it was important to draw Japan closer. The aforementioned Japanese government official explained: 'Japan-China relations made a V-shaped recovery all at once. China has been cozying up to Japan more than it ever has in the last 10 years.' In May, the United States and China agreed to significantly reduce mutual additional tariffs for 90 days, and in June they agreed to establish a 'framework' to implement the May agreement. It can be said that China has achieved a certain degree of detente with the United States (at least regarding tariff measures), but it is unlikely that the Trump administration will change its confrontational stance toward China in the future, and China will likely continue to seek better relations with Japan. As the tariff negotiations between Japan and the United States are proving difficult and there is a rift in Japan-U.S. relations, China may be considering approaching Japan to weaken the Japan-U.S. alliance. In this context, there is no doubt that China believes that the Ishiba administration is convenient for drawing Japan closer. In March, Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Japan and held the first Japan-China high-level economic dialogue in six years, promising to promote discussions to resume imports of Japanese seafood products. In May, an agreement was reached on procedures for resuming exports. The issue of the restrictions on seafood imports was originally caused by China's one-sided criticism of the release of treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant without any scientific evidence, which resulted in China being isolated in the international community and dealing a blow to its own seafood industry. It was the Chinese side that wanted to bring the issue to a close as soon as possible. Since March, China has been indicating a path to gradually resolve this issue, aiming to make it appear as if the issues between Japan and China are making steady progress with the Ishiba administration, which is struggling to run the government as a minority ruling coalition. However, no matter how many 'diplomatic achievements' they produce, it will be difficult to translate them into votes in the House of Councillors election. Japan's biggest diplomatic challenge at the moment is the U.S. tariff measures, which both the ruling and opposition parties consider a 'national crisis,' and relations with China have already been buried as an election issue. A slight improvement in relations with China alone will not improve the domestic evaluation of the Ishiba administration. Unless there is a breakthrough such as a visit by Xi to Japan and major progress on issues between Japan and China, such as the issue of Japanese nationals being detained, the effect will be minimal. Meanwhile, the Chinese military has intensified its activities near Japan and Taiwan, and there is no sign of it easing up on its security threats. In June, a fighter jet from a Chinese aircraft carrier operating in the Pacific Ocean made an abnormal and dangerous approach to a Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane, and in May, a helicopter from the China Coast Guard (a paramilitary organization) violated Japanese territorial airspace around the Senkaku Islands. Behind the facade of its smiling diplomacy, China is steadily making attempts to change the status quo. Does China not realize that many Japanese people have seen through China's true nature? Political Pulse appears every Saturday. Seima Oki Seima Oki is a deputy editor in the Political News Department of The Yomiuri Shimbun.
Arab News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Japan's crown prince visits Saudi pavilion at Osaka Expo
TOKYO: Japan's Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Akishino visited Saudi Arabia's pavilion at the Osaka-Kansai Expo on Thursday, in the company of Saudi Ambassador to Japan Ghazi Faisal Binzagr. 'We were deeply honored by the visit of their Imperial Highnesses,' Binzagr told Arab News Japan. 'It was a beautiful visit.' He noted how much the pair had enjoyed the music of the oud, which was being played as the imperial guests entered the courtyard of the pavilion and which echoed throughout the building owing to the design of the walls and corridors to amplify the sound. 'The imperial couple also enjoyed Saudi coffee and (a selection of various) dates,' Binzagr said, adding that the variety and color of Saudi dates is influenced by the minerals in the soil of each region where they are grown in the Kingdom. Binzagr said they had discussed the similarities in the cultures of Saudi Arabia and Japan, adding that despite appearing different, they shared a deep pride in their heritage and history, and both countries' ability to link the East and West. He added that Japan is authentic with what it has but is also able to blend it with foriegn best practices with its great openness. Binzagr said that he believes this makes for something very special that Saudi Arabia also shares with Japan. 'We both value our roots and connectivity, and we both seek to celebrate balance in everything we do,' he said. At the pavilion, the imperial couple viewed the plan for Riyadh Expo 2030 and indicated they were keen to visit at that time or even before, Binzagr said. 'We are keenly looking forward to more visits between members of Japan's Imperial Family and members of our Royal Family of Saudi Arabia,' Binzagr added. 'Such visits add a special dimension to an already special relationship.'
