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Akiko Fujita
What the Toyota recall means to Japan
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Toyota hasn’t stopped selling cars in Japan but the company’s problems in the US and now Europe have made headlines back home. Toyota’s global success is a source of national pride in Japan. In today’s show Akiko Fujita will tells us how the Toyota recall has been playing out in Japan. Download MP3 (AP Photo: Shizuo Kambayashi)Japan’s “foreigners”
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Japan’s parliament is considering letting “permanent foreign residents” vote in local elections. That basically means people of Korean descent, some of whom were born in Japan and have lived there their whole lives. It’s a politically sensitive issue and, as Akiko Fujita reports, the bill has sparked a fierce public debate. Download MP3
Guam awaits the Marines
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The population of Guam is expected to increase by 50 % in the next four years. That’s because the U.S. military plans to redeploy thousands of Marines and their families from the Japanese island of Okinawa. The move could bring an economic boom to the Pacific island but it threatens to strain Guam’s infrastructure as Akiko Fujita reports. Download MP3 (Photo: Johan Burati)“Lucky Bags” in Japan
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New Year’s Day is the most revered holiday in Japan. The Japanese actually celebrate it over a 4 day period. Many start the year by waking up to the first sunrise, they go to a shrine to make a new year wish. It’s a quiet holiday – unless you’re out shopping. Every year, people line up to buy something called a “fukubukuro” or “luck” bag. Akiko Fujita introduces us to a different kind of New Year’s tradition. Download MP3
Kit Kat big in Japan
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American candy lovers know the Kit Kat bar. But few would recognize the varieties sold in Japan. Such as the green tea or soy sauce Kit Kat. Or the pickled plum or mashed edamame edition. 200 kinds of Kit Kat bars have been sold in Japan over the years. Akiko Fujita checked out the candy in Tokyo. Download MP3 (Photo:Fugutabetai Shyashin)
Japan’s first lady
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Miyuki Hatoyama, the wife of Japan’s new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, is something of a Renaissance woman: designer, former actress, cookbook author, television personality – and perhaps most controversially a self-professed space traveler who claims to have visited Venus with aliens. Akiko Fujita has the story from Tokyo. Download MP3Recreating Nagasaki in 3D
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Students at the University of Nagasaki are attempting to recreate a community that a nuclear weapon destroyed. The Urakami neighborhood in Nagasaki was ground zero for the second atomic bomb the U-S dropped on Japan in World War Two. That attack killed 39-thousand people. And it destroyed most pictures of life in Urakami before the war. The students are recreating pre-war Urakami, with the help of memories and 3D technology. Akiko Fujita has our radio story.
Geo Answer: Japan’s daycare crisis
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Download MP3For today’s Geoquiz we were looking for a major industrialized nation where a lack of daycare options for young families has become a main topic in this year’s election. The answer is Japan. Reporter Akiko Fukita tells us why the promise of more child care centers carries such weight with voters.
Ageing Asian country
We’re staying on government benefits for the Geo Quiz. We’re looking for country that’s heading into elections this weekend. This is a major industrialized nation that’s played a crucial role in the world economy over the past 60 years. It’s also a country that’s ageing – fast!
Cafe just for smokers
Correspondent Akiko Fujita tells us about a cafe in Japan that caters exclusively to smokers…and has anti-smoking advocates fuming.
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LISA MULLINS: Now after partaking of fine cuisine, some folks like to have a smoke. Of course, those folks are finding fewer and fewer cafes and restaurants that allow them to light up. Here’s an exception to the “No Smoking” trend though, Akiko Fujita takes us to a cafe in Japan, where smoking is not only allowed, it’s required.
AKIKO FUJITA: A “smokers only” sign greets visitors at Tokyo’s Café Tobacco.
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AKIKO FUJITA: The counter where customers order their daily cup of coffee isn’t any different from a local Starbucks, but walk upstairs and you smell the customers puffing away. A giant ceiling fan sucks in the smoke as
The New Prius: Toyota’s bright spot (4:15)
Correspondent Akiko Fujita reports on good news for Toyota in Japan. The new Prius is in high demand, and Prius factories there are humming again.
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“Marriage-hunting” in Japan
In Japan, many singles are taking no chances when it comes to getting married. They’re going to “marriage hunting” events, which are a like a mix between speed dating and a job interview. Even the government is getting involved. Akiko Fujita reports from Tokyo. Listen
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